Archive for the 'drought' Category

Rodeados De Agua Y Viven Con Sed

Published on 09/02/2010 in contaminated water, drought, spanish, tap water, water technology and water wars. 0 Comments

Foto encontrado en: www.oem.com.mx Ante la necesidad, los colonos han tenido que tomar el agua de la cisterna de la planta, de donde la obtienen sucia y con impurezas.

“Villahermosa, Tabasco.- Suman más de una semana sin agua potable los habitantes de la Colonia Gaviotas Norte, que han tenido que tomar el vital líquido de una cisterna, pues su planta potabilizadora se encuentra inundada debido a las filtraciones del Río Grijalva.

Tal y como se lo hicieron saber al gobernador del estado, Andrés Granier Melo, durante su visita a la localidad, los colonos han padecido la falta de agua potable, misma que les es suministrada por medio de pipas que no alcanzan para abastecerlos a todos.

El problema surgió cuando los motores de la planta Gaviotas II, se quemaron y por ende esta dejo de funcionar, y aunque una decena de personas trabaja, con ayuda de maquinaria, para resguardarla colocando costales a su alrededor y retirando parte del equipo inservible, la filtración continúa llegando, manteniéndola anegada y sin posibilidades de reparación.

Por ello, desde hace 5 días, el Sistema de Agua y Saneamiento mantiene vigilancia del lugar además de que ha otorgado pipas que llegan durante el día para abastecer de agua a los desesperados vecinos que tienen que llenar botes y hasta garrafones con tal de llevar la mayor cantidad a sus hogares, cargándolos ellos mismos o usando triciclos.

No obstante ese apoyo no ha sido suficiente, pues son muchos quienes necesitan del líquido para bañarse y sobre todo para beber, ante esa situación han tenido que tomar el agua de la cisterna de la planta, de dónde la obtienen sucia y con impurezas, pero ante la necesidad se ven obligados a usarla.”

Leer mas: El Sol De Tulancingo

lily victoria

Klamath Basin’s water worries extend to wells

Published on 08/29/2010 in drought, groundwater and tap water. 0 Comments

“During the last big drought crisis in the Klamath Basin, in 2001, Carleton Farms filed for bankruptcy. Nine summers later, amid drought crisis No. 2, heavy pumping of wells that Jim Carleton and his neighbors installed since 2001 is saving his bacon, or, more precisely, his alfalfa, potatoes, wheat, cattle and 12 employees who work his 2,000 acres.

“As a Merrill councilman who oversees public works, Carleton also experienced the downside of this year’s unprecedented well use. In June, after Merrill’s wells ran dry, the town trucked in water for days and spent upward of $25,000 lowering its wellhead.

“Since 2001, the government has paid some basin farmers to irrigate with well water when the weather turns dry. Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s drought declaration in May allowed 89 one-year emergency wells this summer on top of 177 permanent wells sunk on the Oregon side of the basin during the past nine years.

“But this year’s pumping, roughly double previous highs, shows the limits of that strategy for resolving Oregon’s most politically fraught water war.

“The extra draw has lowered well water levels 30 feet in spots. ”

How much is left?

Published on 08/25/2010 in climate change, drought, oceans, uncategorized and world water supply. 0 Comments

A very interesting interactive video from Scientific American about the limitations of the resources that so many think unlimited.

In this video, Christophe Miller, the project chief of the Continental Water, Climate, and Earth-systems Dynamics project (US Geological Survey/NOAA), summarizes the impact of Global Warming on the water resources.

Link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=interactive-how-much-is-left&sc=WR_20100824

cecilemioni

Libya’s Qaddafi Taps ‘fossil water’ To Irrigate Desert Farms

Published on 08/24/2010 in drought, groundwater and world water supply. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“In the Middle East and North Africa, the quest to turn thousands of miles of desert into arable land has taken a backseat to containing an impending water shortage. While many countries in the region bicker over water rights, Libya has taken it upon itself to change its topography – turning sand into soil.

The Great Man-Made River, which is leader Muammar Qaddafi‘s ambitious answer to the country’s water problems, irrigates Libya’s large desert farms. The 2,333-mile network of pipes ferry water from four major underground aquifers in southern Libya to the northern population centers. Wells punctuate the water’s path, allowing farmers to utilize the water network in their fields.

The Libyan government says the 26-year project has cost $19.58 billion. Nearing completion, the Great Man-Made River is the largest irrigation project in the world and the government says it intends to use it to develop 160,000 hectares (395,000 acres) of farmland. It is also the cheapest available option to irrigate fields in the water-scarce country, which has an average annual rainfall of about one inch.”

lily victoria

Lake Mead’s Water Level Plunges as 11-Year Drought Lingers

Published on 08/13/2010 in dams, drought and rivers. 0 Comments

Photo Retrieved from: destination360.com

“Lake Mead, the enormous reservoir of Colorado River water that hydrates Arizona, Nevada, California and northern Mexico, is receding to a level not seen since it was first being filled in the 1930s, stoking existential fears about water supply in the parched Southwest.

“Heightening those concerns are recent signs that the region’s record-breaking, 11-year drought could wear on for another year or longer. July not only saw the lake drop to 1956 levels but also brought cooling temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that signaled a developing La Niña system, historically a harbinger of more hot and dry weather.

“The La Niña “appears to be strong, and it might even last two years,” said Brad Udall, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Western Water Assessment program at the University of Colorado.”

Biggest relocation in China since Three Gorges

Published on 08/13/2010 in dams, drought and rivers. 0 Comments

“China’s growing thirst for water is driving one of the world’s biggest mass relocations, with 440,000 people leaving their homes to make way for a huge man-made canal project to channel water to drought-prone Beijing.

“An advance party of 499 villagers were moved yesterday from their homes near Wuhan in Hubei province, China’s heartland, in preparation for one of the biggest irrigation schemes in history.

“By the end of September, 60,000 people will have left the area. The remainder will be relocated by 2014, giving up their homes to make way for the South-North Water Diversion Project (SNWD) which will divert water from China’s largest river, the Yangtze.”

Water Scarcity Facing 1/3 of US Counties

Published on 08/03/2010 in climate change, drought and world water supply. 1 Comment Tags: global warming and water supply, US water supply, water scarcity.

Counties shown in dark red are at greatest risk of water shortage by 2050. (Map courtesy Tetra Tech) Photo Retrieved from: AlterNet

“One out of three U.S. counties is facing a greater risk of water shortages by mid-century due to global warming, finds a new report by Tetra Tech for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“For 412 of these counties the risk of water shortages will be “extremely high,” according to the report, a 14-fold increase from previous estimates.

“In the Great Plains and Southwest United States, water sustainability is at extreme risk finds the report, which is based on publicly available water use data from across the United States.

“This analysis shows climate change will take a serious toll on water supplies throughout the country in the coming decades, with over one out of three U.S. counties facing greater risks of water shortages,” said Dan Lashof, director of the Climate Center at NRDC. “Water shortages can strangle economic development and agricultural production and affected communities.”

“As a result,” he said, “cities and states will bear real and significant costs if Congress fails to take the steps necessary to slow down and reverse the warming trend.”

“The report, issued Tuesday, finds that 14 states face an extreme or high risk to water sustainability, or are likely to see limitations on water availability as demand exceeds supply by 2050. ”

U.S. faces climate-driven water shortages

Published on 07/28/2010 in climate change, drought and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: US water supply, water supply and climate change.

Photo retrieved from: Grist.org

“As global warming accelerates, the world will become not only hotter, flatter, and more crowded but also thirsty, according to a new study that finds 70 percent of counties in the United States may face climate change-related risks to their water supplies by 2050.

“One-third of U.S. counties may find themselves at “high or extreme risk,” according to the report prepared for the Natural Resources Defense Council by Tetra Tech, a California environmental consulting firm.

“It appears highly likely that climate change could have major impacts on the available precipitation and the sustainability of water withdrawals in future years under the business-as-usual scenario,” the study’s authors conclude. “This calculation indicates the increase in risk that affected counties face that water demand will outstrip supplies, if no other remedial actions are taken. To be clear, it is not intended as a prediction that water shortages will occur, but rather where they are more likely to occur.”

Kalahari Bushmen to appeal against court ban on well in game reserve

Published on 07/22/2010 in drought, groundwater and policy. 0 Comments

“Africa’s oldest inhabitants pitched against autocratic Botswana government are forced to truck water 300 miles across desert.

“The Kalahari Bushmen are to appeal against a decision by the Botswana high court forbidding them to use a well in the central Kalahari game reserve, one of the driest regions in the world, a spokesman announced today.

“The Bushmen, Africa’s oldest inhabitants, won a ruling in 2006 against eviction from the game park, hailed as a victory for indigenous peoples around the world. Hundreds returned to their home villages but they have been prevented from reopening the well or drilling a new one.

“The government argued that the Bushmen’s presence in the reserve was not compatible with preserving wildlife and that living in such harsh conditions offered few prospects. The Bushmen took their case to the high court, and the judge this week ruled against them.

“The decision doesn’t make any sense,” said a community spokesman, Jumanda Gakelebone. “We are going to appeal.”

“For now, the 500 Bushmen have to truck in water from the nearest settlement with a public borehole, 300 miles away.”

Water users holding key to desalination plants

Published on 07/15/2010 in dams, desalination, drought and solutions and outreach. 0 Comments

Retrieved from: thumbs.dreamstime.com

“FURTHER desalination plants to meet the booming southeast corner’s water needs may not be needed for another 20 years.

“High rain levels and frugal household water use have allowed the Government to postpone its planned construction dates for two new desalination plants.

‘In its new water planning blueprint, the Queensland Water Commission has estimated the plants would be needed by 2021 if consumption levels rise to 230 litres per person per day. But the plants could be delayed until as late as 2032 if consumption meets the 200 litres-per-day target and rain continues to fall at traditional levels.

“The QWC still plans to acquire the two priority sites for the plants, at Lytton near the mouth of the Brisbane River and at Marcoola on the Sunshine Coast.

“There are also two reserve sites, one allowing the existing Tugun facility to be duplicated and the other on Bribie Island.”

California 2025: Planning for a Better Future

Published on 07/09/2010 in climate change, drought, policy, rivers and solutions and outreach. 0 Comments

“California’s current economic and fiscal realities make nonpartisan, objective information on the state’s future challenges all the more critical. Understandably, the search is on for immediate solutions to the unprecedented crises we face today. But if the present crises make policymakers shelve long-term planning, the result may be an even more uncertain future for our state.

This briefing kit highlights California’s most pressing long-term policy challenges in eight key areas:

budget

climate change

economy

education

population

transportation

water

workforce

We gratefully acknowledge the support of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as part of the California 2025 project on the state’s future challenges and opportunities.”

cecilemioni

The Hoover Dam;20th Century Infrastructure – 21st Century Challenges

Published on 06/25/2010 in climate change, dams, drought, rivers and world water supply. 0 Comments

Colorado River Basin

“The story of the Hoover Dam in the 21st century is more embattled than triumphant, largely due to a seven-year drought that has stressed the ability of the Bureau’s infrastructure to deliver the water promised in the Colorado River Compact. At the time of our visit, Lake Mead was at 45 percent of capacity, and with below normal runoff forecast again in 2010, the lake is projected to drop another 20 feet by the end of the summer. That would put it dangerously close to the 1075-foot elevation level at which water delivery cutbacks to the lower basin states would be triggered. These cutbacks would likely cause interstate and international tensions, as Arizona, California, Nevada, and Mexico posture in case of further shortages. The decrease in water level also reduces Hoover’s power generation, which would be cut more dramatically if the lake falls below the 1050-foot watermark.

“While Hoover Dam remains a critical linchpin in the Southwest’s water and power supply, it’s clear that grand 20th-century infrastructure alone will not be enough to solve the region’s water resource challenges in the 21st century, for a number of reasons.

“First of all, it’s highly likely that the water “annuity” being withdrawn from the Colorado River system is greater than the long-term average water restored to the system in the form or rainfall and snowmelt. Between the 15 million acre-feet of water allocated to the basin states, the 1.5 million acre-feet promised to Mexico, and the 2 million acre-feet of evaporation in the basin every year, the total water withdrawn from the Colorado every year is 18.5 million acre-feet. However, the latest models show that the long-term average runoff in the Colorado basin every year is likely closer to 14 or 15 million acre-feet. In other words, the hydrological account is being overdrawn every year, and, sooner or later, there may be no water left to take.”

Afghanistan’s Kabul Basin Faces Dry and Thirsty Future

Published on 06/22/2010 in climate change, contaminated water, drought, rivers and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: afghanistan water supply, groundwater in afghanistan, kabul river water.

Refuse fouls the Kabul River as it flows through Afghanistan's capital city. (Photo by Stefan in Kabul) Retrieved from: ENS.com

“In Afghanistan’s Kabul Basin, at least half the shallow drinking water wells supplied by groundwater are likely to become dry or inoperative within 50 years as a result of climate change, according to new research by U.S. and Afghan scientists.

“A combination of higher temperatures due to global warming and the increasing demands of a larger population is predicted to stress the basin’s water.

“These are the findings of a new study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration with the Afghanistan Geological Survey, a division of the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines, and the Afghanistan Ministry of Energy and Water.

“Training with USGS scientists has helped our engineers to modernize their skills and improve their capabilities,” said Afghanistan Geological Survey Director Mohammed Omar. “Our engineers are using these improvements as they monitor groundwater levels and water quality in the Kabul Basin.”

Thirsty Pakistan gasps for water solutions

Published on 06/18/2010 in climate change, contaminated water, dams, drought, policy, rivers and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: india and pakistan water war, indus river, pakistan water, world water supply.

Karachi, Pakistan, water, Adam Ferguson, urbanization, development, growth

KARACHI: Sewage pours into a storm drain that runs directly to the sea from Lyari District. Amidst accusations of only appointing political supporters to the water board, Mayor Kamal has spent nearly half a billion dollars on water and sewer projects. Retrieved from: Time.com

“Pakistan is facing a “raging“ water crisis that if managed poorly could mean Pakistan would run out of water in several decades, experts say, leading to mass starvation and possibly war.

“The reliance on a single river basin, one of the most inefficient agricultural systems in world, climate change and a lack of a coherent water policy means that as Pakistan’s population expands, its ability to feed it is shrinking.

“Pakistan faces a raging water crisis,” said Michael Kugelman, program associate for South and Southeast Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

“It has some of the lowest per capita water availability in Asia, and in the world as a whole.”

Vital River Is Withering, and Iraq Has No Answer

Published on 06/14/2010 in contaminated water, drought, rivers and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: iraq and water, Mesopotamia water rights, Shatt al-Arab, tigris and euphrates water rights.

Rubbish fills a fetid canal in Basra. Photo: Holly Pickett/The New York Times

“The Shatt al-Arab, the river that flows from the biblical site of the Garden of Eden to the Persian Gulf, has turned into an environmental and economic disaster that Iraq’s newly democratic government is almost powerless to fix.

“Withered by decades of dictatorial mismanagement and then neglect, by drought and the thirst of Iraq’s neighbours, the river formed by the convergence of the Tigris and the Euphrates no longer has the strength to keep the sea at bay.

“Last year, for the first time in memory, saltwater extended beyond Basra, Iraq’s biggest port city, and even Qurna, where the two rivers meet. It has ravaged freshwater fisheries, livestock, crops and groves of date palms that once made the area famous, forcing the migration of tens of thousands of farmers.”

Water Pressure

Published on 06/13/2010 in climate change, contaminated water, dams, drought, groundwater, rainwater harvesting, solutions and outreach and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: africa, Europe, india, rainwater harvesting, water supply.

Photo: Ethiopian boy drinks water

Drawing deep from a new well, Soti Sotiar is among a lucky few: the 10 to 20 percent of rural Ethiopians with access to clean drinking water. Photograph by Peter Essick

“Among the environmental specters confronting humanity in the 21st century—global warming, the destruction of rain forests, overfishing of the oceans—a shortage of fresh water is at the top of the list, particularly in the developing world. Hardly a month passes without a new study making another alarming prediction, further deepening concern over what a World Bank expert calls the “grim arithmetic of water.” Recently the United Nations said that 2.7 billion people would face severe water shortages by 2025 if consumption continues at current rates. Fears about a parched future arise from a projected growth of world population from more than six billion today to an estimated nine billion in 2050. Yet the amount of fresh water on Earth is not increasing. Nearly 97 percent of the planet’s water is salt water in seas and oceans. Close to 2 percent of Earth’s water is frozen in polar ice sheets and glaciers, and a fraction of one percent is available for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use.”

“Gloomy water news, however, is not just a thing of the future: Today an estimated 1.2 billion people drink unclean water, and about 2.5 billion lack proper toilets or sewerage systems. More than five million people die each year from water-related diseases such as cholera and dysentery. All over the globe farmers and municipalities are pumping water out of the ground faster than it can be replenished.”

“Still, as I discovered on a two-month trip to Africa, India, and Spain, a host of individuals, organizations, and businesses are working to solve water’s dismal arithmetic. Some are reviving ancient techniques such as rainwater harvesting, and others are using 21st-century technology. But all have two things in common: a desire to obtain maximum efficiency from every drop of water and a belief in using local solutions and free market incentives in their conservation campaigns.”

Baghdad Urged to Tackle Water Crisis

Published on 06/11/2010 in drought, policy, rivers and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: iran and water, iraq and water, syria and water, tigris and euphrates water rights, water rights in iraq.

The Euphrates River at Dayr az Zwar, Syria, near the Syria-Iraq border (Photo by Shay Haas)

“Iraqis are calling on their incoming government to devote more energy to resolving the country’s chronic water problems, with some experts stating that water will be more important than oil in the long-term development of the country.

“Even as recent rains have brought some relief to drought-stricken Iraq, the historic problem of water scarcity has forced tens of thousands of rural Iraqis from their homes.

“The government estimates that nearly two million people face severe drinking water shortages and extremely limited electricity due to hydropower shortage.

“Meanwhile, diplomatic tensions are running high as promises from upriver counties such as Turkey, Syria and Iran to allow more water into Iraq appear not to have been met.

“This week, Foreign Minister Hoshiar Zebari denounced a plan by Syria to divert water from the Tigris River to irrigate some 200,000 acres of land as detrimental to Iraq’s future water supply.

An Iraqi boy collects water in a camp for displaced persons at Gardasin, about 260 miles northwest of Baghdad. April 2010. (Photo courtesy UN High Commission for Refugees)

“A UNESCO report found that 100,000 Iraqis have fled their native communities since 2005 due to water shortages.

“Another United Nations report claims the water levels in the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, Iraq’s primary sources of water, have fallen by more than two-thirds. The report cautioned that the vital lifelines could completely dry up by 2040.

“At the current rates, Iraq’s water supply will fall an estimated 43 billion cubic metres by 2015, far short of the 77 cubic metres that the country will need to avert a widespread humanitarian disaster,” the UN report states.

“According to UN research, “Inefficient irrigation, lack of government coordination and weak capacity to manage the resource has compounded the current shortage of water.”

No current water crisis, but warning bells must be heeded, department concedes

Published on 06/04/2010 in climate change, drought and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: climate change, Water Security Seminar, water use.

South African boy drinks clean water. “Department of Water and Environmental Affairs water services chief director Helgard Muller has conceded that there are serious issues surrounding the efficient use of water and, if these are not tackled, “we are heading for a crisis in certain systems”.”

““However, I would not call it a national crisis,” said Muller during the United Association of South Africa (UASA) Water Security seminar, held last month in Johannesburg.”

“University of Pretoria department of geography, geoinformatics and meteorology head Professor Hannes Rautenbach said that climate change in South Africa was a reality in terms of temperature, but not so much in terms of the amount of rainfall a year.”

““However, it seems that the seasons are shifting with the result that summer rain- fall seasons may in future be shorter and winter rainfall seasons longer. This means that excellent planning is needed to prevent possible water shortages during dry spells in future,” Rautenbach said.”

“UASA CEO Koos Bezuidenhout concurred that South Africa was facing a serious water situation.”

““With this conference, we aim to signal the start of a loyal resistance programme and not [one of] confrontation, but of earnest cooperation with the authorities to solve the country’s water problems,” said Bezuidenhout.”

China-India Water Shortage Means Coca-Cola Joins Intel in Fight

Published on 06/02/2010 in contaminated water, dams, drought, rivers and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: China water, Coca Cola and water, contaminated water, India water, Intel and water, water intensive industries, world water supply.

“A fight breaks out as student Vikas Dagar jostles with dozens of men, women and children to fill buckets from a truck that brings water twice a week to the village of Jharoda Kalan on the outskirts of New Delhi.

“Three thousand kilometers (1,900 miles) away, near Xi’an in central China, power-plant worker Zhou Jie stands on the mostly dry bed of the Wei River, remembering when he used to fish there before pollution made the catch inedible.

“Dagar and Zhou show the daily struggle with tainted or inadequate water in India and China, a growing shortage that the World Bank says will hamper growth in the world’s fastest- growing major economies. It also is pitting water-intensive businesses such as Intel Corp.’s China unit and bottling plants of Coca-Cola Co.against growing urban use and the 1.6 billion people in China and India who rely on farming for a living.

“Water will become the next big power, not only in China but the whole world,” Li Haifeng, vice president at sewage- treatment company Beijing Enterprises Water Group Ltd., said in a telephone interview. “Wars may start over the scarcity of water.”

Scottish national park chief raises prospect of water exports

Published on 06/01/2010 in climate change, dams and drought. 0 Comments

Low water levels at Scammonden dam, West Yorkshire in summer 2003.

“Chairman of Scottish tourism agency says abundant water resources could be sold to England if climate change pushes up cost and supply.

“Scotland could export millions of gallons of water to drought-stricken parts of England if climate change pushes up the cost and scarcity of water, the head of a national park has predicted.

“The country’s abundant water resources would become crucial if supplies in England come under intense pressure in future decades, said Mike Cantlay, the convenor of Loch Lomond national park and chairman of the tourism agency VisitScotland. It could then be sold, he added.

“I think that Scotland’s water has enormous potential, and the point is approaching where we will have to have a really good look at Scotland’s inland waters and its total potential,” Cantlay said.

“Proposals for the mass transport of water across the UK using a national “water grid” have been studied closely by bodies such as the Environment Agency and engineering organisations but ruled out on the grounds of cost and practicality.”