Archive for the 'floods' Category

Afghanistan: Flash Flood Kills At Least 27 In Northern Province

Published on 05/11/2012 in dams and floods. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.huffingtonpost.com

“KABUL, Afghanistan — A flash flood swept through villages in a mountainous area of northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 17 people, authorities said.

It was the second major flood reported this week in the north.

Abdul Jabar Taqwa, the governor of Takhar province, said flood waters broke through a dam early Friday, washed down a valley and damaged several villages in Ishkamish district.

“It was a very powerful flood. It hit around midnight,” Taqwa said. “Dozens of villages have been hit. I’m worried that the death toll will go up.”

Taqwa said 17 people were killed in the flooding. Earlier, the governor had received reports of 27 deaths.”

Read more: Huffington Post

 

lily victoria

It’s Raining, Again: Britain Endures Damp Drought

Published on 05/04/2012 in drought, floods, groundwater and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.wtop.com

“Sodden fields. Deep puddles. Flash floods. This is what drought looks like in Britain.

Last month, water authorities banned 20 million U.K. homeowners from using hoses to water their lawns or wash their cars, saying two exceptionally dry winters had plunged much of Britain into drought.

Since then, the rain has hardly let up. Official figures show that April was both cooler than average and the wettest in a century, leaving a trail of flooded properties, canceled events and grumpy residents.

But officials insist the drought and the watering ban remain — to the bafflement of many Britons.

In eastern England, Daniel Allen noted with irony that he’s been told he can’t water the lush foliage in the grounds of his riverside pub, the Rushbrooke Arms — “which is incredible as I had a river running through it yesterday.”

The River Lark usually runs past the thatched pub in Sicklesmere village as a trickle.”

Read more: NPR

 

lily victoria

Damming the Poor: It’s Time to Create River Parks for People

Published on 04/23/2012 in agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, dams, floods, greenwashing, hydropower, peak water, policy, privatization, rivers and water rights. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“In their free-flowing form, large rivers like the Tana are among the most productive, life-giving ecosystems on the planet.  These natural supermarkets continue to feed hundreds of millions of very poor people each and every day.

Many fish species wait for floods to swim out onto a river’s floodplain, where they spawn prolifically.  When a fish spawns on a floodplain, its offspring will have many advantages over other fish born in the river itself. The water spilling onto a floodplain during floods is enriched with nutrients, helping young fish to grow.  The drowned vegetation of the floodplain harbors a bounty of insects to feed upon, and provides places where newborn fish can hide from bigger fish and other predators.  Rivers with large numbers of floodplain-spawning fish produce far more fish for people to eat than those without floods and floodplains.”

Read more: National Geographic

 

lily victoria

Landslide Risk at Reservoir Cited in China

Published on 04/19/2012 in dam removal, dams, displacement of people, erosion and floods. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

“A growing threat of landslides on ground surrounding the massive Three Gorges Dam reservoir could force the government to relocate 100,000 more residents of the area, from which 46,000 were moved earlier, an expert with China’s land and resources ministry said this week.

“The dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project, has been a target of criticism by environmentalists and some geologists since before the reservoir began to inundate a long stretch of the Yangtze River, long regarded as one of the world’s scenic wonders, in 2003. A massive landslide occurred that year, followed by others, but only in 2007 did the government admit that the rising waters were causing instability and that a catastrophe could occur unless preventive steps were taken.

“Officials have recorded 430 landslides and nearly 2,900 smaller geological incidents along the lakeshore, and 5,386 other potentially dangerous sites are being monitored, Mr. Liu said.

“The government relocated 1.4 million people to build the dam and reservoir, which is comparatively narrow but longer than Lake Superior in North America. The latest proposed relocation would affect residents along hundreds of miles of twisting lakeshore from Jiangjin, in the Chongqing municipality, to the dam’s location at Yichang, in Hubei Province.”

Read More: nytimes

Chippie Kislik

Water Risk Threatens Businesses, National Security

Published on 04/10/2012 in climate change, displacement of people, drought, floods and management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Forbes

“One of climate change’s biggest impacts is on water systems. Unreliable water can impact both corporate bottom lines and jeopardize natural security, as two recent reports point out.

“Climate change is changing precipitation patterns and intensity, increasing the incidence of droughts, floods, and erosion. These changes are making water supply and quality more difficult to obtain, affecting runoff and soil moisture, increasing water temperatures, decreasing snowpack and lake and river ice, threatening fish and aquatic species, and allowing saltwater intrusion and sea level rise. These changes are difficult to plan for, as past water patterns can no longer be used to predict the future. That uncertainty is problematic for businesses and can cause political strife, but some states and regions are taking proactive steps to avoid water trouble and will therefore be more reliable places to do business.

“A recent report from the Natural Resources Defense Council ranked U.S. states based on how their governments are planning and preparing for the water–related impacts of a changing climate, including whether they have strategies to reduce the greenhouse gas pollution that contributes to climate change and whether they have adaptation plans for projected climate-related impacts. The report includes an interactive online map highlighting the unique water vulnerabilities each state faces and what each is doing — or not doing — to prepare. Climate modeling was drawn in part from a 2009 report (PDF) from the U.S. Global Change Research Program, but the NRDC report also considered state’s policies. It said:

“Some states are leading the way in preparing for water-related impacts with integrated and comprehensive preparedness plans that address all relevant water sectors and state agencies. Unfortunately, other states are lagging when it comes to consideration of potential climate change impacts — or have yet to formally address climate change preparedness at all.”

Read more: Forbes

sammykayed

Lake’s Deterioration Needs Urgent Attention

Published on 02/06/2012 in contaminated water, drought, floods, hydrology, lakes, management, policy and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Dongting Lake. Retrieved from: www.chinatourstravel.com

“The situation on Dongting Lake, once China’s largest freshwater lake, remains grim despite growing awareness on ecological conservation, a local environment official has warned.

“I often tell people that our mother lake is seriously ill and needs urgent attention,” said Zhao Qihong, director of the administration for East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve.

A number of factors are to blame, he said, with heavy pollution and intense human activities the two biggest culprits, while overexploitation and unscientific development has hastened the lake’s deterioration.

“There will always be a conflict between preservation and development,” Zhao said, explaining that many residents around the lake still rely heavily on its resources to make a living.

Extreme weather such as severe droughts and floods in recent years have also taken their toll on eco-diversity, while water projects on the Yangtze River may have led to changes in the water temperature and the lake’s flux.

Authorities have stepped up protection of the lake in recent years, he said, including ordering more than 200 polluting factories to close down. Government-led projects have also helped ‘land’ most all-year fishermen, who put a huge burden on fish stocks and whose number used to top 6,000.”

Read more: China Daily

lily victoria

Water grid bosses back doubts over dam story

Published on 02/06/2012 in dams, floods and management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Wivenhoe Dam strains to hold back flood water in January.

Retrieved from: Brisbane times

“The operators of Brisbane’s biggest dam may have waited two days longer than claimed to proceed to a key water release strategy in the lead-up to the city’s devastating flood, two senior water grid officials have told an inquiry.

“The flood commission, headed by Court of Appeal judge Catherine Holmes, is holding 11th hour hearings to test Seqwater’s assertions about when Wivenhoe Dam engineers moved to a “W3” strategy, which allows more rapid releases and prioritises the protection of urban areas such as Brisbane.

“Dam engineers have argued they moved directly from W1 – when low-lying rural bridges are prioritised – to W3 at 8am on Saturday, January 8, 2011, as required in the official dam manual.

“It is not in dispute that the most serious strategy, W4, was activated on Tuesday, January 11, when large amount of rainfall forced operators to massively ramp up releases from the dam.

“Thousands of homes were inundated when the Brisbane River flood peak occurred on the morning of Thursday, January 13.”

Read more: Brisbane times

sammykayed

Clean-ups begin as some Qld floodwaters fall

Published on 02/06/2012 in displacement of people and floods. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh examines the swollen Maranoa River near the flood affected town of St George.

Retrieved from: SMH

“As the first of the floodwaters begin to fall in southwest Queensland, clean-ups have started in Roma and Mitchell, but people in Charleville are still waiting for the all clear to return home.

“Maranoa mayor Robert Loughnan says while people have begun work on their homes in Roma and Mitchell, the situation in both towns is still ‘‘pretty diabolical’’.

‘‘Mitchell is in really bad shape, it’s a dreadful place at the moment,’’ he said.

“Mr Loughnan said the bridge into the town, which provides the only access at the moment, was not in good shape.

‘‘Main Roads are doing their best to clear up all of the debris and replace the side rails which have been badly damaged.’’Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts says hundreds of homes have been damaged and an initial inspection is underway.

‘‘So very significant damage and very significant dislocation to those individuals.’’Weather bureau hydrologist Chris Leahy said gauges at Roma and Mitchell had been damaged and could not be repaired until after the floods had passed.”

Read more: SMH

sammykayed

Super models – using maths to mitigate natural disasters

Published on 02/03/2012 in climate change, dams, floods, management and peak water. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

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Photo retrieved from: theConversation.edu.au

“Last year will go on record as one of significant natural disasters both in Australia and overseas. Indeed, the flooding of the Brisbane River in January is still making news as the Queensland floods inquiry investigates whether water released from Wivenhoe Dam was responsible. Water modelling is being used to answer the question: could modelling have avoided the problem in the first place?

This natural disaster – as well as the Japanese tsunami in Marchand the flooding in Bangkok in October – involved the movement of fluids: water, mud or both. And all had a human cost – displaced persons, the spread of disease, disrupted transport, disrupted businesses, broken infrastructure and damaged or destroyed homes. With the planet now housing 7 billion people, the potential for adverse humanitarian effects from natural disasters is greater than ever.

Here in CSIRO’s division of Mathematical and Information Sciences, we’ve been working with various government agencies (in Australia and China) to model the flow of flood waters and the debris they carry. Governments are starting to realise just how powerful computational modelling is for understanding and analysing natural disasters and how to plan for them.

“So how does it work?

Well, fluids such as sea water can be represented as billions of particles moving around, filling spaces, flowing downwards, interacting with objects and in turn being interacted upon. Or they can be visualised as a mesh of the fluids’ shape.”

Read more: The Conversation

Sami Oueida

Flooding and water scarcity ranked as top threat for UK

Published on 01/27/2012 in climate change, drought, floods and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Retrieved from: edieWater

“Water scarcity and flooding is likely to become the main problem for the UK in the future, which will need to adapt to increase its reliance, was the stark warning from the first comprehensive climate change risk study.

“As part of the assessment, 700 potential climate change impacts were investigated, with flooding ranked as the worst risk for the UK, closely followed by water shortages, soil erosion and prolonged heatwaves.

Flood risk is projected to increase significantly across the UK, with analysis for England and Wales showing unless plans to adapt to changing risks are implemented, that by the 2080s climate change and population growth could see damages to buildings and property reach between £2.1bn – £12bn, compared to current costs of £1.2bn.

Water quality is also predicted to be affected, as it depends on water volume and river flows to dilute pollutants. This, states the report is likely to increase water treatment costs and damage the local ecosystem.

“The CCRA also predicts increasing pressure on the UK’s water resources and warns that without action to improve water resources there could be major supply shortages by the 2050s in parts of the north, south and east of England, with the Thames River basin predicted to take the brunt of the drought.”

Read more: edieWater

Sami Oueida