Archive for the 'hydrology' Category

Suffocating The Desert: L.A.’s Need for Water Hurts Others

Published on 05/10/2013 in erosion, hydrology, lakes, management and policy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.kcet.org

“The skin of the desert has been peeled away. It is aloft, and it chokes those of us who breathe here. Each scrape from each stray plow or dozer, each square foot of exposed lakebed with the water siphoned off, each section of desert deemed to be more useful as a blank square mile ends up as dust in the air. It hangs in our skies. It collects in our lungs. It kills us by increment, and someone else benefits.

My life has been shortened by living here. I have been sick. For the past eight months I have mostly woken in coughing fits. My abdominal muscles ache from it. My body heals itself as best it can, but the slightest cold, the slightest cloud of vapor from a gas pump that would cause a short moment of choking before I moved here, and I’m off again for weeks. It doesn’t take much dust. One day in a month, perhaps, of the blue sky replaced by khaki and that sick metallic, greasy smell is all it takes.

You might come visit for a weekend at a time and never see the dust. You might never get the feeling in running your fingers through your hair that they come away coated in talcum and static electricity. You might never find yourself wondering if that trip to the grocery store might cost you a day’s work in lung spasms.

Stay here for more than a couple weeks and you will know the feeling.

Dust was in court last week, or at least dust’s advocates at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) were in court, hearing their lawsuit against the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District get thrown out on a technicality. LADWP is concerned that taking action to keep alkaline dust from blowing off the Owens Lake bed, which it dried out by stages over the last century, would be — in words LADWP uses over and over again — ” “a waste of water.”

Read more: KCET

 

lily victoria

Can Jakarta ever root out the problems that cause so much destruction after every monsoon season?

Published on 02/19/2013 in climate change, contaminated water, displacement of people, floods, greenwashing, hydrology, management, policy, rivers, wastewater and waterborne diseases. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.inquirer.net

“Jakarta, Indonesia, is one of Asia’s most flood-prone cities. Every year hundreds of thousands of citizens living in the capital of Southeast Asia’s largest economy brace for the loss of business, shelter and livelihoods.

Each year, as the rainy season approaches, the authorities insist they are ready to counter the tides of brown murky water, trash, and even animals, surging downstream. But the annual city-wide submergence continues.

This year’s sustained downpour threatens to prompt the kind of flooding not seen since 2007 when 350,000 people were evacuated from water-logged areas and dozens were killed. Already, at least 100,000 people have been affected. Army personnel have been deployed to some of the city’s poorest parts to clean up – a process likely to take weeks, if not months.

Asia’s monsoon season prompts annual debate about the state of infrastructure and the fundamental mismanagement of vital systems meant to keep some of the world’s biggest cities moving. With a population of 10 million, Jakarta’s latest battle to stem the tide highlights a deeper political and social problem: The government’s inability to remove and rehabilitate low-lying slum areas; an unwillingness on part of thousands of poor people to leave dangerous areas despite the risk to themselves and their families; and the overwhelming problem of waste and dumping, often cited as the biggest hindrance to keeping Indonesia “flood-free”.

Indonesia faces a formidable challenge: The country’s economy is growing at breakneck speed, its population is rising and the pressures on its decaying systems are mounting. The World Bank has stepped in to help save what it describes as a “sinking city”, due to rising sea levels, trash and annual rain. To dig the city out of its mess, the World Bank has invested $200 million to dredge parts of Jakarta.”

Read more: Aljazeera

 

lily victoria

NASA images reveal Middle East water woes

Published on 02/18/2013 in aquifer overdraft, groundwater, hydrology, peak water, policy, rivers, tap water, water rights, water shortage and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.aljazeera.com

“Pictures taken by NASA satellites reveal an alarming loss of freshwater in the Middle East.

Two important rivers are disappearing, and if they vanish millions of people will be affected.

In just seven years, 144 cubic kilometres of water has been lost.

Al Jazeera’s Gerald Tan explains.”

Read more: Aljazeera

 

lily victoria

Paiute Indians Help Map the History of the L.A. Aqueduct

Published on 02/16/2013 in aquatic ecosystems, displacement of people, hydrology, land grabs, management, policy, rivers, tap water, water diversions, water grabs and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.thecaliforniareport.org

“Working on a documentary project in the Owens Valley on land owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) can be a little dicey. A truck zooms by as UC Berkeley scholar Jenna Cavelle and Paiute elder Harry Williams begin one of their mapping expeditions.

“Is this DWP land?” Cavelle asks Williams. “’Cause they’re right there, looking at us.”

DWP is aware of the project, but the two haven’t asked permission to make trips onto department property. Still, Cavelle feels generally secure when she’s with Williams because of a sanctuary agreement between DWP and the natives that allows them to come onto the land.

“This is our homeland. Kick me off, you’re gonna have to drag me,” Williams remarks.

The water wars that drained the Owens Valley 100 years ago to feed the Los Angeles aqueduct are today the stuff of literary and cinematic legend. But the Paiute story has been left out of the tellings. Before the arrival of white settlers, this tribe had a sophisticated water system of their own. This year marks the centennial anniversary of the aqueduct’s construction, and Cavelle and Williams are working to uncover this lost part of California’s water history.”

Read more: The California Report

 

lily victoria

Nigeria: UN Unveils Platform for Global Water Management

Published on 02/14/2013 in agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, climate change, contaminated water, displacement of people, drought, groundwater, hydrology, management, peak water, policy, privatization, rivers, tap water, water conservation, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.asme.org

“Each year brings new pressures on water. One-third of the world’s people already live in countries with moderate to high water stress. Competition is growing between farmers and herders; industry and agriculture; town and country. Upstream and downstream, and across borders, we need to cooperate for the benefit of all – now and in the future,” “he added.

The General Assembly proclaimed 2013 International Year for Water Cooperation in 2010, following a proposal from Tajikistan. The Year will serve to raise awareness and prompt action on the multiple dimensions of water cooperation, such as sustainable and economic development, climate change and food security.

“Over-exploitation, management, financing of water resources, all of these aspects are incredibly important and cooperation at different levels is therefore critical,” UNESCO Science Specialist Ms. Ana Persic, said during a media briefing to mark the start of the Year at UN Headquarters in New York, USA.

Persic added that the benefits of intensifying cooperation include poverty reduction, equity, economic growth, and the protection of the environment.” “We know water is critical for human life, but it is also critical for life on Earth if we want to protect and sustainably manage the planet we have.”

Read more: All Africa

 

lily victoria

Power-Hungry Brazil Builds Dams, and More Dams, Across the Amazon

Published on 02/11/2013 in aquatic ecosystems, dams, energy, hydrology, hydropower, policy, rivers and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“When it is completed in 2015, the Jirau hydroelectric dam will span five miles across the Madeira River, feature more giant turbines than any other dam in the world and hold as much concrete as 47 towers the size of the Empire State Building.

And then there are the power lines, draped along 1,400 miles of forests and fields to carry electricity from here in the center of South America to Brazil’s urban nerve center, Sao Paulo.

Still, it won’t be enough.

The dam and the Santo Antonio complex that is being built a few miles downstream will provide just 5 percent of what government energy planners say the country will need in the next 10 years. So Brazil is building more dams, many more, courting controversy by locating the vast majority of them in the world’s largest and most biodiverse forest.”

“The investment to build these plants is very high, and they are to be put in a region which is an icon for environmental preservation, the Amazon,” said Paulo Domingues, energy planning director for the Ministry of Mines and Energy. “So that has worldwide repercussions.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

lily victoria

PAYA: The Untold Story of the LA-Owens Valley Water War

Published on 02/06/2013 in hydrology, land grabs, management, policy, privatization, rivers, tap water, water diversions, water grabs, water rights and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.aqueductfutures.wordpress.com

“Jenna Cavelle, an adventurer, blogger and journalist, photographer, and now conservation and resource studies researcher at Berkeley, is making a film about the Paiute’s use of water in Owens Valley.  From her bio at Peakwater.org (which she co-founded):

Jenna works with members of the Paiute Indian community of California on a project that combines education, outreach, and technology to restore cultural memory associated with their ancient irrigation systems. These waterworks are currently in danger of being lost in the Owens Valley landscape through weathering and neglect. In addition, knowledge of the waterworks is also fading from American memory through the loss of culturally transmitted traditional knowledge. Through community engagement, she works with tribal members to document Paiute irrigation networks and their role in shaping Paiute culture. While her project has real bearing on tribal customs and interests, it also informs larger local and regional communities through education and museum exhibits.

For a full description of the film/project, check out her Kickstart.com page: PAYA: The Untold Story of the LA-Owens Valley Water War.”

Read more: Aqueduct Futures

lily victoria

Evaporation from California Irrigation Adds Enough Water to Colorado River to Supply 3 Million People

Published on 02/01/2013 in agriculture, hydrology and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

California Central Valley Project delta irrigation colorado river water supply

Retrieved from: Circle of blue

“California’s Central Valley is an agricultural machine. The valley, which accounts for one-sixth of irrigated lands in the United States, produced crops worth $US 21 billion in 2007, according to the most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture, a comprehensive analysis of U.S. agricultural production.

“Irrigation in the Central Valley also generates an important, less visible export: water vapor. Through evaporation, that water vapor, once aloft, is a significant source of summer precipitation and streamflow hundreds of kilometers away in one of the nation’s most water-scarce river basins, adding enough water each year to the Colorado River to cover the daily needs of 3 million people, according to startling and intriguing climate-modeling research from scientists at the University of California, Irvine, and National Taiwan University.

“The study sheds light on a vital but poorly understood component of the water cycle, providing a first estimate for how irrigation in one region can still affect the water balance of a distant, geographically disconnected river system. According to the study, evaporation from Central Valley irrigation increases the summer flow of the Colorado River by 28 percent — or 400 million cubic meters (325,000 acre-feet) — compared to having no irrigation at all. In the Four Corners region, the effect is even more pronounced, increasing summer flows by 56 percent.”

Read more: Circle of Blue

sammykayed

Las Vegas Accused of Engineering Massive Water Grab: Is This the Future of the West?

Published on 01/30/2013 in climate change, dams, groundwater, hydrology, lakes, peak water, policy, rivers, tap water, water diversions, water grabs and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.alternet.org

“When groundwater reserves ran low in the 1940s, the region turned to Lake Mead. Today, the Las Vegas area gets 90 percent of its water from the no-longer-very-mighty Colorado River as it is corralled behind Hoover Dam in Lake Mead. And now that’s threatened. A new federal study released in December found that the over-allocated Colorado River will be further stretched by climate change, drought and climbing populations. By 2060, the river will be short of what its dependents in seven U.S. states need by 3.2 million acre-feet a year. (An acre-foot of water is roughly enough for one suburban family per year.)

So what’s a city — or really, its water manager — to do? A smart gambler wouldn’t bet on the Colorado.

SNWA is in the midst of an $800 million project to insert another “straw” into Lake Mead. This is the third intake pipe built for the lake — the last two proved not deep enough to keep up with the lake’s falling levels. But this is just part of the plan. Another part comes with a bigger pricetag — estimated as high as $15 billion — and involves building hundreds of miles of water pipelines and related infrastructure to tap water from four rural valleys in eastern Nevada’s White Pine and Lincoln counties.”

Read more: Alternet

lily victoria

Domesticating the Nu? China’s New Leaders Face Big Hydro’s Policy Hazards

Published on 01/29/2013 in aquatic ecosystems, climate change, coal, dams, displacement of people, energy, floods, hydrology, hydropower, management, policy, rivers and uncategorized. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from www.guardian.co.uk

Domesticating the Nu? China’s New Leaders Face Big Hydro’s Policy Hazards

by Miles Ten Brinke

Miles, Peak Water columnist and avowed Hydrophilic energy-head, has found his way to Britain where he’s lost his California perma-tan and is studying an Energy Policy MSc at the University of Exeter on a Fulbright.

In this post I’ll revisit a fascinating subject already covered by Peak Water- the Chinese State Council decision to reopen hydroelectric dam development on the Nu river. As will likely often be the case, the coverage I’ve followed most closely on the subject is the Environment coverage of the Guardian and Peak Water’s news aggregation-perfect time for a Lily Victoria shout-out, fantastic work!

This is a particularly exemplary case of the essential tension of policymaking- here, between hydroelectric dam building-as-development and mitigation strategy on the one hand and the potentially devastating socioenvironmental impacts of such massive engineering projects on the other. Government environmental authorities here make the argument that new hydro development across China can help to offset the countries increasing reliance not just on a high proportion of coal in its energy mix but as the fastest growing component and to secure its supply of energy with domestic sources. It is true that this will be one of the greatest challenges in energy, that is the decarbonization of China, in the coming decades. As the economy continues to develop and its middle class grows, so too may demand rise exponentially. Efficiency and overall demand side management in China’s going to be essential, its not inevitable. From the sometimes crude calculation standpoint of policy, this dam building is only justified if the benefits outweigh the damage done. There is an increasing body of evidence that the 2008 Szechwan earthquake which killed 80,000 people may have been caused by the weight of water in the Zipingpu Dam reservoir. A coalition of actors has ensured since 2005 that the efforts have been forestalled. These included the scientists concerned with the southwest’s frequent seismic activity and NGOs dedicated to preserving the river’s biodiversity and indigenous cultures. In fact, that year, Premier Wen Jiabao joined these efforts as he imposed a moratorium on dam building citing geological and ecological concerns. Environmental policy saw its stock rise during the tenure of the last leadership, a greater priority for the public and in a more limited fashion the government. Since the leadership change however, it seems this coalition may be overtaken by a more traditional approach with devastating socioenvironmental costs increasingly ignored or obfuscated.

The 2011-2015 energy sector blueprint calls for 60 new hydro projects. In energy policy analysis we often talk about the degree of centralization of both an energy technology system and the policies which underpin it. Though there are examples to the contrary, hydro-electric dams tend towards titanic civil engineering feats of power and water resource concentration. They lend themselves to a technocratic (as opposed to more open, democratic alternatives) approach to resource management, one historically utilized by policymakers the world over. This is especially so in a state bureaucracy empowered by one-party rule. A return to a stronger technocracy and big hydro seems increasingly likely.

Time will tell the veracity of this assessment.

~ Miles on Water

 

 

milesonwater