Archive for the 'lakes' Category

MENA Changing Drastically & NASA Has The Pictures To Prove It

Published on 05/07/2012 in agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, climate change, contaminated water, dams, drought, groundwater, hydrology, lakes, oil, peak water, policy, rivers, tap water, water diversions, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: lake oroumeih, middle east water supplies.

“Lake shrinkage in Iran

Retrieved from: www.greenprophet.com

Left: August 1985. Right: August 2010.

Iran’s Lake Oroumeih (also spelled Urmia) is the largest lake in the Middle East and the third largest saltwater lake on Earth. But dams on feeder streams, expanded use of ground water, and a decades-long drought have reduced it to 60 percent of the size it was in the 1980s. Light blue tones in the 2010 image represent shallow water and salt deposits. Increased salinity has led to an absence of fish and habitat for migratory waterfowl. At the current rate, the lake will be completely dry by the end of 2013.

Urban Growth in Morocco

Retrieved from: www.greenprophet.com

Left: July 2, 1985. Right: June 24, 2011.

The Moroccan cities of Agadir, Inezgane and Tikiouine are close to the Atlantic coastline (seen in blue in the images), and stretch into the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. Agadir was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1960. Reconstruction has focused on tourism, turning this area into a winter destination. The 1985 image shows the area 25 years into the rebuilding. By 2011, the urban areas reach into the Sahara Desert. Growth has been influenced by the expanding fishing industry and modern commercial ports.”

China’s Looming Conflict Between Energy and Water

Published on 05/02/2012 in coal, contaminated water, groundwater, lakes, rivers, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: coal energy, Yangtze River.

Photo retrieved from: www.e360.yale.edu

“Yet, in expanding coal-industry bases in west China, one crucial challenge has so far received far less attention than it deserves: Coal-based industries are massively water-intensive (in fact, coal mining, coal-based power generation, and petrochemical processing together account for more than one-fifth of China’s total water usage). And much of western China is already short on water — think Gobi desert and camels, as opposed to Pearl River Delta rice paddies. “The west of China is an environmentally fragile area,” says Professor Wang Xiujun, who conducts research on climate and precipitation jointly for the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography and the University of Maryland. “There’s not much water to spare.”

When new industry comes to town, water is secured by tapping local lakes and rivers, pumping groundwater, and constructing reservoirs to capture rainwater, which diverts its normal flow and reabsorption into the soil. All three have unintended environmental consequences, says Sun Qingwei, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace China and a former government scientist based in western Gansu province.”

Algae blooms cause problems in state waters

Published on 04/23/2012 in contaminated water, invasive species, lakes, policy, rivers and wastewater. 0 Comments Tags: algae blooms.

Photo retrieved from: www.greenbaygazette.com

“Wisconsin is not fully enforcing strict phosphorus limits adopted two years ago to reduce lake-algae blooms that make people sick, a Gannett Wisconsin Media review has found.

That’s despite the state Department of Natural Resources secretary’s alarm at foul conditions in at least one Wisconsin lake last summer.

The state Legislature in 2010 approved DNR regulations intended to cut down on the amount of phosphorus running into waterways, where it causes algae to grow so thick that the water turns to green soup. The regulations are aimed at wastewater treatment plants, paper mills and factories — which are required to reapply for permits at five-year intervals.

But as of last week, only 19 permits with stricter limits have been issued since September 2010. The DNR still is evaluating applications from 201 municipal facilities and 155 industrial facilities, while hundreds more must apply for permits in the coming years.”

New Ballast Water Rule Targets Invasive Species

Published on 04/11/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, contaminated water, invasive species, lakes, management and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: ballast water, Coast Guard, EPA, Great Lakes, International Maritime Organization.

Retrieved from: seagrant.umn.edu

“Nearly a quarter-century has passed since an oceangoing ship from Europe docked somewhere in the Great Lakes and discharged ballast water carrying tiny but tenacious zebra mussel larvae from Europe.

“The filter-feeding mussels have since helped to upend the ecosystems of the Great Lakes, fouling beaches, promoting the growth of poisonous algae and decimating some native fish populations by eating the microscopic free-floating plant cells on which their food web depends.

“Yet it was not until last month that the Coast Guard issued a federal rule requiring oceangoing freighters entering American waters to install onboard treatment systems to filter and disinfect their ballast water. The regulation, which largely parallels a pending international standard and another planned by the Environmental Protection Agency, sets an upper limit on the concentration of organisms in the ballast water.

“Scientists have tracked at least 329 invaders in marine environments worldwide; ecosystems have been disrupted from the Great Lakes to San Francisco Bay, where the Asian clam is implicated in a collapse of fish stocks, to Lyttelton Harbor in New Zealand, where an invasive fanworm, a prodigious filter feeder, outcompetes local shellfish.

“The new standards from the Coast Guard, the E.P.A. and the International Maritime Organization are expected to spawn a booming global market in such technology, the firm says. Frost & Sullivan predicts that ballast-water management technologies and their corporate backers will compete for an estimated $35 billion in sales over the next decade as the rules take effect.”

Water Pollution Threatens Lake Victoria

Published on 04/08/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, contaminated water, lakes and species extinction. 0 Comments Tags: lake victoria, overfishing.

Photo retrieved from: www.african-cichild.com

“A study conducted by the ACCORD Tanzania has revealed that by 2048 there will be much less fish in the Lake Victoria. The study revealed that Nile Perch stocks went down from 750,000 tones during 2005 to 337,000 tones, in 2008. Tilapia also dropped from 27,061 tones to 24,811 tones over the same period.

The study also revealed that while there were over 400 fish species in Lake Victoria during 1920s, the number had dropped to almost zero with a few species available including Nile Perch (sangara), Tilapia (sato) and sardines (dagaa). “This is quite alarming and a joint effort is needed to safeguard the resources. There is over fishing and environmental pollution in Lake Victoria,” explained Mr Kasongi.

Experts say residents in the Lake Victoria Basin are in danger as a result of pollution of Lake Victoria and people are consuming contaminated fish.”

Water pollution at Lake Titicaca endangers South American communities

Published on 04/01/2012 in contaminated water and lakes. 0 Comments Tags: lake titicaca, urbanization.

Photo retrieved from: www.laketiticaca.org

“Lake Titicaca glows like a sapphire amidst the subtle shades of brown on the high Andean planes. It sits on the border of Peru and Bolivia, and the Inca considered the 3,200-square-mile lake the birthplace of mankind. The waters continue to support thousands of indigenous farmers and fishermen today.

But as cities in Titicaca’s watershed experience a sharp population increase, water contamination from growing urbanization becomes more acute, endangering the lake and those who depend on it.

Rivers of orange and red

The rapidly growing city of El Alto, Bolivia, is home to more than 1 million people, mostly low-income Aymara Indians from the countryside who migrate, seeking employment and education. As unplanned neighborhoods spread outward, the largest city in the Titicaca watershed struggles to provide basic services.”

Great Lakes Water Levels Bring Conflict For Michigan Residents

Published on 03/31/2012 in climate change, hydrology, lakes, peak water, policy, privatization, tap water, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: great lakes water conflict.

Photo retrieved from: www.coastwatch.edu

“In a scenario that might baffle onlookers from arid regions, people around the Great Lakes – the world’s most abundant freshwater system – are fighting over water. Complaints that levels are too high or too low are longstanding, but the debate is growing louder as a warming climate raises the specter of more dramatic changes.

Now, U.S. and Canadian officials are considering an audacious and costly effort to control the freshwater seas’ ups and downs in a way they never have before. A panel of scientists and engineers will release Wednesday a five-year study of options ranging from minor tinkering to a massive, $8 billion engineering project that would invite comparisons to the Panama Canal or the Hoover Dam.

The latter alternative would involve using dams or other structures to regulate flows between all five Great Lakes. It’s a long shot with few supporters but by including it in their report, the experts acknowledge it could gain traction if future water fluctuations become extreme.”

Are We Running Out of Water?

Published on 03/19/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, climate change, contaminated water, drought, groundwater, hydrology, lakes, oceans, peak water, rivers, tap water, water shortage and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: world rivers.

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“Early in 2001, the Rio Grande River failed to reach the Gulf of Mexico for the first time.

With that nefarious event the Rio Grande joined a growing list of once-mighty rivers that are running dry from overuse: the Colorado River in the U.S., the Yaqui in Mexico, the Indus in Pakistan, the Ganges in Bangladesh, the Yellow and Tarim in China, and the Murray in Australia, along with many other rivers large and small.

Not surprisingly, fisheries in these once-bountiful rivers have crashed. After all, fish do need water.

We’ve tapped underground water sources pretty heavily as well. The water level in the Ogallala Aquifer in the Midwestern U.S. has dropped more than 150 feet in some places, leaving many farmers’ wells bone dry.

As water is sucked out of aquifers, the overlying soil and rock can compact or collapse into the dewatered void, causing tall buildings to teeter in Mexico City, automobiles to tumble into sinkholes in Florida, or swallowing tourists on the fringes of the shriveling Dead Sea in Israel and Jordan.”

World Rivers Review: Dam Greenwashing Flows at World Water Forum

Published on 03/06/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, climate change, contaminated water, dams, displacement of people, drought, greenwashing, hydrology, hydropower, lakes, management, peak water, policy, privatization, rivers, solutions and outreach, tap water, water conservation, water diversions, water technology, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: HSAP, world commission on dams, world rivers review 2012, world water forum 2012.

Photo retrieved from: www.wash-united.org

“The stated goal of this year’s World Water Forum- the world’s largest meeting devoted to water- is to create solutions to the water, energy, and food challenges presented by climate change and economic growth. However some of the “solutions” being presented will do more to protect business-as-usual interests rather than spark innovative approaches to pressing water-related problems.

The sixth World Water Forum (this year in Marseille, France from March 12-17) is, like its predecessors, heavily weighted with corporate players, including many from the large dam industry, making pitches for large-scale projects and private-sector approaches.

One corporate “solution” on the agenda this year, the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP), proposes to replace the “best practice” recommendations of the World Commission on Dams with a voluntary, non-binding scorecard that allows dam builders to assess the social and environmental performance of each other’s projects.”

Dam proposal opens the floodgates of debate

Published on 03/04/2012 in dams, hydropower, lakes, policy and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: Poyang Lake, Yangtze River.

Photo retrieved from: www.usa.chinadaily.com

“In areas where rain is scarce it is common to see people storing water to get them through dry seasons.

Using the same principle, officials want to dam a major lake in Jiangxi province that has shrunk noticeably but their plan has run into opposition.

Their proposal to dam Poyang Lake took a major step forward this month when it won the backing of the Hydroelectricity Planning Institute.

Since 2008, the eastern Chinese province has strongly lobbied leaders in Beijing, lauding the project as a way to tackle drought as well as adjustments to the water flow caused by the massive Three Gorges Dam upstream.

But critics of the 10 billion yuan ($1.58 billion) plan say authorities have played down the potentially disastrous ecological impact that a dam might bring to China’s largest freshwater lake. It is also a crucial winter habitat for endangered migrating birds protected under international conventions.”