Archive for the 'peak water' Category

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Defense and Security Companies Are Planning to Cash in on Climate Change and Environmental Collapse

Published on 12/31/2012 in climate change, hydrology, oceans, peak water, policy, rivers, tap water, tar sands, water conservation and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.energydigital.com

“It is not just the coercive industries that are positioning themselves to profit from fears about the future. The commodities upon which life depends are being woven into new security narratives based on fears about scarcity, overpopulation and inequality. Increasing importance is attached to ‘food security’, ‘energy security’, ‘water security’ and so on, with little analysis of exactly what is being secured for whom, and at whose expense? But when perceived food insecurity in South Korea and Saudi Arabia is fuelling land grabs and exploitation in Africa, and rising food prices are causing widespread social unrest, alarm bells should be ringing.

The climate security discourse takes these outcomes for granted. It is predicated on winners and losers – the secure and the damned – and based on a vision of ‘security’ so warped by the ‘war on terror’ that it essentially envisages disposable people in place of the international solidarity so obviously required to face the future in a just and collaborative way.

To confront this ever creeping securitisation of our future, we must of course continue to fight to end our fossil fuel addiction as urgently as possible, joining movements like those fighting tar sands developments in North America and forming broad civic alliances that pressure towns, states and governments to transition their economies to a low-carbon footing. We can not stop climate change – it is already happening – but we can still prevent the worst effects.”

Read more: Alternet

lily victoria

Colorado River Water Report Released In Vegas

Published on 12/15/2012 in hydrology, peak water, policy, rivers and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.ivn.us

“LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rising demand and falling supply have water managers in the arid West projecting that the Colorado River won’t be able to meet the demands over the next 50 years of a population of 40 million people and growing.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday issued what he termed “a call to action” along with a three-year study of the river, its flows and its ability to meet the future needs of city-dwellers, Native Americans, businesses, ranchers and farmers in seven Western states.

The study found the population in the West could double, while today’s drought-stricken Colorado River is expected to only recover about 85 percent of its historic flows.

“We are in a troubling trajectory in the Colorado River basin, as well as the Rio Grande basin,” Salazar told reporters on a conference call outlining the math in the findings of the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study.”

Read more: NPR

 

lily victoria

Global water crisis: Seen from the first Himalayan glacial trickle

Published on 12/02/2012 in glaciers, peak water and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Opits link fest

“In the Nepalese Himalayas in 2009, I trekked into the Langtang Valley, just short of the Tibetan border, and to a village of empty plywood cabins. The arrival of the summer monsoon season had chased the trekkers away.

“Just uphill was a Buddhist temple and, behind it, a wrinkled sea of gray ice reached up the steep mountain walls into the clouds – the Langtang Lirung glacier, one of thousands that make up the largest body of ice outside the poles. In the winter, these glaciers capture precipitation that melts off in warmer months to feed the Ganges,Indus, and Brahmaputra rivers – and 1.5 billion people in eight countries who depend on them.

“Villagers talked of the arrival of mosquitoes – heralds of warmer summers and milder winters. The accelerated glacial melt is expected to increase floods in countries downstream over coming decades; earlier melts can reduce water when it’s needed most.

“In the long run, says Madhav Karki, director of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, the rivers themselves may become seasonal, with potentially profound effects on the countries below.”

Read more: Yahoo

sammykayed

A Global Treaty on Rivers: Key to True Water Security

Published on 11/19/2012 in dams, peak water, policy, rivers, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.wwfpanda.org

“Back in 1997, the UN adopted the Convention on the Non-Navigable Uses of International Watercourses. It did not lay down hard and fast rules for sharing waters, but it was a statement of principle that nations should ensure the “sustainable and equitable use of shared rivers.”

Only three countries voted against: China, Turkey and Burundi — all of them upstream countries on major rivers. China is the water tower of Asia. Its Tibetan plateau is the source of the Indus, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, and Mekong rivers. But in refusing to sign the treaty, China asserted that it had “indisputable territorial sovereignty over those parts of international watercourses that flow through its territory.”

To come into force, the treaty required 35 nations to ratify it in their legislatures. To date only 28 countries have done so. Other refuseniks include the U.S. and Britain, an original sponsor of the treaty. But the momentum for ratification is picking up. Eight of the 28 ratifiers did so in the last three years. France has become a cheerleader for the convention. Jean-Pierre Thebault, France’s environment ambassador, told a meeting I attended in Helsinki in September that he hoped enough nations would join for it to come into force in time for the UN’s International Year of Water Cooperation in 2013.”

Read more: Yale Environment 360

lily victoria

Africa: Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan Agree On Water Co-operation

Published on 11/13/2012 in peak water, policy, rivers and water conservation. 0 Comments Tags: .

Cairo. Photo retrieved from: www.africareview.com

“Addis Ababa — Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have agreed to resume their tripartite cooperation under the Eastern Nile Basin.

The three nations had devised a joint institutional framework and been working together on Nile waters conservation and utilization since 1999.

Water resources ministers of the three nations have endorsed a resolution by their technical experts for the resumption of the operations of the Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) which had not been functional for a period of time. Representatives of the Republic of South Sudan were also present during the agreement.

The Ministers also agreed on the occasion to discuss and approve in the near future South Sudan’s membership to ENTRO.

In a joint press briefing they gave after the meeting, the Ministers highlighted the pivotal role of the accord for conservation and utilization the Nile waters.”

Read more: All Africa

 

lily victoria

Water Security Conflicts: A Regional Perspective

Published on 10/31/2012 in dams, peak water, policy, rivers, water shortage, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: .

Karkamis dam. Retrieved from: www.power-technology.com

“Water scarcity has received a lot of attention over the last three decades. It has been predicted to be the source of future wars and many experts have publicly warned about the dangers of water scarcity as the main factor for armed conflict in the Middle East and Africa.  Despite the predictions by experts in this field, there is still no evidence that water or even food scarcity has been the single or most important cause for an interstate war.

It could be that the attention given to the issue at national, regional, and global levels produced initiatives to reduce this possibility. Another reason may be that the high costs of war in human lives and resources has made it less attractive while regional and bilateral cooperation proved more effective and less costly in addressing the issue.

Whatever the reasons behind water scarcity’s relatively low correlation with armed conflict, the combination of a water-related dispute with other conditions may fuel radicalization of national security objectives or interstate armed conflict.  Furthermore, a U.S. intelligence report on Global Water Security stated that water scarcity will become a source for failed states by 2023.[1]

Water scarcity is one of the major problems in the Area of Responsibility (AOR) of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), especially in the Middle East.  Water availability in these countries is among the lowest in the world.  As most water in the region is used for agricultural purposes,[2] its scarcity not only affects human consumption and domestic use but also brings the ensuing possibility of food scarcity and the potential for internal or regional conflict that comes with it.”

Read more: Small Wars Journal

lily victoria

Water Stress Hurting More Than 50% of Global Companies, CDP Says

Published on 10/23/2012 in peak water and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Blue marble

“Water stress affects more than half of the world’s largest listed companies, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project, which urged businesses to set targets and increase board oversight to manage a shrinking resource.

“In a 185-company survey, 53 percent suffered from water scarcity, flooding, rising compliance costs, regulatory uncertainty or poor water quality in the past five years, up from 38 percent last year, the CDP said today in a report.

“The survey coincides with the start of a two-day Bloomberg New Energy Finance water forum in San Diego, aimed at policy makers and energy-industry executives as water’s role in resources planning expands. Companies face pressure to devise water-management strategies as global usage climbs and droughts from Russia to the U.S. strain supply of a finite resource.

“While it is encouraging that their awareness of the commercial risks and opportunities associated with water is improving, progress in responding to them is varied and in many cases insufficient,” CDP Chief Executive Officer Paul Simpson wrote in the report. “We need to see greater corporate accountability through more transparency, concrete targets and goals, and board level oversight of water-related issues.”

Read more: Bloomberg

sammykayed

Rainwater structures vital to improve groundwater table

Published on 10/21/2012 in aquifer overdraft, groundwater, hydrology, peak water and rainwater harvesting. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.thehindu.com

“National Cadet Corps of 5th battalion took out a rally at Palayamkottai on Saturday to create awareness among the public on establishing rainwater harvesting structure in every house before the monsoon intensifies.

After being flagged off by Mohamed Sathick, Principal of Sathakkathullah Appa College in Palayamkottai, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Zakhir Hussein spoke on the need for creating rainwater harvesting structures in every house to save every drop of rainwater to improve the groundwater table. Around 150 rallyists from SAC and Christhuraja Higher Secondary School, after traversing Government Law College, District Court Complex, Bell Matriculation Higher Secondary School, reached the college premises again.

NCC Officer of SAC Lt. Syed Ali Basha and Sub. Selvaraj and Sub. Mohanan of 5th battalion and NCC Officer of Christhuraja Higher Secondary School Radhakrishnan had made arrangements for the rally.”

Read more: The Hindu

 

lily victoria

Egypt Is Prepared To Bomb All Ethiopia’s Nile Dams And Water Facilities

Published on 10/13/2012 in dam removal, dams, management, peak water and water rights. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

nile river

Retrieved from: Business Insider

“In 2010 Egypt discussed taking military action in cooperation with Sudan against Ethiopia to protect their stake in Nile River, according to internal emails from the U.S. private-security firm Stratfor.

“Egypt and Sudan get 90 percent of the river’s water under colonial-era accords while upstream countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia have been clamoring for a new deal during more than a decade of talks.

“Sudanese president Umar al-Bashir has agreed to allow the Egyptians to build an a small airbase in Kusti to accommodate Egyptian commandos who might be sent to Ethiopia to destroy water facilities on the Blue Nile… It will be their option if everything else fails.

“The Blue Nile, which begins in Ethiopia, contributes about 85 percent of the flow that passes through Egypt to the Mediterranean.

“Ethiopia became an even bigger threat a month after the Egyptian Revolution toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 when they announced new details about the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

“In April of this year Bradley Hope of the The National reported that construction had begun and that the massive project ”could destabilize Egypt in a way that would make the last year of political upheaval look minuscule.”

“It would lead to political, economic and social instability,”  Mohamed Nasr El Din Allam, Egypt’s minister of water and irrigation until early last year, told Hope. ”Millions of people would go hungry. There would be water shortages everywhere. It’s huge.”

Read more: Business Insider

sammykayed

Deconstructing Desal in Santa Cruz

Published on 10/10/2012 in desalination, groundwater, peak water, policy, rivers, tap water and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.santacruzsentinel.com

“Part 1: The basics of the desal debate

 

  • ‘Fresh-squeezed water’: Desalination debate raises financial, environmental and philosophical concerns: Laura Brown, the longtime former director of Soquel Creek Water District, is fond of repeating a quote often attributed to Mark Twain: “Whiskey is for drinking — water is for fighting over.” Read more

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  • Habitat protection, planning for population growth color desalination debate: The city predicts the number of people living within its water service area could rise 10 percent by 2030 from levels seen in 2010, a quarter of which could come from increased enrollment at UC Santa Cruz. Read more

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  • Water bills to skyrocket: Desalination plus capital projects equals big bucks: Water customers may want to start saving now. Ratepayers in the city of Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek Water District will pick up the tab for a $123 million regional seawater desalination plant if the controversial proposal is approved by voters and regulators in coming years. Read more“Read more: Santa Cruz Sentinel

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    lily victoria