Archive for the 'rivers' Category

World Bank Needs to Make Infrastructure Work for the Poor

Published on 05/22/2012 in contaminated water, dams, greenwashing, hydropower, mining, policy, rivers and waterborne diseases. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“Kikwit is a town of almost one million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Its inhabitants have no access to electricity. Because the water pumps are no longer working, they have no access to clean water either. In the 1990s, the town made news through an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, which was helped by the poor sanitary conditions.

Kikwit is not located at the end of the world. It lies underneath the power lines of the Inga dams on the mighty Congo River. Yet the electric current that hums overhead is not meant for poor people. It is exported to the mining companies in the southern Katanga province. Over the past decades, billions of dollars have been invested in the DRC’s power sector. They have created a stark energy divide: eighty-five percent of the country’s electricity is consumed by energy-intensive industries, while 94 percent of the population has no access to electricity.”

Read more: International Rivers

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Karuma dam in new saga

Published on 05/09/2012 in dams, hydropower, policy, rivers and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: .

Retrieved from: www.in2eastafrica.com

“Construction of the 660MW Karuma dam has once again courted controversy, with anonymous experts not only questioning the bidding process, but also the design of the project and the qualifications of the project manager.

According to two separate whistleblowers, these issues are likely to negatively affect the total cost , the power output, and lifespan of the dam. Once again, powerful politicians and businessmen are accused of having influenced project-related decisions – to serve their selfish interest. Information available to The Observer indicates Ugandan taxpayers are now in danger of losing billions of Shillings because of the poor quality work that is about to begin.

In one dossier, titled ‘Weaknesses in the Design of the Karuma Project’, experts question the exact location of the dam, the design of the water intake, the water losses and the operating water levels in the reservoir, among others. The dossier claims that the dam is set to be located in an area with rapids; this comes with more risks and higher costs of construction, yet more appropriate flat areas are available nearby.

Because the cofferdams (temporary water-tight enclosures that are pumped dry to expose the bottom of the river so that construction can take place) and the dam are both partially built at the same location, the highly technical dossier adds, it is impossible to build a permanent dam structure at this location. There are also fears that several aspects of the dam do not conform to international practices, like the spillway – a channel used for the controlled release of water downstream.”

Read more: The Observer

 

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Amid Brazil’s Rush to Develop, Workers Resist

Published on 05/07/2012 in dams, hydropower, policy, rivers, water diversions, water rights and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.libcom.org

“JACI PARANÁ, Brazil — The revolt here on the banks of the Madeira River, the Amazon’s largest tributary, flared after sunset. At the simmering end of a 26-day strike by 17,000 workers last month, a faction of laborers who were furious over wages and living conditions began setting fire to the construction site at the Jirau Dam.

Throughout the night, they burned more than 30 structures to the ground and looted company stores, capturing the mayhem on their own cellphone cameras, before firefighters extinguished the blazes. The authorities in Brasília flew in hundreds of troops from an elite force to quell the unrest.

Men in camouflage fatigues still patrol the sprawling work site, reflecting a dilemma for Brazil’s leaders. Even as they move to tap one of the world’s last great reserves of hydroelectric power, the Amazon basin, strikes and worker uprisings at the biggest projects are producing delays and cost overruns.

“No one burns anything if they’re satisfied,” said Altair Donizete de Oliveira, a union leader here in Brazil’s western frontier. He listed salaries, cramped living quarters and requests for more home visits among the grievances that were contributing to the festering tension among the laborers, who number in the tens of thousands at various work sites in the Amazon.”

Read more: International Rivers

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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 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.”

Read more: Green Prophet


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Salt Threatens Massive Mangrove Forest

Published on 05/05/2012 in agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, climate change, contaminated water, forests, hydrology, rivers and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“However, as a recent report by Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman warns, these mangroves are in trouble. They face rising temperature, rising seas, silt and pollution washing down from deforested areas in the Himalaya, and pressures from aquaculture activities around the Sundarbans.

They are also being assaulted by rising salinity, brought by the formerly fresh rivers and streams that feed them. As agriculture increases in the region, water levels drop, minerals accumulate, and salinity rises. Brackish water is also expanding underground.

“Predictions from Sundarbans territory show that salinity may be double over the next few decades posing risks for survival of flora in Sundarbans,” writes Rahman.

He continued, “Natural vegetations of such areas are being destructed causing major changes in landscapes and biodiversity. Destruction of remaining natural habitats in core areas, buffer zones and corridors are also occurring. Most of the coastal districts already face severe salinity problems, with saline water pushing up to 250 km inward during the dry season.”

According to Rahman, Sundari trees and nypa palms are declining, changing the makeup of the ecosystem.”

Read more: National Geographic

 

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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

 

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Fishermen Fire Shot in California Water Wars

Published on 05/03/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, management, policy, rivers, water diversions and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.city-journal.org

“California fishermen and crabbers call the federal decision to divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta “a charade devoid of any effective environmental review,” in Federal Court.
The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association sued the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation for violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Central Valley Project Improvement Act.
The 1,100-square mile Delta, formed by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, is the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast.
The fishermen object to the Bureau of Reclamation’s environmental assessment (EA) and the adoption of its Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), a “charade” necessary to deliver eight water service contracts in the next 2 years.
The groups claim the reports violate NEPA because they assume that Reclamation has no discretion to reject the contracts, reduce the quantity of water diverted from the Delta or increase the price of the contracts to force a reduction in water demand.”

Read more: Courthouse News Service

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Belo Monte Insurer Dropped from Sustainability Index

Published on 05/02/2012 in dams, forests, policy, riparian zone and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.latindispatch.com

“The construction of the Belo Monte dam in the Amazon region of Brazil has come under heavy criticism because of the impact the dam may have on the environment and local residents. Experts anticipate that it will have adverse effects on the Amazon rainforest, particularly on species diversity, and hence also on the livelihoods of the indigenous inhabitants. Due to its involvement in this project, Munich Re has been excluded from the Global Challenges Index (GCX). By agreeing to provide cover for the construction phase of the project, the reinsurer violated the GCX’s strict environmental regulations.

Investors in general have started to realize that large dams in the Amazon are so destructive, so high-risk, that even lavish public subsidies and huge insurance policies can’t cover up what is clearly a bad investment.  In fact, investments in massive dams such as Belo Monte may actually be drawing investment away from other sectors which could really benefit the public, reported this Bloomberg Markets Magazine story in April.

Investing in mega-dams in the Amazon is not only weakening Brazil’s standing as a player in international environmental sustainability and threatening the government’s compliance with international covenants such as ILO169.”

Read more: International Rivers

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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: , .

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.”

Read more: Yale Environment 360

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Energy industry works to recycle hydro-fracking waste water

Published on 05/01/2012 in contaminated water, fracking, groundwater, natural gas drilling, policy, rivers, tap water and wastewater. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.americanrecycler.com

“Energy executives fear that without addressing environmental concerns, fracking could be headed for a rapid demise. “France and Belgium have permanently banned it,” says Chris Faulkner, CEO of Breitling Oil & Gas, an independent exploration and production company located in Irving, Texas. “And it has everything to do with water.”

Two major water issues concern critics. “One is the chemicals that go down the well and the fear that they will contaminate ground water,” said Faulkner. “The other is the water that comes back up.” To address the first, companies like Breitling are trying to come up with new formulations of fracking chemicals that won’t pose the risk of harming the environment. Companies that treat water from fracking operations to make it reusable are now seeing their own boom, as energy producers try to reduce the costs and environmental impact of existing ways of handling water generated from fracking.

Recycling water from fracked wells makes sense on several levels, according to Warren Sumner, CEO of Omni Water Solutions, an Austin, Texas, company that has developed a system to recycle the water.” “Today the practice of disposing of water typically involves trucking it to a disposal well,” Sumner said. “There’s a lot of cost and collateral damage from that trucking process.”

Read more: American Recycler

 

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