Archive for the 'rivers' Category

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Salmon revival in sight as Elwha River dams fall in U.S. Northwest

Published on 04/29/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, dam removal, dams, displacement of people, hydrology, hydropower, policy, riparian zone, rivers and species extinction. 0 Comments Tags: elwha dam removal, indigenous communities, salmon.

Photo retrieved from: www.reuters.com

“The two dams, about 80 miles northwest of Seattle, blocked migratory routes of salmon and steelhead trout to some 70 miles of tributary habitat, in the process robbing Native Americans of income by halting a treaty-guaranteed reservation fishery.

The river teemed with thrashing pink salmon before the Elwha Dam was built to generate electricity for the nearby mill town of Port Angeles, with a current population of around 19,000, and later, to a naval shipyard in Bremerton, about 80 miles away.

The Elwha Dam’s removal, completed in late March, was hailed by Governor Christine Gregoire as a significant environmental milestone that “shows what happens, when against many odds, a river is restored to its natural beauty.”

Supporters of the dam’s destruction say the benefits to the environment of tearing it down outweigh the loss of its aging power-generating station.

The destruction of the Glines should be finished in about a year to 18 months, ending the biggest dam demolition in U.S. history.

The removal of the two dams – ordered by a 1992 law signed by then-President George H.W. Bush – is aimed at restoring the natural habitat of more than 300,000 salmon. Economic and environmental impact analyses delayed the project’s start.”

The Great Nile River War

Published on 04/29/2012 in peak water, policy, rivers, water diversions and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: nile river.

Photo retrieved from: www.dailyalert.org

“April 29, 2012: Ethiopia and Egypt, working through the AU (African Union), have asked Sudan and South Sudan to resume negotiations to end their war. Discussions have taken place in Ethiopia and Egypt. Since the time of the pharaohs Egypt has regarded Sudan as its backdoor. Ethiopia has remained nominally neutral in the Sudan-South Sudan War, but has cultural and historical connections with the people of South Sudan. Egypt is predominantly Muslim, as is Sudan, Ethiopia is predominantly Christian, as is South Sudan. Ethiopia and Egypt are both much more powerful than either of the Sudans. The nightmare scenario for an escalating East African war has Egypt aligning with Sudan and Ethiopia aligning with South Sudan. Call it The Great Nile River War, because Nile water issues play a huge role in Ethiopian and Egyptian strategic planning. Ethiopian and Egyptian leaders, however, know that war will have no winner. Cooler heads in Ethiopia and Egypt are trying to calm the hot heads in Sudan and South Sudan.

The government is expanding its blocking of hostile or opposition web sites. The website of a major opposition newspaper, the The Reporter, has been blocked, by the state-owned communications company, for a week.

April 27, 2012: Oromo rebels claimed that Ethiopian security forces killed four Oromo civilians and wounded eight in an incident in the town of Hassasa.

Warm Spring May Mean Drought and Wildfires in West

Published on 04/27/2012 in climate change, displacement of people, drought, hydrology, rivers and tap water. 0 Comments Tags: u.s. drought.

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“On April 10th, 61 percent of the lower 48 states were listed by the U.S. Drought Monitor to be in abnormally dry or drought conditions. And the Southwest, which largely relies on ice melt into the Colorado River Basin from the Rocky Mountains and previous years’ melt stored in the Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs for its water supply, is poised for a dry, hot summer, because those areas received less than 70 percent of the average snowfall according to the USDA National Water & Climate Center.

These reservoirs are already at only 64 percent capacity following a decade-long drought from 2000 to 2010. And the possibility of more drought years to come is raising concerns over how to manage a river of which every drop (and then some) is now allocated to some use.

Drought, however, may be only one factor in the drying up of the Colorado River Basin. To assess the vulnerabilities of the watershed and consider how water supply and demand might change in the coming years, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has embarked on a study of the Colorado River Basin to be released this July. An interim report shows that current water use outstrips the supply and projected demand for water could be greater than the projected supply by more than 3.5 million acre-feet within 50 years, particularly when the effects of climate change are included.”

The Water Fight That Inspired ‘Chinatown’

Published on 04/25/2012 in agriculture, dams, greenwashing, hydrology, policy, privatization, rivers, tap water, water diversions and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: owens river, owens valley, paiute indians, st. francis dam, the los angeles department of water and power.

William Mulholland. Photo retrieved from: www.nytimes.com

“When 95 percent of the water rights along the river were in the hands of Mulholland’s department, an aqueduct some 233 miles long was built to take the water to the city. But because the amount that was flowing to Los Angeles was more than it could use, Owens Valley water soon made the San Fernando Valley bloom and enriched inside investors who were champions of Mulholland’s plans. (The relevant line from the movie, spoken by Jack Nicholson’s character, J.J. Gittes: “Do you have any idea what this land would be worth with a steady water supply? About $30 million more than they paid for it.”)

Eventually Los Angeles incorporated those farmlands into its boundaries. In an effort beginning in 1905, Dr. Libecap reports, the city acquired the land and water rights of 1,167 Owens Valley farms comprising 262,000 acres for about $20.7 million. (The latter figure is the equivalent of more than $220 million today.)

The one serious misjudgement in Mulholland’s plan was his calculation of how fast the newly watered city would outgrow the initial infusion of water. So Mulholland and Los Angeles came back for more of the river in 1926 and 1927, and some local farmers responded by repeatedly blowing up the pipeline. Mulholland then sent dozens of armed guards to protect his aqueduct. Soon, agricultural resistance dissipated. But the legend of injustice persisted.”

Help for a Plastic Planet: New Report Focuses on Solutions to Global Plastic Pollution

Published on 04/25/2012 in contaminated water, oceans, peak water and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: plastic pollution.

Photo retrieved from: www.alternet.org

“Man-made debris in the oceans is now found from the poles to the equator and from shorelines, estuaries and the sea surface to ocean floor. While the types and absolute quantities vary, it is clear that plastic materials represent the major constituents of this debris, and there is no doubt about the ubiquity of such debris on a truly global scale.

Many conferences and documents on the subject of “Marine Debris,” especially those funded by industry, have been evasive about plastic: the single most destructive and overwhelmingly most common substance of concern in the waste material that washes from our shores to oceans and back onto shores around the globe. The significance of plastics being singled out as the main source of marine debris around the globe is that plastic production continues to increase at a rate of about 9 percent annually and the waste from it is cumulative: “Since most plastic items will not biodegrade in the environment it seems inevitable that quantities of debris will increase over time…” (Andrady 2011).

The second reason for hope is that the report offers real solutions, and a methodology to choose them, in addition to an excellent scientific accounting of the many threats posed by plastic pollution to the environment, wildlife, humans and our economies. The solutions specified in the report take account of the fact that the vast majority of communities around the globe are not able to manage non-biodegradable plastic waste because there is no plastic recycling infrastructure or market, and the volume of plastic waste overwhelms landfill capacity.”

Protestors Condemn Ch. Karnchang over Xayaburi Dam Construction

Published on 04/25/2012 in dams, displacement of people, hydropower, policy, privatization and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: xayaburi dam protests.

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“Coinciding with Ch. Karnchang’s Annual Shareholders Meeting, dozens of protestors rallied in front of the company’s headquarters in Bangkok on Tuesday, demanding a halt to all construction activities occurring on the Xayaburi Dam. Civil society groups and community representatives from villages along the Mekong River inside Thailand traveled hundreds of miles to make their voices heard. Together, their colorful affair helped to articulate the anger felt by many people whose lives and livelihoods would be impacted by the project.

“We are here today to oppose the irresponsible investment of Thailand’s company in Laos. They see the Mekong as a project site to make profit, but they do not see lives. We are here today to tell them there are millions of us who will have to bare the cost of their dam,” said Somkiat Kuenchiangsa from the Chiang Khong Conservation Group in Chiang Rai province.”

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.”

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.”

Zimbabwe: Sewage-Fed Vegetables Give Pause for Thought

Published on 04/20/2012 in agriculture, contaminated water, rivers, wastewater and waterborne diseases. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.allafrica.com

“Harare — Maria Saungweme, 42, an informal trader and single mother from the low-income suburb of Glen Norah in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, uses sewage-infested river water to irrigate her two-acre vegetable plot.

“I am not proud to say this, but I consider the sewage that is offloaded into the river a blessing because it makes my vegetables grow well and fast. I have been selling my vegetables to other vendors for years and am earning enough to take care of my children,” Saungweme told IRIN.

She said she had not received complaints from her customers, but admitted her family did not consume her produce, preferring instead to buy from other vendors.

Scientific research has found that consuming vegetables irrigated with sewage effluent carries health risks. A 2009 study by Jos University in Nigeria, published in the Annals of African Medicine, found that” “people consuming vegetables irrigated with raw waste water are exposed to the risk of infection with ascaris, amoeba and tapeworm.”

Nuclear Power Proposal in Utah Reignites a Century-Old Water War

Published on 04/17/2012 in hydropower, nuclear power, rivers, water diversions and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: Colorado River, green river.

Photo retrieved from: www.insideclimatenews.org

“For more than 100 years and maybe back to the days of outlaw Butch Cassidy, water from the Green River has nourished fields of sweet watermelons near the tiny town of Green River, Utah.

But now a part of that water may be siphoned off for another use: cooling the twin reactors of a nuclear power plant that would tower above the town and its melons.

The nuclear facility is the concept of Blue Castle Holdings, a Utah-based and politically connected upstart nuclear development company that has been working on the project for more than three years.

If the $16 billion facility is built, it would generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 3 million households.”