Archive for the 'water conservation' Category

Tribal women in forefront of the war against drought and water scarcity

Published on 04/26/2012 in agriculture, drought, water conservation and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.theweekendleader.com

“Today, however, all that is changing thanks to a water management revolution led by ordinary village women, a majority of them tribals.

“The magic has been worked through our Self Help Group’s (SHGs) water management programme,” says Sadmoni Hembram, 39, of Tilaboni village, who proudly informs that she has a multi-crop land that yields two vegetable and one paddy crop in a year these days.

In an area where development has been stunted due to a weak government machinery and increasing Maoist influence, SHGs like Sadmoni’s ‘Petre Madwa’ have spearheaded developmental initiatives like the Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) under the government’s Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna (SGSY). Of course, this has been achieved with guidance from Pradan, an NGO working on creating sustainable livelihood in the region.”

Read more: The Weekend Leader

 

lily victoria

Drought fears for Midlands and south-west England

Published on 04/01/2012 in climate change, drought, rivers, water conservation and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.bbc.co.uk

“The government agency expects drought to spread west across the country following the recent dry weather.

It comes amid reports that rivers are at their lowest levels since 1976, with a severe lack of rainfall not seen since the drought of 1921.

From Thursday, hosepipe bans are due to come into force in parts of south-east England and East Anglia.

Those areas are already officially in drought, while that status was declared in South and East Yorkshire earlier this week.

Two years of lower-than-average winter rainfall has meant rivers across the country have not been replenished.

The past week’s hot weather saw 1mm or less fall across the whole country, the Environment Agency said in its latest Drought Management Briefing on Friday.”

Read more: BBC

 

lily victoria

Water Sector Options for India in a Changing Climate

Published on 03/21/2012 in agriculture, climate change, dams, hydrology, management, peak water, policy, rainwater harvesting, rivers, solutions and outreach, tap water, water conservation, water shortage and water technology. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.washfinance.com

“On the eve of the World Water Day 2012, the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People (SANDRP) is happy to publish its new report: Water Sector Options for India in a Changing Climate. The report highlights that for the poorest sections, also most vulnerable in the climate change context, the water, food, livelihood and energy security, closely linked with the environment security, is already getting severely affected in the changing climate. It is well known that water is the medium through which climate change impacts are most dominant. South Asia is considered possibly the most vulnerable region in terms of number of people that would be affected by climate change impacts, and within South Asia, India has the largest vulnerable population. The importance of understanding the Water Sector Options in such a situation cannot be underestimated. The report highlights the options for coping and mitigating climate change challenges in water sector in India.”

Read more: www.sandrp.in

lily victoria

Water firms banning hosepipes lose 300m gallons a day in leaks

Published on 03/19/2012 in drought, management, peak water, policy and water conservation. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Photo retrieved from: Daily Mail online

“The seven water firms due to impose hosepipe bans are losing almost 300million gallons a day through leaks.

The huge volume disappearing down the drain would be enough to supply the daily needs of 11million people.

Two of the biggest companies involved, Anglian and Southern, are introducing rationing despite the fact they have missed official leak reduction targets.

Consumers will be angry that companies are imposing restrictions backed by a £1,000 fine before they meet their own obligations to save water.

Between them, the seven companies are wasting 286million gallons or 1,299.2million litres of treated water every day, the equivalent to 520 Olympic-size swimming pools.”

Read more: Daily Mail

Sami Oueida

Countries sign pact to address water issues

Published on 03/13/2012 in climate change, peak water, policy, water conservation and water rights. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Countries sign pact to address water issues

“China has established a minister level cooperation mechanism with Japan and the Republic of Korea as the three countries aim to tackle water problems together, officials announced onTuesday.

“The three countries signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Mechanism of Ministerial Meeting at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseilles, France, to deepen the coordination of the three countries in managing water resources and dealing with water disaster.

“The three countries issued a joint statement in 2009 on the sustainable development of water issues, saying that they aim to establish a trilateral mechanism for cooperation in water resources, focusing on the management of river and water resources and adapting to climate changes.

“Chen also proposed that water research institutions from these countries conduct joint research projects in key areas such as water risk assessment, early warnings during flash floods, water and soil conservation and agricultural water saving technology. The three parties will also accelerate the application of these research outcomes and support government decision making.”

Read more: Chinadaily

Chippie Kislik

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: , , , .

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.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

lily victoria

Artificial Glaciers Water Crops in Indian Highlands

Published on 02/28/2012 in climate change, glaciers, hydrology, management, water conservation and water shortage. 0 Comments

Retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“A remote Indian village is responding to global warming-induced water shortages by creating large masses of ice, or “artificial glaciers,” to get through the dry spring months. (See a map of the region.)

Located on the western edge of the Tibetan plateau, the village of Skara in the Ladakh region of India is not a common tourist destination.

“It’s beautiful, but really remote and difficult to get to,” said Amy Higgins, a graduate student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies who worked on the artificial glacier project.

“A lot of people, when I met them in Delhi and I said I was going to Ladakh, they looked at me like I was going to the moon,” said Higgins, who is also a National Geographic grantee.

People in Skara and surrounding villages survive by growing crops such as barley for their own consumption and for sale in neighboring towns. In the past, water for the crops came from meltwater originating in glaciers high in the Himalaya.”

Read more: National Geographic

 

lily victoria

India’s Water Desalination Business to Triple to $1.2 Billion

Published on 02/25/2012 in desalination, water conservation, water filtering, water shortage, water technology and world water supply. 0 Comments

 

Retrieved from: Blog.cifor.org

“India’s water desalination business is set to triple to $1.2 billion by 2017 as rising demand from industry spurs the South Asian country to build more purification plants, according to a research report.

“The number of units that process sea water in India will reach 500 in five years from 180 now, with more than 300 plants being built in the states of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Saudi Arabia leads the global desalination market worth $14.3 billion, according to Karan Chechi, TechSci’s research director.

“More than 85 percent of India’s villages and half of its cities rely on wells for water in the country where farming accounts for 90 percent of total water withdrawals. Checki said, ‘Improved hybrid technologies and reverse osmosis have cut production costs and initial investment in water desalination industry compared with traditional methods.’ ”

Read more: Bloomberg Businessweek

Chippie Kislik

Texas Water District Acts to Slow Depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer

Published on 02/14/2012 in agriculture, drought, groundwater, peak water, policy, tap water, water conservation and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“The new rule issued by the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District, based in Lubbock, declares that water pumped in excess of the “allowable production rate” is illegal.

In Texas, a bastion of the free-market Tea Party, such a rule is hard to fathom.  Most of the state abides by the “rule of capture,” which basically allows farmers to pump as much water as they want from beneath their own land.  But irrigators in northwest Texas rely on the Ogallala aquifer, an underground water reserve that is all-too-rapidly disappearing.  If the region is to have any future at all, water users must find a way to curb the pumping.

The Ogallala is one of the nation’s largest and most productive underground water sources.   It makes up more than three-quarters of the High Plains aquifer, which spans 175,000 square miles and underlies parts of eight U.S. states — Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.  Water drawn from it irrigates 15.4 million acres of cropland, 27 percent of the nation’s total irrigated area.

Initially farmers settling in the High Plains relied on windmills to help them lift groundwater from beneath the surface.  But in the 1940s and 1950s, with the introduction of powerful pumps, large sprinkler systems and abundant supplies of natural gas and electricity, irrigation in the High Plains took off.  Since 1949, the area under irrigation has risen more than five-fold.  Groundwater withdrawals rose in tandem, resulting in a large-scale and ongoing depletion of this critical water reserve.”

Read more: National Geographic

 

lily victoria

Thirsty Gulf Country Quits Exports of Precious Groundwater

Published on 02/13/2012 in desalination, drought, groundwater, hydrology, management, policy, solutions and outreach, tap water and water conservation. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.greenprophet.com

“Dubai’s water scarce neighbor Abu Dhabi recently announced that it has banned all groundwater exports, Gulf News reports. Established yesterday at a Ministerial Service Council meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ban will keep the Emirate’s dwindling groundwater supply within its own borders.

Water is more important than oil

Last year General Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, proclaimed that water is more important than oil, even though the country relies on this fossil fuel as a main source of income.

He added that water research, action plans, and solutions should be placed at the top of the nation’s priorities.

The Ministry of Environment and Water subsequently compiled a study of the Emirates water sources, which prompted the Federal National Council (FNC) to propose a ban. It was upon this recommendation that the Council cancelled all future groundwater exports. This ministry will also be responsible for framing the necessary legal matters.”

Read more: Green Prophet

 

lily victoria