Archive for the 'water diversions' Category

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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Beckoning war on water

Published on 05/06/2012 in dams, hydropower, peak water, policy, privatization, water diversions and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.defenceblog.org

“India’s feverish pursuit of building dams on the rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has received the attention of the International Crisis Group (ICG) whose objective is to evaluate the consequences of a developing situation for peace in the world and give early warnings of eruption of conflicts unless they are resolved well in time. The ICG rightly foresees the outbreak of war between the two countries if India resorts to stopping water from flowing into Pakistan, which according the IWT is its share, and that creates a dangerous situation for Pakistan. The ICG also draws attention to a report of last year released by the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Congress wherein it was stated that New Delhi was building three dams on Chenab and Sutlej. By virtue of these dams, the reports said, India would come into a position to divert water way from Pakistan right at the time it badly needed it for the crops, thus putting a question mark on the relevance of the IWT.

The ICG’s foreboding or the US Congress’s apprehensions are not something that should come as a surprise to experts in the field or even the general public in Pakistan who are aware of the fact that the headwaters of these rivers fall in the Indian occupied part of the disputed state of Kashmir and are also familiar with the Indian designs against the existence of Pakistan. Thus, there has been a lot of hue and cry not only among the farming community that is directly affected, but also the people and the media. Only the political circles, the ruling coalition and to a large degree also the opposition, are turning a blind eye to New Delhi persistent manoeuvres to hold Pakistan by its jugular vein when it deems fit to do so.”

Read more: The Nation

 

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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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The Great Nile River War

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

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.

Read more: Strategy Page

 

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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: , , , , .

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.”

Read more: New York Times

 

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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: , .

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.”

Read more: Inside Climate News

 

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Tempers boil over border water battle

Published on 04/16/2012 in agriculture, peak water, policy, rivers, tap water, water diversions and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The recent release of water from the Rio Grande - seen here at Piedras Negras - to farmers in Mexico has upset state officials, who say it runs counter to a 1906 pact. Retrieved from: www.mysanantonio.com

“State officials are taking a stand against the binational International Boundary and Water Commission over the release of Rio Grande water to Mexico. They say the water payments will cause substantial losses to U.S. crops and run counter to the 1906 pact governing water shares in the West Texas and New Mexico region.

“Our interpretation of the 1906 Convention does not entitle Mexico to receive water whenever they call for it,” Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Commissioner Carlos Rubinstein wrote in an April 3 letter to IBWC Commissioner Edward Drusina. “It appears that your decision to deliver water to Mexico under the current circumstances is inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the Convention, and results in the protection of Mexico’s citizens at the expense of U.S. citizens.”

The water in question comes down from Rio Grande headwaters in Colorado and is collected at Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico. It then is released to the Caballo Reservoir for use as part of the Rio Grande Project, which serves parts of New Mexico and West Texas, as well as for diversion to areas across the border.”

Read more: San Antonio Express

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Panama: Village of the damned

Published on 04/13/2012 in dams, greenwashing, hydrology, policy, privatization, rivers, species extinction, water diversions, water rights and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org“Panama’s largest indigenous group, the Ngabe, had decided to take a stand against the unlawful encroachment of their homeland. Since the time of the conquistadors, the Ngabe have been pushed to the margins of the country – forced to live on the land that no one else wanted. Twenty years ago the Panamanian government finally ceded what was considered a useless tract of land to them. The Ngabe had in fact lived there for centuries, so by rights it has always been theirs.

But now this land, rich in mineral deposits and rivers, is considered priceless. And Ricardo Martinelli, Panama’s authoritarian president who is a close friend of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, wants it back.

His plan is to open the Ngabe heartland to foreign mining companies and push hydroelectric power projects onto an unwilling population. The problem is that the Ngabe have nowhere else to go. So the scene was set for a dramatic showdown, which started when the Ngabe closed the Pan-American Highway in Chiriquí province in the west of the country – bringing Panama to a standstill.”

Read more: Aljazeera

 

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