Archive for the 'water shortage' Category

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Plan to tap groundwater for profit shows need for better state policy

Published on 04/13/2012 in groundwater, privatization, water rights and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: Bristol Valley, Cadiz valley, California groundwater policy, Mojave Desert, peakwater, Water, water privatization.

Retrieved from: Desert survivors

“Imagine a lake half as large as Lake Tahoe, containing 17 million to 34 million acre-feet of water. That is what lies under the Cadiz and Bristol valleys in the Eastern Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County. Cadiz Inc., a privately held company, owns 34,000 acres that overlie this vast groundwater basin. The company plans to extract 2.5 million acre-feet of the water, a public good, over the next 50 years and sell it back to the public at a profit.

“This project raises several concerns, some of which are directly related to the project while others point to the need for a public debate and discussion about California’s groundwater laws.

“Here are some facts about the project: Cadiz is proposing to extract on average 50,000 acre-feet of groundwater from the basin each year for 50 years. The intended rate of extraction of groundwater is significantly greater than the estimated natural recharge rate (the speed that groundwater is refilled naturally by rain and snow) of 5,000-32,000 acre-feet a year, which will lead to unsustainable mining of groundwater during the life of the project. The groundwater will go into a 43-mile-long pipeline to transport it to the Colorado River Aqueduct, where it will be distributed to several water utilities in Southern California.

“Cadiz claims that the project will facilitate the beneficial use of groundwater that would otherwise naturally drain toward Bristol and Cadiz dry lakes (ephemeral lakes) and be “lost” to evaporation at the lakes and to transpiration by plants in the adjoining valleys. But the project proponents’ characterization of the water lost to evaporation and transpiration as non-beneficial is inaccurate. Some of the water that flows to the dry lakes and evaporates from the basin supports survival of local desert ecosystems, which depend upon the ability of groundwater reaching the surface; therefore, removal of this water would adversely affect these ecosystems.

“The bottom line is that the project relies on unsustainable mining of groundwater, designed to extract groundwater at a rate exceeding natural recharge. In other words, it uses water in excess of the estimates of the water lost to evaporation, which is both a nonrenewable use of water and unsustainable in the long term.”

California Water Wars Spotlight: Colorado River

Published on 04/10/2012 in agriculture, peak water, policy, rivers, water rights, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: Colorado River.

Photo retrieved from: www.ivn.us

“You may be startled to learn that California gets more water from the Colorado than any other state, 4.4 million acre feet a year. Of that 3.8 goes to the Imperial Valley and three other irrigation districts for agriculture. Now, if you will, prepare yourself to enter the looking glass world of water rights.

The behemoth Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has a fourth and fifth priority right on some of that water. Those four irrigation districts have water rights that predate the Colorado River Compact. Thus, they receive allocations every year, drought or no drought, before anyone else. Other states, notably Arizona, hadn’t been using their full allocations in previous years, which made their water available to others. But that has changed. Colorado River states are increasingly using all their allotments. California had been using the excess but that supply is quickly vanishing.

In Utah, unused allocations aren’t an issue because the rule is “Use it or lose it.” You purchase water rights and if you don’t use all your water it can be taken from you. Until recently in Colorado, it was illegal to capture water running off your roof into a rain barrel because that water belonged to those with downstream water rights. These examples perhaps give a flavor to the mind-numbing complexity of water rights. These gets compounded exponentially when water is shared between seven states.”

Water crisis in city may take a serious turn soon

Published on 04/07/2012 in aquifer overdraft, drought, groundwater and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: aquifer overdraft, contaminated water supply, subsidence, water shortage.

A heavy shower Friday morning though broke the hot-spell, the plight of the people facing acute water shortage is unlikely to go away soon.

“The water crisis that has been causing sufferings to the residents of different parts of the Dhaka city is unlikely to end soon.

“Rather lifting of excess groundwater from the aquifer and obstruction to recharge it may even intensify the crisis in the coming days, experts said.

“Excess lifting of groundwater, pollution of natural water bodies, power outage, overpopulation and policy failures are the factors causing water crisis in the capital, they said.

“The areas in which people across the capital are suffering from water crisis now include Mirpur, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Badda-Gulshan, Jurain, Khilgaon, Moghbazar, Bashabo, Mugda, Madartek, Wari, Azimpur, most parts of Old Dhaka, Hazaribag, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi-Shankar, Kalyanpur.

“Residents claimed that the water supplied by Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) was inadequate and in some areas the piped-water was also too much polluted and unfit for consumption.

“”Even, despite boiling it for more than an hour, the bad smell doesn’t go. On the other hand, its colour becomes yellow-reddish. This water can only be used for washing clothes and cleaning the floor,” Aklima Ara, a house-wife at Azimpur Graveyard (old) area in the capital said.

“She said most of the time she is forced to use this dirty water for cooking and drinking.”

Scarce water spreads disease on waterfowl refuge

Published on 04/07/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, management and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: Klamath River, Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, peakwater, Water, waterfowl.

Retrieved from: High on Adventures

Dave Mauser walked the edge of a mudflat, peering underneath the dried brown rushes where one coot after another had gone to hide and then die.

“Now the coots are getting the worst of it,” said Mauser, head biologist on the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, the nation’s first large marshland preserved for waterfowl habitat. “Prior to that it was the snow geese and the white-fronted geese.”

Standing in line for scarce water behind both endangered fish and agriculture, Lower Klamath Lake has watched one marsh after another dry up in recent years. Now migratory geese, ducks and other waterfowl that come here by the millions following the Pacific Flyway are so closely packed together that an outbreak of avian cholera has killed more than 10,000 birds, mostly pintail ducks, Ross’ geese, snow geese and now coots.

First reported in the United States in the 1940s, the disease is not new to the refuge. Bald eagles that congregate here in winter depend on the deadly bacteria to provide them easy food. But what is different about this year is that only half the refuge’s 31,000 acres of marsh are flooded, creating perfect conditions for a broader kill off.

Lying on the east side of the Cascade Range along the Oregon-California border, the shallow lakes and marshes of the Upper Klamath Basin were once known as the Everglades of the West, providing a place to rest and eat for untold millions of birds on the Pacific Flyway.

Record rains in March allowed the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to start delivering all the water the refuge could take through the Ady Canal, but that will only be enough to flood 4,000 acres more before it runs out, said Cole. Prospects for this summer are not looking good.

Meanwhile, a deal that raises the refuge’s water priority on a par with farms, while laying out how water is divided in drought years, has been stymied in Congress.

Nigeria: Lagos – Water Everywhere But Not to Drink

Published on 04/04/2012 in boreholes, contaminated water, groundwater, peak water, tap water and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: nigeria's water supplies.

Photo retrieved from: www.amazonaws.com

“Dry wells: Most parts of Lagos depend on water from shallow wells for domestic and other household uses. Some residents of Awodiora Town and Achakpo in Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA told VF that they do not have access to pipe- borne water. Even the wells and bore holes are now dry because the rains have not been forth-coming.

Human consumption

According to them, the water from these wells and boreholes are unsuitable for human consumption as they are usually yellowish and smells. They noted that the only option available is to patronise water vendors for drinking. “We can only use the water from wells to bath after purifying it with chemicals like alum”, they disclosed.

Although the Achakpo community in Ajeromi Ifelodun can boast of a water scheme provided by Messrs Guinness Nigeria Plc, residents of the area, alleged that the taps are usually dry and this scenario has necessitated their patronage of water hawkers. Another resident explained that the Guinness water project is too far from his residence, hence the only alternative is to buy water outside.”

Look How Unequally Water Is Divided In The Middle East

Published on 04/03/2012 in agriculture, policy, privatization, rivers, tap water, water rights, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: middle east's water supplies and water conflict.

Photo retrieved from: www.businessinsider.com

“THE southern provinces on Lebanon’s border with Israel fare worse than the rest of the country by most measures. Water is one thing in short supply. Swathes of fertile farming land sit idle. Officials say the lack of water is partly to blame for the region’s underdevelopment. While Lebanon as a whole has water in abundance, the south’s rivers are shared with Israel which gets the lion’s share. This is nothing new, but a new study has sketched out the extent of the imbalance for the first time.

Rivers that straddle borders have long caused tensionns in the Middle East. International law says that the useable water should be divided into “equitable and reasonable” portions according to such factors as population. But this directive is often overruled by bilateral agreements. These are lawful but often outdatedand the more powerful country usually gets the better deal.”

Water Wars Heat Up

Published on 04/03/2012 in management, peak water, policy, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: bangalore's water supplies.

Photo retrieved from: www.hindu.com

“Water demand in the summer season shoots up anywhere between 20 to 40 per cent in the city. Vigyanapura is feeling the heat already, with absolutely no water supply.

This area was promised new connections under the upcoming Cauvery project. But from the past one month, the residents have been drawing water from the water tankers who charge exorbitant rates. The area corporator Sukumar has pitched in with 25 loads of water supply for the population of 15,000 due to the increase in the panic calls from the public because of no water supply. He said, “Earlier, I use to get around 50 calls a day from different areas. But this time, I get around 200 calls per day pertaining to water scarcity. Each day around 40 tractors with 4,000 litres capacity and 5 tankers with 7,000 liters capacity are supplied.”

The city at present receives around 900 million litres of water per day (MLD) ,while the demand in the core areas alone is around 1250 MLD. Earlier, in the� Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) monthly council meeting, a few corporators brandished empty pitchers in the council, demanding the council to make arrangements for drinking water through the BWSSB.”

Concerns over India rivers order

Published on 04/02/2012 in agriculture, dams, hydrology, policy, rivers, water diversions and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: Brahmaputra river, india's rivers, Yarlung-Tsampo.

Photo retrieved from: www.bbc.co.uk

“A supreme court order in India asking the government to link more than 30 rivers and divert waters to parched areas has sparked concerns in neighbouring countries.

Bangladesh says it would be hardest hit because it is a downstream country to two major rivers that flow from India.

New Delhi is yet to respond to the neighbouring countries’ reactions.

The multi-billion-dollar project was announced by the Indian government in 2002 but had since remained on paper.

Experts in Nepal say the country’s unstable political situation could open the door for India to build dams and reservoirs in Nepalese territory for the inter-linking project – known as the ILR.”

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: england's water supplies.

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.”

Great Lakes Water Levels Bring Conflict For Michigan Residents

Published on 03/31/2012 in climate change, hydrology, lakes, peak water, policy, privatization, tap water, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: great lakes water conflict.

Photo retrieved from: www.coastwatch.edu

“In a scenario that might baffle onlookers from arid regions, people around the Great Lakes – the world’s most abundant freshwater system – are fighting over water. Complaints that levels are too high or too low are longstanding, but the debate is growing louder as a warming climate raises the specter of more dramatic changes.

Now, U.S. and Canadian officials are considering an audacious and costly effort to control the freshwater seas’ ups and downs in a way they never have before. A panel of scientists and engineers will release Wednesday a five-year study of options ranging from minor tinkering to a massive, $8 billion engineering project that would invite comparisons to the Panama Canal or the Hoover Dam.

The latter alternative would involve using dams or other structures to regulate flows between all five Great Lakes. It’s a long shot with few supporters but by including it in their report, the experts acknowledge it could gain traction if future water fluctuations become extreme.”