The Stream, September 19: African Countries Agree to Nubian Aquifer Management Partnership

Africa
Libya, Chad, Sudan and Egypt have agreed to work together to manage and share the water in the Nubian Aquifer, an ancient water source than runs beneath the four countries, AllAfrica reported. The agreement is meant to improve transboundary water cooperation, protect water quality and biodiversity, and prevent conflict.

Colorado Water Quality Concerns
Recent floods in Colorado have raised concerns about contaminants that may have been released into the water from agricultural fields, but also from gas and oil fracking wells, Reuters reported. Several tanks containing fracking wastewater were dislodged by the floods, though companies are saying that only small spills occurred and those are being contained.

Pesticides and Caimans
Spectacled caimans living near banana plantations in Costa Rica contain pesticides in their blood, researchers found, the Guardian reported. Though it is unclear what effect the pesticides have on the caimans, the researchers suspects that pesticides applied on the plantations are making their way into waterways and all the way up the food chain to the caimans.

Space Water
Researchers studying data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover are finding more and more evidence that Mars was once very wet, and that the water may have been fresh, Space.com reported. However, scientists do not know if the red planet was habitable at the time it contained water.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek