The Stream, August 25: FAO Announces New Water Data Tool

The Global Rundown

A new data tool aims to help countries in water-scarce regions like North Africa improve water management. Improving water management globally will be necessary to meet the new Sustainable Development Goals, but the risk of water conflicts may be overblown, experts said at World Water Week in Stockholm. In the United States, a group of Navajo farmers decided not to use their river water following a toxic mine spill in Colorado.

“It is a myth that water leads to war.”–Therese Sjomander Magnusson, director of transboundary water management at the Stockholm International Water Institute, on the relatively low level of violence related to water disputes globally. She spoke as World Water Week kicked off in Stockholm. (Reuters)

By The Numbers

100 Navajo farmers Number along the San Juan River who voted not to use water from the river for a year due to a toxic mine spill upstream in Colorado, which they worry could contaminate their land. Associated Press

Science, Studies, And Reports

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced that it will create an open-access data portal to help countries manage scarce water supplies for agriculture. The new tool will use satellite imagery and target water-scarce regions like North Africa and the Near East. UN News Centre

On The Radar

The world will need to improve its water management if it hopes to meet the new Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the United Nations, according to an expert at the World Bank. Determining how to share water between cities, farmers, and energy users will be especially important, the expert said. Reuters

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