T. Boone Pickens: Largest private U.S. water owner

Texas - Businessman T. Boone Pickens is buying water and lots of it. The 80 year-old king of the cooperate takeover, has set his sights on the twenty-first century’s new oil.

He plans to sell some 65 billion gallons of water a year to the Texas counties and municipalities lying south of his Mesa Vista ranch, where he’s secured the water-rights and become the largest private owner of water in the U.S.

Read more here.

Source : BusinessWeek

Popularity: 5%

Commentary: Bottled Water for Dogs?

Bottled water — now considered an extravagance by many — remains a growing market in the United States and its newest economic niche seems to have taken the product to the height of indulgence: bottled water for dogs. Read more

Popularity: 5%

Water crisis could collapse Chinese capital

BEIJING - Beijing’s water crisis is so critical that the city is facing economic collapse and the need to resettle part of its population in coming decades, a leading development policy group said Friday. Read more

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Water shortages create new niches for entrepreneurship

Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA - As water shortages begin to seriously threaten economic growth in places like California, new niches for the water quality industry are emerging. Read more

Popularity: 4%

California struggles to provide enough water to farms

With California’s water resources drying up, struggling farmers are being hit hardest by drought. In a move to ameliorate the conditions, Governor Schwarzenegger called for more water aid in the afflicted areas.

“We recognize the specific impacts that will accrue to farmers, farmworkers, industries and local economies; and that can affect the state and national economy,” Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources, said in a conference call with the San Fransisco Chronicle. Read more

Popularity: 18%

Water-starved California slows development

PERRIS, California - Building in Southern California is being halted for lack of water. Citing a 2001 law that requires at least a 20 year supply of fresh water for new developments, officials have begun denying, slowing, and challenging new housing tracks just east of Los Angeles. Read more

Popularity: 19%

African growth will slow for lack of food and water

NAIROBI, Kenya - At the 18th Annual World Economic Forum on Africa, leaders, policy makers, and analysts all expressed concern over the impending consequences of the food and water shortages hitting sub-Saharan Africa. The panel urged policy makers to re-emphasize food and water as crucial economic elements - without them, maintaining the 5 percent growth Africa has experienced so far this millennium will be impossible. Read more

Popularity: 10%

Graphic: Bottled water imports and exports

A new UN map highlights bottled water’s patterns of international trade. With France being the major exporter of bottled water, trade routes in Europe (between France, Germany, and Belgium) often involve intracontinental trade. The United States also imports a large quantity of water from France and Fiji. Read more

Popularity: 12%

Despite backlash to bottled water, profits grow

New York, NY - Bottled water may be going the way of the dodo, if you believe the hype in the media these days. But despite the backlash from many about its green costs, profits are up.

Nonetheless, Fiji Water is upping its marketing budget to make its image more eco-friendly. One of their new slogans: “Every Drop Is Green”. Read more

Popularity: 5%

New desalinization plant for seemingly water-rich New England

BOSTON, MA - In order to keep up with demand, the city of Brockton, Massachusetts, will began piping in some 4 million gallons of freshwater each day from a new desalinization plant. The plant, situated near the delta of Taunton River, will use reverse-osmosis to turn brackish tidal waters into potable drinking water. Read more

Popularity: 10%

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