The Stream | Water News
The Stream, February 22: Africa’s Food Security
Written by Codi Yeager
Wednesday, 22 February 2012 08:00
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Water Quality
Environmental degradation, including waste water discharge that is harming fisheries, is the greatest threat to food security in Africa, Xinhua reported.

Proposed regulations for ballast water discharge in the Great Lakes will not do enough to stop invasive species, according to environmental groups, Reuters reported. The groups want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require treatment of ballast water to kill any potential invaders.

Water Scarcity
Mapping India’s aquifers will cost $1 billion over the next five years, but could also help the country manage agricultural areas and avoid a water crisis, according to Bloomberg News.

Drought continues in China’s Yunnan province, where it has already persisted for three years and caused $372 million in economic losses, Xinhua reported.

Energy
Chinese and U.S. companies plan to build a $1.25 billion plant to convert coal from the Gobi desert into natural gas to help supply China’s growing energy demand, according to The Wall Street Journal.

InsideClimate News looks at how natural gas exports may affect electricity prices and coal use in the United States.

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.

 
The Stream, February 21: Drought Declared in South-East England
Written by Nadya Ivanova
Tuesday, 21 February 2012 07:19
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Droughts
Southeast England is officially in a state of drought, the Press Association reported, citing the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Guardian has mapped out the affected regions.

As rivers and reservoirs in England and Wales are running low after two dry winters, water industry executives have again called for regulatory reforms and investments that will make it easier to transfer water between regions, according to the Financial Times.

Instability in Syria has aggravated an already dire situation for tens of thousands of farmers and herders affected by drought and lack of financial assistance, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has warned, according to Middle East Online.

Lower water levels and overfishing are causing an unprecedented decline in fish stocks in the Paraná River in South America, Inter Press Service reported.

Water-Energy
Canada has threatened a trade war with the European Union over the EU’s plan to label crude from Alberta’s tar sands as highly polluting, the Guardian reported, citing new documents obtained by Friends of the Earth Europe under freedom of information laws.

Food, water and energy confrontations will pressure the economies in the Mekong River Basin in the next decade, The Nation reported, citing experts at a recent conference in Thailand.

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.

 
The Stream, February 20: Low Water Levels May Hurt Texas Rice Industry
Written by Nadya Ivanova
Monday, 20 February 2012 07:15
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Water-Food
Continuing low water levels in Texas may prompt the first-ever restrictions on irrigation in the state’s major rice-growing areas, Bloomberg reported.

Egypt’s slide from breadbasket of the eastern Mediterranean to net grain importer signals an economic crisis that threatens to shake the nation, according to The Washington Post.

Brazil is planning a new grains port in the Amazon region, Reuters reported. The terminal is slated to become the country’s largest soybean export center and to lower transportation costs for farmers.

Pollution and Sanitation
Sewage from a fish farm in China’s Guangdong Province has disrupted the water supply for 50,000 residents, Reuters reported. Water pollution concerns are growing in China and have even sparked protests.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi River was shut on Friday as oil leaked from a tanker barge when the tanker collided with a deck barge west of New Orleans, Reuters reported.

The Australian government has issued a $555 million grant to Indonesia to assist regions in need of health facilities and clean water, Europe Online Magazine reported.

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.

 
The Stream, February 17: U.S. House Moves Keystone XL Forward
Written by Codi Yeager
Friday, 17 February 2012 08:00
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Energy
A bill meant to speed up approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline passed the United States House of Representatives, Bloomberg News reported. Those opposed to the pipeline, which would carry crude oil from Canada’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, say it could harm the environment.

In this Guardian video, two University of Texas researchers discuss the findings of their study on the environmental safety of hydraulic fracturing, a method to extract underground natural gas deposits using large quantities of water.

Cutting Emissions
An international agreement between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Ghana and Bangladesh plans to cut emissions of short-lived climate pollutants like methane, but ignores carbon dioxide, according to The Huffington Post.

The European Commission may remove carbon allowances later this month in order to increase carbon prices in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, which have been near record lows, EurActiv reported.

Water Extremes
Communities in Pakistan are still struggling to overcome the effects of the floods that occurred six months ago, with 2.5 million people lacking clean water and adequate food, AlertNet reported.

Chinese officials acknowledged the gravity of the country’s water issues, saying that shortages and pollution threaten sustainable growth, according to Xinhua.

The drought in Texas killed 5.6 urban shade trees, according to the Texas Forest Service, Bloomberg News reported.

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.

 
The Stream, February 16: Uruguay to Begin Onshore Oil and Gas Exploration
Written by Nadya Ivanova
Thursday, 16 February 2012 07:24
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Uruguay has signed a contract with U.S. company Schuepbach Energy to begin exploration for oil and gas in the north and centre of the country, MercoPress reported.

Though China has spent billions of yuan trying to clean Lake Tai, where decades of pollution have brought ecosystems to the brink, acute problems persist, Guangzhou Daily reported.

Mining
Asia Society showcases photos of the resource conflict in Jharkhand, India’s coal-mining state. The state, which grants concessions to privately-owned companies, has converted vast swathes of agricultural land into open-pit coal mines.

Gold diggers and archaeologists are squaring off over the historical riches in Sudan’s Nubian desert, AFP reported.

Cities
High population density is the greatest risk factor for the outbreak of water-linked diseases, according to Ohio State University scientists. The researchers created a massive database and developed a model that can be used to predict risks for water-associated disease outbreaks anywhere in the world, ScienceDaily reported.

Potential epidemics are just one of many challenges in Asia’s burgeoning megacities. As huge new urban centers take shape around the world, two Guardian correspondents examine how Chengdu and Delhi are facing the risks and opportunities.

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.

 
The Stream, February 15: The World’s Water Footprint
Written by Codi Yeager
Wednesday, 15 February 2012 08:00
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The United States is the world’s largest exporter, and one of the biggest importers, of virtual water, a measure of the water used to create products that are shipped abroad, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study, which outlines the flow of water around the globe, highlights how countries are outsourcing their water needs, Bloomberg News reported.

Drought
Average rainfall in England and Wales is at its lowest level since before a severe 1976 drought, with some areas already experiencing the driest conditions on record, The Telegraph reported.

Reservoir levels in China’s Yunnan province have dropped to their lowest point in a decade due to a drought, Xinhua reported.

Energy
Taiwan’s newly elected Kuomintang party plans to continue work on a nuclear power plant that many, including top officials, feel is unsafe, according to the Guardian. Taiwan’s three current nuclear facilities contain four times the amount of radioactive waste that they were meant to hold.

To keep drinking water safe, U.S. companies that use hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas will be required to inspect wells located on public land, Bloomberg News reported. The companies will also need to disclose the chemicals used during fracking, which are added to water and then forced underground to release gas deposits.

Great Lakes
The budget submitted by U.S. President Barack Obama asks Congress for $300 million to help protect the Great Lakes from pollution and invasive species like Asian carp, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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.

 
The Stream, February 14: China’s Big Desalination Plans
Written by Nadya Ivanova
Tuesday, 14 February 2012 07:49
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China plans to quadruple its desalination capacity by the end of 2015 in an effort to relieve chronic water shortages that threaten to upend its economic growth, China Daily reported.

Meanwhile, Jordan is moving ahead with its Red Sea Water Desalination Project, which will extract 1.2 billion cubic meters of water from the sea, of which 930 million cubic meters will be desalinated and the rest will be transferred to the ailing Dead Sea, Bloomberg reported.

Australian gas drilling company Santos has reported three spills of contaminated water containing heavy metals from its coal seam gas operations in eastern New South Wales, according to Reuters. Santos said the spills were from operations formerly owned by Eastern Star Gas, which Santos acquired in November 2011.

Kyrgyzstan’s biggest gold mine routinely ignores national environmental legislation and could have a far-reaching negative effect on Central Asia’s water supply, according to a recent report cited by EurasiaNet.

Protests are underway at a Moroccan silver mine over concerns that the mine is sucking up scarce water supplies in a dry area and polluting crops with wastewater, Reuters reported.

The International Bottled Water Association and student activists are squaring off over the growing number of campaigns to ban bottled water in college campuses because of environmental and health concerns about the industry, NPR reported.

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.

 
The Stream, February 13: Global Ice Melt
Written by Nadya Ivanova
Monday, 13 February 2012 07:41
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Climate
The global ice melt from 2003 to 2010 resulted in enough water to flood the entire United States in a foot and a half of melted ice, according to researchers from the University of Colorado.

The U.K. Environment Agency has warned of a potential drought in England this summer after record low rainfall in the winter has failed to fill up rivers and underground aquifers, The Observer reported. The impending crisis – which could have severe consequences for farming, tourism, industry and domestic life – has been building for the past 18 months.

Energy
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has fined gas company Chesapeake Energy more than $500,000 for violating rules protecting streams and wetlands, Associated Press reported.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved last week the first new nuclear reactors in the United States for more than 30 years, Financial Times reported.

China
A Chinese maritime court ordered the detention of a South Korean cargo ship over a chemical leak that polluted the Yangtze River, Reuters reported.

The main contractor of China’s Three Gorges Dam has signed a deal worth nearly $1.4 billion to build a hydropower station in South Sudan.

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.

 
The Stream, February 10: Danube River Freezes Over
Written by Codi Yeager
Friday, 10 February 2012 08:00
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Weather
The crazy winter weather continued, as record low temperatures in Europe froze the Danube River from Austria to the Black Sea, AFP reported.

Meanwhile, a mild winter in the United States saw January temperatures rise as much as eight degrees above normal, according to a map released by the National Climatic Data Center.

The last fourteen years of weather in the United States are condensed into 33 minutes by this Guardian animation.

Climate Change
Climate change could have a greater impact on microbial communities than previously thought, which could in turn affect hydrological and biogeochemical processes, according to researchers studying microbes in Antarctica, Xinhua reported.

Government Investments
Sewer and water systems in U.S. cities need a $300 billion upgrade investment, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Protesters in Peru marched in opposition to government-backed mining projects worth $50 billion, which they fear could pollute and deplete water supplies, Reuters reported.

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.

 
The Stream, February 9: Is Shale Gas a ‘Bridge Fuel’?
Written by Nadya Ivanova
Thursday, 09 February 2012 07:30
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A new study into the carbon footprint of shale gas operations adds more fuel to the debate about the technique’s environmental record, the journal Nature reported. According to the report, natural gas operations could leak enough methane to tarnish shale gas’s image as a cleaner alternative to coal.

Floods
Rivers in Bulgaria and Greece burst their banks on Tuesday, leaving dozens of homes underwater, days after a dam collapse in Bulgaria flooded a village and killed eight people, Associated Press reported.

In Australia, projections for a bumper cotton crop remain on track despite heavy flooding in major growing regions in Queensland and New South Wales, Reuters reported.

The Americas
Solar power is emerging as the best option available to develop sustainable energy in Cuba, according to the Inter Press Service.

For the first time in more than 200 years, there’s visible progress in efforts to clean up the Matanza-Riachuelo River basin in Argentina, IPS reported.

Officials at the Grand Canyon will soon ban the sale of bottled water in the park, Reuters reported.

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.