Australia | Water News

Australia’s first law intended to protect prime agricultural land from mining has come into effect in Queensland, ABC reported. Though the law covers about 4 percent of the state’s land, critics say it will only apply to open-pit mining and not cover underground mining, exploration work or coal seam gas (coal-bed methane) production.

Australia is building a $100 million water pipeline to supply four coal seam gas to liquefied natural gas plants, according to ABC.

The Atlantic highlights some of the U.S. cities most likely to suffer from future drought conditions.

Elizabeth Economy asks whether China’s potentially game-changing water reforms can take root and blossom.

The world is running out of time to ensure sufficient food, water and energy to its rapidly growing population, a new U.N. report has warned. By 2030, the world will need at least 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water.

Why is Chesapeake Energy drawing down some of its shale gas operations after selling numerous pieces of its vast shale gas holdings to the world’s largest energy companies?

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 International Energy Agency will make shale gas recommendations in its upcoming global energy report this fall, Financial Post reported.

U.S. Shale Boom
U.S. President Barack Obama pushed support for shale gas drilling and clean energy technology in his State of the Union address. Bloomberg gives the highlights.

Meanwhile, North Dakota’s shale oil boom has sent the state’s economy rocketing, but it’s also pushing rural housing, electric, water, police and emergency services to the breaking point, Bloomberg reported.

Climate and Weather
A NASA video shows 131 years of global temperature change in 26 seconds.

Thousands of residents of New South Wales, Australia were evacuated on Wednesday following monsoon rains and flash flooding due to the La Niña weather phenomenon, the Guardian reported.

South America
The relentless drought in Argentina’s corn fields is pushing global food prices up, according to the Dow Jones Newswires, but will boost U.S. corn and wheat exports. The tighter supplies of corn couldn’t come at a worse time for the world’s poor.

Al Jazeera visits the construction site of the controversial Belo Monte dam in the Brazilian Amazon. Why is the world’s third biggest dam stirring up so much backlash?

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.

 

Arsenic
Arsenic is tainting freshwater supplies in Mexico’s Laguna region, the country’s biggest milk producer, as dairy operations, upstream dams and climate change deplete aquifers, AlertNet reported.

In Chile, people exposed to high levels of arsenic in their drinking water during the 1950s have a higher risk of cancer despite subsequent contamination control, according to new research, Reuters reported.

Coal
Coal imports handled by the ports of China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region increased more than 60 percent during 2011, reflecting the growing demand from local industries in the water-scarce area, Xinhua reported. Most of the coal is coming from Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Water Recycling
Recycling more municipal wastewater could help bolster water supplies in the United States, The New York Times reported, referencing a new report by the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Research Council.

Environmental Finance
Banks from Sweden and Japan lead the world in issuing green bonds meant to finance clean water, air and energy projects, 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.

 

How can the world feed 9.5 billion people, the projected global population in 2050? The Guardian looks at a mix of new, somewhat radical scientific solutions: commercial algae farms, insects, desert greening and meat grown in a lab.

Modernising agricultural technology is the key to boosting China’s food output, according to China’s Premier Wen Jiabao, Reuters reported.

Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun discusses the data-driven approach he pioneered to hold China’s government and businesses accountable for air and water pollution.

Five tons of fuel oil has leaked into the Brisbane River in Queensland, Australia, threatening to reach the environmentally sensitive mangroves, AAP reported.

The U.S. Energy Department has reduced its estimate for the natural gas reserves in the Marcellus shale formation by 66 percent, citing improved data on drilling and production, Bloomberg reported.

Britain’s rivers a drying up, according to an Environment Agency study into the potential impact of climate change on the flow of rivers in England and Wales by 2050, the Guardian 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.

 

Growing urban populations, poor infrastructure and unenforced environmental regulations are contributing to the pollution of South America’s Lake Titicaca, the Guardian reported. The pollution threatens fishing and agriculture in the region.

Australians should expect to pay 15 percent more for home insurance as the country’s biggest insurer raises premiums to offset a 40-50 percent cut in profits due to last year’s floods, cyclones and fires, The Australian reported.

Water should be released from Thailand’s dam reservoirs in order to make room for new inflows and prevent catastrophic flooding during this year’s rainy season, experts urge, according to UPI.

Four counties in Southeast Florida recently approved a Climate Action Plan to protect the area’s water supplies and infrastructure from climate change, reported Yale Environment 360.

Pinpoint greenhouse gas emissions by state and facility with a new online tool released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

World food prices dropped in December due to bumper crops, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ latest Food Price Index. The Index averaged 228 points in 2011, the highest since measurements began in 1990.

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.

 

Companies are not taking water security seriously when preparing their financial projections, according to some investors who fear that supply chains could be severely impacted by a lack of water, Bloomberg News reported.

Ports on Lake Victoria are having trouble accommodating boats as water levels continue to drop, falling as much as 5 meters, AlertNet reported. The low levels in the world’s second largest lake are attributed in part to changing rain patterns.

Cattle and other livestock could help reverse the desertification of agricultural land if their grazing is managed properly, experiments in Zimbabwe show, IPS News reported.

A large number of dead fish were found in China’s Xijiang River, according to Xinhua. An investigation is underway, but initial findings showed that the fish kill was not caused by a lack of oxygen or low water temperatures.

Will Australia change its policy on foreign land investment amid food security fears? A new report on the issue by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences is due to be released soon.

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.

 

China has completed the tunnel under the Yellow River for the South-North Water Transfer Project, which will divert water from the Yangtze River Basin to thirsty cities and industries in the country’s North, Xinhua reported. Check out Circle of Blue’s photos from the construction site and more.

United States
The U.S. Department of the Interior is expected to announce a 20-year ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, according to an environmental group monitoring the issue, Bloomberg reported.

The residents of a northeastern Pennsylvania village are up in arms over a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cancel fresh water deliveries to the area despite evidence of water contamination by a natural gas drilling operation, Associated Press reported.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case in which a couple from Idaho says EPA improperly ordered them to restore wetlands that the federal agency alleged they had illegally destroyed near Priest Lake, Huffington Post reported.

Australia
Toxic abandoned mines in Australia’s New South Wales require a massive clean-up, for which state budget funding is “substantially inadequate,” The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing a new study.

How is the energy boom sucking up Australia’s, India’s and China’s diminishing fresh water resources?

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.

 
Panama is one of the fastest-growing economies in the Western Hemisphere, largely thanks to a new free-trade agreement with the U.S. and an ongoing $US 5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal. Slated for completion in 2014, the expansion will double the canal's capacity, which will reduce emissions, and the new system will recycle 60 percent of the water in each transit, along with an overall decrease of 7 percent less water than is used by the existing locks.

News headlines are often dominated by the big, unexpected events — BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, for example, or Japan’s earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear catastrophes in 2011 — but some events come with advance warning. Here is a preview of the water news to look for in 2012.

Read more ...
 

Ohio has suspended operations at five deep wells used to dispose of fracking-related fluids, citing concerns of a possible link between well activity and nearly a dozen quakes in the area in the past year, Reuters reported.

United States
Is Utah getting closer to a water rights settlement with the Navajo Nation?

The Venice of Northwest Alaska? Bridges are shifting, outdoor stairways are hanging over the ground, and sagging water pipes are about to break and freeze as the permafrost is sinking in a village in northwestern Alaska, Alaska Dispatch reported.

Asia and Australia
At least eight people have died since the outbreak of a deadly water-borne disease in a flood-stricken area in the Philippines, AFP reported.

An Australian chemical plant reopened today under strict supervision after it was shut down last year following a series of leaks near the city of Newcastle, AAP reported.

South America
Nearly a month after a government crackdown on environmental activists in Peru, protests have resumed in the Andean town of Cajamarca against Newmont Mining’s $4.8 billion gold-mining project, according to Reuters.

Nature reports on scientists’ efforts to track the rapid retreat of the Patagonian Ice Fields and the consequences for local water resources.

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.

 

Water levels are expected to rise on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in the next six months, but unusually warm winter temperatures may lead to less ice cover and more evaporation, ultimately reducing Great Lakes water levels, The Detroit News reported, citing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ latest forecast.

Wasting natural resources, such as water and energy, will create further economic crises, according to the European Union’s environment commissioner, the Guardian reported.

Essar Energy plans to build eight new coal-fired power plants in India, arguing that people there cannot afford to pay for clean energy, the Guardian reported.

The United States will hold ten lease sales for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to reduce dependency on foreign oil imports, according to Bloomberg News. Lease sales were suspended after the BP oil spill in 2010.

China will focus on more efficient agricultural practices to promote food security and social stability, Xinhua reported. Plans include increasing spending on water-related infrastructure.

Australians are not spending as much money due to high food and utility prices, and the retail market is hurting as a result, 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.