Canada

Floods While changing rainfall and climate patterns have been linked to increased flooding around the globe, new research suggests that erosion due to deforestation and development also plays a role by making rivers less able to mitigate large storms, AlertNet reported. Increased erosion and sedimentation rates in rivers are related to a region’s economic growth, [...]

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Canada Oil Sands An unknown volume of water has been released from a holding pond at Suncor Energy’s oil sands project in Alberta, Reuters reported. The water was released into the Athabasca River, though it is unclear if the water contained toxic materials. China Water Pollution Another wave of dead animals has hit China’s waterways, [...]

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Canada Oil Sands An unknown volume of water has been released from a holding pond at Suncor Energy’s oil sands project in Alberta, Reuters reported. The water was released into the Athabasca River, though it is unclear if the water contained toxic materials. China Water Pollution Another wave of dead animals hit China’s waterways Sunday, [...]

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great lakes stress map

Researchers hope the map is used to plan restoration projects that provide the greatest human benefits.

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A 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Japan near the site of the Fukushima disaster, creating a 1-meter (3.2 feet) tsunami, Reuters reported. Neither the quake nor the tsunami caused much damage. In this Guardian blog, George Monbiot questions the United Kingdom’s trial policy of biodiversity offsetting, which allows developers to destroy habitat for [...]

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Seasonal migrations of poor, rural communities due to shifting rainfall patterns, droughts and floods are increasing, according to a new study by CARE International and the United Nations University, AlertNet reported. The study warns that the migrations could become more frequent and permanent unless action is taken to mitigate climate change or adjust agriculture to [...]

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The Carbon Disclosure Project of London, UK has released the Water Disclosure Report 2012 which summarizes the voluntary water use reports of 318 companies from around the world. 53 percent of participating businesses reported experiencing “detrimental water-related business impacts.” Notably, the findings revealed that “the Energy sector has recorded the lowest response rate of any [...]

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Sea level rise and increasing floods are forcing families living on India’s Sundarbans islands to look to the mainland for a future, according to AlertNet. United States Consecutive years of drought have convinced some farmers in Kansas to give up on corn, Bloomberg News reported. The state planted the fewest acres of corn in three [...]

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French utility Suez Environnement will charge residents in Dunkirk, France different rates for water based on their income and level of usage, Bloomberg News reported. The French government is also pursuing legislation to make essential utilities like water, natural gas and power more affordable for low-income families. Downpours and floods have forced evacuations and impeded [...]

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The U.S. government spent US$734 million on water-related activities in fiscal year 2011, according to a State Department report. This represents a 23 percent drop from the previous year, when US$953 million was spent. Roughly one out of every two dollars in fiscal year 2011 was spent on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. The annual [...]

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Business An ‘new gold’ for the 21st century, banking on scarcer supplies and an exploding global population to drive demand, MarketWatch reported. North America The Premier of British Columbia has said that the Alaska’s proposed Pebble Mine, which could pollute one of the last pristine wild salmon fisheries in the world. A Mexican town is [...]

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Middle East Israel’s government plans totransfer water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, where water levels are dropping more than one meter (3.3 feet) each year. China The average per capita 236.5 millimeters (9.3 inches) of rain to one town, Xinhua reported. North America Canada Wednesday announced new selling city tap water that [...]

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edna_results_lakeErie

While federal efforts are largely focused on stonewalling invasive Asian carp at Chicago, the fish could be making their way into the Great Lakes through Lake Erie, where studies show they are likely to thrive.

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The U.S. House Agriculture Committee published a draft version of the 2012 Farm Bill, which is estimated to save US$35 billion over 10 years. The committee will discuss the 557-page piece of legislation on July 11 (find the committee’s summary here). In the draft, grants for rural water and wastewater projects are cut in half, [...]

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Researchers have warned that the steady decline in world water-monitoring stations will likely have a negative impact on water management, The New York Times reported. Asia Demonstrators in Cambodia took to the streets last Friday to lost each year in Asia due to leaks, costing water utilities $9 billion in revenue, according to a study [...]

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The Guardian explores how Costa Rica has implemented a green economy, which places a monetary value on ecosystem services, to protect resources like forests and water. Officials in Mumbai have warned that water rationing will likely occur after July 15 due to dwindling water supplies in India’s most populous city, The Times of India reported. [...]

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Infrastructure Government officials in Alberta, Canada are telling people downstream of an oil spill to stay away from the Red Deer River, according to the Calgary Herald. Plains Midstream Canada estimates roughly 475,000 liters (125,000 gallons) leaked from one of its pipelines on Thursday. In April 2011, the company reported a spill of more than [...]

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KSchneider_Idaho_IMG_2233

Push-back on the transportation of tar sands equipment through a wilderness corridor reflects civic resistance to North American fossil fuel boom.

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Energy and Climate The world’s top scientists are urging governments to look at water and energy as a single, linked issue and say that growing demands for both resources is one of three major global dilemmas, the Guardian reported. How dirty are Canada’s oil sands? Reuters looks at Europe and Canada’s battle over how to [...]

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Federal budget cuts at Environment Canada, the country’s environmental department, have forced the agency to trim some of its wastewater monitoring programs and water conservation efforts, among others, Postmedia News reported. Tens of thousands of refugees in a South Sudanese camp must be relocated immediately to escape life-threatening water shortages and diseases, the international aid [...]

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