The Stream, August 20: Campaign Against Coal Seam Gas in Australia

Water Contamination
The Lock the Gate alliance in Australia finds that of 43 coal and gas developments that would potentially affect water supplies in the country, only four have had the government’s “water-trigger” assessment applied to them, The Guardian reported. “The states have really let the side down badly on water quality,” said Carmel Flint, campaign coordinator with Lock the Gate for the upcoming federal election.

Officials at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) reported a new leak of about 300 metric tons (79,000 gallons) of highly radioactive water from their Fukushima plant, which suffered a meltdown three years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported. The leak came from tanks that officials say are less sturdy than the plant’s groundwater ones, which the plant was forced to use move tons of water out of in April after a set of leaks occurred.

Water Infrastructure
Residents in Massachusetts, California, and Texas have been pushing for public control of their water systems, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rate increases, justified by the private firms as a means to improve infrastructure, led to a 16 percent decrease in Americans served by privately owned systems between 2007 and 2011.

Africa
Professor Anthony Turton, a trustee of the Water Stewardship Council of Southern Africa, says in an interview that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Water Protocol is globally seen as an model example of regional water integration, Inter Press Service News Agency reported. Approximately 70 percent of the water in the region is shared between two or more countries.