The Stream, February 3: Peru Floods Restrict City Water Supplies

The Global Rundown

Extensive floods in Peru damaged water treatment facilities in the country’s capital and second-largest city, reducing supplies. Lawmakers in the Great Lakes region asked the U.S. and Canadian governments to relocate a nuclear waste facility planned near Ontario’s Lake Huron shoreline. Flooding risks will increase if new housing developments in England do not use green infrastructure, a new report warned. Police arrested dozens of demonstrators in North Dakota after they resumed protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. California this week measured its highest Sierra Nevada snowpack in more than two decades. Scientists in Australia kicked off a global project to measure the carbon stored by wetlands.

“Any risk to the Great Lakes whatsoever is a significant problem, whatever way you measure it. And a country the size of Canada, we have to be able to find a location that doesn’t risk that drinking water. It’s a massive issue.” –Paul Mitchell, a Republican congressman from Michigan, referring to a proposal in Canada to create a nuclear waste disposal facility near Lake Huron. Lawmakers from the region sent letters this week asking the U.S. and Canadian governments to relocate the planned facility. (Michigan Radio)

By The Numbers

173 percent of average Latest measure of the snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, marking the highest level for this time of year since 1995. Associated Press

In context: In 2014, Circle of Blue reported that February snowpack in the Sierras was a “Snow Fail”.

50,000 teabags Initial number scientists plan to bury in wetlands in order to measure how much carbon they are storing or releasing into the atmosphere. The project, led by researchers in Australia, aims to compare a vast number of wetlands around the globe. Guardian

76 people Number arrested in North Dakota as protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline resumed. Guardian

Science, Studies, And Reports

New housing developments in England could overwhelm stormwater drainage systems and increase the risk of floods, according to a report released by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. The report calls on the government to implement a law passed in 2010 that would require new developments to use green infrastructure. Guardian

On The Radar

Water use restrictions were implemented in Peru’s capital city, Lima, as well as in the city of Arequipa, after severe floods hampered operations at their water treatment facilities. Officials, who admitted they were ill-prepared for the magnitude of the floods, worry that such events will become more common due to climate change. Reuters