Global Rundown
- The water levels of rivers and reservoirs have dwindled in Lebanon, which is facing its worst drought in history.
- As the reservoirs around Athens, Greece, near all-time seasonal lows, officials are working to revive a 2,000 year-old Roman aqueduct.
- New research suggests that the megadrought currently afflicting the American Southwest may not relent for many decades.
- A new global report urges immediate international action to conserve wetland ecosystems.
The Lead
Amid what experts describe as Lebanon’s worst drought in history, the Litani River has fallen to historic lows, while inflows to the country’s largest reservoir at Lake Qaraoun are just 13 percent of their wet season average, Reuters reports. This year, inflows measured 45 million cubic meters, compared to an average of 350 million cubic meters.
As a result of these unrelenting arid conditions, the fresh water available in the lake is too polluted to drink. Dry, cracked lakebed lies exposed and the shoreline has visibly receded.
“We have two factors: the decline in rainfall and the pressure on groundwater,” Sami Alawieh, head of the river authority, told Reuters.
Water scarcity has dramatically curtailed energy production. Hydroelectric plants in the basin have been shut down, forcing utility companies to ration electricity. Farmers in particular have been affected. Not only is the amount of available groundwater dwindling, but the electricity needed to irrigate crops is available on erratic schedules.
“You irrigate for three hours, then stop for three,” Fayez Omais, another local farmer, told Reuters.
Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue
- President Trump Wants Coal Ash in State Hands — Indiana is a test case for overseeing one of worst water pollution sources.
- Changing Crucial Definition In Endangered Species Act Undermines Purpose Of Klamath Dam Removal — Under proposed weakening of species law, world’s largest dam removal would not have occurred.
This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers
12
Centuries since the American Southwest has endured a drought akin to the region’s current 25-year dry spell, the New York Times reports. According to a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, relief may still be many years away. Marine and atmospheric temperatures in the north Pacific Ocean, which ultimately affect the climate in states like Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas and tend to oscillate over the span of years, are “stuck” in a hot, dry holding pattern as a result of human-caused climate change. For as long as the world continues to heat up, the research suggests, the Southwest could, at best, remain in its arid state, and at worst, potentially experience an even more significant megadrought.
22
Percent of the world’s wetlands that have been lost since 1970, according to a new global report published this week by the Ramsar Convention. An additional 20 percent of the remaining wetlands are at risk of disappearing by mid-century, the report continues, unless there is urgent conservation action. Mongabay reports that, in addition to their invaluable ecological significance, “wetlands deliver ecosystem services valued at more than 7.5% of global GDP — up to $39 trillion annually — including water purification, carbon storage, coastal protection, and support for food systems and livelihoods.” Despite this value, wetland ecosystems receive fewer than 9 percent of finances “earmarked for nature-based solutions.”
On the Radar
Reservoirs surrounding Greece’s capital of Athens are threatening to surpass record seasonal lows previously set in 2008, according to a new regional analysis, EuroNews reports. The scarce water supply has been attributed to a years-long drought exacerbated by scorching heat waves, tourism, and rampant regional wildfires.
Of the area’s four main reservoirs, two — Mornos and Evinos — are hovering around 60 percent of their usual surface area, down from 79 percent at the same time last year and nearly 100 percent in 2022. This downward trajectory has prompted Greek officials to take both drastic and creative measures to secure water access for residents and farmers, including reviving a 2,000 year-old Roman aqueduct.
Fresh: From the Great Lakes Region
Late Lead Warnings: More than eight months after the federal deadline passed to notify Chicagoans whose residences are still connected to lead service lines, 93 percent of these roughly 900,000 renters and homeowners remain uncontacted, Grist reports. Advocates say the lethargic communication effort is keeping communities in harm’s way, especially because “a study published last year found two-thirds of Chicago children under 6 years old live in homes with tap water containing detectable levels of lead.” Roughly 412,000 out of 490,000 service lines in Chicago are at least partly made from lead. The city estimates it will take another half-century before they are all fully replaced, despite former President Joe Biden announcing a 10-year deadline last October.
Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public and The Narwhal work together to report on the most pressing threats to the Great Lakes region’s water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Find all the work here.
- Has this freighter made its final voyage? — Great Lakes Now
- ‘We can’t regulate ourselves’ out of whitefish crisis, experts say — Bridge Michigan
- In the shadow of Kelowna’s housing boom, fragile ecosystems depend on those fighting to save them — The Narwhal
- Environmental groups, state officials could go to court over Trump admin. order on MI coal plant — Michigan Public