Entries by Cody Pope

Tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi rise over water

Pakistani President Zardari reiterated the importance of the Indus Waters Treaty.

Pacific Institute makes water policy recommendations for next president

OAKLAND, California — Clear, integrated, domestic and international water policy at the federal level, is the focus of a new report by the Pacific Institute. Dr. Peter Gleick outlines his suggestions in a three page open letter to the next president of the United States. Covering the gambit from international conflict resolution to United States […]

Op-ed — A heartfelt plea for a sensible water policy

Dorthy Green discusses water use in California in a recent op-ed piece appearing in the Los Angles Times. Despite the looming crisis in water, we have enough to live on, but not enough to waste. And waste it we have, with great enthusiasm for lush green lawns in a desert and a penchant for backroom […]

Up for vote: George W. Bush Sewage Plant

SAN FRANCISCO — George W. Bush’s legacy is at stake in more than one way this election season, with an eponymous ballot proposal on the docket in California. The San Francisco proposal seeks to rename a local sewage processing plant after the current President. The official proposal, Prop-R on the ballot, was authorized after the […]

Great Lakes Wind Turbines Could Someday Power the Midwest

Hundreds of thousands of wind turbines could someday stretch across the vast shorelines of the Great Lakes, promising clean renewable energy for the entire upper Midwest. The ambitious plan may still be decades from fruition, but early studies show great potential. In the latest installment of an ongoing $1 million feasibility study focusing on Lake […]

Tax free toilets! Atlantans encouraged to upgrade their loos

ATLANTA, Georgia — Using tax incentives to persuade conservation, the state of Georgia is having a sales tax holiday this weekend on water efficient toilets and energy saving appliances. The holiday applies to all ENERGY STAR compliant devices and water saving toilets under $1500. In metro Atalanta, the deal is sweetened by a $100 discount […]

Opinion — Time to tap into water-wise farmers’ well of ideas

Circle of Blue covered the Pacific Institute’s newest report on water agricultural conservation last week. The report, More with Less: Agriculture Water Conservation and Efficiency in California, generated controversy throughout the agricultural sector in southern California. For example, Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), said the report “does not […]

Water Sales Trump Crop Sales in Queensland

BRISBANE, Australia — Small farmers in Queensland can make more by selling their water than growing crops, reports Adelaide Now. “Water is genuinely becoming liquid gold and an increasing number of farmers are being lured away from the land,” attorney Tracey Moore told the newspaper. “In regions where water trading is possible, there is a […]

Decades of dumping bring Chitlopakkam Lake to the edge

CHENNAI, India — A constant influx of wastewater and sewage into Chitlappakam Lake has left the reservoir contaminated and unfit for use. That’s according to residents living along the lake’s shore. With earlier plans for lake cleanup falling short of expectations, unhappy residents with the support of the local panchayats, or village councils, are planning […]

Iraq signs $1 billion deal for water-systems reconstruction

BAGHDAD — Growing stability in Iraq is leading the country to invest in and modernize Baghdad’s dilapidated and damaged utility systems, Reuters reports. A troika of leaders — including a yet unnamed Iraqi-French company, the central government and Baghdad’s mayor — recently reached a deal to rebuild the water and sanitation infrastructure of the eastern […]

Video: James Olson Discusses the Great Lakes Compact

In an interview with Circle of Blue, James M. Olson discusses the Great Lakes Compact: an international agreement intended to protect the Great Lakes Basin.

No more trips to the well, drinking straight from the tap in India

JAMSHEDPUR, India — For the first time in India, residents of Jamshedpur can get safe, potable drinking water straight from their household taps. The connections, which can cost willing residents an entire month’s salary, mark a turn in the way Indian’s receive their water. “Yes, I paid a lot of money for the connection,” Manoj […]