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Condit Dam removal Washington hydropower pacific northwest

James Workman: Poetry, Slammed — Dambusting Celebratory Removals

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The most dramatic freshwater news stories of 2011 literally broke wide open in the Pacific Northwest's hydropowered region, as two major Washington currents were unplugged in in order to replenish an endangered, iconic, transrational species of fish. In that same spirit of silent wonder, and agape, the following 318 words began to arrange and then unglue themselves to honor these inspired, extraordinary events.

James Workman: My Local Wants vs. Their Global Needs — UN Water Forum Hints at Tensions of Competing Agendas

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Heavy hitters in the water world met at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 16 for a public-awareness marketing campaign. But who is the target audience? And what message do they need to hear?

James Workman: Mandela’s Global Water Ambassador Dies — A Reflection on South African Human Rights Lawyer, Kader Asmal

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When Nelson Mandela named South Africa’s first democratic Minister for Water Affairs and Forestry – a futile effort to keep his outspoken, irascible, chain-smoking friend out of trouble – Kader Asmal claimed ignorance about the rudimentary basics of his new portfolio.

James Workman: Boycott World Water Day!

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Set aside warm and fuzzy emotion, and use cold logic to revalue our matrix of life.

Giving Our Choke Point The Heimlich Maneuver

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In the U.S. a fifth of all energy may be consumed by water, and the biggest use of water – 42% by some estimates – is for energy.

Q&A: James G. Workman on the Bushmen’s Fight for Water Rights and 21st Century Hydro-Democracy

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Workman says chances of the Botswanian government returning water rights to the Bushmen as 'pretty slim.'

James Workman: Who Owns the Rain—When Thirsty Democracies Deny Individual Liberty to Water

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James G. Workman reflects on a recent ruling that compromises the water rights of the Bushmen.

Heart of Dryness: Reversing the Politics of Water Scarcity from the Kalahari to Suburbia

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The final installment of our seven-part series of excerpts from James G. Workman's Heart of Dryness examines how we define water rights for the Bushmen in Botswana as well as suburbanites in the U.S.

Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Drought

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"...for every Bushman caught, accused, arrested and roughed up, several others sneaked in to gather or hunt, preferring to live freely without official help, without water that had strings attached."

Heart of Dryness: Botswana’s Bushmen Fight for Human, Water Rights

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The fifth installment of Workman's book details the Bushmen's painful legal battle for water access against the Botswana government, which had begun to use "intentional, compulsory thirst" on the indigenous community. Left little choice, the Bushmen pursued court action to make access to water a fundamental human right.

Heart of Dryness: The Rule of Water for Botswana’s Bushmen

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In the fourth installment of Heart of Dryness, author James G. Workman explains the historic transformation of water across Botswana's Kalahari. Workman continues to follow Qoroxloo, showing how the Bushmen have adapted to water scarcity and fluctuating hydrology.

Heart of Dryness: Water Infrastructure and Climate Change

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In the third installment of Climate Change Coping Strategies excerpts from James G. Workman's Heart of Dryness we reveal the struggle to develop effective infrastructure in the face of climate change.