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March 30, 2006
English learn how precious water is becoming
Even fully developed countries like England are finding that potable water is becoming more precious and expensive.
Water companies, like Thames Water have just announced the highest water rates since 1989, and also instituted a ban on water hoses for the garden or washing cars for the entire summer across a third of England and Wales.
The question asked if this a result of global warming, as in less rainfall, or government mismanagment. It seems not all homes are metered and metered homes do tend to use less water, as reported by The Times(UK).
Posted by Stephen Betheil at 06:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 23, 2006
World Water Forum concludes that governments should provide water
The 150 nations attending the World Water Forum have agreed that government, not the private sector, should take the lead in solving the world's water crises. I am personally happy about that outcome of the forum in that I am strongly against privatization of our water resources.
Alain Dangeard, a water consultant and economist, said: "The most important thing is to give local [projects] a chance. In countries such as India and China, you have real problems between centralised and local planning." He said that water services could be provided by small, local companies that better understood local needs rather than large multinationals.
People worldwide are suffering increasing water shortages, owing to pressures such as the increasing population and urbanisation, as well as climate change. A fifth of the world's population lacks access to clean water, and increasingly intensive agriculture is using up more water as well, as reported in London by the Financial Times.
Posted by Stephen Betheil at 06:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 21, 2006
World Water Day is about those without
Walking for water in celebration of the United Nation's World Water Day today is fine if the reason is the millions who have to travel over an hour to get potable water in this world.
Pictures of the participants in these walks for water raising their bottled water, only serves in my mind to put the stress on the global privatization of water recourses.
In eleven cities across the United States today, where the best water is at the tap, people walked for water hopefully to put the world's water crises, at least for today, on the front burner, as reported by the Voice of America.
Posted by Stephen Betheil at 04:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 17, 2006
Protesters at World Water Forum say Water Wars now Deadly
Protesters holding an "alternate" forum outside the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City today, say deadly water wars aren't an apocalyptic vision of the future, but are already starting to happen.
"The Fourth World Water Forum doesn't represent us," said Audora Dominguez of the nongovernmental Mexican Committee for the Defense of Water Rights. "It's a forum where you have to pay to speak. It's a forum where the poor aren't included."
Local Mexico City legislator Aleida Alavez Ruiz said, "It's getting critical, and if we don't recognize the problem now, when the dry season comes, the conflicts will get worse," speaking of her district, where residents have fought over water trucks that make deliveries when tap water runs out.
Loic Fauchon, president of the nongovernmental World Water Council said, "We don't want to override national governments; we just need a force that will take over in cases of water conflicts," as reported by the Associated Press and published by Forbes.
Posted by Stephen Betheil at 04:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 16, 2006
'Water Women' Launch Campaign Against Bottled Water
Next Wednesday, members of the Cape Cod branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom will don water-related costumes for a series of street theater presentations in Chatham, MA and several other Cape communities as a prelude to a public meeting they will sponsor that evening in recognition of the United Nations' World Day of Water.
The "Water Women," as they are calling themselves, are engaged in a three-year campaign to educate people about water-related issues. The Cape chapter is specifically focused on bottled water, which they see as unnecessary, wasteful and a step toward privatization of the world's water resources.
"It's an expense we don't really need, because most tap water is really very good," said Laurie Gates of the group.
Nancy Munger, of the group added, "Ultimately, we hope that in the United States, which has about 85 percent public water systems, that it stays that way, and that people stop buying bottled water, especially in small bottles," as reported by Tim Wood, of the Cape Cod Chronicle.
Posted by Stephen Betheil at 05:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 13, 2006
New report says less is more in getting water to the poor
In a new report, Spreading the Water Wealth: Making Water Infrastructure Work for the Poor, released today by the International Rivers Network in Berkeley, CA, the conlusion is reached that the water needs of the world’s poorest people can be met by redirecting investments in water infrastructure to cheap, decentralized and environmentally sustainable technologies.
"Small–scale projects such as local rainwater harvesting structures, drip irrigation and pump technologies, and water–saving farming techniques can reduce poverty more effectively and at lower cost than the mega–projects that focus on cities, industry, and modern agriculture", says Patrick McCully, Executive Director of International Rivers Network.
McCully argues that the needs of the poor must be put front and center in water infrastructure strategies, and rebuts the main arguments for the mega–project approach, as reported and published by the International Rivers Network.
Posted by Stephen Betheil at 04:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 03, 2006
World to face water crises tied to global warming
In the first comprehensive satellite survey of Antarctica, the ice sheets which comprise the world's largest reservoir of fresh water, are shriking at a rate faster than new snow can fall.
Experts say increasing global temperatures, as like the 10 warmest years on record all have occurred since 1990, may be hastening the demise of the polar ice caps, and estimates of the pace of future sea-level rise could be too low.
At the same time, Africa's rivers face dramatic disruption that will leave a quarter of the continent severely short of water by the end of the century, a separate study has found.
An assessment of climate change on Africa's waterways revealed they are highly sensitive to shifts in rainfall patterns. Even modest decreases in rain in parts of Africa will mean rivers lose as much as 80 per cent of their water, triggering a surge of what the scientists call "water refugees".
Both studies were published in the journal Science on Thursday. The findings suggest that a century of steady increases in global temperatures has altered the seasonal balance of the world's water cycle, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Posted by Stephen Betheil at 05:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack