LeakBird

(April 30, 2009, WISN.com)
These are tough times for many companies and their workers. But in the midst of all the economic doom and gloom, an effort to transform the region’s economy, and create thousands of jobs, is gaining momentum.
It’s being led by a Milwaukee businessman who’s passionate, determined and very colorful. His name is Rich [...]

(April 30, 2009, Aguanomics)
I hope that Maude Barlow tells her fellow citizens THIS fact: Cheap water leads to more demand (Canadians have the highest per capita consumption of water in the world.)
Bottom Line: We cannot manage water if we don’t know how much we use or how much that use costs (economically or environmentally).
(Original Post [...]

(April 25, 2009, The Oregonian)
They were after one thing: water.
The fact that water would trigger such an adroit use of political access underscores an issue sneaking up on most Oregonians.
In a state that boasts about webbed feet, access to water is increasingly contested. The state estimates that in the coming years, demand will grow [...]

(April 29, 2009, WJZ)
The effects of a destructive water main break in downtown Baltimore are still being felt Wednesday morning.
Mary Bubala reports many businesses were forced to close because of the rushing water Tuesday. However, Wednesday all government buildings will be open along with most local restaurants and attractions.
But many roads will remain closed. Lombard Street, the [...]

(April 20, 2009, The Mercury News)

Water users in Antioch will be asked to cut their consumption by 15 percent this summer.
The mandatory reduction comes because the Contra Costa Water District, from which Antioch purchases some of its water, has notified its customers of a decrease in available water this year, according to a city news [...]

(April 21, 2009, Aguanomics)
Southern Californians use about 350 gallons of water per day per household (of 3). That’s about 110 gallons/capita/day (gcd).
People in San Francisco use about 63 gcd, and people in the Bay Area use about 97 gcd.
(Original Post Here)

(April 17, 2009, The New York Times)
There are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks each year in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Aging Water Infrastructure Research Program, and some water experts fear that the problem is getting worse.
(Original Article Here)

Want to use more water?  Pay for it.
David Zetland, Aguanomics.com
The Water Myth is the myth that we have an endless water supply, renewing itself ad infinitum. How can we not believe in this myth when even our cats can drink from the potable water in our toilet bowls, for which we pay less than [...]

(April 13, 2009, The Winston-Salem Journal)
North Carolina considers itself the most progressive of the Southern states, so it is shocking to learn that we’re so far behind everyone else in the region when it comes to managing water. Clodfelter’s bill is modeled on Georgia’s law. The rest of the southeastern states have management systems, too.
(Original [...]

(April 12, 2009, The San Francisco Chronicle)
The San Francisco Chronicle invites you to decide by playing our online water game. As you play, you’ll hear from a water manager about how cities can use less water, from a Central Valley farmer close to losing his crops and from a conservationist on why we need adequate [...]

Perhaps you’re new to the field of
property management or landlording, or
weathered by years of experience. Two
things, however, you hold dear no
matter what level you operate from.
Your two most precious resources
are MONEY & WATER.
If you have cash flows that are secure,
you don’t have to evict your tenant
due to foreclosure.  If you have a
secure water supply, you [...]

(March 23, 2009, William Eagle, VOA News)

Development experts are looking at better ways to cope with water shortages. They’re worried about predictions from scientists that population pressures will increase the demand for water to meet needs for food and energy. This concern comes as countries try to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals.  Among them [...]

(March 22, 2009, Reuters)
If water is the new oil, is blue the new green?
Translation: if water is now the kind of precious commodity that oil became in the 20th century, should delivery of clean water be the same sort of powerful political force as the environmental movement in an age of climate change?
And, in another [...]

There’s an interesting ESPN article on the coming water policy crisis in America, in the context of fish and wildlife. Wikipedia defines the word “policy” as “a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s)“.  Of course, it’s rooted in the word “police” as well, which “stems from the Greek word ‘politeia’ [...]

(March 19, 2009, The Los Angeles Times)
State officials announced Wednesday they will deliver more water to Southern California this year than previously predicted but cautioned that shipments will remain well below normal.
State water resources director Lester Snow said “a series of very beneficial storms in February and early March” prompted his department to increase allocations [...]

(March 18, 2009, ESPN)
After 39 years in the fish and wildlife management business, I have concluded that only two things really affect fish and wildlife populations: habitat and climate. Most of the contributions made by detailed harvest management practices and manipulations of fisheries by hatcheries have generally had relatively minor impact on the sustainability of [...]

(March 16, 2009, The Water Blog, Portland Water Bureau)

March 16-20th is the EPA’s first, annual Fix A Leak Week.  Fix A Leak Week is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program, which seeks to protect the nation’s water supply by promoting efficient products and services and educating the public about water conservation.
According to WaterSense:

11,000 [...]

(March 16, 2009, Robert Stavins, The Huffington Post)

Throughout the United States, water management has been approached primarily as an engineering problem, rather than an economic one. Water supply managers are reluctant to use price increases as water conservation tools, instead relying on non-price demand management techniques, such as requirements for the adoption of specific technologies [...]

(March 14, 2009, The Oroville Mercury-Register)
The state is shopping for water for the Drought Water Bank, but a variety of factors has supplies drying up.Despite a hefty price for the sale of water, environmental constraints and good prices for commodities have far less Sacramento Valley water users signing up to sell water to other parts [...]

(March 13, 2009, MSNBC)
With local lakes and rivers at critically low levels, the region’s water provider has virtually shut down the surface water supply to the Tampa Bay region.
“The reservoir’s level is so low we are unable to provide water, consistently, to the water treatment plant and we are unable to pull water from the [...]

(March 13, 2009, The New York Times)
Give I.B.M. credit for technological ambition and a willingness to tackle big problems.
I.B.M. is presenting a new bundle of services and research offerings at the World Water Forum in Istanbul on Monday. The package, grandly called Strategic Water Management Solutions, is the most recent entry in I.B.M.’s so-called smart [...]

(March 11, 2009, Robert in Monterey, Calitics)
As someone who has written before of the water problems our state faces, and who has repeated the “omg worst drought ever” frame, it’s important that I give some necessary attention to Michael Fitzgerald of The Stockton Record, who called bullshit on the whole thing today:
California’s “drought” is overblown. [...]

(March 10, 2009, The Europa Research Information Centre)
Since world governments decided that improving the management of the planet’s water reserves was a major priority, the threats hanging over groundwater have suddenly become front-page news. However, inconsistencies remain…
Since ancient times, water diviners have doused for water armed only with a wooden stick (or divining rod). Most [...]

David Curran wrote a stimulating op-ed on the California drought in Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle.  Mr. Curran expressed his perplexity at the incongruity of intermittent first quarter flooding in the Bay Area and the Governor’s dire “worst drought ever” declaration.
California has gone from being the bread basket of the US to a water crisis basket [...]

(March 8, 2009, The Fresno Bee)
It is China’s latest grand attempt to tame nature. Three canals will bring water hundreds of miles to Beijing and other thirsty cities in the north. More than 350,000 people in the way will be forced to move.
For many in Zhangyigang, a village of 942 people in brick and mud [...]

As the growing demand for all things water escalates across the United State (hydrologists, water conservation systems, water lawyers, new sources of water, et cet.), the drought environment, such as regions in Georgia, Florida, Nevada and California, has the highest market demand water conservation technologies for three reasons:

 
Timeliness
Fast Payback
Higher Water Rates

 
Timeliness
This is perhaps the most [...]

(March 8, 2009, SramanaMitra)
While people focus on carbon footprints and potential ways to reduce the impact man-made CO2 emissions, the world is running out of another of its key elements: fresh water.
We use fresh water much faster than it can replenish: it is increasingly scarce and has no alternative.
Water is a strategic resource for countries [...]

(March 7, 2009, MSNBC)
Using the back yard of a Tierrasanta resident as a backdrop, Mayor Jerry Sanders called on San Diegans to get serious about water conservation.
Sanders revealed what he has done personally to conserve and showed clear disappointment in the overall efforts of San Diegans.
“Despite some successes, we still continue to fall shrt of [...]

(March 5, 2009, Aguanomics)
…Says Harvard Professor Stavins at the Huffington Post. His op/ed continues:
Throughout the United States, water is under-priced. Efficient use of water will take place only when the price reflects the actual additional cost of making that water available. Lest one fear that higher water rates would mean that Americans would go thirsty, [...]

(March 5, 2009, The Sound News)

Rainy Seattle, nestled between Lake Washington and Puget Sound, enjoys an abundance of the wet stuff. Being surrounded by water and having it come down on us throughout the year is misleading in thinking that general availability and accessibility is the norm. The collective mindset reflects a standard, a high [...]

(March 6, 2009, David Zetland, Aguanomics)
(via DW) The Mayor’s office sent out this press release [pdf] yesterday:
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders is calling on all San Diegans to step up water conservation efforts in the wake of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s state of emergency declaration for California’s water supplies.
“The Governor’s message is right on target,” said [...]

With all of the rain California has been receiving over the last few weeks, water levels are back to 80% in Sierra snowpack terms and there is “drought improvement“.  The 167-mile stretch of the Hetch-Hetchy system, which provides 85% of the Bay Area’s water, can continue to flow at four fifths capacity.  But water restrictions [...]

(March 5, 2009, The Sacramento Bee)
Sacramento leaders on Tuesday said the city’s enormous thirst for water does not mesh with its Earth-friendly aspirations, and vowed to change.
In a workshop on water conservation, a majority of the Sacramento City Council said aggressive new policies are needed to save water. This may include stronger enforcement of water [...]

(March 5, 2009, The San Francisco Chronicle)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s declaration of a statewide drought emergency last week had classic comic timing: It’s been pouring ever since. What’s not funny are the governor’s proposals: Expedited water transfers now, which may adversely affect fish and wildlife, and possible mandatory rationing later. Is the drought really that bad?
Some [...]

(March 4, 2009, David Zetland, Aguanomics)
RT writes:
I am an economist from Australia who works on among other issues urban water policy.
I read with interest your nicely-written Forbes article.
We seem to have pretty much a similar situation here in Australia and a few of us make similar suggestions.
I’d love to understand more about the your situation [...]

(March 4, 2009, Aquadoc, WaterWired)
The current issue (2 March 2009) of the High Country News has a revealing article by Matt Jenkins, “How Low Will It Go?”. Jenkins describes the mission of Eric Kuhn, an engineer and former submariner who now runs the Colorado River Water Conservation District in western Colorado.
So what is his mission? Simple. [...]

(March 3, 2009, Aguanomics)
I talked to Ray Walker, a retired water rights analyst, about the “new source” of water he’s been mentioning in comments to this blog. Since both of us are interested to find out if any water managers are interested in this new supply, I am posting his request for expressions of interest. [...]

(March 2, 2009, John Laumer, Treehugger)
The Las Vegas Review-Journal cites the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority saying ‘now may be the time to take a serious look at a decades-old idea of capturing floodwater from the Mississippi River and using it to recharge the massive groundwater aquifer beneath the Central Plains.’
Was She [...]

(March 2, 2009, The Sacramento Bee)
Californians have grown accustomed to digesting odd ideas that routinely flow out of Sacramento, many of them not so palatable.
But are they ready for this one?
Last week, amid a third year of a statewide drought, the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District adopted a strategy to sell treated sewage as drinking [...]

(Feb. 28, 2009, The San Bernardino Sun)
Water is one of California’s most vexing challenges.
Most of the state’s rainfall comes in Northern California and its snowpack is in the Sierra Nevada range. But most of the users are in Southern California and the Central Valley, where agriculture is the main consumer.
There are obstacles at every step [...]

(Feb. 28, 2009, MSNBC)
Butte County water officials have concerns that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proclamation Friday on the drought isn’t clear about protecting local control over groundwater.
Paul Gosselin, director of the county Department of Water and Resource Conservation, said there are concerns about what exactly the governor means by “expedited water transfers.”
Butte County has an ordinance [...]

(Feb. 27, 2009, AlterNet)
The state has done little to study the impacts drilling might have on water supplies and is unprepared to treat the waste water it produces.
Got bubbles? Alarms have been ringing for months about the risk that natural gas drilling poses to drinking water supplies, but recent reports of water contamination just [...]

(Feb. 28, 2009, Aguanomics)
Aquadoc’s review of Blue Gold attracted an interesting comment:
—————-
Mike, I am compelled to answer your hypothetical question of Maude Barlow: “why is privatization of our water so bad?”
While designing and constructing water delivery sources by experts make sense, the delivery of water is not a highly specialized technology and therefore is quite [...]

(Feb. 26, 2009, Ceres)
Global climate change is exacerbating water scarcity problems around the world, yet few businesses and investors are paying attention to this growing financial threat, according to a report issued today by Ceres and the Pacific Institute.
Water is crucial for the global economy – driving every industry from agriculture to electric power to [...]

(Feb. 26, 2009, Bloomberg News)
On a cloudless December day in the Nevada desert, workers in white hard hats descend into a 30- foot-wide shaft next to Lake Mead.
As they’ve been doing since June, they’ll blast and dig straight down into the limestone surrounding the reservoir that supplies 90 percent of Las Vegas’s water. In September, [...]

 
I came across a fascinating and informative document on a recent meeting between some associates from the University of Washington and the Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) regarding water rates and billing in Seattle.
The document’s notes cover a wide gamut, but basically I learned seven things that I think any landlord or property manager in Seattle [...]

(Feb. 25, 2009, Aguanomics)
Readers will know that I favor neither public nor private (investor-owned) provision of water, since the problems of ownership structure are less important than the problems of monopoly. (And the solution to monopoly — if not competition — is careful community monitoring.)
For more evidence on what does and does not matter, read [...]

(Feb. 20, 2009, Contra Costa Times)

The Contra Costa Water District’s 500,000 customers likely will face mandatory water rationing in the coming months and some of the biggest farms in the state may get no water at all, water managers said Friday.
The cuts to water supplies across the state are in response to what is shaping [...]

(Feb. 19, 2009, PolicyInnovations)
Conflicts in northeast Kenya have been intensifying as drought worsens an already growing problem over access to water and land for pasture. In Pakistan, wheat production is expected to decrease by 40 percent this year due to water scarcity.
Is this evidence of society approaching what the World Economic Forum refers to as [...]

(Feb. 20, 2009, Aquadoc, WaterWired)
I found this interview with Maude Barlow on EurActiv.com (thanks to WaterSISWEB). I was ready to have my head explode but was quite (pleasantly?) surprised; she did not seem misinformed about some basic water facts.  No “New Mexico has a 10-year supply of water left.”
There was one thread I found especially puzzling:
We need [...]