(May 11, 2009, The Miami Herald)
The states of Florida and Alabama are meeting Georgia in federal court in Jacksonville over the allocation of water from Lake Lanier, which is the city of Atlanta’s water supply.
U.S. District Judge Paul Manguson will hear arguments Monday from the three states over the legality of the water supply allocations [...]
(April 20, 2009, The International Relations and Security Network)
Much of Central Asia’s water flows from the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, leaving downstream countries Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan dependent and worried about the effects of planned hydropower plants upstream.
“There are lots of discussions about water and energy going on among the Central Asian states. [...]
(April 16, 2009, The Dominion Post)
Landowners with the right to take more water than they need are selling their surplus allocations and pocketing the cash.
There is nothing illegal about selling access to public water for private gain, but conservationists say it is a growing practice that could spell doom for rivers already under pressure, and [...]
(April 13, 2009, AlterNet)
Like most states west of the one-hundredth meridian, Colorado follows the doctrine of prior appropriation to allocate water. For all water uses that are non-domestic, a person must have a water right. Water rights are assigned a priority date, which is the date that the water use was initiated.
(Original Article Here)
(April 8, 2009, The Economist)
Tradable usage rights are a good tool for tackling the world’s water problems
THE Chinese word for politics (zhengzhi) includes a character that looks like three drops of water next to a platform or dyke. Politics and water control, the Chinese character implies, are intimately linked.
Such a way of thinking contrasts with [...]
(April 1, 2009, The Associated Press)
Many farmers in this northern Colorado plains region are struggling to keep their crops irrigated and stay afloat as they find themselves on the wrong side of state water rules dating back to the 19th century.
The farmers around Wiggins, population 830, recently lost a lengthy war over access to the [...]
(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 [...]
(March 20, 2009, Citizen News Service)
The President of the United Nations General Assembly has told delegates at the 5th World Water Forum (WWF) in Istanbul, Turkey, that, “those who are committed to the privatization of water, making it a commodity like oil, are denying people a human right as basic as the air we breathe.”
In [...]
Teach a Man How to Fish, but Take Away His Right to Fish: Water Policy, Water Police, Water Rights (LeakBird)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 18, 2009, Jeff Conant, Alternet)
Behind the World Water Forum’s public posture as a trade expo and an educational exchange among water advocates lies a labyrinth of political intrigue and corporate cronyism. Corporate interests that make up the World Water Council are in constant contact with the World Bank and other financial institutions; each Forum [...]
(March 14, 2009, The New York Times)
During the past four decades here in Quillagua, a town in the record books as the driest place on earth, residents have sometimes seen glimpses of raindrops above the foothills in the distance. They never reach the ground, evaporating like a mirage while still in the air.
What the town [...]
(March 5, 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune)
I have a classic Western postcard tacked to the bulletin board above my computer. It shows two men in a field holding shovels over their heads, locked in mock battle. Behind them runs an irrigation ditch. The caption reads: “Discussing Western Water Rights, A Western Pastime.”
I know firsthand how [...]
(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. [...]
The Coming Great Water Shortage — San Francisco Public Utilities Commission may have to Declare Temporary Water Rationing: Serves 2.5M Bay Area Customers (LeakBird)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 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 2, 2009, USA Today)
Gov. Charlie Crist wants Florida’s water bottlers to start paying for the water they pump from aquifers in the state, The Miami Herald reports.
Outside the rural north Florida town of Lee, “every day, Nestle Waters of North America sucks up an estimated 500,000 gallons from Madison Blue Springs,” the paper says. [...]
(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. 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 [...]
(Feb. 10, 2009, Alternet)
The basin has proven how difficult it can be to determine who holds what rights in western water and how it can put ecosystems at risk.
Last week, the Oregon Supreme Court agreed to decide whether irrigators in the Klamath Basin “own” water delivered by the federal Klamath Reclamation Project. This [...]
(Feb. 9, 2009, Las Vegas City Life)
Reader Dean Baker, president of Baker ranches, writes:
Pipelines built to take the water and the future of rural Nevada to grow the metropolitan cites of Nevada will be the biggest disaster the people of Nevada have ever faced. It will affect every single person. Some in Nevada believe cities [...]
(Feb. 8, 2009, ActivelyMovingWater.com)
Interview with Delbert Hawkins
I had the opportunity to work with Delbert Hawkins, a 3rd generation Montana cattle rancher, while I was project manager at the Montana Water Trust. Delbert holds the largest storage water right in Lake Mary Ronan (Lake County, Montana). Delbert also controls the outflow of the lake and has [...]
(Feb. 6, 2009, Phoenix Business Journal)
A bill in the Arizona Legislature would allow Colorado River water to be used for municipal and consumer needs in northwestern Arizona.
Current water laws state Colorado River water pumped into Mohave County may be used only for industrial applications such as mines, mills, utility plants and golf courses. The requirement [...]
(Feb. 4, 2009, Aguanomics)
“The [Napa, California city] council unanimously approved paying Yountville $3.45 million for the permanent rights to 1,100 acre feet from the vast State Water Project. The city, which uses about 15,500 acre feet annually, already has rights to 20,800 acre feet each year.”
This price for permanent water rights is equal to an [...]
(Feb. 4, 2009, Steamboat Pilot & Today)
Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs residents would be left with only half of the water needed to serve current demands if downstream states made a call on the Colorado River Compact, officials told the Steamboat Springs City Council on Tuesday.
The sobering revelation underscored council’s consideration of adopting a water [...]
(Feb. 2, 2009, The Merced Sun Star)
An unprecedented shift of San Joaquin River water from farmers in the east Valley to those in the west could further complicate the scramble to save crops from drought this year.
At stake is precious San Joaquin River water, which has helped east-side farmers cultivate a multibillion-dollar economy on 1 [...]
(Jan. 30, 2009, The Anniston Star)
For metropolitan Atlanta, the stakes — or the lake levels — could not be higher.
First, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower-court decision that invalidated the “secret” plan to draw more water from Lake Lanier than was agreed to by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Governments in metro [...]
(Jan. 29, 2009, AlterNet)
The privatization of public water supplies is occurring in many places around the world. Sold like a common commodity, the rights for distribution and management of community water are being bought and controlled more and more by private entrepreneurs and corporations. But a global movement of activists say this most basic element [...]
(Jan. 28, 2009, Treehugger)
Last week, delegates from around the world met in Rome to help set the agenda for the 5th World Water Forum, which will be held in Istanbul this March. They talked about the effects of population pressure, increased energy demand, climate change, and agriculture on water supplies and quality, and the need [...]
From Cast Iron Hand Water Pump to Igloo Cooler: My Formative Relationship with Water (LeakBird)From the age of 7 to 20 I grew up off the grid in the Northwest woods.
I remember the day we had a dowser come out, when I was 7 or 8, to designate a couple of spots for potential wells. He seemed like a blind man wandering around our property, his Y-shaped branch in [...]
(Jan., 2009, OnTheCommons.org)
Download a New Report on Water Commons Principles
“Our Water Commons, Towards a New Freshwater Narrative” by Maude Barlow
In every corner of the globe, communities (not just human, but flora and fauna as well) are in a pitched battle against thirst. Thank you for your interest in learning more about the principles of the [...]
(Jan. 24, 2009, The Merced Sun-Star)
Draw a tall cool glass of water from the tap anywhere in this county, and you’ll be drinking water that came out of the ground.
For cities and farms alike, most water comes from one source — wells. Much of the water Merced County uses comes from a common [...]
(Jan. 23, 2009, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it has the legal authority to supply metro Atlanta’s drinking water from Lake Lanier.
The Corps’ legal opinion, released late Thursday, is a good harbinger for metro Atlanta in proceedings unfolding in a federal court in Jacksonville, Fla. That’s where a federal judge is [...]
(Jan. 22, 2009, AlterNet)
Maude Barlow and Ge Yun, two leaders in the global struggle for fresh water, warm about the affects of climate change.
We profile two women activists taking on the global water crisis. Canadian Maude Barlow is a well known leader in the global struggle for water justice. Ge Yun from China is [...]
(Jan. 23, 2009, Bloomberg)
Malaysia’s Selangor state plans to complete taking over the assets and operation of water companies including Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd. in March in a bid to revamp the industry and prevent water shortages within five years.
The country’s richest state, through its Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd. unit, will buy all the region’s [...]
(Jan. 22, 2009, Aguanomics)
[Warning! Feisty post today. This Mississippi thing pisses me off!]
Phoenix is losing people from a slowing economy — not because of water shortages.
When will scarce water slow or reverse growth in dry places? I don’t think it ever will — mainly because there is so much slack in the system. Many crops [...]
(Jan. 21, 2009, Frank R. Rijsberman, AlterNet)
So, is the planet drying up? Not exactly, but a growing number of people are sharing a fixed amount of water that is badly managed and polluted.
Sri Lanka’s celebrated twelfth-century king Parakramabahu reportedly said, “not a single drop of water received from rain should be allowed to [...]
(Jan. 21, 2009, UN News Centre)
Water supplies for over a billion people around the world are under threat from increasing populations, expanding cities, industrialization, climate change and even the rising demand for food, warned the United Nations, as delegates from more than 60 countries kicked off a meeting today in preparation for the upcoming World [...]
(Jan. 15, 2009, Stan Cox, AlterNet)
A thousand people a day move to Florida, but with development gone wild, the state’s natural systems have passed the brink of sustainability.
The monumental stone signs and freshly paved entry road appear to lead to nothing but wide-open, semitropical countryside. But a second look reveals a skyline of sorts [...]
(Jan. 21, 2009, Aguanomics)
So, a few days ago Mike Wade said that “water markets” already exist in California, but facts appear to contradict that assertion.
As a businessman once said to me “Water markets? Great — where does the WSJ publish the price?”
In fact, water IS traded here and there in California, but there are so [...]
(Jan. 20, 2009, CleanTech)
Researchers at Frost & Sullivan say the water treatment industry is going to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of China’s plan for RMB 4 trillion in government spending in 2009 to stimulate the economy.
The government already spent RMB 120 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, with about 10 percent of [...]
(Jan. 20, 2009, JCFloridan)
A new water bottling plant in Marianna should be in full production some time next month, according to T.J. East, the plant manager for Ice River Springs’ local operation.
The Canada-based company will be drawing water from White Springs in Liberty County’s Bristol community, and Gainer Springs in Bay County’s Fountain community, [...]
(Jan. 20, 2009, The Vacaville Reporter)
Pushing hard to build a new canal around the delta, the Schwarzenegger administration rarely misses an opportunity to point out how rickety California’s water system has become.And in their zeal to get the expensive and controversial aqueduct built, they occasionally exaggerate.
For example, when federal regulators imposed new rules last month [...]
(Jan. 20, 2009, New York Times)
Six states bordering the Ohio River are joining the Environmental Protection Agency in the largest study of its kind to identify and reduce dangerous levels of bacteria that plague the waterway.
Unsafe levels of fecal coliform, or E. coli, have been identified in about 500 miles of the 981-mile river, which [...]
(Jan. 20, 2009, WaterWired)
Susan Greene’s column in the 15 January 2009 Denver Post suggests something to which James Powell alluded in Dead Pool: Lower Colorado River Basin (LCRB) states (CA, AZ, NV) casting their eyes and wallets south of the border in search of water:
Following Nevada’s example, Phoenix begins to build a desalting plant on the [...]
(Jan. 20, 2009, Aguanomics)
As promised in the comments to this post, I spoke to Mike Wade, Executive Director of the California Farm Water Coalition (CFWC) about water pricing and water markets.
We had a long conversation, but here are the comments that Mike wanted on the record:
CFWC favors a “fix” in the Delta that serves [...]
(Jan. 18, 2009 WaterBlogged.Info)
In a December 28, 2008 posting, The Human Right to Water: The Time Has Come, Michael Campana of WaterWired has expressed a change of heart about the right to water. At the risk of misconstruing the story of his conversion, its primarily geo-political and pragmatic concerns that dictate the need for a [...]
(Jan. 17, 2009, ENS)
Eight water conservation and control projects along China’s longest river, the Yangtze, will be underway by 2011 to improve water use and protect the environment, a water conservation official said Tuesday.
Cai Qihua, director of the Yangtze Water Resources Commission, announced the projects during the commission’s annual work meeting in Wuhan, the [...]
(Jan. 16, 2009, Mercury News)
Mike Robinson’s family has been tilling land in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta since the 1880s, growing crops in some of California’s most fertile soil. His alfalfa, hay, corn and tomatoes thrive on water pulled from the delta, the estuary that also provides water to two-thirds of the state and cropland throughout [...]
