LeakBird

(April 23, 2009, Treehugger)
9% – The average withdrawal of fresh water by humans around the globe. This breaks down to 8.4% in North-America, 18.1% in Asia, 6.4% in Europe, 2% in Latin America, and 5.6% in Africa, according to the UN World Water Development Report from 2000.
1,664 – That’s how many cubic meters of water [...]

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 [...]

(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 [...]

(March 10, 2009, Reuters)
It’s hard to visualize a water crisis while driving the lush boulevards of Los Angeles, golfing Arizona’s green fairways or watching dancing Las Vegas fountains leap more than 20 stories high.
So look Down Under. A decade into its worst drought in a hundred years Australia is a lesson of what the American [...]

(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 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. [...]

(Feb. 19, 2009, Christian Science Monitor)
On the Colorado River Delta, some 250 miles west southwest of Tucson as the crow flies, sits Cienega de Santa Clara.
It’s a 63-square-mile patch of wetland – a key stop for migrating birds along an arid stretch of the Pacific flyway. It’s the largest remaining wetland on the Colorado River [...]

(Jan. 29, 2009, WorldChanging)
Looking for a way to update yourself on the state of the world’s water? On Wed., Feb. 4, Peter Gleick, one of the world’s leading authorities on water issues, will present The World’s Water 2008-2009 biannual report. This volume provides up-to-date information and analysis on water topics such as peak water, how [...]

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. 27, 2009, Angry Bear)
Will Wilkinson asks what’s with the economics profession.
A bit more on the public relations quandary the economics profession ought to be in, if it isn’t already…
When I see Delong more or less indiscriminately trashing everyone at Chicago, or Krugman trashing Barro, etc., what doesn’t arise in my mind is a sense [...]

(Jan. 16, 2009, Enviroblog)
Economic losses caused by nutrient pollution of U.S. freshwaters are felt by people all around the country, according to the policy analysis by the Kansas State University team of scientists led by Walter Dodds.
Repeated application of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, intensive tillage of soil, discharge of manure from animal farms, and [...]

(Jan. 11, 2009, The Good Human)
Dear EarthTalk: With all the talk of rising seas, what could happen to the rivers that flow into the oceans? Will they reverse flow? Will rising seas back up into fresh water lakes? And what happens to our groundwater should saltwater flow backwards into it?
The intrusion of saltwater from the [...]

(Jan. 10, 2009, Portand Water Blog)
Early results from a study being performed by researchers at the University of Notthingham (Portsmouth England) suggest that the hardness or softness of one’s water could influence the severity of the skin condition eczema.

(Jan. 8, 2009, Napa Valley Register)

This week, water experts from the city and county of Napa expressed confidence that residents will not have to prepare for rationing or extreme conservation measures in the near future.
Even if the State Water Project delivers only a small portion of what it has promised in 2009 — which is [...]

(Jan. 7, 2009, MLive.com)
Several coal or oil ash waste sites in Michigan and in Wisconsin and Indiana near the shores of Lake Michigan have contaminated nearby ground water and wells that threaten human health, according to a 2007 Environmental Protection Agency study cited by the New York Times.

A New York Times map shows some of [...]

(Jan. 6, 2009, USA Today)
Skiers are enjoying the early winter snows on California’s mountains, but down closer to sea level are big worries that the snowfall and its spring runoff won’t be enough to relieve two years of drought.
Unless the next few months prove to be wet ones, tougher conservation steps and even water rationing [...]