LeakBird

(April 26, 2009, The Oregonian)
“People think oil is something to fight about. Wait until we start running out of water,” said state Rep. Mike Schaufler, D-Happy Valley.
A handful of big farmers and their utility company engineered Oregon Oasis to get that water. They bought political access and nearly got their way.
“People who are well funded [...]

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 16, 2009, TerraDaily)
Tens of billions of dollars are needed annually to fix the world’s water systems, but policies to address the global financial crisis could help meet the target, the OECD says.In a report to the World Water Forum in Istanbul, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says demands for fresh water [...]

(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 16, 2009, The Environment News Service)
Global demand for water is greater today than it has ever been and demand will increase in the future, thousands of delegates to the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul heard at their opening session today. Driving the demand for water are population growth and mobility, rising living standards, [...]

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 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, [...]

 
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. 18, 2009, The Dallas Morning News)

Plano water and sewer customers should expect rates to rise by an average of 16 percent starting next month.
The increases, the fifth round of hikes since spring 2006, will help pay for more expensive treatment, pumping and expansion costs in [...]

(Feb. 12, 2009, The Montreal Gazette)
Even the Great Lakes aren’t great enough to sustain North Americans’ reckless water use in the event of a continentwide water shortage, according to a new report.
The report — titled Sentinels of Change and set for release in Friday’s edition of Science — suggests the Great Lakes’ scant renewal rates [...]

(Feb. 10, 2009, ChennaiOnline)
India is expected to experience severe water stress by 2020 with the per capita availability of water projected to be less than 1,000 cubic metres.
Indian water scenario was a matter of grave concern, as 85 per cent of water was used for agriculture, 10 per cent for industry and five per [...]

(Feb. 11, 2009, Aguanomics)
On Monday, I visited DXV Water Technologies, a start-up with a new technology for desalination.
I met with Michael Motherway (president), Curt Roth (VP engineering), and Diem Vuong (inventor), and we discussed their technology, markets and other issues of supply and demand. Here’s one write up [PDF].
I HIGHLY recommend that you listen to [...]

(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 [...]