(April 10, 2009, The Environmental Defense Fund)
California’s drought, now in its third year, is getting plenty of attention – both in-state and beyond its borders. This attention is deserved because in 2009, reduced water supplies are affecting our cities, farms and natural environment.
(Original Post Here)
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, 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 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 7, 2009, CBCNews)
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has asked Canadian cities and towns to phase out the sale and purchase of bottled water on municipal property.
The federation board of directors passed the anti-bottle resolution at a meeting in Victoria on Saturday.
The move carries no legal weight and aims simply to encourage municipalities to speak [...]
(March 7, 2009, The Mercury News)
Foster City residents who take their time in the shower or run the washing machine with just a few shirts inside will soon pay for their wasteful ways.
At a meeting Monday night, the Foster City City Council will consider approving a water rate structure that escalates the cost of water [...]
(March 5, 2009, Kansas City InfoZine)
Maintaining water quality and efficiency shouldn’t be purely a local problem, a panel of water experts told the House Science and Technology Committee Wednesday.
Five witnesses said federal agencies should cooperate on water research and policy initiatives to combat scarcity caused by drought and population growth.
“We can’t continue to use the [...]
(March 5, 2009, Business Insider)
While we don’t have a smart grid for electricity in place yet, there’s already talks that we need a smart grid for water. Implementing a smarter system that could monitor water usage would save the the US as much as 30% to 50% of its water used each year, estimates Mark [...]
(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 [...]
(Feb. 24, 2009, Aguanomics)
The battle is getting started:
The California Legislative Analyst’s Office recommends that the Legislature turn groundwater over to the state, which would remove local control
[snip]
[farmers] say they fear that the state would require water meters, find out how much water everyone’s using and charge for it.
Valente, vineyard and orchard manager for John Kautz [...]
(Feb. 23, 2009, David Zetland, Aguanomics)
I’m thinking that the water managers and politicians in San Diego must be drinking something other than simple, tasty water. It seems that they are bound and determined to implement the most-stupid possible water rationing scheme, i.e.,
Even San Diegans who have torn out their lawns, planted drought-tolerant landscaping and scrimped [...]
(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. 5, 2009, TheNewSecurityBeat)
“The concept of ‘peak water’ is very analogous to peak oil…we’re using fossil groundwater. That is, we’re pumping groundwater faster than nature naturally recharges it,” says Peter Gleick in this short expert analysis from the Environmental Change and Security Program. Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute and author of the [...]
(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 [...]
