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Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1, 2008
Ohio agreement to join Great Lakes water plan stalls again
A plan to remove Ohio as the last roadblock to finishing an agreement among the Great Lakes states to protect their water ran into a barrier on Thursday -- again. The Ohio House fell short by two votes of passing a plan to ask voters to approve protections for property owners regarding the use of water on their land. The Senate feels the protections are crucial to joining seven other states and two Canadian provinces in a pact to try to keep arid states from siphoning water from the Great Lakes. After the deal fell apart in the House, the Senate refused to consider a bill authorizing Ohio to join the coalition. The House has twice in the last four years voted to OK the deal, only to see it fail in the Senate. Lawmakers left open the possibility of another vote on June 10. The Great Lakes Compact is crucial to protect the lakes, its backers say. Without it, the states leave themselves vulnerable to poaching by thirsty states like Arizona and California, they say. The compact would take effect only upon passage of legislation in each of the states and by Congress. It would prohibit most new water diversion besides natural drainage, require each state to develop a conservation plan and establish a regional council to hear disputes. AP/MLive.com_ 5/30/08
Alabama, Florida, Georgia water sharing
Homes and businesses in Gwinnett County, Georgia, using less water, which means less money
Using less water is a doubled-edged sword. It's a good thing for efforts to combat the drought. But it's a bad thing for the Gwinnett water system's bottom line. Water system revenues fell 3 percent in the first four months of 2008 over the same period last year, said Pete Frank, deputy director for business services at the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources. Should revenue declines for the year begin sliding into the 8 percent to 10 percent range, water system officials would likely need to look at cutting costs or further raising rates to make up the difference, Frank said. Atlanta Journal-Constitution_ 5/21/08
Business
RWE sells additional American Water stake
RWE AG, Germany's second biggest utility, has sold an additional 5 million shares of its U.S. unit, American Water Works Co., for more than $100 million to underwriters of its recent initial public offering. The Essen-based electricity and gas company said in a statement it had completed the sale of about 5.17 million extra shares at $20.85 per share, or about $107.8 million. RWE said the underwriters' purchase constituted the partial exercise of the overallotment option to buy additional shares, bringing the total size of the offering to approximately 63.17 million shares of American Water, or approximately 40 percent of the outstanding shares. The company has said it intends to sell a majority stake. Total net proceeds from the sale of American Water stakes now stand at $1.3 billion, the company said. AP/Forbes_ 5/28/08
Pentair, GE Water unit mull joint venture
Pentair Inc. said Wednesday it is considering a joint venture with GE Water & Process Technologies that would combine the companies' water softener and residential water filtration businesses. Under the plan currently in negotiations, Pentair would own 80 percent of the joint venture and GE Water & Process Technologies would own 20 percent. Pentair makes products for moving, treating and storing water. AP/Forbes_ 5/28/08
Colorado River
In the Colorado River Delta, waters--and prospects--are drying up
As U.S. scientists warn of a semi-permanent drought along the taxed river by midcentury, Mexico today offers a glimpse of what dry times can be like. Rationing is in effect in some areas. Farmers have abandoned crops they can no longer irrigate. Experts fear that the desert will reclaim some of the region's most fertile land. Three million people in northern Mexico depend on a meager allotment of Colorado River water that was not enough when it was granted by treaty in 1944, and is far from enough now. Traversing 1,440 miles and providing water for seven of the most arid U.S. states, the Colorado River arrives at its mouth as an intermittent stream laden with sewage, fertilizer, pesticides and salts leached from farmland. Dams, drought, climate change, urban growth, industrial agriculture and politics on both sides of the border are to blame, and none of those adverse conditions will reverse any time soon. Reservoirs have been drawn down to historically low levels, and some scientists predict that under the influence of climate change, the river's annual flow could drop by 50% over the next 40 years. Despite heavy snowfall in the central Rocky Mountains this year, river managers in the U.S. continue to advise the states that depend on the Colorado River to prepare for water shortages within five years. Measures to shore up U.S. reserves, meanwhile, are likely to make water even more scarce in Mexico. Los Angeles Times_ 5/25/08 (logon required)
Desalination
Desalination no 'silver bullet' in Mideast
Desalination has long been considered the technological holy grail in the Holy Land's water shortage crisis, but regional experts say relying on this solution is not quite so clean-cut. Energy-intensive desalination plants, which turn salt water into fresh water, could create more problems for Israel, experts warn. A diverse, long-term water treatment and management plan is the only way to guard against dwindling supplies and increasing tensions, said Israeli and Palestinian analysts at a recent water conference in Amman, Jordan. National Geographic 5/22/08
Environment
Water shortages and drought are the next scourge, GE warns: Plans to cut its own water use by 20%
The next scourge to afflict the global economy after soaring oil and food prices will be a surge in the cost of water brought on by growing scarcity, one of the world's biggest companies warned yesterday. General Electric, the US industrial group, said it would cut its own use of water by 20% by 2012 and export water-saving and recycling technology to countries - often emerging economies - hit by shortages. Jeff Immelt, chief executive, said in Beijing: "We believe that, just as greenhouse gas emissions have been a big societal challenge, the same thing is true for water." The move by GE comes as scientists are warning that 50% of the world's nations will be hit by water shortages by 2025 and 75% by 2050. Drought, already one source of surging food prices and water shortages could prompt fresh outbreaks of war and terrorism as global warming, if unchecked, spreads desertification around the world and causes increasing crop failures, they say. A billion of the world's poorest people drink unsafe water, according to Unicef. Senior UN officials warned MEPs this year that nuclear power plants in Europe and the US could face shutdown because of a lack of cooling water, while the switch to biofuels was proving a big drain on dwindling supplies. A cabinet office report predicted that by 2050 half of arable land in the world might no longer be suitable for production because of water shortages and climate change. By then the global population is expected to have grown from today's 6.3 billion to 9 billion. The Guardian_ 5/29/08
New U.S. government report foresees big water and other climate changes
The rise in concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from human activities is influencing climate patterns and vegetation across the United States and will significantly disrupt water supplies, agriculture, forestry and ecosystems for decades, a new federal report says. The changes are unfolding in ways that are likely to produce an uneven national map of harms and benefits, according to the report, released Tuesday and posted online at climatescience.gov. The authors of the report and some independent experts said the main value of its projections was the level of detail and the high confidence in some conclusions. That confidence comes in part from the report’s emphasis on the next 25 to 50 years, when shifts in emissions are unlikely to make much of a difference in climate trends. The report also reflects a recent, significant shift by the Bush administration on climate science. According to the report, Western states will face substantial challenges because of growing demand for water and big projected drops in supplies. From 2040 to 2060, anticipated water flows from rainfall in much of the West are likely to approach a 20 percent decrease in the average from 1901 to 1970, and are likely to be much lower in places like the fast-growing Southwest. In contrast, runoff in much of the Midwest and East is expected to increase that much or more. New York Times_ 5/28/08 (logon required)
Lead exposure in children linked to violent crime
The first study to follow lead-exposed children from before birth into adulthood has shown that even relatively low levels of lead permanently damage the brain and are linked to higher numbers of arrests, particularly for violent crime. Previous studies linking lead to such problems have used indirect measures of both lead and criminality, and critics have argued that socioeconomic and other factors may be responsible for the observed effects. But by measuring blood levels of lead before birth and during the first seven years of life, then correlating the levels with arrest records and brain size, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researchers have produced the strongest evidence yet that lead plays a major role in crime. Researchers have long known that lead exposure reduces IQ by damaging brain cells in children during their early years. It is also known that lead increases children's distractability, impulsiveness and restlessness and leaves them with a shortened attention span -- all factors considered precursors of aggressive or violent behavior. Los Angeles Times_ 5/27/08 (logon required)
Great Lakes
Wisconsin governor signs Great Lakes water compact
Gov. Jim Doyle signed an interstate treaty today to prevent arid states from taking water from the Great Lakes, which he says are important to Wisconsin's economy and way of life. Wisconsin became the fifth state to ratify the Great Lakes Compact when Doyle acted during a ceremony along Milwaukee's Lake Michigan shoreline. The eight Great Lakes governors signed the compact in 2005 after four years of negotiations. They fear booming southwestern states will soon look to take massive amounts of water from the lakes. But all eight Great Lakes states must approve the compact and Congress must ratify it before it can become law. Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and New York also have approved it, while Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania have yet to do so. The Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario have approved the deal as well. AP/Pioneer Press_ 5/27/08
Midwest's message: Hands off our lakes
Piece by piece, a 5,500-mile wall around the Great Lakes is going up. You can't see it, but construction is progressing nicely, along with an implied neon sign that flashes, "Hands off—it's our water." In some regards, water is the new oil and the governors of the states adjacent to the Great Lakes are the new OPEC, jealously guarding a resource that will be a big part of their future. Chicago Tribune_ 5/27/08
International News
More people being evacuated from swollen lake area in southwest China
Chinese emergency workers are aiming to evacuate another 80,000 people from the area downstream of a swelling earthquake-induced lake by midnight on Tuesday. Altogether 158,000 people will have to move from their homes if Tangjiashan Lake bursts its banks. So far, more than 100,000 people in Mianyang City have been relocated. Two other plans require the relocation of 1.2 million people if half of the lake volume is released, or 1.3 million if the barrier of the quake lake fully opens. On Tuesday, at least 600 engineers and soldiers were working around the clock to dig a sluice for the blockage with the aid of 29 excavators and bulldozers. The evacuation was necessary because the water level in the quake lake has continued to rise and the diversion channel won't be in place until June 5, experts with Mianyang quake relief headquarters said on Tuesday. Tangjiashan, the biggest of 35 lakes formed in the quake, is inaccessible by road and can only be reached by foot or air. Xinhua_ 5/27/08
Spain's drought: a glimpse of our future?
Barcelona is a dry city. The Catalan capital's weather can change from one day to the next, but its climate, like that of the whole Mediterranean region, is inexorably warming up and drying out. And in the process this most modern of cities is living through a crisis that offers a disturbing glimpse of metropolitan futures everywhere. Its fountains and beach showers are dry, its ornamental lakes and private swimming pools drained and hosepipes banned. Children are now being taught how to save water as part of their school day. This iconic, avant-garde city is in the grip of the worst drought since records began and is bringing the climate crisis that has blighted cities in Australia and throughout the Third World to Europe. A resource that most Europeans have grown up taking for granted now dominates conversation. Nearly half of Catalans say water is the region's main problem, more worrying than terrorism, economic slowdown or even the populists' favourite – immigration. The political battles now breaking out here could be a foretaste of the water wars that scientists and policymakers have warned us will be commonplace in the coming decades. The Independent_ 5/24/08
Mars Water
Touchdown! First signals arrive from Martian water probe
After traveling more than 400 million miles during its 10-month journey from Earth, the Phoenix Lander touched down safely and sent its first signals from the Martian arctic surface Sunday afternoon. The lander is sitting a half degree off-axis, a near perfect landing. When asked if the landing could have gone better, Phoenix project manager, Barry Goldstein replied, "Not in my dreams." The Phoenix Lander is built on a platform similar to the failed Mars Polar Lander, which lost communication contact shortly after entering the Martian atmosphere in 1998. The Phoenix, sent to find water and other signs that Mars can support life, has design improvements intended to fix problems that may have caused the Polar Lander's failure. Wired_ 5/25/08
Missouri River Basin
Minot, North Dakota says 1 percent sales tax won't hurt Northwest Area Water Supply project
A 1 percent sales tax will generate enough money for both a community bowl and the Northwest Area Water Supply project, city officials reported at a news conference Thursday. Mayor Curt Zimbelman and Alan Walter, Minot public works director, said a ballot measure proposing to divert half of the 1 percent sales tax dedicated to NAWS to fund a community bowl for three years won’t affect the NAWS timeline or finances. The NAWS project is to bring Missouri River water to Minot and surrounding communities. Alan Walter, Minot public works director, said calculations of the State Water Commission show there would be more than enough money for both projects through 2011. After the full tax is restored to NAWS in July 2011, collections and reserves will be adequate to take NAWS to completion on schedule, he added. Minot residents will vote on the tax measure June 10. Minot Daily News_ 5/29/08
Myanmar Cyclone
Myanmar's growing peril: Disease
Myint Hlaing's family bathes and cooks with water from an irrigation ditch fouled by human waste and a rotting cow carcass. His 10-year-old daughter drinks bottled water donated by aid groups, but she still suffers from diarrhea. Myanmar's junta insists that health conditions are normal in Myanmar's devastated Irrawaddy delta. But in many areas of the delta, they are a recipe for disease. A relief group, Church World Service, has reported finding elderly and child survivors of the cyclone dying from dysentery in some areas because many have no choice but to drink dirty water. Other groups have detected a number of ailments including pneumonia, malaria, cholera and diarrhea. The monsoon season, which begins next month, adds yet another challenge. "The rain is a real problem," said Eric Stover, lead author of a critical report published last year about Myanmar's health system. "The water is rising up, and the latrines are just outside [flowing] into the water, and there's livestock around. That's the perfect breeding ground for diarrhea and cholera." UNICEF has been canvassing the area and has reported a growing number of diarrhea cases - up to 30 percent of young children in one township. AP/Philadelphia Inquirer_ 5/27/08
National Security
EPA to test plans to protect drinking water from terrorists
Water utilities would get earlier warning of viruses, bacteria or chemicals that could be introduced into drinking water systems by terrorists under a test monitoring program set for expansion beyond the Greater Cincinnati Water Works. The $11million pilot program ordered by the Department of Homeland Security in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks uses continuous monitoring of public water for contaminants that could sicken or kill millions of people. Some utilities only do spot checks now for such germs, pesticides or radioactive materials. Once the pilot program is complete, the Environmental Protection Agency hopes to have a national water security model that utilities could adopt at their own expense. Recently, the EPA provided a $12 million grant to New York City to add that city's water system as a second pilot, and three other cities to be announced this year would get similar grants. AP_ 5/24/08
Water Rates
Southern U.S. water providers raise rates despite conservation
After months of putting up with brown lawns and dirty cars to conserve water, many residents of the drought-stricken Southeast are now paying sharp rate increases from utilities scrambling to make up lost revenue. It's like a conservation penalty — cut back, then pay more. But utility operators say they have little choice. Drought-inspired rate hikes and surcharges are somewhat common in parched communities in the West, but it's a new concern for many utilities in the Southeast used to an abundant water supply. Georgia usually gets about 50 inches of rain a year, compared to about 13 in Arizona. Rainfall deficits, higher demand and a three-state fight over federal water resources combined to plunge Georgia into its worst drought in recorded history. Help — of sorts — is on the way. At a water efficiency conference in College Park, officials invited utility heads to submit proposals for some $40 million in state funding for more reservoirs. But the process could likely take decades. AP_ 5/26/08
And Finally ...
Pump for space station toilet loaded onto shuttle
After being rushed in from Russia, a toilet pump was loaded into space shuttle Discovery today just in time for this weekend's liftoff to the international space station, where the lone commode is acting up. A NASA employee based in Moscow hand-carried the pump on a commercial flight that touched down Wednesday night. Within hours, the pump and related equipment were packed away aboard Discovery. Discovery is scheduled to blast off Saturday on a 14-day mission. For the past week, the two Russian and one American men have had to periodically manually flush the urine side of the Russian-built toilet. The job takes 10 minutes and requires two people. "Insert that into your daily life and you can see it would be quite inconvenient," Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy space station program manager, said at a news conference. The solid-waste part of the toilet is working properly. AP/Houston Chronicle_ 5/29/08
