Precious Water: Mixed News Roundup on Earth Day

The problem of water scarcity is a growing worldwide phenomenon. Net renewable water resources per capita have declined dramatically over a single generation, and in little less than 20 years from now will reach dangerously low levels. Water scarcity already affects every single continent and four of every ten people in the world. The situation is getting worse due to population growth, urbanization and the increase in domestic and industrial water use. By 2025, nearly 2 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water shortage, where water resources per person fall well below the recommended level of 500 cubic meters per year (this is the amount of water a person needs for a healthy and hygienic living).

Poor water quality increases the risk of diarrhoeal diseases including cholera, typhoid fever, salmonellosis, other gastrointestinal viruses, and dysentery. Water scarcity may also lead to diseases such as trachoma, plague and typhus. Everyone needs water and everyone needs to take responsibility. Actively support governments, non-governmental organizations and private foundations which are making it a priority to deliver affordable good quality water to people. In short, do your part by conserving, recycling and protecting water more efficiently. Here are the news:

First, as an avid reader of all things published in pdf format, here's an interesting one on water scarcity, commissioned by the UN and published in 2005, a good, interesting read and still relevant today.

Spain plans pipeline to avert Catalan water crisis:

Spain - Spain's national government in Madrid, after much wrangling with the drought-stricken region of Catalunya (Catalonia), announced that a pipeline would be built to pump water from the Ebro River to the regional capital, Barcelona. It's a reversal of Madrid's former position, but Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega conceded that the situation was an emergency, since Barcelona will run out of drinking water by October. (Source: SignOnSanDiego by Martin Roberts and Sonya Dowsett)

Lake Albert rescue begins:

Australia - Earthmoving machinery is building a wall between Lake Albert and Lake Alexandrina in the Australian state of South Australia prior to the pumping of water from Alexandrina into its dried-out neighbor. Andrew Beal of the government's technical working group explained that artificially recharging Lake Albert was the only way to prevent falling water levels from exposing the lakebed and raising the concentration of sulfuric acid in the water. This would, in turn, threaten ecological collapse, he said. (Source: ABC News Online)

Four people killed in tribal clashes in Yemen:

Yemen - Four people were killed and five others wounded during clashes between two tribes in Yemen's Dalei Province, reported national security officials. The dispute arose over the digging of a well. (Source: Saudi Press Agency)

Gila River on List of Most Endangered Rivers:

New Mexico - The Gila River, shared by New Mexico and Arizona, has appeared on American Rivers' annual list of the country's most endangered waterways. The environmental group pointed to a proposed water-diversion project on the upper Gila as a threat to both that river and its tributary, the San Francisco. In 2004, Congress approved the Arizona Water Settlements Act, which affirmed New Mexico's right to take about 14,000 acre-feet of water from the two rivers. (Source: Albuquerque Journal)

Mauritius: The seawater desalination project is underway:

Mauritius - Preliminary work is underway to construct two seawater desalination plants at Pointe-Venus and Songes on the island of Mauritius (Ile Maurice). Commissioner Louis-Ange Perrine of Agriculture and Water Resources said that the projects will cost a total of 34 million rupees. Together, they'll produce 1000 cubic meters of potable water per day and are scheduled for completion by the end of May. (Source: allAfrica.com by Anil Ramessur)

Govt rules speculators out of water trading:

Australia - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Australia's Northern Territory announced that it would monitor the state's fledgling water market carefully to be sure that out-of-state speculators didn't jump in. Katherine farmers will be able to trade their irrigation licenses for the first time later this year. (Source: ABC News Online)

80% of groundwater in Sindh not fit for consumption:

Pakistan - Professor Muhammad Yar Khuhawar, project director of Sindh University's High-Tech Resources Central Laboratories in Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan, revealed that 80% of the groundwater in the province is either too saline to be fit for human consumption or impregnated with arsenic. (Source: The News)

Not all bad news: West Africa - Hope revives thanks to Eau Vive

Burkina Faso - The French-based non-governmental organization Eau Vive, in partnership with the Regional Council of Sahel Unions (CRUS), launched three nutrition and water projects in Dori, Seno Province, Burkina Faso, on 12 April. They're designed to alleviate potable water shortages and a lack of sanitation infrastructure in the rural communes of Mansila and Tankougounadie; to bolster food security in the area; and to build public latrines and a sewage treatment facility in Dori itself. (Source: allAfrica.com by Lassina Fabrice Sanou)

Melting Mountains A "Time Bomb" For Water Shortages:

Austria - Hydrologist Wouter Buytaert of Bristol University in England told a meeting of geoscientists in Vienna, Austria that global warming was melting glaciers and snowcaps earlier each year, creating "a time bomb" for the world's water supplies. The sooner snowmelt runs off, the less is available during the summer when rainfall is lower and people need it the most, she said, adding that small glaciers could vanish in 30-50 years. (Source: New York Times)

Feds not addressing drugs in water:

Washington, D.C. - In Washington DC, a government task force responsible for devising a Federal plan to deal with pharmaceuticals in drinking water missed its deadline and failed to produce mandated reports and recommendations. White House spokeswoman Kristin Scuderi said that task force agendas and minutes were classified as internal documents and couldn't be released at this time. (Source: Denver Post Online by Martha Mendoza)