The Stream, December 5: Afghanistan-Pakistan Water Relations

Afghanistan’s plans to build 12 dams on the Kabul River, and India’s support for the projects, has Pakistan up in arms. But according to researchers, the timing could not be better for a water treaty between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Texas Drought
Amid a dire drought that is expected to continue into 2012, Texas has pumped up its energy production from low-carbon, low-water wind power, according to a Foreign Policy blog. The southwestern U.S. state now has the largest installed capacity of wind power in the country.

A new map released by U.S. scientists shows a steep drop in groundwater levels across much of Texas and other southern U.S. states, following record-breaking drought conditions in 2011, Yale Environment 360 reported. Groundwater is “extremely depleted” across more than half of Texas and parts of New Mexico, Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia.

Australia
Is the Murray-Darling River Basin environmental water wasted in “trial and error” reforms? An Australian freelance journalist reflects on the long-awaited draft of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which is meant to regulate the allocation of the river system’s limited water resources.

Water transfers the Chinese style? A respected Australian project facilitator has unveiled an ambitious plan to pump water from Western Australia’s water-rich North West region into the ailing River Murray system, Stock Journal reported.

Business
Fracking rules and science often lag behind the industry’s growth, CBC writes. Are we using conventional regulations to control “unconventional energy” production?

Is a U.S. mining company funding a violent crackdown in Indonesia? The Atlantic reports.

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