The Stream, September 12: Botswana Bushmen Revive Crucial Water Source

Botswana Bushmen in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve have re-opened a crucial water supply for their village, eight months after winning a painful legal battle against the Botswana government for access to water wells closed nine years ago, AFP reported.

Countries should “connect the dots” between climate change, food insecurity and water scarcity, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the end of his four-nation visit to the South Pacific last week.

China said it planned to scale up its coal-to-liquids (CTL) production, after financial reports for the first half of 2011 showed that the China Shenhua Group had made a profit from its pioneering direct CTL project in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, Reuters reported. The announcement pours cold water on a 2008 decision to cancel dozens of CTL projects, amid concerns about high production costs and the impact on scarce water resources.

Uganda will lose about 10 percent of its electricity due to a reduction in hydropower supply, Reuters reported, citing an industry official in the country. Uganda is already suffering from acute chronic power shortages that are slowing down its industrialization efforts.

Associated Press weighs the different ideas to move water — from massive pipelines to trash bags. But does this get to the root of the problem?

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