The Stream, July 12: Reforms in the UK Water Sector

Flood protection will cost the United Kingdom at least $1.3 billion (£860 million) by 2015, the Guardian reported, citing the U.K. government’s climate change advisers. The experts also warned that instead of maintaining the expenditure needed, the government has been drastically reducing the amount of public money available for protecting householders from floods.

Meanwhile, the U.K. government has outlined reforms in the country’s water sector that will make it easier for water companies in England and Wales to merge, new players to enter the market and businesses to switch suppliers, Reuters reported.

A U.S. satellite that was once designed to make large-scale observations about global climate change but was shelved by the U.S. Congress for many years could still be sent into space as early as 2014, PhysOrg.com reported.

Human-induced climate change makes heat waves more likely, according to a new study by U.S. and U.K. scientists.

Smart meters, drip irrigation and other water- and energy-saving devices are on the rise in the farming sector in the dry San Joaquin Valley, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation.

The proposed plan for managing the ailing Murray-Darling River Basin, Australia’s largest river system, fails to protect at least eight of the basin’s 16 internationally recognized wetlands, according to a new report by Friends of the Earth, AdelaideNow reported.

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