The Stream, March 19: The Water Factor in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

U.S. scientists are investigating whether DNA from Asian carp found in waterways near Chicago suggests that the invasive species have evaded the electronic barrier and are moving closer to the Great Lakes, Associated Press reported.

China plans to produce 6.5 billion cubic meters (230 billion cubic feet) of shale gas annually by 2015 and increase output to between 60 billion and 100 billion by 2020, Bloomberg News reported. To do so, China will speed up land approvals for shale-gas exploration, allow tax-free equipment imports and offer subsidies to drillers tapping unconventional fuel.

Water is a serious sticking point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to Le Monde. Though Israel says it has doubled the water allocation to Palestinians as per the quotas established in a 1995 agreement, others say it’s hardly enough and have accused Israel of “water apartheid.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found no elevated levels of contamination in the northeastern Pennsylvania village where a gas driller was accused of polluting the aquifer, Associated Press reported.

Farmers in West Texas are actively fighting new regulations that will limit the amount of water they can withdraw from the Ogallala Aquifer, The New York Times reported.

A dam protecting the Australian city of Brisbane was opened at the wrong times during the floods in late 2010 and early 2011, and played a role in the inundation of the city, Associated Press reported, citing a review of how officials dealt with the emergency.

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