The Stream, October 15: After Drought, Some U.S. Farmers Give Up On Corn

Sea level rise and increasing floods are forcing families living on India’s Sundarbans islands to look to the mainland for a future, according to AlertNet.

United States
Consecutive years of drought have convinced some farmers in Kansas to give up on corn, Bloomberg News reported. The state planted the fewest acres of corn in three years this summer, while corn acreage has increased rapidly in Manitoba, Canada—suggesting that the corn belt is shifting north.

Activist groups in California plan to hold the state accountable to its new law that says clean drinking water is a human right, the Los Angeles Times reported. The groups expect the state to take action on water quality in the community of Maywood, even though the law does not take effect until January 1.

Infrastructure
An unused recycled water plant and desalination facility will cost taxpayers in Queensland, Australia $30 million each year due to contracts signed during a drought, The Courier-Mail reported. Dams in the region are now full, making the expensive infrastructure a redundancy.

Contaminated water in Iraq is behind a recent cholera outbreak that killed four people, Reuters reported. The disease is not unusual due to the country’s poor water and sewer infrastructure.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek