The Stream, October 9: Water Stops Flowing to Tamil Nadu, India

Cauvery River Dispute
The Hindu reported that water releases from Karnataka’s Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir have stopped on Monday night, due to poor storage in the reservoirs. The Karnataka government submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court earlier Monday to review the Supreme Court’s September 19th ruling to release 9,000 cusecs of water to the Tamil Nadu, reported The Times of India. Several Court justices have asked the Cauvery River Authority chairperson, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to review the petition. The BBC reported that the Supreme Court has deferred hearing the petition until October 12.

Gangs Charge Water Fee in Zimbabwe
Residents in the suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe have alleged that gang members are demanding money to access water from boreholes, according to All Africa. The boreholes were donated last year by the United Nations and are managed by the city, but residents claim they aren’t managed properly, enabling the gang members to extort cash from residents seeking to use the water from the boreholes.

New Murray-Darling Basin Plan Modeling Released
The new model from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, released yesterday, shows the scope of environmental outcomes from increasing water returns to the environment, reported The Australian. The model examined outcomes if environmental water returns were increased from current proposed levels of 2,750 gigaliters (GL) to 2,800 GL and 3,200 GL. Several of the basin’s woodlands, forests, and floodplains, among the “high flow targets” for the basin, may be met if water returns were to increase.

U.S. Coal Plants Expected to Retire
Reuters reported that environmental regulations and “weaker-than-expected” electric demand may cause some coal plants to retire. According to a recent study by Brattle Group, between 59,000 and 77,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity from coal plants could be reduced over the next five years.

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