The Stream, September 3: Getting Water Tech to Farms in Developing World

Improving Water Use
A new grant program will encourage the innovation and implementation of clean water technology for farming in developing countries by supporting companies financially and helping them negotiate “hurdles” in these regions, Phys.org reported. The program will award $US 25 million in grants from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Swedish government.

Using scarce water supplies in smarter ways is a major focus at World Water Week, an international conference taking place in Stockholm this week, Bloomberg News reported. Smart water use should include better cross-border management, or “hydro-diplomacy”, to avoid conflicts, according to the Stockholm International Water Institute.

Natural Disasters
Future hurricanes and “superstorms” like Sandy—a storm that brought devastation to the U.S. East Coast last fall—will become stronger with climate change, but will be less likely to follow Sandy’s path to the coast, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Guardian reported. Instead, models suggest that future climatic conditions will push storms away from shore.

More than two years after an earthquake and tsunami damaged Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the Japanese government has announced a $US 470 million plan to stem the flow of contaminated water from the plant, The Wall Street Journal reported. The money will build an underground ice wall around the reactors, as well as a new water processing plant.

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