The Stream, June 26: Netherlands Using Big Data to Manage Water

Floods
The Netherlands’ new ‘Digital Delta’ project, headed by IBM, will collate vast and currently disparate data sets in order to better manage water resources in the country, The Wall Street Journal reported. The 1-year project aims to improve flood prediction and response, but will also provide an information “platform” for water entrepreneurs and scientists.

Diseases spread by contaminated water sources and poor sanitation are now a concern for India in the aftermath of massive flooding, Reuters reported, citing aid agencies. Heavy rains continue to fall, washing dead animals and corpses into rivers that are being used as water sources.

Water Supply
Desalination may offer a solution to the growing water crisis in Gaza, where more than 90 percent of the underlying aquifer is contaminated, but funding issues make the technology an uncertain option, Reuters reported. Small desalination units currently provide water for 20 percent of the population.

Five cities in southern California, including Los Angeles, plan to cut their collective water imports by more than 150 billion liters (40 billion gallons) each year by developing local supplies and increasing recycling and conservation initiatives, National Geographic reported. The cities currently import large quantities of water from the Colorado River and the San Francisco Bay Delta.

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