The Stream, May 23: 100 Injured in Mexico City Water Conflict

Tensions over the expansion of a water system came to a head this week when 100 police were injured in a conflict with residents of a community on the outskirts of Mexico City, the Associated Press reported. The city is attempting to link the community—and its natural spring—to the municipal water supply system, but residents have long argued that the city is trying to take the spring water for other users instead.

Water Law
China’s first environmental court opened Friday in Fujian province as part of the country’s strategy to curb widespread pollution, Bloomberg News reported, citing state media. Earlier this year, China declared a “war” on pollution and has since passed new laws to impose stricter penalties on polluters starting next year.

Both houses of the United States Congress have approved a new $US 12.3 billion federal water bill, which would provide funding for 34 water infrastructure projects like flood defenses and harbor dredging, the Associated Press reported. The last federal water bill, passed in 2007, set aside $US 23.3 billion for water projects.

Stricter water quality standards that come into effect next year could mean dozens of beaches in England could fail safety evaluations, the Guardian reported. The standards are meant to protect beachgoers from infection, and while water quality has improved over the past two decades, municipal sewage overflows and agricultural runoff into rivers still pose significant problems.

Pollution
Duke Energy will be required to pay for all of the cleanup costs of its February coal ash spill into North Carolina’s Dan River, according to an agreement the company signed Thursday with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Charlotte Observer reported. Costs incurred so far are approximately $US 1 million, and the EPA can fine the company an additional $US 1,000 to $US 8,000 each day if Duke fails to satisfactorily complete the cleanup.

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