The Stream, September 8: Floods Bring Cooperation Between India and Pakistan

India
Both India and Pakistan have offered to assist each other after monsoon rains caused deadly floods in the Kashmir region, Reuters reported. The two countries have long been at odds over Kashmir, but the death of at least 239 people in the floods prompted cooperation.

Unlicensed bottled water plants supply just as much water as licensed plants in New Delhi, raising concerns about water quality and health risks, the Times of India reported. Officials estimate there are as many as 10,000 unlicensed plants in the capital, but have little data on how many might be operating throughout the country.

Meanwhile, the annual dry season and inadequate water infrastructure have created a water supply gap of 605 million liters each day in New Delhi, NDTV reported. In response, an estimated 2,000 illegal “water mafia” tankers are providing residents with expensive water taken from the city’s groundwater supplies.

Drought
Mexico owes the United States 468 million cubic meters of water according to a treaty signed by both country’s to share water from the Rio Grande and Colorado River, the Washington Post reported. Mexico says it is unable to comply with the treaty due to a prolonged drought that has strained reservoirs, but officials in Texas are pressuring the U.S. government to do more to get the water.

A drought in Australia, the world’s third largest cotton exporter, has reduced irrigation supplies and is expected to cut cotton production next season by 29 percent, Bloomberg News reported. The new estimated for next year’s crop would make it the smallest harvested in five years.

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