The Stream, March 6: Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan Reach Preliminary Nile Agreement

The Global Rundown

Residents of Namibia‘s capital are being told to save water amid drought fears, and the Chinese are buying a lot of bottled water because they fear their tap water. Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have come to a preliminary agreement about operation of the Renaissance Dam on the Nile, and the Achuar tribe of Peru have been awarded a settlement from an oil company that released heavy metals into their corner of the Amazon. Mars used to contain more water than is in the Arctic Ocean.

“The level of the three dams supplying the central areas with water are very low, rating between 1.2 and 36%, and dams will run dry by the middle of 2016, if rainfalls remain poor.” — Joshua Amukugo, municipal spokesperson for Windhoek, Namibia, where dam levels and rainfall are both dangerously low. (news24)

By The Numbers

 10 percent – Amount of water residents of Windhoek, Namibia are being told to save at all times because of concerns about minimal rainfall and low dam levels. The three dams supplying Namibia’s capital are all less than 36 percent full, with the lowest being 1.2 percent full. news24

200 percent – Increase in China’s consumption of bottled water since 2006. The uptick in Chinese bottled water sales can be traced to concerns about polluted tap water. Big News Network

Science, Studies, And Reports

According to an article by NASA scientists released in Thursday’s edition of Science, Mars’ surface was once covered with more than an Arctic Ocean’s worth of water. After Mars lost most of its atmosphere, it lost 87 percent of its water to space. CBS News

On The Radar

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have reached a preliminary agreement regarding operation of the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile River, which will be Africa’s largest and provide electricity as far away as South Africa. An understandably nervous Egypt relies on the Nile for almost all domestic, industrial and agricultural water, but representatives from the three countries said they had agreed on “principles” for operation of the dam.  Reuters UK

An indigenous tribe from the Peruvian Amazon has won an out-of-court settlement from oil company Occidental Petroleum after 8 years of litigation. Occidental released 9 billion gallons of untreated and heavy metal-laden wastewater into rivers and streams between 1971 and 2000, causing illness and death among the Achuar tribe. Guardian