The Stream, May 18: India Invests in Sewage Treatment Plants Along the Ganges

The Global Rundown

India will spend more than a billion dollars to build sewage plants along the Ganges River. Protests over water concerns suspended a copper mine in Peru, a typhoon cut water supplies to parts of Guam, and Washington state declared a drought emergency. Water shutoffs will resume in Detroit, and the United States and Canada will study flood prevention in the Lake Champlain region. France’s foreign minister warned that countries have no choice but to reach a climate change deal this year.

“We don’t have the right to fail. We must commit ourselves very resolutely because there isn’t an alternative solution, for the simple reason that there isn’t an alternative planet.”–Laurent Fabius, foreign minister of France, to international delegates gathered in Berlin to prepare for the United Nations climate conference in Paris this December. The conference is expected to deliver a new global deal to cut climate change emissions. (Guardian)

By The Numbers

$1.4 billion Cost of the Tia Maria copper project in Peru, which was suspended last Friday due to violent protests over air and water pollution. Bloomberg

$1.3 billion India’s investment in a plan to build 118 new sewage treatment plants in towns along the Ganges River. India will release tenders for all of the projects by next June. Bloomberg

4,500 residents Number without water in Guam following the passage of Typhoon Dolphin. Associated Press

$1.2 billion Crop value that could be lost due to drought this year in Washington state, where the governor declared a statewide drought emergency Friday. Guardian

Science, Studies, And Reports

Studies coordinated by the International Joint Commission, the governing body of transboundary water issues between the United States and Canada, will develop flood maps and explore ways to limit flood damage in Quebec and the Lake Champlain region. Associated Press

On The Radar

Water shutoffs for delinquent payments are scheduled to resume in Detroit this week. Some government officials want the city to reevaluate its water affordability plan instead of relying solely on bill assistance programs. The Detroit News

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