Entries by Kaye LaFond

The Stream, December 3: Annual Antarctica Ice Loss Equals Half Everest’s Weight

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The Global Rundown Antarctica’s glaciers are melting more quickly all the time – mountains of ice are literally being lost to the ocean. Johannesburg, South Africa, and Ketchikan, Alaska are both accepting the heavy price tags of water quality. Managing water quantity is going to cost Thailand a lot, as well. A Boston-based company, on […]

The Stream, November 26: Nairobi’s Poorest & ‘Water Mafia’

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The Global Rundown China plans to accelerate its planned water conservation projects, while General Mills has expressed a new commitment to water conservation around the world. Poor residents of Nairobi, Kenya must contend with a mafia of private vendors to obtain their water, and the City of Los Angeles loses 7 million gallons of water […]

The Stream, November 21: WHO Says Every $1 Invested in WASH Yields $4.3 Return

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The Global Rundown Chicago cannot shut off the water supply of a suburb that owes it $US 28 million in unpaid water bills, and the Utah wants to shut off the water supply to the NSA. 2.5 billion people do not have basic sanitation services, and half of the children in Yemen are malnourished. Germany […]

The Stream, November 19: South Africa to Conduct “Water Raids” Targeting Illegal Withdrawals

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The Global Rundown Authorities in South Africa are cracking down on illegal water withdrawals, while desperate villagers in China hope their government doesn’t catch them in the act of illegal well drilling. Vietnam has completed an impressive leak-reduction project, Chile has added a new desalination plant, and the Nature Conservancy is encouraging natural water management. […]

Infographic: Sao Paulo Drought Lowers Reservoirs to Critical Water Levels

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The Cantareira reservoir water system that supplies half of Sao Paulo’s 20 million residents is now only 10 percent full after more than year of record-setting drought.

Infographic: Brazil’s Water Resources Far Away From Major Cities

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Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil and the ninth largest in the world, is mired in a severe drought and faces the prospect of water rationing. Brazil, as a whole, has extremely abundant supplies of fresh water. Most of these supplies, however, are located in the Amazon basin, far away from the country’s big […]

The Stream, November 14: Turning the Tides of Privatization

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The Global Rundown In the past 15 years, privatized water supplies have been increasingly transferred back to public ownership, and in the past month, France, Italy and Switzerland have been hit hard by floods and landslides. New York says ‘no’ to a desalination plant, and environmental groups say ‘no’ to an expanded tar sands pipeline running […]

The Stream, November 12: Africa’s Largest Reverse-Osmosis Desalination Plant Opens in Algeria

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The Global Rundown The city of Oran, Algeria is turning to the sea, while the city of Jakarta, Indonesia is trying to shut it out. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has seen an impressive jump in green technology, and Malawi hopes to see a jump in the number of citizens with access to tap water. […]

The Stream, November 7: Ethiopia Makes a Mad Dash for Hydropower

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The Global Rundown Ethiopia is flexing its hydropower muscles, causing downstream disgruntlement for its neighbors to both the north and south. Another African country on a dam planning spree is Zimbabwe; more water storage is needed to cope with recent flood-and-drought rainfall cycles. Vietnam is looking at ways to save water when growing rice, one […]

The Stream, November 5: 40 Percent of Treated Middle East Sewage Is Un-Recycled

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The Global Rundown In the water-scarce Middle East, at least 40 percent of treated sewage effluent ends up in the sea instead of recycled, but that’s not stopping Coca Cola: there are now plans for the first ever Coke factory in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, drought isn’t stopping California’s tomato farmers. Hydropower reservoirs may be […]