Entries by Sarah Haughn

Tenacity and technology: Current freshwater crisis has solutions, Scientific American article explains

As demand for water skyrockets and droughts abound, an article in the recent Scientific American presents a six-point plan to mitigate the world’s water woes. Water infrastructure must change for the better, it declares. Author Dr. Peter P. Rogers, senior adviser to the Global Water Partnership and professor of Environmental Engineering and of City and […]

Hurricane Dolly diminishes drought in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO – A river of rain that swept into San Antonio, Texas on the winded wings of Hurricane Dolly provided enough precipitation for the Edwards Aquifer Authority to lift mandatory drought restrictions, reports the San Antonio Business Journal. Although the lift gives the public more freedom to use water as they please, authorities still […]

Mideast water supply requires heavy cash flow

CAIRO – In the midst of a food crisis, the Middle East and North Africa are beginning to rethink their water needs, the New York Times reports. Even oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia have realized that gold cannot always buy blue. This year the kingdom plans to phase out wheat production that overtaxes nearby aquifers. […]

Appellate Court Blasts Ballast Water Dumping in Great Lakes

An appeals court in California upheld the decision to bar ships passing through the Great Lakes from discharging ballast water on their way to or from the ocean, an article in Democrat and Chronicle announces. New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, said the “decision is a huge win in protecting New York state’s Great Lakes […]

Australia Water Commission Considers Scarcity Pricing

AUSTRALIA – When water is scarce, Australians might face steep charges for usage rather than traditional restrictions imposed during times of drought. The National Water Commission is also considering locational pricing as an option to regulate water consumption, ABC News reports. “The basic mechanism is that as prices go up, people will respond to that,” […]

Tips from Thames: Water company making surplus in time of resource deficit

ENGLAND – Britian’s largest water company, Thames Water, split around $2 million in bonuses last year, the Guardian announces. “The company’s financial performance had been strong, capital spending had increased and the programme of replacing London’s Victorian-era water mains was accelerating,” expounded the spokeswoman for Thames Water. Read more here. Source: The Guardian Sarah Haughn99.198.125.162/~circl731/about/staff/#Sarah

Farmers issue rally cry for water in California

SACRAMENTO, California – Some Californians have celebrated Governor Schwarzenegger’s and Senator Feinstein’s proposed bond for water, other have balked at its impracticality. Either way, farm workers from around the state are rallying to demand that, in one way or another, water goes on the ballot this November. Read more here. Source: SF Gate Sarah Haughn99.198.125.162/~circl731/about/staff/#Sarah

Destroying wetlands could set off “carbon bomb”

Often eyed for their development potential, wetlands contain 20 percent of the earth’s carbon and nearly 800 billion tons of greenhouse gases, an environment correspondent from Reuters reports. Paulo Teixeira, coordinator of the Pantanal Regional Environment Program in Brazil, called a release of such content “a carbon bomb” that could significantly speed climate change. The […]

Three Gorges exodus complete

BEIJING – After four years of migration, over 4 million people have been evacuated from their homes to make way for the waters of China’s gargantuan hydroelectric project. At 2,309-meters in length, the dam should provide affordable energy to a rapidly developing nation. Critics, however, point to the negative impacts of human displacement, geologic alteration […]