Entries by Sarah Haughn

Pipes Whisper of Water Crisis in South Africa

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Tanks are great, but pipes are better. Praised for nearly halving the number of its citizens without safe water, South Africa’s infrastructure remains insufficient for much of the nation. Its crumbling apartheid-generation plumbing still leaves 5 million people without proper drinking water and nearly 15 million without basic sanitation facilities, IRIN […]

Japan’s Dirty Blue A Source of Glittering Gold

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Gold mines exist in Japan, but today industrial sewage steals the precious metal spotlight. Sludge released from precision equipment factories in the central region of the island nation is said to contain more gold than any of Japan’s mines produce. Nagano Prefecture officials say they expect to profit 15 million yen (about $170k) from extracting […]

California Drought Turns Artist into Architect

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SACRAMENTO — When Roberta Walker found herself reimagining her neighbors landscapes, she realized she needed to do more with her art than simply paint. Now Walker designs landscapes for sustainable lawns in California’s parched climate. “It’s very exciting. It’s like Vogue for landscapers,” she told News10. “I’m getting calls from all over. I’d love to […]

Washington’s Prehistoric Water Could Soon be History

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KENNEWICK, Washington — There is nothing more refreshing on a hot day than a naturally cold glass of deep well water — free of charge and of chlorine. But deep wells are in danger in Eastern Washington, authorities report. A recently released study by the Columbia Basin Groundwater Management Area shows that residents benefiting from […]

Drought Causing Mass Migration, Increased Violence in Kenya

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ISIOLO, Kenya — For farmers in parched north-eastern Kenya, the search for water for their land and livestock grows more violent by the day. Worried pastoralists carry guns, in order to defend their access and their livelihood. As the drought continues, water becomes a defining issue — the cause of increased violence, significant population displacement, […]

Water Infrastructure & Maintenance Given Short End of Stimulus Stick

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WASHINGTON — An impressive nearly $1 trillion may soon flow into the U.S. economy, but the government’s generous plan economizes on outdated water infrastructure. Of the $885 billion, a mere fraction goes toward maintaining the nation’s waterways — both natural and created. That may change as the stimulus package goes to the Senate. Lawmakers propose […]

U.S. State Department Details Global Water Concerns

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Beyond definitions of public and private responsibility, water remains a people issue. In a presentation to the American Water Resources Association, Special Coordinator for Water Resources at the State Department Dr. Aaron Salzberg presented a federal take on water woes worldwide. Using accessible statistics, the slides chronicle the state of water from drought and famine […]

Drought: California’s Impending Economic Crisis

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If money grew on trees, California would still be in trouble. The agriculture intensive state is facing its third year of drought, experts report. According to Richard Howitt, a UC Davis professor of resource economics, at least 40,000 jobs and $1.15 billion in income stand to disappear if California remains dry. The U.S. Bureau of […]

Dry Spell Devastates Argentina’s Agriculture

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STROEDER, Argentina — What once was a thriving cattle operation now looks more like a graveyard, entombed by desert. Argentina is suffering from its worst drought in almost four decades. The government recently suspended the weight requirements for cattle, so ranchers can profit from their emaciated herds. Traditionally one of the world’s breadbaskets and a […]

Opinion: Georgia Needs More than Rain and Rhetoric to Recover from Drought

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ATLANTA — It might be raining in Georgia, but the southeastern United States continues to feel the impacts of drought. Now the media is also weighing in. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it takes years of conservation for an area to recover from spells of dryness. Georgia is no exception, they report. In this in-depth […]