Water Quality Archives

Nuclear Fallout: Nevada Takes Hard Look at Contaminated Groundwater From Historic Testing Grounds

November 15, 2009

The Yucca Flat area of the Nevada Test Site is scarred with subsidence craters from underground nuclear testing

[/caption]Decades of nuclear weapons testing has contaminated an estimated 1.6 trillion gallons of groundwater in the Nevada desert, a region where clean water is scarce and getting scarcer.

Peter Gleick: Water and Population part 2

6 Comments

October 22, 2009

In a previous post here, I raised the population and water issue in a general way. My point was that ignoring the population component of our resource challenges was a mistake, certainly in the long term and in some places, in the short term. I think this is indisputable -- resource constraints are worse than they would otherwise be if populations are large and growing rapidly rather than small and growing slowly, or even shrinking.

Water versus Chocolate: Comfort Food Without the Calories

1 Comment

October 21, 2009

Is Water Better for you Than Chocolate ?

A study released last week might convince you to ditch the chocolate and replace emotional eating with emotional drinking, of water that is.

ExxonMobil To Pay NYC $105 Million For Water Pollution

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October 21, 2009

ExxonMobil To Pay NYC $105 Million For Water Pollution

After 11 weeks in court, a federal jury has found ExxonMobil liable for polluting six public drinking wells in southeastern Queens.

Alternative Adventure: Eco-explorer David De Rothschild to Travel the Pacific in Plastic Ship

2 Comments

October 19, 2009

After traversing Antarctica in 2004 and spending more than 100 days crossing the Arctic in 2006, in mid-November British adventurer and ecologist David de Rothschild will hoist sail across the Pacific Ocean on a boat made of plastic, or what he calls “the dumbest” product on the planet.

UNICEF, WHO Report Says 1.5 Million Children Die Annually from Diarrhea; New Response Plan Launched

7 Comments

October 14, 2009

UNICEF, WHO Report Says 1.5 Million Children Die Annually from Diarrhea

An estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five die from diarrhea each year -– more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined according to a joint UNICEF-WHO report released today.

Water Issues Dividing and Challenging the U.S.

5 Comments

October 12, 2009

With floods across the Midwest, droughts along the Southwest, and legal skirmishes in the West and South—water issues are dividing the United States and challenging its citizens like never before. As first reported by Circle of Blue in July 2008, increasing competition for diminishing water supplies is driving the United States into an era of water scarcity.

Australia’s Adelaide: A Lesson for Urban Centers Facing the Global Water Crisis

5 Comments

October 12, 2009

Australia’s fifth-largest city, Adelaide, could see its 1.3 million inhabitants relying more and more on bottled water over the next year, according to local politicians. Mounting consequences of climate change and sluggish national political action have led to high salinity levels and depletion of wildlife along the River Murray.

Nevada and Utah: Desert Aquifer Dispute in Snake Valley

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October 12, 2009

Snake Valley, Utah. Image courtesy of the Utah Geological Survery

A highly disputed bill sits on the desk of Utah Governor Gary Herbert that would allow the construction of a 300-mile pipeline to pump 16 billion gallons of groundwater from the Snake Valley aquifer to as many as 120,000 households in the growing desert metropolis of Las Vegas, Nevada.