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The Rapid Destruction of the Mesopotamian Marshlands

Iraq’s First National Park: A Story of Destruction and Restoration in the Mesopotamian Marshlands

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The inauguration of Iraq’s first national park earlier this summer represents a step toward national rebuilding for the war-torn country. But restoration of Iraq’s marshes also offers a grander vision for regional water cooperation throughout the Middle East and elsewhere.
Dr. Azzam Alwash

Azzam Alwash

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Can war end in environmental rejuvenation? It did for Iraq’s…

Choke Point: U.S. — Water, Energy, and the Ohio River Valley’s New Course

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Few places in the United States better understand the economically essential and ecologically risky accord between energy and water than this southeast Ohio town.

TIM: This Is Mongolia

Paved roads are still a rarity in this country, which is larger than Alaska and where 1.2 million people – 40 percent of the resident population – earn their keep herding livestock.
Colorado River

Fortune Telling: Colorado River Teeters Toward First-ever Shortage Declaration

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In the short term, water prices would rise and groundwater pumping would increase. In the long term, demand would have to drop.

Breaking India’s Cycle of Waste and Risk

Small-scale projects offer solutions to India’s water, food, and energy choke points. Still, India's government seems determined to duplicate the frantic program of industrial development, economic growth, centralization, and one-size-fits-all silver bullets that China and the West are pursuing. The consequence is an endemic pattern of resource waste that is firmly embedded in India’s political system, causing economic and ecological havoc.

Study: Texas Lost Enough Water in the 2011 Drought to Fill Lake Mead Nearly Twice Over

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Most of the water evaporated from soils, according to new research…

In Great Lakes, Reports Offer Reassurance and Warnings About Oil Pipeline Safety

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Three studies reach differing conclusions about the vulnerability…

Mismanagement of Abundance: Constellation of Coal Mines Across India Not Enough to Prevent Blackouts

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Despite the push for renewable energy alternatives to address water and climate concerns, India plans to keep coal as its primary source of electricity. But corruption, bureaucracy, slow environmental reviews, and inefficient transmission lines are hampering domestic production and causing unstable power supply.

Scarcity in a Time of Surplus: Free Water and Energy Cause Food Waste and Power Shortage in India

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Farm policies intended to remove risk from the grain-producing economy have pulled India from the perennial fear of famine. But inefficient bureaucracy and rampant corruption also promote the squandering of resources and a glut of food that is not reaching the poor.
Punjab irrigation water well electric pump farm farming wheat crop rice paddy water table aquifer electricity generation Choke Point India water food energy nexus Circle of Blue Wilson Center Punjab Title: Irrigation well in Punjab, India

Choke Point: India — The Leopard in the Well

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Thanks in large part to the Green Revolution that catalyzed grain production in the mid-1960s, India ended the perennial fear of famine. But achieving food abundance has overwhelmed India's mammoth and unwieldy bureaucracy, drained its freshwater reserves, and strained the energy sector and electrical grid.

The Price of Water 2013: Up Nearly 7 Percent in Last Year in 30 Major U.S. Cities; 25 Percent Rise Since 2010

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Utilities tinker with rate structures designed to stabilize revenue.