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Preparing for Water Quarrels, if Not Wars

A farmer pours water into a pail on the outskirts of Changzhi, Shanxi province February 16, 2009. China, faced with widespread water shortages exacerbated by its worst drought in decades, aims to cut the amount of water it uses to produce each dollar of national income by 60 percent by 2020, state media said. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA).

ISTANBUL - The Fifth World Water Forum begins in Istanbul Mar. 16 in the face of some stark facts: of the world's water, 97.5 percent is the sea, and of the remaining, 70 percent is frozen in polar icecaps. That leaves precious little for 6.76 billion people around the world, expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050.

Posted in Human Rights, privatization, water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2009
3:53 PM

CONTACT: American Rivers
Katherine Baer, American Rivers, (202) 347-7550 x3053
Angela Dicianno, American Rivers, (202) 243-7077

Congress Takes Big Step Forward to Protect Clean Water, Public Health

Sewage notification, green infrastructure included in Clean Water State Revolving Fund

WASHINGTON - March 12 - Every year, more than 860 billion gallons of raw and partially treated sewage foul America's waters and threaten public health, but most people have no idea that these spills occur in their local rivers and streams. Today, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives took an important step towards changing that when they passed the Water Quality Investment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1262) to reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). CWSRF helps pay for critical stormwater and wastewater needs across the country.

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American Rivers is the only national organization standing up for healthy rivers so our communities can thrive. Through national advocacy, innovative solutions and our growing network of strategic partners, we protect and promote our rivers as valuable assets that are vital to our health, safety and quality of life.

Founded in 1973, American Rivers has more than 65,000 members and supporters nationwide, with offices in Washington, DC and the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, California and Northwest regions.

American Rivers Links:
Posted in Environment, pollution, water

UN Warns of Widespread Water Shortages

Afghan children are seen collecting water from a hand pump near Shuhada lake in Kabul. Surging population growth, climate change, reckless irrigation and chronic waste are placing the world's water supplies at threat, according to a landmark UN report. (AFP/Shah Marai)

The world faces a bleak future over its dwindling water supplies, with pollution, climate change and rapidly growing populations raising the possibility of widespread shortages, a new report compiled by 24 agencies of the United Nations says.

The warning from the UN is based on one of the most comprehensive assessments the global body has undertaken on the state of the world's fresh water and was commissioned for use at a major international water conference being held next week in Istanbul.

Posted in climate change, climate refugees, Environment, global warming, resource wars, water

Climate Change Accelerates Water Hunt in US West

SAN FRANCISCO - It's hard to visualize a water crisis while driving the lush boulevards of Los Angeles, golfing Arizona's green fairways or watching dancing Las Vegas fountains leap more than 20 stories high.

So look Down Under. A decade into its worst drought in a hundred years Australia is a lesson of what the American West could become.

Bush fires are killing people and obliterating towns. Rice exports collapsed last year and the wheat crop was halved two years running. Water rationing is part of daily life.

Posted in agriculture, climate change, global warming, water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2009
1:02 PM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch
Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch (202) 683-2500

World Bank Urged to Promote Public Control of Water Resources

New report shows why private water hurts people in developing nations

WASHINGTON - March 10 - The World Bank's encouragement of private investment in water services harms the people living in developing nations, according to a new report released today by the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch. Dried Up, Sold Out: How the World Bank's Push for Private Water Harms the Poor documents the many downsides of private sector control of world water infrastructure systems.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
Food & Water Watch Links:
Posted in privatization, water

Maine Town Takes a Stand: Closes Tap on Water Privatization

Shapleigh residents have banned companies from drawing or selling its water.

During a special town meeting Saturday morning, residents voted 114 to 66 to adopt the ban drafted by Protecting Our Water and Wildlife Resources, which had opposed Poland Spring's efforts to test, draw, bottle and market the town's water.

The ban had been opposed by the town's Board of Selectmen, which had favored instead a set of regulations on drawing water in the town that will be on the warrant for the regular town meeting on March 14.

Posted in privatization, water

Adapting to Water Woes

The dry, cracked Lake Mead lake-bed near Las Vegas is shown in this 2005 file photo. The severe drought since 2000 has seen the Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs, which hold water for human needs downstream, shrink to 50% or less of normal. (Aaron Mayes, Las Vegas Sun/AP)

The southwestern United States is moving headlong toward an environmental catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions.

The already drought-prone region is almost entirely dependent on a shrinking snowpack and sparse rain in the Colorado River Basin. As the planet's climate changes, an already overtaxed and volatile water supply is expected to get even more unstable.

Posted in climate change, Environment, global warming, water

Federal Water May Be Cut off From Calif. Farms

Shawn Coburn, left, and his foreman, Juan Guadian, inspect an almond orchard in Mendota, Calif. A double whammy of drought and a cutback of water supplies has cost California's agricultural heartland millions of dollars in lost planting, affecting workers in the nation's produce capital. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP file)

SACRAMENTO - Federal water managers said they may have to cut off all water to some of California's largest farms as a result of the deepening drought affecting the state.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said Friday that parched reservoirs and patchy snow and rainfall this year would likely force them to cut surface water deliveries completely. It would be the first time in more than 15 years such a move was taken.

Posted in agriculture, Food/Water, water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2009
3:51 PM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch
Rachael Richardson, Food & Water Watch (917) 733-0434
Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch (202) 683-2500

Food & Water Watch-Sponsored Film The Water Front Screens in NYC

Documentary Exposes the Effects of Underfunded, Neglected Water Systems

NEW YORK - February 19 - Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., today sponsored a screening of The Water Front, a documentary film highlighting the negative effects of aging water systems and a Michigan community's struggle to defend its water rights.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
Food & Water Watch Links:
Posted in Food/Water, water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 4, 2009
4:01 PM

CONTACT: American Rivers
Andrew Fahlund, American Rivers, 202-347-7550 x3022
Angela Dicianno, American Rivers, 202-347-7550 x3103

US Water Infrastructure Transformation Needed to Protect Public Health, Safety, and Save Money

American Rivers provides recommendations to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

WASHINGTON - February 4 - Water infrastructure in the United States is deteriorating and needs a major overhaul to avoid further declines in our clean water supplies and to deal with the more extreme weather that is coming with global warming, American Rivers said today in testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

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American Rivers is the only national organization standing up for healthy rivers so our communities can thrive. Through national advocacy, innovative solutions and our growing network of strategic partners, we protect and promote our rivers as valuable assets that are vital to our health, safety and quality of life.

Founded in 1973, American Rivers has more than 65,000 members and supporters nationwide, with offices in Washington, DC and the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, California and Northwest regions.

American Rivers Links:
Posted in Sustainability, water, water quality
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