Freshwater wildlife thrives in cleanest rivers since Industrial Revolution

The Guardian, December 31, 2010

Otters, water voles and species of freshwater fish which had all but vanished from waterways have made a dramatic recovery following the healthiest decade for rivers since the industrial revolution. The toxic effects of pesticides nearly wiped out the wild otter in the 1970s, but steady improvements in water quality mean their numbers are expected to make a full recovery. Otters may already have reached their maximum capacity in parts of the south-west of England, Cumbria and Northumbria. In the past 30 years, positive sightings have risen 10-fold, says a report by the Environment Agency. Read more...

When the Water Ends: Africa’s Climate Conflicts

Yale 360, November 04, 2010

Watch the Yale Environment 360 video report on the conflicts now arising in parts of East Africa as temperatures climb and water supplies dwindle. This powerful 16-minute video, “When the Water Ends,” shows the plight of four tribes of nomadic herdsmen in Kenya and Ethiopia who now must range more widely in search of water and grazing land, bringing them increasingly into conflict with each other. Watch the video

Water map shows billions at risk of 'water insecurity'

BBC News, September 29, 2010

About 80% of the world's population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis. Researchers compiled a composite index of "water threats" that includes issues such as scarcity and pollution. The most severe threat category encompasses 3.4 billion people. Writing in the journal Nature, they say that in western countries, conserving water for people through reservoirs and dams works for people, but not nature. Read more...

NYC Reveals ‘Green’ Infrastructure Plans

Environmental Leader, October 01, 2010

New York City wants to curb water runoff that sends sewage into city waterways through the use of “blue” roofs that have a series of drainage pools and “green” or grass- or ivy-covered roofs, reports Reuters.
The new plan, called “NYC Green Infrastructure” (PDF), would replace the existing approach for sewer overflow control with a mix of green and traditional infrastructure measures that are expected to reduce sewer overflows into waterways, reports Sustainable Business. Read more...

Εμφύλιος στην Κρήτη για το νερό

ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ, 29 Αυγούστου 2010

Εμφύλιος πόλεμος μαίνεται στη Δυτική Κρήτη για το νερό. Τοπικοί πολιτικοί παράγοντες, υπηρεσιακά στελέχη, κάτοικοι αστικών περιοχών και αγρότες ένα... κουβάρι. Οι αγρότες καταγγέλλουν τους ΤΟΕΒ (Τοπικοί Οργανισμοί Εγγείων Βελτιώσεων) ότι μεροληπτούν υπέρ των ξενοδοχειακών μονάδων, οι οποίες δεν έμειναν το καλοκαίρι ούτε στιγμή χωρίς νερό. Οπως λένε χαρακτηριστικά «στις τουριστικές περιοχές σπαταλιέται το νερό και εμείς δεν έχουμε να ποτίσουμε» . Δεν είναι τυχαίο ότι για πρώτη χρονιά φέτος η Κρήτη κατανάλωνε «εισαγόμενα» λαχανικά (ντομάτες κ.ά.) καθώς πολλές καλλιέργειες καταστράφηκαν εξαιτίας των προβλημάτων στην υδροδότηση. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

The Right to Water

E-Environment Magazine, August 17, 2010

On Wednesday, August 11, the United Nations General Assembly declared water and clean sanitation a basic human right. Some 122 countries supported the resolution, while the U.S. and Canada, along with 40 other countries, chose to abstain from the vote.

Introduced by Bolivia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Pablo Solon, the resolution is the first step in solving a growing epidemic. Solon says: “At the global level, approximately one out of every eight people do not have drinking water," reports the World Health Organization and of UNICEF in a 2009 document titled "Diarrhea: Why Children Are (Still) Dying and What We Can Do." It continues: "every day 24,000 children die in developing countries due to causes that can be prevented, such as diarrhea, which is caused by contaminated water. This means that a child dies every three-and-a-half seconds.". Read more...

Ten Nations at 'Extreme Risk' Because of Water Shortages, Report Says

ENN, July 12, 2010

Ten countries worldwide, including five African nations, are at "extreme risk" because of limited access to clean, fresh water, according to a new global water security index. And the effects of climate change and population growth will exacerbate the stress on these water supplies, potentially threatening stability in many regions, according to the analysis by Maplecroft , a UK-based consulting group. Among the nations most at risk are Somalia, Mauritania, Sudan, Niger, and Iraq. Other nations at extreme risk — including Pakistan, Egypt, and Uzbekistan — are already facing internal and border tensions because of limited water supplies. Read more...

Take a look at your water environment

EEA, June 23, 2010

What are the nutrient levels in your coastal waters or nearby lake? Do you live in an area where urban waste water treatment fails to meet the EU requirements? The European Environment Agency (EEA) provides the answers through its interactive maps, which have been updated with new water quality data. Read more...

Peruvians harvesting fog

ENN, March 23, 2010

Catching fog with nets is the solution to water scarcity for people who live beyond the reach of utility lines in this sandy hillside shantytown overlooking Peru's capital, Lima.
Lima, which along with Cairo is one of the world's two driest capitals, gets only a few drops of rain each year. But thick fog from the Pacific Ocean blankets the coastal hills surrounding the city for eight months a year as hot tropical sun mixes with cold waters of the Humboldt current. Using nets similar to those used in volleyball, residents condense fog, drip-by-drip, into drainage pipes running down the hill into tanks that store hundreds of liters of water for irrigation, bathing and cooking. Read more...

Central Asia fails in water talks

BBC News, April 28, 2009

The leaders of the five Central Asian states have failed to agree on the best way to share their water. They signed a compromise statement that did not mention water sharing, concentrating instead on the decline in the level of the Aral Sea. Correspondents say that a deal on water usage is key to regional stability. Read more...

China launches vast water clean-up

ENN, March 19, 2009

A project to improve water quality in China has been launched by the government, which says it is the largest expenditure on environmental protection since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.
The project, which has an estimated budget of more than 30 billion Chinese yuan (around 4.4 billion US dollars) over 12 years, aims to counter the deteriorating water quality affecting millions of Chinese people and their livelihoods. Read more...

World heading for 'water bankruptcy'

EurActiv, February 5, 2009

Sustained economic growth, human security and political stability over the next two decades depend on how water is managed, warns the World Economic Forum in a report urging governments and businesses to address consistent under-charging, waste and overuse of water.
Discussed last week at the forum's annual meeting in Davos, the report on managing future water needs argues that "we are now on the verge of water bankruptcy in many places, with no way of paying the debt back". Read more...

Water management: NGOs present indicators for overhaul

EurActiv, November 19, 2008

European environmental NGOs urged member states to reconsider how water is legally allocated and priced in manufacturing, energy production, agriculture, domestic supply and tourism.
As member states prepare to unveil their draft national plans for the protection of rivers, environmental NGOs, EEB and WWF announced a set of headline indicators against which they plan to measure the EU 27's performance on the issue. Read more...

Water Footprints Make A Splash

ENN, August 22, 2008

If the full water requirements of a morning roast are calculated - farm irrigation, bean transportation, and the serving of the coffee - one cup requires 140 liters of water. This notion of a product's "water footprint" is gaining traction. Defined as the total volume of freshwater required to produce a nation's goods and services, the tool tracks domestic water demand and the impact of consumption on water resources across the globe. Read more...

Commission delays water saving obligations for farmers

Euractiv, July 16, 2008

The Commission has rejected the notion that farmers should implement river basin management schemes in exchange for agricultural subsidies, despite increasing fears over water shortages and droughts.
As part of the so-called "health check" of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Commission proposed a number of amendments to the rules governing how farmers can receive subsidies. Among these are a number of cross-compliance measures whereby in order to receive direct payments, farmers have to meet certain environmental, food safety, animal health and welfare standards. Read more...

UK to give waterless washing machine a spin

ENN, June 10, 2008

A washing machine using as little as a cup of water for each washing cycle could go on sale to environmentally conscious Britons next year.
Xeros Ltd, which has been spun out of the University of Leeds to commercialize the technology, said on Monday the new machines would use less than 2 percent of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine. Plastic chips are used to remove dirt and stains from clothes, leaving them dry and reducing energy consumption as there is no need to use a dryer after the washing cycle, Xeros said in a statement. Read more...

The Other Footprint : The Water Footprint

ENN, May 26, 2008

By now, you’ve all heard of the Carbon Footprint — the measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. Today, KGG sheds light on the other foot; Your Water Footprint. [..]

A Few Facts
1. The production of 1 kilogram of beef requires 16,000 liters of water.
2. To produce 1 cup of coffee we need 140 liters of water.
3. The water footprint of China is about 700 cubic meter per year per capita. Only 7% of the Chinese water footprint falls outside China.
4. The USA water footprint is 2500 cubic meter per year per capita. Read more...

Σε τριάντα χρόνια η Ελλάδα θα στερέψει

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 6 Μαΐου 2008

Από δύο έως έξι επιπλέον εβδομάδες μεγάλης επικινδυνότητας για δασικές πυρκαγιές, 25% μείωση των βροχοπτώσεων, μέχρι και διπλάσια ζήτηση ενέργειας για την ψύξη κατά τους καλοκαιρινούς μήνες και μεγάλο πλήγμα στον τουρισμό αναμένεται να δεχθεί η Ελλάδα από το 2031 έως το 2060, σύμφωνα με πρόσφατες ευρωπαϊκές έρευνες, τα αποτελέσματα των οποίων ανακοινώθηκαν χθες στο συνέδριο του Εθνικού Αστεροσκοπείου Αθηνών.
Όπως επισημαίνει ο πρόεδρος του Αστεροσκοπείου κ. Χρήστος Ζερεφός, «τα πλέον άσχημα νέα για τις επόμενες δεκαετίες έχουν να κάνουν με το νερό: Η λειψυδρία στη χώρα μας αναμένεται να συνεχιστεί για τα επόμενα 50 χρόνια, ενώ από τις έρευνες βλέπουμε ότι ο δείκτης ξηρότητας αυξάνεται δραματικά, με αποτέλεσμα το 80% της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου να οδεύει προς την ερημοποίηση». Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Desalination Raises Environmental, Cost Concerns

ENN, April 29, 2008

As global freshwater reserves dry up, desalination plants are receiving greater attention as an option for providing both drinking water supplies and agricultural irrigation. But a new study released on Thursday raises several concerns about the environmental impact and cost effectiveness of the widely touted technology to convert seawater to fresh water. Read more...

Χάσαμε νερό δέκα μηνών

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 22 Μαρτίου 2008

Ο εφιάλτης της λειψυδρίας χτυπά την πόρτα της Αττικής. Τα αποθέματα του νερού στους ταμιευτήρες της ΕΥΔΑΠ είναι φέτος λιγότερα κατά 350 εκατ. κυβικά μέτρα σε σχέση με πέρυσι. Η ποσότητα αυτή, όπως είπε χθες ο πρόεδρος της Εταιρείας κ. Κώστας Κωστούλας, «ισοδυναμεί με το νερό που θα κατανάλωνε η Αττική σε 10 μήνες». Διαβάστε περισσότερα...