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Jordan River: Looming Catastrophe Overshadowed by War & Regional Conflict
September 18th, 2008
Via Yale’s e360 online magazine, a strong report on the challenges and opportunities facing Israel, Jordan, and Syria as they take serious steps to rescue the 205-mile Jordan river, a looming ecological catastrophe that has been overshadowed by decades of war and regional conflict. As the article notes: “…Steadily drained over the past half century […]
Read more »Central Asia: Syr Darya Basin Disagreement
September 15th, 2008
Via Red Orbit, news that the Syr Darya basin countries (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan) have failed to agree on the rational use of river water and whether it should be formally designates as a trans-boundary water body. As the article notes: “…The heads of water and energy facilities in the Central Asian states admitted that […]
Read more »Central Asia: Facing a Compound Crisis of Water, Energy, and Food
September 12th, 2008
From The Brookings Institution, more analysis on the chronic water and energy shortages in parts of Central Asia that – when combined with the area-specific drought conditions and hence threats to agricultural production in rain-fed parts of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (and possibly in the areas of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan irrigated with waters from the Syr […]
Read more »Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Hydropower, and Central Asia’s Water
September 3rd, 2008
As we have discussed previously and as recently noted by WaterWired, there are a number of difficult issues faced by the countries in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya basins, the two major streams in the region. As the article notes: “…the aforementioned streams both terminate in the Aral Sea, and the diversion of these […]
Read more »Water Power: Tajik Style
September 1st, 2008
From The New York Times, a very interesting analysis of how Tajikistan – the source of more than 40 percent of Central Asia’s water – hopes to utilize its abundant water resources to drive the country’s growth. However, as the article points out, water issues must also be resolved as Central Asia’s disagreements over how […]
Read more »The Mekong: A Flood of Worry About The Impact of China’s Dams
August 31st, 2008
Via Japan Focus, a detailed look at the impact that major floods of the Mekong have had upon Southeast Asia, not only in an environmental/economic sense, but also from a political perspective. Many countries are asking whether China is responsible for the heavy flood damage, as its cascade of dams on the Mekong have been […]
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