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The Thirsty Dragon: Water As A New Weapon In Beijing’s Arsenal
August 30th, 2011
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an interesting article on the potential threat that China would use its control of the headwaters of some of Asia’s largest rivers as a way of extending its power in the region: China has aroused international alarm by using its virtual monopoly of rare earths as a trade instrument and […]
Read more »Can Water Treaties Be Climate-Proofed?
August 30th, 2011
Courtesy of The New York Times, an interesting article on the need to amend existing international water treaties to take into account changes being driven by climate change. As the report notes: The Indus River flows through a valley in northern Pakistan. Arguments over control of the Indus River system have been a source of […]
Read more »Nepal Dams Won’t Stop Indian Floods
August 24th, 2011
Via China Dialogue, an interesting report on the need for Indian planners to radically rethink flood prevention strategies in the Ganges basin, given a new World Bank study that debunks old myths: For decades, Indian planners working to harness the waters of the Ganges and its tributaries have believed building dams in Nepal will save […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Golf Course In China’s Desert Strains Drinking Water Supply
August 20th, 2011
An interesting article discussing some of the local/regional tensions over water use in parched China: “Even before the golf course went into use, the region of Yulin had been thirsty and constantly threatened with drought. Some villagers can afford to take only three baths in their entire lives: once at birth, once before the wedding, […]
Read more »The Impending Food “Bubble”: The World Is Running Low On Water
August 14th, 2011
Via The Orange County Register, an article taking a new look at a 2005 World Bank study that reported that the grain supply for 175 million Indians and 130 million Chinese is produced by overpumping water. As the report notes: “…There are all kinds of bubbles. We had the financial bubble that burst in 2008, […]
Read more »California Water Politics: Budgets, Billionaires, Bonds, Big Profits and the Brown Family
August 12th, 2011
Via Lloyd G. Carter and Patrick Porgans, a very interesting two-part series showing how how land-rich but water-short Southern California billionaires are pushing an $11 billion bond measure on the 2012 ballot to enhance their holdings and offers insight into the family legacy of Gov. Edmund G. “Pat†Brown, who first mastered the art of […]
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