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A French-Fry Boomtown Emerges As A Climate Winner — As Long As It Has Water
August 22nd, 2023
Courtesy of The Washington Post, a look at how climate change has helped a small town become the world capital of french-fry production, but a dwindling water supply could reverse its progress entirely: From miles away, you can smell Othello, an 8,700-person hamlet on the high plains of central Washington. To locals, it smells like […]
Read more »Is Desalination the Answer?
August 22nd, 2023
Via Milken Institute Review, commentary on desalination: Every fifth-grader hooked on adventure stories devours tales of shipwrecked sailors drinking seawater, with fatal results. The nerdy adult version of that adventure might be Saudi Arabia’s fantasies of towing (salt-free) icebergs from Antarctica back in the 1970s. And, of course, if you’re a Californian worried more about […]
Read more »Lahaina Fire Prompts a Shift in Maui’s Long-Running Water Fights
August 22nd, 2023
Courtesy of the New York Times, a report how – after a fight over water on the day of the Lahaina fire – Hawaii’s Governor says the state has “tipped too far” in trying to preserve water: Hours before the wildfire became an inferno that wiped out the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina, officials at […]
Read more »Feds Ease Up On Colorado River Restrictions – For Now
August 22nd, 2023
Via Grist, an article on how this year’s wet winter helped save the river from collapse, but a reckoning is on the horizon: The water shortage crisis on the Colorado River is improving, but it’s far from over. That was the message from the Biden administration on Tuesday, as officials announced they would loosen water restrictions on […]
Read more »Parched Egypt Struggles To Contain Water Loss
August 22nd, 2023
Via Terra Daily, a report on Egypt’s water crisis: At the foot of an 800-year-old Cairo mausoleum, weeds rise from a murky green pool — a sign of massive loss of clean water that often goes to waste instead of reaching Egyptian consumers.Beneath intricate Koranic inscriptions, the thick shrubbery crawls upwards from waist-deep water towards […]
Read more »Switzerland’s Water Diplomacy
August 22nd, 2023
Via SwissInfo, a look at what Switzerland is doing to prevent disputes over water: Water can be a source of conflict between states, but it can also encourage cooperation. Switzerland sees water diplomacy as a long-term, incremental strategy for peace. Will there be wars over water in the future? Dystopias evoke this as a possible scenario. […]
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