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The Thirsty Dragon: Three Gorges…Disgorged
August 11th, 2016
Via The Economist, a look at China’s Three Gorges dam: OUTSIDE China, the monster Three Gorges dam across the Yangzi river is one of the most reviled engineering projects ever built. It is blamed for fouling the environment and causing great suffering among the 1.2m people who were relocated to make way for its reservoir. […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China an Russia’s Competing Interests on the Mighty Amur River
August 10th, 2016
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), an interesting look at the Amur River, a shared resource between China and Russia: Forecast China’s and Russia’s intentions for the Amur River Basin will continue to be fundamentally at odds: Moscow wants to use it for transport and security, while Beijing wants to harness its power for energy and agriculture. […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Why Moving to Clean Energy in China Can Prevent a Water Crisis
August 10th, 2016
Via the Energy Collective, a report on the water impact of China’s move to clean energy: In April, the Chinese government made an announcement that it is stopping the construction of new coal-fired power plants that amount to a whopping 105 GW of electricity generation. While this planned shut-down is likely a response to the […]
Read more »Water Security in South Asia: Running Dry and Running Out of Options
July 22nd, 2016
Via The Cipher Brief, commentary on water security in South Asia: In the latest dispute between India and Pakistan, Islamabad has taken New Delhi to the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague over a longstanding water treaty. The move does not bode well for bilateral mediation between the two adversarial neighbors, and it underscores […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: A Water Stress Map of China
July 20th, 2016
Via China Water Risk, an interesting look at China’s water stress: Highlights -BWS is a measurement of the level of competition & depletion of available water; high value = more competition -Main distinction: BWS-China uses detailed data from govt sources vs BWS-Global which uses country data -BWS-China shows less stress in downstream areas of Yellow […]
Read more »Beijing Is Sinking: Global Impact Of Groundwater Pumping
July 15th, 2016
Courtesy of National Geographic, a report on how underground water is being pumped so aggressively around the globe that land is sinking, civil wars are being waged, and agriculture is being transformed: Beijing is sinking. In some neighborhoods, the ground is giving way at a rate of four inches a year as water in the […]
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