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The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: China To Build World’s Biggest Dam on Sacred Tibetan River
February 13th, 2021
Via Al Jazeera, an article on China’s plan to build the world’s biggest dam on the Tsangpo River: In the foothills of the Himalayas, where the ancient Yarlung civilisation established the first Tibetan Empire, China has plans to build the world’s biggest hydroelectric dam. In November of last year, China’s state-owned media shared plans for […]
Read more »The Parched Tiger: The Lurking Danger of India’s Dying Dams and Failing Reservoirs
February 4th, 2021
Via Third Pole.net, an article on the lurking danger of India’s dying dams and failing reservoirs: It is very encouraging to hear that India can currently store 257 billion cubic metres (BCM) of surface water in its reservoirs. Even more welcome is the prognosis that this quantity of water held in reservoirs (called “live storage”) could be extended to […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: China Risks A Himalayan Water War With India
January 30th, 2021
Via Asia Times, a look at how China’s plan to dam the Yarlung Zangbao, the world’s highest river, threatens to spark conflict with downstream India: China-India tensions in the Himalayas is shifting from confrontation and saber-rattling over contested border territory to a potentially more destabilizing conflict over water flows from the world’s highest mountain range. The […]
Read more »Impact Of Urban Water Security On India’s Future
January 19th, 2021
Via China Water Risk, a report on how to reduce water stress in 6 Indian cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Surat, Chennai & Kolkata) which face different aspects of water stress: The future of India, where it is projected that >50% population will live in urban centres by 2030, will depend on the resilience of cities to […]
Read more »Mountain Water Supply to Two Billion People Could Change
January 18th, 2021
Courtesy of Scientific American (subscription required), a detailed look at how data about Earth’s 78 most important mountaintops foretell changes in the amount and timing of snowmelt: The nights are long inside a tent 5,300 meters above sea level at the snout of Nepal’s Yala Glacier. At 8:00 P.M., after a meal of Nepali dal bhat (lentils […]
Read more »Asian Water Towers On Tighter Budget: More Runoff Won’t Quench Indus or Ganges Thirst
January 11th, 2021
Via Eureka Alert, notice of a new study on the Asian Water Towers: The Third Pole centered on the Tibetan Plateau is home to headwaters of over 10 major Asian rivers. These glacier-based water systems, also known as the Asian Water Towers, will have to struggle to quench the thirst of downstream communities despite more […]
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