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BHP, South Australia Strike Mega Water Deal To Turbocharge Copper Mining
February 21st, 2024
Via the Financial Review, a report on BHP and the South Australian government plans for a multibillion-dollar desalination plant to accelerate copper mining in the region: BHP and the South Australian government are close to finalising talks over a multibillion-dollar desalination plant for the Upper Spencer Gulf as the miner grows more confident in its […]
Read more »Montana Court Restricts Use of Groundwater for New Homes
February 21st, 2024
Via The New York Times, an article on a recent Montana court ruling in which the scion of a political dynasty sought to build a subdivision in a water-stressed valley. A judge said no, a decision that could slow development across the state: A Montana judge has ruled that state officials have failed to impose […]
Read more »Alberta’s Brutal Water Reckoning
February 20th, 2024
Via The Tyee, a look at how – despite the province’s arid past – Alberta’s thirst for growth won out: “To a water expert, looking ahead is like the view from a locomotive, 10 seconds before the train wreck.” — The late scientist David Schindler on Alberta’s looming crisis Alberta’s water reckoning has begun in earnest. Snowpack […]
Read more »Japan’s Role in Healing the Aral Sea and Engaging Central Asia
February 20th, 2024
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at Japan’s role in healing the Aral Sea: Multiple international actors have become involved in helping Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan alleviate the devastating consequences of one of the worst human-made environmental disasters across the Central Asian region: the loss of the Aral Sea. One notable partner in these endeavors is […]
Read more »Mongolia’s Beijing-Financed Hydro-Electric Dams Threaten Lake Baikal, Russia Says
February 18th, 2024
Via Window on Eurasia, a report on Russia’s displeasure with Mongolia’s Beijing-financed hydro-electric dams that they claim threaten Lake Baikal: Mongolia’s decision to build hydro-electric dams to solve its domestic electricity shortage, a decision that Beijing has backed by financing the project, threatens transborder rivers flowing from Mongolia into Russia and even the survival of […]
Read more »Airlines Race Toward a Future of Powering Their Jets With Corn
February 17th, 2024
Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at the water/energy/food nexus of airlines’ efforts to replace jet fuel with ethanol to fight global warming, a transition requiring lots of corn, and lots of water: VAST STRETCHES OF AMERICA are dominated by corn, nearly 100 million acres of it, stretching from Ohio to the Dakotas. What […]
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