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Droughtlandia USA
May 25th, 2016
Courtesy of the Pacific Standard, an interesting commentary on what happens when climate change causes Californians to migrate north to Oregon and Washington: In a rumpled suit jacket and faded jeans, Giles Slade stands atop an earthen levee and looks out over a vast expanse of water. It’s mid-November, and the Fraser River runs gray […]
Read more »The Parched Tiger: India To ‘Divert Rivers’ To Tackle Drought
May 25th, 2016
Via BBC, a report on India’s water stress: India is set to divert water from its rivers to deal with a severe drought, a senior minister has told the BBC. Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said transferring water, including from major rivers like the Brahmaputra and the Ganges, to drought-prone areas is now her government’s […]
Read more »Southwest US: As Lake Mead Dwindles, Can An Interstate Water War Be Far Behind?
May 25th, 2016
Via the Los Angeles Times, an article on the growing tension over the dwindling Colorado River: The last time two states went to war over water, it was 1934. The combatants were California and Arizona and the casus belli was the start of construction of Parker Dam, which would direct water from the Colorado River into California via […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Murky Waters
May 19th, 2016
Via The Asia and Pacific Policy Society, a look at China’s groundwater challenge: During their long march towards industrialisation, all developed countries failed to give adequate attention to air, water and soil pollution. When they did, it was considered as a price to be paid for progress. By the 1960s, many of the major water […]
Read more »The Parched Tiger: India’s Water Nightmare
May 16th, 2016
Courtesy of The Economist, a look at India’s water shortages and how management – rather than drought – may be to blame: AT THE dawn of time Lord Vishnu made gods and demons join in churning the milky oceans to extract an elixir of eternal life. After cheating the demons of their share, Vishnu spilled […]
Read more »Water: The Other U.S.-Mexico Border Issue
May 13th, 2016
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), a detailed analysis of the growing tension over the Rio Grande watershed: When determining borders, a river is often the clearest delineation between sovereign nations. But that clarity abruptly ends when countries must decide how to use the water that the river provides. Even managing rivers that do not determine […]
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