BLOG
The Thirsty Dragon: Rivers Threatened As China, Kazakhstan Water Pact Remains Elusive
July 2nd, 2013
Via Radio Free Asia, a report on increasing tensions over rivers in Central Asia: Industrial plants and other development projects in China’s northwest region of Xinjiang are hampering the flow of two key rivers into neighboring Kazakhstan and dumping hazardous chemicals into them as the two countries appear to be far from reaching agreement on […]
Read more »Water And The Geopolitics Of The Nile Valley: Egypt Confronts Ethiopia
June 23rd, 2013
Via Global Research, a detailed look at the geopolitics of the Nile river: Several African states have rejected statements made by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi which have challenged the right of Ethiopia to utilize water from the Blue Nile in order to construct a hydro-electric dam. Ethiopia says that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project […]
Read more »Egypt’s Nile Threats Weaken Case To Secure Water
June 17th, 2013
Via Bloomberg, some commentary on the recent Egypt-Ethiopia feud over the Nile: Egypt must drop its objection to an Ethiopian dam on the main tributary of the Nile River or it may struggle to ensure adequate supplies from the world’s longest waterway, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn said. A $4.3 billion, 6,000-megawatt hydropower […]
Read more »Why A ‘Water War’ Over The Nile River Won’t Happen
June 15th, 2013
Via Al Jazeera, commentary on the recent Ethiopia/Egypt tension over the Nile: Is northeastern Africa heading for a bloody “water war” between its two most important countries, Egypt and Ethiopia? Judging by the rhetoric of the past two weeks, one could be forgiven for thinking so. Ethiopia’s plans to build a multibillion dollar dam on […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Efforts To Overcome Its Water Shortages
June 14th, 2013
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), a report on China’s efforts to tackle its water crisis: On June 10, the easternmost leg of the South-North Water Transfer Project, the latest in a long line of attempts by China’s rulers to overcome the limits placed by water on the Chinese economy, began operations. This enormous engineering undertaking will […]
Read more »From Water Wars to Water Scarcity: Bolivia’s Cautionary Tale
June 11th, 2013
Via the North American Congress on Latin America, an interesting report on Bolivia’s water stress: When Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived at the new Uyuni airport last August and found no water running from the tap, he publicly reprimanded and promptly dismissed his Minister of Water. As it happened, the pipes were merely frozen. The […]
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