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The Thirsty Dragon: Water-Trading Could China’s Exacerbate Water Shortages
May 20th, 2013
Via China Dialogue, a report on how China’s approaches to water trading grapple with the twin problems of ensuring equity of supply and avoiding ecological damage: Poor smallholders are likely to lose out to manufacturing in a water trading system, warn skeptics Large-scale engineering projects and rigorous state control are hallmarks of the Chinese developmental […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: High And Dry – Water Shortages Put A Brake On China’s Economic Growth
May 20th, 2013
Via The Financial Times, a look at the impact of water scarcity on China’s economic growth: Holed beneath the waterline: China’s droughts and water shortages are pushing people to leave their homes and join an exodus to the cities Wang Fuguo, a 63-year-old cotton farmer, does not know when his ancestors began tilling the land […]
Read more »Syria: Without Water, Revolution
May 19th, 2013
Courtesy of The New York Times, an interesting Op-Ed by Thomas Friedman examining the link between drought and revolution in Syria: I just spent a day in this northeast Syrian town. It was terrifying — much more so than I anticipated — but not because we were threatened in any way by the Free Syrian […]
Read more »IMU, Taliban Threaten Turkmen, Uzbek Water Resource
May 18th, 2013
Via Central Asia Online, an interesting report on Central Asian water tension: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) militants are menacing an Afghan water resource valuable to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the Faryab Province police chief told Deutsche Welle (DW) in an interview published May 9. The militants in late April attacked three districts in Faryab Province, […]
Read more »U.S., Mexico: The Decline Of The Colorado River And A Projected Water Deficit
May 14th, 2013
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), a detailed look at an amendment to a standing water treaty between the United States and Mexico which has received publicity over the past six months as an example of progress in water sharing agreements. But – as the article notes – the amendment, called Minute 319, is simply a glimpse […]
Read more »Egypt Dismisses Use Of Force To Solve The Nile River Conflict
May 12th, 2013
Via Pensa Latina, a report from Egypt regarding the possibility of force in resolving a lingering conflict over the Nile River: Egypt will not resort to force to resolve the dispute with Ethiopia on the quota of the Nile river water, assured the Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah el Sisi in statements cirdulated here today. […]
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