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The Thirsty Dragon: Scarcity Of Water & Land Shifts Geography of Food Production & Irrigation Networks to China’s Northeast
November 11th, 2012
Courtesy of Circle Of Blue, a report on how rich land, ample water, and dogged persistence turned China’s virgin northeast into the nation’s breadbasket: Farmers harvest corn near Tongliao in Inner Mongolia. China, the world’s largest nation and second-largest economy, is pursuing grain production with a single-minded purpose. On the south side of the two-lane […]
Read more »Landmark U.S. Water Pact With Mexico Could Boost Lake Mead
November 11th, 2012
Via the Las Vegas Review Journal, a report on a recent agreement over Colorado River flows: After years of negotiations, the United States and Mexico have struck a deal that could keep more water in Lake Mead and help improve water efficiency and the environment south of the border. The landmark five-year agreement would allow […]
Read more »India, Bangladesh Near Historic Agreement On Teesta Water
November 11th, 2012
Via the Hindustan Times, a report that India and Bangladesh could soon break a politically significant logjam to sign an interim Teesta water-sharing pact following talks between water resources minister Harish Rawat and visiting Bangladesh agriculture minister Begum Matia Chowdhury. As the article notes: “…An earlier attempt to resolve a deadlock over how to share […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China Buys Japanese Water Rights
November 6th, 2012
Via Bloomberg, an interesting report on Chinese purchases of Japanese land & water rights: Morihiro Oguma’s phone rang every day with calls from brokers representing foreign investors who wanted to buy his Japan Mineral water-bottling business. “In many cases, I was told I could name my price,†Oguma said in an interview, adding he had […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Water shortages Potentially A Perfect Storm
November 5th, 2012
Via MarketWatch, a report on China’s water issues: Water shortages could be China’s own version of the perfect storm, potentially blowing a hole in carefully laid plans of an incoming generation of leaders. Targets for moderately fast economic development, seen as crucial for the Communist Party to maintain its grip on power, no longer seem […]
Read more »Laos’ Power Grab: Damming The Mekong
November 4th, 2012
Via The Economist, a report on Laos’ admission that work is going ahead on a controversial Mekong dam: THE Mekong river, snaking its way through the heart of South-East Asia, has long sustained the world’s biggest and most productive inland fishery, supplying protein for around 65m mainly poor people from four riparian countries, Laos, Thailand, […]
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