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Tajikistan’s Pledge on Central Asian Water
June 18th, 2010
Via Chance of Rain, an interesting sound bite from Tajikistan’s President when discussing Central Asian water issues: “The peoples of regional countries should be sure that Tajikistan will never let Central Asia suffer from shortage of water … Tajikistan proposes building water pipes from Lake Sarez … The lake’s reserve of water, which is the purest […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s ‘Long Haul” To Slake the North’s Thirst
June 13th, 2010
Courtesy of IEEE’s Spectrum magazine, a detailed look at China’s ambitious plans to address its water scarcity issues: “…In 1952, Mao Zedong visited the great rushing rivers of China’s south and suggested that the thirsty north “borrow” some. Thus was born the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. Nearly 60 years later, construction is under way on […]
Read more »Understanding Water Conflict In Central Asia
June 13th, 2010
Courtesy of Water Matters@Columbia, advance notification of a research project currently underway at the Columbia Water Center where a research team is analyzing Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan), and the environmental, political and economic crisis building there over water: A small nutshell description of a vastly complex situation: The five states are […]
Read more »Iraq’s Water Challenges
June 13th, 2010
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on how the The Shatt al Arab, the river that flows from the biblical site of the Garden of Eden to the Persian Gulf, has turned into an environmental and economic disaster that Iraq’s newly democratic government is almost powerless to fix. As the article notes: “…Withered […]
Read more »A Political Storm Hovers Over Calm Nile Water
May 9th, 2010
With 300 million people dependent on the water of the Nile, it is not surprising that a deal on its usage by several countries is difficult to ratify. As Uganda’s Monitor reports the tenuous and contentious state of discussions have not yet subsided: “…It’s been a decade of negotiations-sometimes exemplified by mistrust, intrigue and walkouts. […]
Read more »Water In South Asia – Affecting The Balance of Power
May 4th, 2010
Courtesy of Hydro-Logic, an excellent analysis of how transboundary water issues are one of the top three concerns affecting the balance of power in the region that is dominated by China, India, and Pakistan. As the article notes: “…water and energy are inextricably linked, in a ”nexus” which I shall address in a future post, […]
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