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Transferring Water From Wet Regions to Dry Regions
March 21st, 2009
Via Radio Free Europe, an interesting look at the possibility of exporting water from wet countries to dry ones, specifically a 2,000 kilometer canal which would send water from the Ob River in Siberia to the Aral Sea basin in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. As the article notes: “…Many parts of the northern hemisphere — such […]
Read more »Hydro-Solidarity and Transboundary River Issues in Central Asia & The Middle East
March 20th, 2009
Via Terra Daily, an interesting look at three of the most challenging regions managing trans-boundary river issues and the chance for “hydro-solidarity” to overcome rising tensions in the Middle East and former Soviet Central Asia, both water-deprived regions with rapidly growing populations along with rising agricultural, industrial and energy requirements. As the article notes: “…Three […]
Read more »Libya’s Great Man-Made River Project
March 19th, 2009
Via Terra Daily, some additional information on Libya’s 33-billion-dollar Great Man-Made River scheme to extract water from deep beneath the Sahara and pipe it across the desert to its coastal cities. As the article notes, it is laden with potential for stoking friction with Libya’s neighbours: “…The scheme, already some two-thirds complete, is economically viable […]
Read more »Turkey, Syria, and Iraq: Great Anxiety Downstream
March 18th, 2009
Via Energy Daily, a detailed look at issues related to Turkey, Syria and Iraq’s mutual sharing of the Tigris and Euphrates’ 303,000-square-mile river basin watershed. As the article notes: “…For Damascus and Baghdad, the bad news is that the Euphrates’ flow is 88 percent controlled by Turkey, 9 percent by Syria and only 3 percent […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Hoping For The Best, Planning For The Thirst
March 11th, 2009
Via Yale’s Environment 360, a report that China is planning to construct 59 reservoirs in the country’s far-western province of Xinjiang to trap runoff from rapidly melting glaciers in some of Asia’s highest mountains. As the article notes: “…Chinese officials said their goal is to retain runoff that might otherwise trickle into the region’s high […]
Read more »Lake Balkhash: A Future Aral Sea?
March 3rd, 2009
Via Registan, an interesting look at Lake Balkhash which – due to the international nature of the watershed, the development of oil in China and heavy industry on the its shores – may unfortunately be on track for a similar fate as The Aral Sea unless China, Kazakhstan and the other Central Asian nations work […]
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