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The Thirsty Dragon: Tapping the Asian Water Tower Remains a Chinese Pipedream
November 8th, 2017
Via Future Directions International, a look at China’s alleged plans to build a water tunnel from Tibet to western China: Background According to a report in the South China Morning Post, Beijing plans to construct a tunnel, one thousand kilometres in length, to divert water from the Yarlung Tsangpo (as the Brahmaputra River is known in […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon:China Denies Brahmaputra Tunnel Reports, Promises Cross-Border River Cooperation
November 1st, 2017
Via Zee News, an article on an earlier report that China plans to build a 1,000-km tunnel from Tibet to the water-starved Xinjiang region: China has denied reports that it is working on a 1,000-km tunnel aimed at diverting the River Brahmaputra. It categorically denied the report, which appeared in a Hong Kong-based newspaper, and claimed that […]
Read more »Jordan Water Crisis Worsens as Mideast Tensions Slow Action
November 1st, 2017
Courtesy of The New York Times, an article on Jordan’s water crisis: From a hillside in northern Jordan, the Yarmouk River is barely visible in the steep valley below, reduced from a once important water source to a sluggish trickle overgrown with vegetation. Jordan’s reservoirs are only one-fifth full, a record low, and vital winter […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Tapping Tibetan Rivers To Ease Distant Thirst
October 30th, 2017
Via The South China Morning Post, an interesting report on a Chinese engineering plan for a 1,000km tunnel to make Xinjiang’s desert bloom: Chinese engineers are testing techniques that could be used to build a 1,000km tunnel – the world’s longest – to carry water from Tibet to Xinjiang, experts involved in the project say. […]
Read more »Is Sustainable Cooperation On The Mekong Possible?
October 30th, 2017
Via The Diplomat, a look at the political realities — starting with China — that make Mekong management difficult: The latest Greater Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy took place from October 25-27 in Yangon, Myanmar. This forum is the biggest annual affair aiming to raise awareness and share research-based knowledge about sustainable development […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: Why Do Hydro-Hegemons Cooperate?
October 17th, 2017
Via the Global Water Forum, an article on China’s and India’s transboundary river policies: Hydro-hegemons are states which assert power over other riparian states in a shared river basin. In Asia, both China and India are hydro-hegemons. China is the upstream riparian on many of Asia’s most important international rivers, including the Mekong, Brahmaputra, Sutlej, […]
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