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Two Rivers Diverted…. The Thirsty Dragon Has To Choose Both Paths
February 9th, 2009
Via Terra Daily, a report on China’s recent decision to divert water from its two longest rivers to help farmers hit by the country’s worst drought in decades. As the article notes: “…Water from the Yangtze River, the country’s longest, will be diverted to the northern areas of eastern Jiangsu Province, the Xinhua news agency […]
Read more »Central Asian Water: The Thirsty Dragon, The Aral Sea, and Ongoing Dilemmas
January 23rd, 2009
As we have discussed in this blog previously, Central Asian countries are divided into water suppliers (the mountainous countries of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and water consumers (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). But the Central Asian water crisis is not just about the fate of the Aral Sea. It is about the management of the entire basin, including […]
Read more »“The West Will Run Dry”: U.S. To Tap Mexico?
January 20th, 2009
Via The Denver Post, an interesting article regarding recent moves between the U.S. and Mexico to ramp up discussions over efforts to enable downstream states to build desalting plants in Mexico that could provide water, albeit expensively, to both Mexico and the U.S. As the article notes, they are also launching talks for Mexico to […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Science’s Concerns Over South-To-North
January 9th, 2009
Via Yale’s Environment 360 blog, an interesting article on one geologist’s concerns about China’s massive Yangtze River diversion project and how difficult it can be to challenge a government decision in China. As the report notes: “…his mission was more profound: to investigate the geological and hydrological conditions of the Yangtze River basin – and […]
Read more »The Tibetan Plateau: A Freshwater Bank In Crisis
January 5th, 2009
The Asia Society has produced a documentary about the impact of global warming on the Tibetan plateau, the rivers which originate there, and the people who depend on them to live. From the introduction: As the source of most of the major river systems in Asia from China to Pakistan, including the Yellow, the Yangtze, […]
Read more »A Mideast Peace Canal?
December 24th, 2008
Via Terra Daily, an article on a planned 4.5 billion dollar “Peace Canal” to bring water from the Red Sea to the fast evaporating Dead Sea which could benefit the entire Middle East. As the report notes: “…I think that all the region will benefit from the project,” Israeli Minister of Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told […]
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