keeping
up: trouble with water
This news item has been moved and incoporated into the
Pressure on water resources briefing document.
the web address for this article is
http://www.abelard.org/news/water2.htm#trouble_with_water_091106 |
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water
labelling
“Labelling foods ranging from spaghetti to meat to show how
much water is used in their production could help combat mounting
pressure on the world's water supplies, a leading expert said on
Tuesday.
“Typically, a calorie of food demands a litre of water (0.2 Imperial
gallons) to produce, according to UN estimates. But a kilo (2.2 lbs)
of industrially produced meat needs 10,000 litres while a kilo of grain
requires just 500-4,000 litres.”
the web address for this article is
http://www.abelard.org/news/water2.htm#water_labelling_250806 |
| pulling the
plug out - lake victoria on the road to ruin
“Covering nearly 70,000 square kilometres, Lake Victoria takes
a big bite out of surrounding Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. An estimated
30 million people depend on it for their livelihoods. Since 2003, however,
the lake has lost 75 cubic kilometres of water, about 3 per cent of
its volume, leaving international ferries stranded far from their jetties,
fishing boats mired in mud, and towns running low on water.”
—
“ In 1954 british engineers blasted out the weir and replaced
it with the Owens Falls (Nalubaale) dam which transformed the lake into
a giant hydroelectric reservoir. At the time, engineers agreed that
the amount of water flowing through the turbines should mimic the previous
natural flow.
“The agreed flow supposedly remains in force under a treaty with
Egypt, the ultimate user of most of the Nile's water. In 2002, Uganda
finished building a second hydropower complex close to the first one.
Soon after its completion people began to notice the water level falling,
and today the lake is at an 80-year low.” [Quoted from newscentist.com]
“Daniel Kull, a hydrologist who has worked with the UN's International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction in Nairobi, says that in the past two
years, Uganda has been taking 55% more water from Lake Victoria than
it is supposed to under a colonial-era agreement.” [Quoted from
bbc.co.uk]
‘Uganda’ blames drought. In the meantime,
conflict over the waters of the Nile rises in probability.
sketch map of the Nile river catchment area,
with approximate national borders
related material
the
tragedy of the commons
the web address for this article is
http://www.abelard.org/news/water2.htm#nile_160206 |
problems with clean water supply
“To take this last claim first, the world is not running out
of water, partly because the natural cycle perpetually renews it but
also because the growth in water consumption no longer seems to be correlated
with growth in GDP and population (see chart 1 for what is happening
in the United States, the world's most profligate user of water). According
to Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California, in
the 1930s it took 200 tonnes of water to make a tonne of steel in America;
now it takes only 20 tonnes of water, and the best Korean methods use
only 3-4 tonnes. Toilets, which account for the biggest domestic use
of water, show a similar gain: from six gallons of water per flush in
1980 to only 1.6 gallons in the latest models.
“Domestic consumers are hardly ever to blame for water shortages.
As much as 50% of the water in piped systems is lost through leakage.
More important, wherever in the world water is scarcest, which is mostly
in developing countries, irrigation for agriculture gobbles up at least
75% and sometimes as much as 90% of the available water. In richer countries,
industry and energy use a surprisingly large amount. Domestic users
everywhere account for a relatively small share (see chart 3). Any shortages
should thus be blamed on farmers and manufacturers, not on swimming-pool
owners.”
the web address for this article is
http://www.abelard.org/news/water2.htm#water190703 |
European
Commission ratings for bathing water quality
Both coastal (salt) and inland (fresh) bathing waters are rated. Here
are the figures for 2002 (the latest year available) in approximate order
from best to worst.
the web address for this article is
http://www.abelard.org/news/water2.htm#water150603 |
|
treating the
waters of the world as a dustbin
oceans
in a mess
link to a summary of a new, interesting report about the oceans off the
USA.
“America’s oceans are in crisis and the stakes could not
be higher. More than half the U.S. population lives in coastal counties.
The resident population in this area is expected to increase by 25 million
people by 2015. More than 180 million people visit the shore for recreation
every year.”
And very similar problems exist around the world.
Here
are the links for the full report.
—
And here is a minor item about ‘fresh’ water:
mismanagement
of ground water
“Within 25 years, half the world's population could have trouble
finding enough fresh water for drinking and irrigation.
“Currently, more than 80 countries, representing 40 percent of
the world's people, are subject to serious water shortages. Conditions
may get worse in the next 50 years as populations grow and as global
warming disrupts rainfall patterns.”
the web address for this article is
http://www.abelard.org/news/water2.htm#water060603 |
