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Coke and Pepsi Fear Bottled Water Backlash
Posted by Michael E. Campana, WaterWired on July 15, 2008 at 3:11 PM.
Well, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are tanking, the USA owes a supertanker fleet-load of Benjamins to China, The House That Ruth Built is coming down, and A-Rod and C-Rod are splitting up. So is there any good news?
You bet! Coke and Pepsi fear a bottled water backlash. Read Anthony Mirhaydari's story here.
Looks like some consumers have finally discovered that gasoline is cheaper than most bottled water.
And the Swiss have found that the environmental impact of bottled water is 90 to 1000+ times greater than that of tap water. Download the report:
Download bottled_water_impact_lca.pdf
Life is good.
"When the people take to reasoning, all is lost." -- Voltaire
How We Are Going to Save Appalachia
Posted by Tara Lohan, AlterNet on July 11, 2008 at 10:32 AM.
Our partners at Appalachian Voices just announced a new initiative to help bring awareness to the devastation the coal industry is wreaking in Appalachia -- and to celebrate all the hard work activists are doing there to work for sustainable communities. They will be starting "Mountain Mondays" -- a weekly dispatch to help encourage activism and end mountaintop removal mining.
Here's what they say:
You see, in many ways, Appalachia isn't what it used to be. We have lost more than 1 million acres of land, along with 1000+ of miles of our once pristine streams, and 90% of our traditional coal jobs to mountaintop removal mining. This barbaric practice has reduced much of our home to rubble, and further damaged our perennially struggling local economies. The jobs are gone. The people are leaving. The water is toxic. And they are blowing up the mountains themselves.
But the face of Appalachian resistance to "Big Coal" is changing. Not only are we seeing unprecedented national and international media like NPR, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal run with stories about the Appalachian people's struggle to end mountaintop removal, but we are seeing 100s of online activists and bloggers participate in helping us spread the word through the iLoveMountains Bloggers Challenge.
Each week there will be featured blogs, activists, videos, facts, photos and more. And will bring it to you here at AlterNet too, so you can stay on top of the issue and find out how to participate.
Check out their site, as well, for more information.
Your Summer Reading List for Water
Posted by Jared Simpson, Waterblogged.Info on July 10, 2008 at 9:52 AM.
All titles are linked to Powell's Books of Portland, Oregon. Powell's listings have a synopsis of each book.
Every Drop for Sale by Jeffrey Rothfeder-Excellently researched, passionately written. A great introduction to the global water crisis. We've referenced it in It's a drought, stupid! pt. 3: Georgia and the Chattahoochee River and Controlled Fury.
When the Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce-Another fine and passionate introduction to global water woes and worries by a noted expert. We cited it in our second post Ten not-so-fun facts about water, The amazing disappearing lakes, pt. 2: The Aral Sea, Dam Demolition Derby: three down, 74,997 to go, and Desalination back in the day.
The Great Lakes Water Wars by Peter Annin-All, (maybe more than you need) to know about the Great Lakes. From the synopsis: Will we divert water from the Great Lakes, causing them to end up like Central Asia's Aral Sea, which has lost 90 percent of its surface area and 75 percent of its volume since 1960? We've cited it in numerous posts, most directly in The Great Lakes Water Wars!, wherein we discuss the dubious practice of referring to water disputes as wars.
To the Last Drop: A Novel of Water, Oppression, and Rebellion by Andrew Wice-Texas invades New Mexico in this prolific young author's fictional account of a fiercely fought water war in the Southwest. Those who like fun and facts mixed with their fiction will definitely not be disappointed. Download Pt. 1 from the book's site.
Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. by Cynthia Barnett-Barnett is a noted journalist and water expert. From the publisher's comments in Powell's synopsis:"With lively prose and a journalist's eye for a good story, Cynthia Barnett offers a sobering account of water scarcity problems facing Florida-one of our wettest states-and the rest of the East Coast."
Community Activists Defeat Water Bottler in New Hampshire
Posted by Tara Lohan, AlterNet on June 19, 2008 at 10:51 AM.
While the champagne might not be popping just yet in New Hampshire, there is good reason to celebrate for members of Save Our Groundwater and other concerned residents. After years of fighting against the attempt by USA Springs to draw over 300,000 gallons of a water a day from underground aquifers to be used for bottled water, it looks like the water bottler is pulling out of the area.
Just last week it was announced that the 100-acre property owned by the company will be put up for auction on June 30 after announcing foreclosure and the 176,000-square-foot bottled water facility that was planned looks to be scrapped.
The company's official statement read:
The recently published foreclosure notice is merely a procedural step to maintain the lender's position with respect to a complicated situation, which includes a legal dispute and involves confidential information. Some of the issues are related to refinancing delays attributable to the troubled credit market in these difficult economic times.
The company expects to move past this lender issue relatively quickly and offers its strong assurance that there will not be a foreclosure auction on June 30, 2008. The main focus of the company is on completing the construction and becoming operational.
As the local paper Foster's Daily Democrat reported, "Regardless of the outcome, the seven-year struggle is a testament of the efforts of area residents who are concerned about protecting natural resources, especially the underground reservoirs that provide water to the region."
Residents still have a lot of questions about what the company's actions may mean and what will happen to the land. You can follow what's happening at Save Our Groundwater.
Why Are the World's Lakes Disappearing?
Posted by Abigail Brown, Water For The Ages on June 10, 2008 at 1:00 PM.
An estimated three hundred and four million of them across the globe, and yet still, researchers are noticing many inland lakes are beginning to dry.
In Siberia, Central Asia, East Africa, and North America -- the results are the same -- lakes simply cannot compete with man-made alterations to the environment.
And, these are not just small lakes, some of the lakes with dropping water levels are gigantic in size.
There are 122 large lakes in the world each over 1000 square kilometers (386 square miles).
Lake Victoria, in Africa, is the largest tropical lake in the world at 68,800 square kilometers (26,560 square miles). Mounting water-level decline in this lake is slowly eroding the livelihood of local fisherman and ranchers, agricultural producers, and industrial water users near the lake. A lack of suitable drinking water or dependable power supply is also becoming more common in the region.
Morning Edition on NPR recently aired a segment on Lake Victoria by corespondent Jessica Partnow: Battle for Resources Grows as Lake Victoria Shrinks. She has also reported on dropping water levels in Lake Haramaya in Africa for World Vision Report. Sometimes occasional fluctuations of water levels in lakes are natural, but the current rate that many lakes are beginning to go dry throughout the world is not.
Humans alter the natural environment near lakes and water levels decline. We build dams, over-pump rivers, over-use groundwater, put roads and parking lots in natural recharge areas, build industries in locations without enough water, over-irrigate our crops, and, often, we use too much water in our homes. Not to mention the effect of a changing climate on water supply sources.
But, some things that could help 'decline' at least some of this water-level decline include:
Here's a few other lakes around the world with dropping water levels:
Colbert Report: Rocket Fuel Your Water Is a Laughing Matter (Video)
Posted by Tara Lohan, AlterNet on June 4, 2008 at 1:11 PM.
For most of us, the presence of rocket fuel -- or perchlorate in our drinking water is no laughing matter. Indeed more than 20 million people may have water tainted with this toxic chemical, which is one of the main ingredients in rocket fuel, and has been released into the environment mainly from weapons testing. It has been found in 43 states but the biggest problem areas have been California, Nevada and Arizona.
According to the Environmental Working Group, it is "a chemical that interferes with normal thyroid function, may cause cancer and persists indefinitely in the environment, but is currently unregulated by state or federal authorities." In other words, it is pretty serious and the government has been unwilling to do anything about it.
Just last month, the AP reported: "An EPA official said Tuesday there's a 'distinct possibility' the agency won't take action to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has contaminated public water supplies around the country."
Oh well, at least we have Stephen Colbert. Check out this video of a new energy drink made from rocket fuel:
Will Desalination Take Off in California?
Posted by Jared Simpson, Waterblogged.Info on May 21, 2008 at 2:29 PM.
The Waterblogged.info team finds itself in the unusual position of praising a local (San Francisco) television station for its coverage.
Taking a break from petty crime, murders, fires, and traffic accidents, San Francisco's ABC affiliate, KGO offers <A Look at the Desalination Process, an informative video update on the state-of-the-art of desalination efforts in water-challenged California.
Of particular interest are the numerous small desal plants that pepper the coast that have been deployed to test the concept. They work, but they are currently delivering a meaningless minuscule percentage of the water requirements for the communities they serve. The KGO reporter does not gush about the potential; desalinated ocean water is and will be very expensive and otherwise problematic (think lots of dead and otherwise threatened coastal and sea life) for the foreseeable future.
We have dutifully added this resource to our ever-growing page of desalination resources: Getting Serious with Waterblogged.info: Desalination. Included in that compendium is a narrated slide show called A Tour of Tampa Bay's Desalination Plant, written and narrated by a journalist who specializes in water issues, Cynthia Barnett.
Farmed Salmon Being Subjected to Excercise Regimes to Stay Fit
Posted by Erin Greenfield, Food & Water Watch on May 21, 2008 at 10:45 AM.
Sit-ups, crunches, weightlifting, interval training -- sounds like a rigorous workout for anyone trying to get in shape. Could this be a fitness regimen for salmon too? That's what the scientists in Norway are trying to prove.
Since training and exercise are essential in maintaining good health for humans, could the same be applied to fish? In order to make farmed salmon stronger and more resistant to disease once they are transferred to ocean cages, a research group in Norway is trying to get farmed juvenile salmon in shape for ocean water using some techniques from the top football team of Spain (we here in the U.S. call it soccer). Scientists from the project discovered that the heart capacity in wild salmon is greater than in farmed salmon, so they put the farmed salmon on a strict training regime to make their hearts stronger.
The exercise? They say the equivalent of jogging -- swimming faster with increased water velocity in their tanks. The fish in the trial were divided into three groups -- one was a control group (normal fish tank conditions), one group was put in a tank with increased water velocity throughout the day, and one group was put in a tank for "jogging" or intervals of increased water velocity (what the scientists call "high intensity training").
And how do they measure their heart rates? With tiny heart monitors, of course. Although the experiment is still ongoing, the scientists are optimistic that their training program will help farmed fish handle the stresses of the ocean. Senior scientist, Harald Takle said:
Less stress means the fish have greater energy reserves to tackle the challenges of everyday life...In the long-term, we believe that this can make the fish even more robust. It's just like with us humans, healthier fish thrive better, and this will in turn increase profitability for the salmon farmers
While the researchers claim that less stress could reduce the chance of disease in farmed salmon, the experiment is not getting to the root of the problem. Cramming thousands of genetically identical fish in ocean cages will inevitably lead to the spreading of disease.
Once one gets sick, they often all get sick and can even spread diseases to wild salmon populations. Instead of spending millions of dollars on a short-sighted experiments, these groups should be investing in research on promoting sustainable wild fisheries. Scientists need to be looking at the bigger picture to protect marine resources rather than trying to solve the numerous problems created by fish farms.
Good News for McCloud, California in Fight Against Nestle
Posted by Tara Lohan, AlterNet on May 13, 2008 at 11:14 AM.
Things are looking better for the town of McCloud, California where Nestle was trying to build a million square foot water bottling facility and was given a 100 year contract to potentially suck the community dry. You can read more about the scenario in our story or by visiting Corporate Accountability International.
An AP story in Business Week reported:
Nestle SA said Monday it is significantly scaling back plans in Northern California to build what would have been the country's largest water bottling plant.
The announcement by Nestle Waters North America comes after years of opposition by environmentalists and a group of residents in the rural town of McCloud.
With soaring fuel and transportation costs, building a 1 million square foot facility at the base of Mount Shasta no longer makes economic sense, said David Palais, Nestle's Northern California natural resource manager.
Nestle signed a contract in 2003 with the McCloud Community Services District to pump up to 521 million gallons of water a year. In exchange, the Swiss food and drink company agreed to pay $250,000 to $350,000 a year to the town of McCloud, about 200 miles north of Sacramento.
Apparently they are now looking to scale down to a 350,000 square feet facility and want 200 million gallons of water a year from three of McCloud's springs.
This looks like good news, but it's still a huge amount of water for town that may have greatly reduced water if snowpack continues to decline in the Shasta area in coming decades. It looks like locals are relieved to a degree but are not entirely comfortable with this new scenario.
Critics of the plant welcomed Nestle's announcement but called on McCloud's five-member services district to negotiate a better contract.
"While it certainly is a smaller plant than it would have been, it nonetheless uses a large amount of water. It's still a major operation," said Severn Williams, a spokesman for the Protect Our Waters Coalition. The coalition represents California Trout, Trout Unlimited and the McCloud Watershed Council, a citizens group.
... Williams also said the coalition wants a contract with a shorter timeframe than McCloud's current 100-year commitment to sell its water exclusively to Nestle.
It looks like all the hard work by community and environmental groups is paying off. Let's hope they keep the pressure on. Perhaps they will be able to send Nestle packing for good.
Is Water Part of the Tibet/China Conflict?
Posted by Michael E. Campana, WaterWired on May 12, 2008 at 4:24 PM.
The Tibetan Plateau, source to great rivers (Brahmaputra, Ganges, Yellow, Yangtze, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong) in whose basins live well over 2 billion people, may be at the heart of the China-Tibet "debate."
Why? Water, that's why.
The region, at 2.5 million square kilometers about four times the size of Texas, covers almost 2% of the Earth's land surface. It is the world's biggest plateau, and has an average elevation of almost 15,000 feet (4500 meters). It plays a significant role in the climate of the planet. Its glaciers nourish the aforementioned rivers and others. And it is those glaciers that may be at the heart of China's "interest" in keeping Tibet on a tight leash.
Circle of Blue has an excellent about the strategic power of water in the China-Tibet debate (thanks to Eric Daigh).
Like many other resources, water is of great concern to China. I've previously posted on China's water issues: Three Gorges Dam; the Great South-to-North water transfer; Lake Balkhash.
The take-away: what with Tibtean Plateau glaciers shrinking because of climate change and China's water development plans, the Indians, Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Bangladeshis, Burmese, et al. might have cause for concern.
And perhaps the rest of us, too.
"In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong, there is nothing that can surpass it." -- Lao-tze, 6th century BCE
South African High Court Rules: A Human Right to Water
Posted by Michael E. Campana, WaterWired on May 8, 2008 at 1:14 PM.
Colleague Kate Ely clued me in that the South African High Court in Johannesburg recently ruled that people have a human right to water. The Court ruled that the poor have a constitutional right to water, and it's believed to be the first time this constitutional right has explicitly been raised anywhere.
Judge MP Toska ruled that the City of Johannesburg had to provide free basic water in the amount of 50 liters per person per day to the residents of Phiri, Soweto. The City had been cutting off water when residents exceeded a monthly household limit of 6000 liters (200 liters per day per household) of free water, unless pre-payment for more was made.
The judge found the aforementioned practice unconstitutional and wrote that denying the poor access to adequate water "is to deny them the rights to health and to lead a dignified lifestyle."
In specifying the 50 liter per person per day figure, Judge Toska referenced the research by Dr. Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute. Here is the press release.
Read more here.
This decision really struck a chord with me. I remember at the Third World Forum (3WWF) in Kyoto in 2003 during an open-mike session, a South African man from Soweto told the audience in trembling voice:
"When the whites ruled the South Africa, my water was free. Now that I live in a democracy and my people [the African National Congress (ANC)] are in charge, they turn off my water when I cannot pay."
I hope he's around to witness this historic decision.
Environmental Destruction Adds to Devastation in Myanmar
Posted by Tara Lohan, AlterNet on May 7, 2008 at 2:46 PM.
While the blogosphere is beating up Al Gore over alleged comments on NPR linking cyclones (and the increasing frequency and severity of storms) to global warming, one thing is certain: environmental factors did play a role in the devastation in Myanmar.
As the BBC reported:
Destruction of mangrove forests in Burma left coastal areas exposed to the devastating force of the weekend's cyclone, a top politician suggests. ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said coastal developments had resulted in mangroves, which act as a natural defence against storms, being lost. A study of the 2004 Asian tsunami found that areas near healthy mangroves suffered less damage and fewer deaths. Mr Surin, speaking at a high-level meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore, said the combination of more people living in coastal areas and the loss of mangroves had exacerbated the tragedy.
The story further explains that mangroves are "bio-guards" and were responsible for helping to protect Sri Lankan villagers during the December 2005 tsunami. "While two people died in the settlement with dense mangrove and scrub forest, up to 6,000 people lost their lives in a nearby village without similar vegetation," the article says.
It turns out, we are pretty good at getting rid of mangrove forests -- about 3.6 million hectares are gone since 1980. The cause? Apparently it is new development pressures from tourism and rising population as well as the shrimp and fish farming industry.
So what do we do now? Here's a way to help long-term community-led reconstruction.
In Iraq 70 Percent of People Lack Clean Water
Posted by Abigail Brown, Water For The Ages on May 1, 2008 at 12:00 PM.
Less than half of Iraq's population of 29 million people have access to clean, drinkable water. And, according to a recent report by Oxfam, the number of civilians in Iraq without water has risen from 50 percent to 70 percent during 2003 to 2007 (the continued US occupation).
Recent History of Water in Iraq
In the recent past, Iraq had over 140 drinking water and treatment facilities in operation. Air attacks in 1991, during the Persian Gulf War destroyed many of these water treatment plants.
At the same time, UN imposed sanctions disallowed trade between Iraq and other countries. This made import of needed chemicals and supplies for upkeep of the water treatment facilities difficult.
By 2003, Iraq's 140 major water treatment facilities were operating at about 35 percent of their design capacity. In March 2003, the US government launched a direct-attack on Iraq. This continued war, for over five-years now, has rendered useless the already deteriorating water infrastructure systems across the country.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Road Trip Around India Explores Water Challenges
Posted by Abigail Brown, Water For The Ages on April 23, 2008 at 9:33 PM.
One man's dream will soon raise the world's awareness about the complexity of water challenges occurring in India. Beginning on Saturday, April 26th in Bangalore, CS Sharada Prasad will travel 19,000 km (11,807 m) on motorbike to document the meaning and encompassing challenges of water to people in India.
Crossing 15 major rivers, 28 states, and 7 territories, Mr. Prasad will document his journey on a blog called "K2K - In Search of Water." His route will be mapped with a GPS unit attached to his motorbike and uploaded to Google Maps.
Geotagged blog posts will be updated everyday and photos from his journey will be available on EveryTrail and Flickr.
The trip will take over two months to complete, visiting places such as the Khardung La Pass at 18,380 feet to Kanyakumari at the southernmost tip of mainland India. Mr. Prasad will meet with local citizens, organizations, and community leaders to bring light to their accomplishments and challenges regarding sustainable water supplies.
This event will be a great opportunity for students, classrooms, and people around the world to follow along with his adventure and become educated about water supplies in India. Sharada Prasad is a project officer for the India Water Portal and Blog developed by Archyam, a nongovernmental organization. Archyam "seeks to support strategic and sustainable efforts in the water sector that address basic water needs for all citizens."
Webby Award for American Museum of Natural History's Water Exhibit?
Posted by Tara Lohan, AlterNet on April 23, 2008 at 1:46 PM.
Who knew that a museum exhibit could also spur also a Webby Award? The Web site for the amazing exhibit, Water: H2O=Life, that opened this fall at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, has now been nominated for the Webby People's Voice awards.
You can read all about the exhibit in our review of it here. But, in a nutshell, it is all about teaching people how precious a resource water really is, how to understand better how much we use and why it is so threatened, and of course, what we can do to protect it.
Even if you haven't seen the exhibit, which will be leaving New York at the end of May and traveling around North American (and overseas), you can check out the interactive Web site.
And then if you like it, give it a vote here. Winners will be announced May 6. Once on the site, click on "Website," "Society," "Science," and then "Water: H2O=Life."
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