One of the Largest Public Health Issues of Our Time

As the planet’s once plentiful blue resource gets used up, companies are acting to secure their supply and become more efficient users of water.  A business publication from the UK called Ethical Corporation has published an interesting report on this trend, which we’ve pulled excerpts from here:  

The world’s water supplies are drying up. Half of the planet’s wetlands have disappeared over the past century. In Europe, six in every 10 cities with more than 100,000 people are using their groundwater supplies at a faster rate than they are being replenished, the European Environment Agency reports.

Water experts have coined the phrase “water stressed” to describe the scenario. It’s reckoned that countries require 4,654 litres of water per year per person to meet citizens’ needs. If they fall short, they are said to be stressed.

Today, the term covers about 440 million people, including the inhabitants of European states such as Denmark and Poland. In much of the Middle East and some parts of Africa the situation is even worse.  By 2075, the number of people in regions with chronic water shortages is estimated to be between three and seven billion, according to the Stockholm International Water Institute.

So what’s behind the water scarcity? In short: man. The world’s population has tripled over the past century and is expected to increase by about 50% to more than nine billion by 2050.

Simple population growth is not the whole answer, however. Rapid rates of industrialisation, urbanisation and wealth accumulation mean that people are now using on average six times more water than they were a century ago. Water consumption is expected to continue doubling every two decades, a recent report by Goldman Sachs says.

Virtually every industrial activity requires water. The likes of power-generation, mining, paper and drinks sectors are particularly water intensive. Non-industrial services, meanwhile, such as tourism and entertainment, can depend heavily on water resources as well.

Even the water that industry doesn’t use up is often made unpotable. Back in 2001, before an official crackdown on pollution, Chinese businesses were dumping an estimated 23.4bn tonnes of sewage and industrial waste a year into the Yangtze river. In Europe, only five of the continent’s primary rivers are considered pollution-free.

Farming’s thirst

By far the biggest water-use culprit, however, is agriculture. Farmers are thought to be responsible for 70% of all human water use. That percentage is set to rise, according to the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute. Farmers will need 2,000tn litres of water a year by 2030 to keep pace with the world’s growing food needs, the institute says.

Climate change presents an additional threat to world water supplies in the coming century.  It is predicted that global warming will increase evaporation rates across much of the planet and cause freshwater held in glaciers to melt. Rainfall could also drop off dramatically in some parts of the world.

It’s not only policymakers that need to worry about a world with less water. Business should be concerned too. Today’s panic over the scarcity of credit could be minor in comparison with tomorrow’s threat of water scarcity.

“Lack of water of adequate quality directly reduces production,” says Marc Levinson in a recent report by the investment bank JP Morgan. Agriculture, drinks and food processing are most vulnerable to water shortages, he says. All businesses, however, would be affected by the increased input costs that would result from diminishing water supplies. Companies would also see their capital expenditure rise as they were forced to find expensive new ways of treating and extracting water.

Levinson raises the further spectre of regulatory risk. To date, rules governing water use and discharge have been relatively light for companies. Many countries subsidise water use for agriculture. Introducing water permits and fixed prices are two obvious ways governments could intervene to control water use.

Drought-hit Australia shows what might be round the regulatory corner. Earlier this year, it introduced a cap on ground and surface water usage for the Murray-Darling Basin, the country’s most important agricultural area.

The probability of reputation damage presents a third major risk for the business community. As access to water decreases, people will be looking to point the blame. “Water is a very emotional issue and, although business isn’t the biggest user of water, it risks being the first to be cut off,” says Anne Léonore Boffi, water project office at the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Coca-Cola knows this only too well. Five years ago, campaigners in the south Indian state of Kerala began blaming the US soft-drinks company for a sudden shortfall in local water supplies, dubbing it “Killa Cola”. Its bottling plants were accused of polluting local aquifers.

Many risks lurk in multinationals’ supply chains rather than their own direct activities: food and drink companies, for example, depend heavily on irrigated agriculture for raw materials.

JP Morgan estimates that the combined water consumption of Nestlé, Unilever, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola and Danone approaches 575bn litres a year – enough to cover the daily basic water needs of everyone on the planet.

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Minnesota Voters approve $5.5 billion for Land and Water Conservation

SAINT PAUL, Minn., Nov 05, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Yesterday Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, the largest conservation ballot measure in history, according to The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national conservation organization. At more than $5.5 billion dollars for land and water conservation, the winning measure nearly doubles the previous largest conservation ballot measure, New Jersey’s Constitutional Amendment in 1998, which dedicated $2.94 billion in sales tax to the Garden State Preservation Trust.

The historic success of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment will increase investment in clean water, natural areas, cultural legacy, and parks and trails by about $290 million a year for 25 years. An estimated $220 million a year will protect and restore natural areas, parks, and lands vital for water quality.

“Minnesota voters are willing to pay to protect our waters and natural lands for our children and grandchildren,” said Susan Schmidt, director of The Trust for Public Land’s Minnesota Office. “They know that these lakes and natural lands play an important role in preserving our quality of life. With our natural lands diminishing, we could not afford to wait to protect the water quality of our rivers, lakes, and streams, or to conserve natural areas, parks, and habitat for fish and wildlife.”

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Source MarketWatch

Australian Farmers Trade Water

By Tanalee Smith, The Associated Press

SYDNEY, Australia - For farmer Malcolm Holm, water now is just like a new shovel or tractor - he has to buy it.

The amount of water he is allowed to take from nearby Murrumbidgee River has dwindled to nothing for the past three years because of Australia’s crippling drought. And so, except for rain he can catch and store himself, he needs to buy water for his 1,000 acres at Finley in New South Wales state, where he grows crops to feed his 600 dairy cows.

“It’s no different to buying a ton of grain or a ton of fertilizer,” Holm said. “It’s just another commodity.”

In the world’s driest inhabited continent, there is simply not enough water to go around, and households, cities, industries and agriculture all demand their share from stressed reservoirs and rivers. So Australia’s irrigation planting sector relies on a unique trading system to make the most of every drop.

What began as a localized trade within states is now an active national market that shares water along hundreds of miles of river systems used by thousands of farmers. And with the drought, the trading of water is picking up pace.

“Trading activity is certainly strengthening over previous years,” said Mark Siebentritt, operations manager of Waterfind, the nation’s largest water broker. Water is traded mostly through independent brokers who bring sellers and buyers together and who know the myriad rules in the heavily regulated market. “During drought we’re seeing a lot of water moving around.”

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Source: RedOrbit

Make water conservation a goal for all

Getting the Great Lakes Compact through Congress represents a huge achievement for the eight states that, along with two Canadian provinces, share this stunning basin formed by five massive bodies of freshwater. The pact, designed to fend off wholesale export of water, greatly improves the defense of the lakes.

The compact should signal, as well, greater communication and ongoing efforts among the states to monitor and conserve their assets. Because every state legislature had to approve the compact before its passage last month in the U.S. Senate and Tuesday in the U.S. House, lawmakers in all the states should be invested in making sure that water is not only preserved but restored and maintained to the highest possible quality.

That surely is the goal of the many people who led the effort, and deserve thanks, starting with the Great Lakes Council of Governors. The state executives were helped by the coordinated effort of congressional delegations from Michigan and the other Great Lakes states, and supported by numerous groups and coalitions that love and depend on the lakes.

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Source: FREEP

For more information about water conservation, visit Nuprana.com’s LEARN section

U.S. Congress Approves Great Lakes Compact

New York Environmental Groups Applaud D.C. for Protecting Great Lakes, Urge President Bush to Swiftly Sign Landmark Law

ALBANY, NY (09/23/2008; 1230)(readMedia)– Environmental groups across New York State applauded the U.S. Congress today for protecting the integrity of the Great Lakes by passing the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. With growing threats to export water from the Great Lakes Basin and mounting evidence of the effects of global climate change, the Compact now awaits President Bush’s signature. The measure passed by a vote of 390 to 25.

The Compact was signed into law by New York’s Governor Paterson earlier this year, as along with the remaining seven Great Lakes States. The United States Senate passed the Compact unanimously in August.

Designed to shield the Great Lakes from harmful water withdrawals, the Compact institutes critical protections for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River ecosystem. It would protect the Great Lakes from harm by implementing an effective water management plan and promote water conservation measures throughout the Basin.

“Truly a consensus document, the Compact is the landmark framework to ensure sustainable Great Lakes water management for generations to come,” said Dereth Glance, Executive Program Director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

“New York’s congressional delegation brought home a huge victory for the St. Lawrence River, Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the three million New Yorkers who rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water,” said Katherine Nadeau Water & Natural Resources Program Associates for Environmental Advocates of New York. “The Compact guarantees New York’s voice in Great Lakes water use decisions and ensures fair and responsible management for this irreplaceable natural resource.”

The Great Lakes are the world’s single largest source of surface freshwater, representing 95 percent of the fresh surface water of the United States. The lakes are critical for New York, providing drinking water for millions of people in the region, numerous industrial and agricultural uses, navigation, hydroelectric power and energy production, recreation and tourism, and important fish and wildlife habitat.

“When hope appeared lost, the people, elected officials, and businesses of our region united around the Great Lakes and got the job done,” said Marc Smith, Great Lakes States Program Manager with National Wildlife Federation. “Critical to this effort were the eight Great Lakes governors and the more than 1,300 state legislators who voted for the Compact. Congress has now followed suit. President Bush has already expressed his support and we look forward to his signing the Compact into law.”

“The Great Lakes Compact is a great victory for New York and the entire region,” said Roger Downs, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Conservation Associate. “The Compact will help prepare the region for climate change and ensures that New York’s Great Lakes will be available for the use and enjoyment of future generations.”

“The Great Lakes are Western New York’s most important natural asset,” said Julie Barnett O’Neill, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. “This agreement will foster the water conservation and diversion protection needed to protect our amazing fresh water seas for generations to come.”

“We are thrilled that Congress has acted swiftly to pass the Compact,” said Jennifer J. Caddick, Save The River Executive Director. “The St. Lawrence River is the lifeblood of our local communities and this legislation will protect one of the North Country’s most important resources.”

Although seemingly abundant, less than one percent of the Great Lakes water is renewed each year, leaving them vulnerable to depletion. The lakes’ fragile ecology has suffered from pollution, invasive species, and the water diversions to support cities. With growing concerns about the loss of these natural resources, Congress’ approval of the Compact couldn’t be timelier. Environmental groups applaud the actions of Congress, and urge President Bush to continue to protect the Great Lakes.

Source: ReadMedia Newswire

For more information about water conservation, visit Nuprana.com’s LEARN section

More natural gas today, less and polluted water tomorrow.

After decades of declining US natural-gas production, an advanced drilling system so powerful it fractures rock with high-pressure fluid is opening up vast shale-gas deposits.

Instead of falling, US gas production is rising, with up to 118 years’ worth of “unconventional” natural gas reserves in 21 huge shale basins, an industry study in July reported. Such reserves could make the nation more energy self-sufficient and provide more of a cleaner “bridge fuel” to help meet carbon-reduction goals urged by environmentalists.

Shale gas reserves have a powerful economic lure. Companies, states, and landowners could all reap a windfall in the tens of billions. Some also predict lower heating costs for residential gas users as production increases.

Now, scores of natural gas companies are fanning out from Fort Worth, Texas, where hydraulic fracturing of shale has been done for at least five years, to lease shale lands in 19 states, including Pennsylvania and New York.

But some warn that by expanding “hydraulic fracturing” of shale, America strikes a Faustian bargain: It gains new energy reserves, but it consumes and quite possibly pollutes critical water resources.

“People need to understand that these are not your old-fashioned gas wells,” says Tracy Carluccio, special projects director for Delaware Riverkeeper, a watchdog group worried about a surge in new gas drilling from New York to Pennsylvania and from Ohio to West Virginia. “This technology produces tremendous amounts of polluted water and uses dangerous chemicals in every single well that’s developed.”

Traditional gas wells bore straight into porous stone, using a few thousand gallons of water during drilling. But dense shale has gas locked inside.

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” and horizontal drilling unlock it.

Each hydraulically fractured horizontal well can require from 2 million to 7 million gallons of fresh water mixed with sand and thousands of gallons of industrial chemicals to make the water penetrate more easily.

This frac-water mixture is blasted at high pressure into shale deposits up to 10,000 feet deep, fracturing them. The sand lodges in the cracks, propping them open and providing a path for the gas to exit after external pressure is released.

Besides using vast amounts of groundwater, scientists and environmentalists worry that toxic frac water – 30 percent or more – remains underground and may years later pollute freshwater aquifers.

Millions of gallons of frac water come back to the surface. It could be treated, but in Texas it is most often reinjected into the ground.

Millions more gallons of “produced” water flow out later during gas production. This flow, too, is often tainted with radioactivity and poisons from the shale. Often stored in pits, that waste can leak or overflow while awaiting reinjection.

Simply put: “Each of these wells uses millions of gallons of fresh water, and all of it is going to be contaminated,” Ms. Carluccio says.

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Source: The Christian Science Monitor

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US fish farms tap former coal mines for water

In the Appalachian mountains of the United States, growing numbers of fish farmers are raising trout, catfish, and even salmon throughout the valleys of the state of West Virginia. What they’d rather not tell you, however, is that the source of their water is deserted coal mines.

Worry not, seafood lovers. According to independent experts from within West Virginia and outside the state, the farmers’ claims of using ‘clean, clear water’ are true. The fish that are being raised in the mine waters are not only safe, but they may also be healthier than fish grown in conventional aquaculture operations.

‘The focus is less the mine water-we know it works, we know the fish are safe-and more of marketing,’ said Ken Semmens, a West Virginia University aquaculture researcher who is promoting the mine-water operations.

Many abandoned coal mines in Appalachia are polluted with toxic metals. But some have been spared, and the water sources that accumulate are considered clean enough to raise fish. Pipes carry the water directly to the aquaculture operations without any treatment.

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Source: The Environmental Expert

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2008 Presidential Candidates Responses about Water

Thirty-nine states expect some level of water shortage over the next decade, and scientific studies suggest that a majority of our water resources are at risk. What policies would you support to meet demand for water resources?

John McCain

As a westerner, I understand the vital role that water plays in the development of western economies and to maintaining a high quality of life. Water is truly our lifeblood. I believe that we must develop, manage, and use our limited water supplies wisely and with a conservation ethic to ensure that we have sufficient supplies to meet municipal, tribal, industrial, agricultural, recreational, and environmental needs. I believe that water rights must be respected, and that disputes are better resolved not in the courts but through negotiations that build consensus, and provide justly for the needs of the west’s diverse interests and needs. I understand the importance of state law and local prerogatives in the allocation of water resources, and that all levels of government must work together with stakeholders to ensure that our lifeblood is protected, managed, and utilized in a wise, just, and sustainable manner.

I support constructive, continuing cooperation and dialogue among the states and the water users in a manner that is fully consistent with existing compacts and agreements. This is an approach that is forward looking, and ensures cooperation in achieving implementation of water agreements among the states and the Department of the Interior and is mindful of potential technological developments that could potentially reduce water demands in certain areas.

Barack Obama

Solutions to this critical problem will require close collaboration between federal, state, and local governments and the people and businesses affected. First, prices and policies must be set in a ways that give everyone a clear incentive to use water efficiently and avoid waste. Regulations affecting water use in appliances and incentives to shift from irrigated lawns to “water smart” landscapes are examples. Second, information, training, and, in some cases, economic assistance should be provided to farms and businesses that will need to shift to more efficient water practices. Many communities are offering kits to help businesses and homeowners audit their water use and find ways to reduce use. These should be evaluated, with the most successful programs expanded to other states and regions. I will establish a national plan to help high-growth regions with the challenges of managing their water supplies.

In addition, it is also critical that we undertake a concerted program of research, development, and testing of new technologies that can reduce water use.

Source: Tamisan News

For more information about water conservation, visit our LEARN section

Largest Aquifer in the US is Running Dry

Agriculture in the Great Plains is heavily dependent on groundwater supplies from the Ogallala Aquifer. Over 70% of the total value of crop production in the area comes from irrigated acreage overlying the aquifer, which encompasses 174,000 square miles and under lies parts of eight states: Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming (Alley, Reilly, and Franke).

The abundant supply of feed grains produced with water from the Ogallala Aquifer fuels the livestock, meatpacking, and ethanol industries. Additionally, the area produces approximately 32% of the national production of cotton (National Agricultural Statistics Service [NASS]). Many of these industries are vertically integrated so that changes in one industry will impact the others, having a ripple effect on the economy. The unfortunate consequence of this integration is that regional economies have become precariously water dependent.

The Ogallala Aquifer has very little recharge and is essentially a finite resource. In portions of the Ogallala Aquifer, up to 40% of the predevelopment storage has already been depleted (Feng and Segarra), and the overdraft continues to take place. Current aquifer decline rates foretell the eventual demise of irrigated agriculture and conversion to dryland production, which may have a significant long-term negative economic impact on the area.

Faced with this situation, policymakers, state water managers, and other stakeholders are investigating conservation policy alternatives aimed at reducing current levels of groundwater consumption and extending the economic life of the aquifer. In order to extend the economic life of the aquifer and maintain the economic base of the region, both voluntary and mandated policy intervention may need to be considered.

Source: Economic Efficiency of Short-Term Versus Long-Term Water Rights Buyouts by Wheeler, Erin Golden, Bill; Johnson, Jeffrey; Peterson, Jeffrey

Water - the under-reported resource crisis

Food riots in Haiti, strikes over rice shortages in Bangladesh, tortilla trouble in Mexico and bread wars in Egypt.

Soaring food prices are causing more misery round the world than the credit crunch. But what is the cause?

Biofuels are part of it, clearly. A quarter of US corn is now put into tanks rather than stomachs. And oil price rises are feeding in, via the cost of fertiliser and transport.

But here is something nobody has yet mentioned. Water.

The great slow-burning, under-reported resource crisis of the 21st century is water.

Climate change, over-consumption and the criminally inefficient use of this most basic raw material are all to blame. I wrote a book three years ago called When The Rivers Run Dry - because many of the world’s biggest rivers are indeed running dry.

We are using them to death. And with two-thirds of the water abstracted from nature round the world going to irrigate crops, water shortages equal food shortages.

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Source: The Telegraph

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