New plan to promote protection of water quality
By Rob Alexander - Bow Basin
Aug 30 2007
Regulators and municipalities will have a new tool to use this fall in the quest to preserve and enhance water quality in the Bow River basin.
Calgary-based Bow River Basin Council, a multi-stakeholder organization dedicated to protecting and improving water in the region, is preparing to release a draft Bow Basin Watershed Management Plan this fall.
A Vancouver design company is installing fake rocks and pouring blue concrete rivers and lakes in Saskatoon to recreate a miniature Canadian West, replete with animal tracks and dinosaur fossils.
It's part of the interpretive river basin water-play feature at River Landing, which will feature the flora and fauna, industries, forts and trading posts that form the story of the Saskatchewan river basin, from the Rockies to the Canadian Shield.
The site covers about 30,000 square feet and is unlike anything being done in North America, said Susan Lamb, CEO of the Meewasin Valley Authority. "We wanted something unique and world-class," she said. "It will be a water-play area in summer and a piece of art 12 months of the year."
Tiny pores on the surface of plant leaves that are sensitive to carbon dioxide may contribute significantly to future flooding as a result of increasing atmospheric pollution, researchers say.
The effect could help researchers predict which regions may be at greatest risk of flooding because of global warming. It may also help them predict which areas will receive some relief from drought.
The tiny pores, known as stomata, are found on the surface of leaves and are each between a tenth and several hundredths of a millimetre across. The underside of black oak leaves can have as many as 60,000 stomata per square centimetre.
The main function of stomata is to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide taken up by the plants during photosynthesis. Crucially, however, they also absorb and release moisture during transpiration. Furthermore, researchers have long known that stomata tend to shrink when CO2 levels in the atmosphere rise.
Since the late 19th century, atmospheric CO2 has risen from 280 to 390 parts per million as a result of humans burning fossil fuels and chopping down forests. So it stands to reason that plants should be transpiring less now than they were before the industrial revolution, which triggered a sudden surge in fossil fuel consumption.
The net effect of reduced transpiration is that plants consume less water, meaning more remains in the soil and can run off into rivers.
Researchers say efforts to calculate flooding risk from climate change do not take into account the effect carbon dioxide (CO2) has on vegetation.
Higher atmospheric levels of this greenhouse gas reduce the ability of plants to suck water out of the ground and "breathe" out the excess.
Plants expel excess water through tiny pores, or stomata, in their leaves.
Their reduced ability to release water back into the atmosphere will result in the ground becoming saturated.
Areas with higher predicted rainfall have a greater risk of flooding. But this effect also reduces the severity of droughts.
The findings suggest computer models of future climate change may need to be revised in order to plan for coming decades.
Soil saturation
Plants perform two functions that are of key importance in climate change.
They absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it to oxygen as a by-product of their energy generation process.
Plants also absorb water through their roots, and release it back into the atmosphere through their stomata. 
Plants open stomata less widely when CO2 is high, losing less water
CO2 enters plants through the stomata; water evaporates through the same holes.
The higher the level of atmospheric CO2, the more the pores tighten up or open for short periods.
As a result, less water passes through the plant and into the air in the form of evaporation. In turn, this means that more water stays on the land, eventually running off into rivers when the soil becomes saturated.
A team led by Dr Richard Betts from the Met Office has modelled how this will affect climate change predictions.
"It's a double-edged sword," said Dr Betts, "it means that increases in drought due to climate change could be less severe as plants lose less water.
"On the other hand, if the land is saturated more often, you might expect that intense rainfall events are more likely to cause flooding."
copyrights : BBC, 2007
As Britain reels from rainfall of unprecedented intensity [news search], a new scientific study found that heavier rainfall is caused by global warming [more | more2]. The study in the journal Nature found that "more intense rainstorms across parts of the northern hemisphere are being generated by man-made global warming". Meteorologists agree that the miserably wet British summer of 2007 has generally been caused by a southward shift towards Britain of the jetstream. The new study does not purport to blame any given rain event on climate change (should it?), but it supports the general finding that global warming caused by human emissions is causing increased rainfall [search] -- by showing that in recent decades rainfall has increased over several areas of the world, including the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere.
This sort of extreme weather response to global heating has long been predicted, but this the first time this link has been made directly. Given an unprecedented string of weather related catastrophes, anyone that does not acknowlege climate change must be a dullard or have investments in fossil fuels. What good is climate science if it preducts climate change produce extreme weather phenomena, but there are no specific events that can be considered as a direct result of the warming? Humanity and the Earth are facing a new type of problem for which they are ill-prepared. By the time there is 100% proof positive that climate change is causing extreme weather, it may well be too late to do anything about it. We need to exercise the precautionary principle and act on the greater than 90% probability it is.
| Reuters | Jul 23, 2007 |
BRIESKOW-FINKENHEERD-Fisherman Peter Schneider knows the floods come each year and says they are good for business-but few other people see any benefit as experts warn of more high water to come.
"We fishermen have always lived with that. We're happy when the floods come, because it can only be good for the fish," he said in his village close to the Oder river that forms the border between Germany and Poland.
"It would be wrong to deny the possible impact of climate change on flooding because if we (waited for more) statistical proof it may be too late," said Wolfgang Grabs at the World Meteorological Organisation of the United Nations.
Warmer air can hold more water and will unleash more energy when the weather turns bad, Grabs said, making storms heavier and boosting rainfall.
That mechanism may well explain an observed rise in flash floods in Europe over the last decade, he said.
In recent weeks, parts of China have seen the heaviest rainfall since records began, killing more than 400. Some 770 people have been killed by flooding in South Asia, with hundreds of thousands displaced by flash floods in southern Pakistan.
Thousands of flood victims in Britain last week were clearing chaos and braced for more after floods in northern parts of the country, triggering the country's biggest peacetime rescue effort.
European grain prices have risen to their highest level for around 10 years on fears that bad weather will hit this summer's crops, stoking food price inflation.
Initially, a spring drought caused damage to wheat crops across Europe and in key grower Ukraine. Since June, heavy rain in western Europe has increased concerns over quality, which may leave bread-makers short of high-grade grain later this year.
Floods killed more than 7,000 people in the world last year, a recent study by reinsurance group Swiss Re study showed-roughly a third of all victims of natural catastrophes such as storms, earthquakes, droughts and extreme cold or heat.
Statistics gathered by insurers-who look at the cost of a catastrophe to measure its severity, not the death toll-also indicate climate is changing.
"One single event can never be a sign of climate change," said Jens Mehlhorn, who heads a team of flood experts at the Zurich-based company.
"But when you see a series of such events, and that's what it looks like at the moment ... it may be about time to say something is changing," he said.
This year's UK floods were an event statistical models say should happen once only every 30 to 50 years, Mehlhorn says: the floods in 2000 were a 25-30 years event.
Two such events in only seven years are not statistically impossible, but they are unlikely. Other countries have seen similar increases in such disasters.
Flood weary stage a stir
Statesman News Service
MIDNAPORE, Aug. 30: A few hundred flood victims organised a demonstration outside the offices of Midnapore West district magistrate, zilla parishad and the superintending engineer of the irrigation department yesterday.
However the demonstration was not so much for flattened rice, jaggery and tarpauline sheets as much for taking permanent measures to prevent recurring floods in Midnapore West and East.
The agitation was organised by the Midnapore district Bannya-Bhangan-Khara Pratirodh Committee leaders who blocked the Midnapore Raniganj state highway for an hour at Midnapore Collectorate gate. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the SE (irrigation), additional district magistrate (general) and the zilla parishad karmadakshya in support of their 12-point charter of demands.
Their demands include immediate implementation of the Ghatal Master Plan,Kelegahai-Kapaleswari-Bagui River Basin Drainage Scheme, Subarnarekha Barrage Project, completion of the Dubda Basin Scheme work, restraint on senseless discharge of water from the Kangsabati Dam, desilting of rivers and proper repair of the ex-zamindary and river embankments.
Committee secretary Mr Panchanan Prodhan said foundation of the Ghatal Master Plan was laid in 1982 and that of Keleghai-Kapaleswari Scheme in 1994 and the Subranarekha Barrage Project in 1993. But all of them are still in cold storage of the state government while millions of people have been losing lives, property and livestock to floods every year over the past three decades, he alleged.
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
30 August 2007
Posted to the web 30 August 2007
The Mozambican government is concerned with the pace of the resettlement process of 107,534 people who earlier this year were displaced by the floods in the central region of Mozambique.
For the government of the central province of Sofala, there is a pressing need to speed up the construction of new improved houses in the resettlement areas, in view of the incoming rainy season.
,TNNEnvironment Agency Wales is inviting people to have their say about the best ways to tackle major water environment issues across Wales to protect and improve rivers, lakes, ground and coastal waters.
Everyone is invited to give their opinion on the best ways to tackle issues such as pollution from urban and rural areas. Each River Basin District in Wales - the Dee, the Severn and Western Wales - has its own issues and can be commented upon individually.
The documents - titled River Basin Planning: Summary of Significant Water Management Issues - are an important step in creating better ways to achieve the standards of the European Water Framework Directive by 2015. Each consultation was put together by our Liaison Panels, groups of interested parties from sectors involved in the water environment.
Measurable amounts of rain expected to fall in the mountains and Coachella Valley Thursday have prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Flash Flood Watch for each region, lasting from noon until this evening.
Despite the expected showers and thunderstorms, oven-like temperatures will bake both areas, where high temperatures will range from 105 to 110 degrees in the Coachella Valley and 82 to 92 degrees in the mountains, according to meteorologists.
Olive Heffernan
Much like the rest of Britain, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s ever going to stop raining. And despite feeling slightly miffed at an appalling excuse for a summer, I realise I'm lucky to be based in slightly soggy London, given that large areas of the country are currently besieged by some of the worst flooding in recent British history.
Calling it a ‘21st century catastrophe’, Michael McCarthy at the Independent writes that “Britain is suffering from a wholly new type of civil emergency: a disaster caused by 21st-century weather,” which has left more than a third of a million people without drinking water, nearly 50,000 people without power, thousands more people homeless and caused more than £2bn worth of damage so far.
Britain is not alone in experiencing extremely heavy rainfall. As reported on MSNBC, “parts of China had the heaviest rainfall since records began, killing more than 700 so far this year. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced by flash floods in southern Pakistan.”
While these single events cannot be attributed to climate change, many are questioning if the flash flooding is a sign of what is in store for the future. And scientists have some of the answers.
In a paper coming out in Nature this Thursday, Francis Zwiers of the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis in Toronto and colleagues present the first evidence that human-generated greenhouse gas emissions have altered rainfall patterns in the 20th Century. In the region between 40 and 70 degrees North, covering northern Europe, Russia and parts of North America, rainfall increased by 62 millimetres per century between 1925 and 1999. Zwiers and colleagues say that 50-85% of this increase can be attributed to human activity. For further discussion and comments on the paper, there’s a news story by my colleague Daniel Cressy on News@Nature. And it’s also been picked up by the BBC.
And a recent paper published in Science in June suggests that global warming may result in even more rainfall worldwide than is currently evident in climate model simulations. Frank J. Wentz of Remote Sensing Systems in Santa Rosa, California and co-workers compared global satellite data from 1987 to 2006 and found that rainfall increased at the same rate as atmospheric water vapour per degree Celsius of surface warming. Climate models had projected a dampened response of rainfall to global warming owing to a decrease in surface winds, but Wentz and colleagues found that surface winds have in fact become stronger, leading to heavier rainfall (more on this in Nature Reports Climate Change soon).
Coming back to Britain… the situation is likely to worsen over the next 24 hours. Eight severe warnings have been issued covering the rivers Thames, Severn and Ouse, in particular for towns such as Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Oxford, Abingdon, Reading and Bedford. Fifty other flood warnings are in place across England and Wales.
To see the areas generally most at risk of flooding in England and Wales, visit the Environment Agency’s flood map online, where you view flood risk by postcode. For an up to date interactive on the current situation, the Guardian has quite a snazzy interactive highlighting areas most at risk.
Olive HeffernanNEW DELHI: A bleak postscript to the misery of millions affected by catastrophic flooding this year in Bihar State came last week with the story of an upper-caste police officer accused of drowning two lower-caste girls in the river after they stole firewood from his orchard.
Dry tinder has become a precious commodity in Bihar, vital to survival in the damp post-flood period. According to a villager who complained to the police, when the police officer found Chandani Kumari, 6, and Kamali Kumari, 13, taking wood from his property, he threw them into a fast-moving river. Neither of the girls could swim.
The officer was suspended and a compensation payment of 100,000 rupees, or $2,400, was given to the girls' parents, S.L. Das, the local police superintendent, said, adding that he believed the girls were chased, not thrown, into the river.
For human rights activists in India, this is a horrifying illustration of a widely accepted truth. When communities are in trouble, caste prejudice deepens.
Aid agencies have noted that in Bihar, just as during previous natural disasters in India, even the distribution of aid makes its way more swiftly to the powerful upper-caste sections of society than to the groups known officially as Scheduled and Backward Castes.
Floods have affected at least one in 10 residents and killed 1,138 in the country this year, but better prevention and relief have helped reduce loss of life and property, a senior official said Tuesday.
The country still faces an uphill battle against floods and droughts in the months to come, partly because of extreme weather and damaged infrastructure, Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei told a news briefing in Beijing.
Rainfall has been abnormal this year, with floods and droughts affecting large swathes of the country, Chen said.
He said flood defense facilities, timely evacuation of people and early warnings have cut the death toll this year by nearly half compared with the same period of an average year.
This Day (Lagos)
28 August 2007
Posted to the web 29 August 2007
Issues on China's Present Flood Defense and Drought Relief
Ministry of Water Resources
I. Information of Flood, Drought and Disasters
China has experienced extreme climate this year and there are several features. First of all, summertime north-west Pacific Sub-tropical High is continuously heading west and growing strong. Secondly, the number of typhoons that have landed or influenced China in early summer is significantly fewer while more typhoons landed later with stronger influence. Thirdly, precipitation increases in Huaihe River and the Han River, upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, etc while rainfall in south China , northeastern China and area south to the Yangtze River decreases substantially. Fourthly, extreme disastrous climate events, including storms with short duration and high intensity, storms with lightening took place frequently. Besides, the worst whole-basin flood since 1954 took place in Huaihe River Basin and first-time recorded extraordinary floods occurred in some small and medium-sized rivers. Flash floods are reported frequently meanwhile some areas witnessed extreme droughts.
According to statistics, by August 21, about 145 million mu or 9.67 million hectare of crops is affected, and 79.75 million mu or 5.32 million hectare of crops damaged. 139 million residents are affected while 1,098 died due to disaster, and 192 missing. 883,000 houses collapsed. The total direct economic loss amounts to 75.9 billion YUAN or US$10 billion, including 13 billion YUAN or US$1.72 billion loss of water structure. Around 88.53 million mu or 5.9 million hectare of arable land suffered from drought while 76.46 million mu or 5.1 million hectare of crop is affected by drought. 6.57 million residents and 5.15 million big livestock experienced temporary difficulty of water supply.
KEONJHAR, Aug 29: In 1990, the then chief minister, Mr Hemananda Biswal inaugurated a bridge on the Baitarani. Besides this main bridge, there is another bridge 100 metres away on the road to Saharpada. Building a 100 metre approach road between the two bridges has apparently taken 17 years.
In the absence of the approach road, the diversion road is washed away in every rainy season causing jams. Lakhs have been spent repairing the diversion which is flooded every rainy season. During rainy season, buses heading for Rairangpur, Karanjia, Jashipur and Tiring stop plying on this road. n SNS
Introduction
Several parts of India are still submerged following severe flooding, which has left 1,752 people dead and over 31 million displaced. From mid-June to mid-July, 30-50% of the annual rainfall fell in just 30 days, and resulted in the worst flooding in recent memory.
Many areas previously affected by June flooding are facing severe flooding once again. The floods have destroyed homes, damaged infrastructures and ruined crops across 2.1 million hectares of land.
According to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, 68,160 livestock have perished and 592,427 houses have been damaged, of which 131,754 were completely destroyed. Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are the worst affected in terms of loss of life and property in the last two weeks.
Regional Updates
Bihar
There has been no letup in the Bihar flood situation with the major rivers of the state flowing above the danger level including the Ganga, Punpun, Gandak, Bagmati, Adhvara, Koshi and Mahananda according to the Central Water Commission. Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters are distributing relief materials in the flood-hit areas.
The floods so far have claimed 325 human lives in Bihar and caused large scale damage to crops and private property in 20 districts due to devastating floods since the first week of August.
According to government reports, nearly 16 million people in 7,972 villages in 210 blocks of the 20 districts were badly hit by the floods. It has been estimated that 1.19 million hectares of crop area have been damaged with an estimated value of damaged crops of Rs 26.307 million. The figure for damaged houses comes to 159,541 and is estimated to be worth about Rs 2,710 million.
Over 1,100 relief camps, 456 medical camps and 266 cattle camps continued to function round the clock in the flood hit districts.
Assam
With the floodwaters receding, the situation is improving in Assam, as thousands of people have started returning to their homes. The death toll in the current wave of floods has gone up to 23 as confirmed by government sources. It is reported that most of the villages were affected due to breaches in embankments. Though the flood level this year was lower than 2004, government reports have said that the damage caused would cost huge revenue losses.
According to government estimates, around 26,000 hectares of crops have been affected. About 107,256 people have taken shelter in different relief camps.
The recent floods have affected 26 districts and 5,931 villages. The worst affected districts are reported to be Dhemagi (397 villages), Dibrugarh (148 villages), Nalbari (112 villages), Dhubri (297 villages), Goalpara (153 villages), Kamrup (209 villages), Bongaigaon (207 villages), Morigaon (350 villages), Jorhat (715 villages), Naogaon (69 villages), Sibsagar (57 villages), Darang (56 villages) and Sonitpur (11 villages).
Damage has been reported to 69 embankments, 968 roads and 539 semi-permanent timber bridges. Land erosion continued in the districts of Barpeta, Nalbari, Bangaigaon and Dhubri and waterlogging persisted in the lowland areas of the affected districts. A health alert was also issued in the northeastern state to prevent the outbreak of waterborne diseases.
West Bengal
Although there are signs of some improvement, the situations in Keshpur, Ghatal and Sabang are alarming as the rivers of Kangshabati, Keleghai and Kapaleswari are still flowing above the danger level. New areas have become flooded. The villages have become like islands and the marooned people cannot even come to collect the relief materials. Thousands of people have taken shelter in relief camps situated on the embankments and are suffering from huge food crisis.
According to government information, 4.7 million people were affected in the recent floods and more than 70,000 people have taken shelter in 450 relief camps across south Bengal. About 33,000 people so far have been rescued and sheltered in 140 relief camps. If rain continues, another 100,000 people would need to be rescued immediately reports the District Magistrate.
All the major rivers including the Kansabati, Silabati, Kasai, Subarnarekha, Jhumi, Keleghai, Kapaleswari and Chandi are flowing above the danger level.
The worst affected areas are Keshpur, Midnapore, Kharagpur, Debra, Ghatal, Sabang, Datan and Narayangarh. As per the District Magistrate’s report, 13 speedboats and 200 country boats have been put into service to rescue people. The district administration has sought 20 more speedboats and additional country boats from the state government.
In West Midnapore district, the Army and Air Force were called on to help rescue about 7,000 marooned people in different areas in the district as the flood situation worsened, affecting over one million people.
Orissa
In Balasore district of Orissa, there is still incessant rain and all the villages are cut off from the main road. The people have become tired of facing repeated floods for the last 40 days. They have never faced a flood situation like this in 50 years. Stored food grains have been damaged and all standing crops have been destroyed.
There is a severe food crisis and there are no livelihood opportunities for people with sand covering the paddy fields. Our relief team reported from Balasore district that most of the main roads are submerged under 4-5 feet of water. Most people in Basta and Baliapal blocks have lost their houses.
Due to continuous rain, major rivers like Baitarani, Brahmani, Kharasrota and Birupa are flowing above the danger level, resulting in flooding of Jajpur and Kendrapara districts. Reports from the field indicate that two major roads are cut off: one from Pattamunda to Aul near Patrapur and another at Bhariagada in the Rajkanika block. This is creating severe impediments to transportation. The floods in Kendrapara and Jajpur have affected 42 and 47 Gram Panchayats respectively in 11 Blocks of the two districts.
Uttar Pradesh
The rivers started receding from most of the affected districts. About 2,201 villages in 22 districts with a population of 1.71 million have been affected. The worst affected districts are Gorakhpur, Shravasti, Bhraich, Maharajgunj, Boirampur, Basti, Gonda, Mau, Balia, Azamgarh and Barabanki.
LWSI Response
The crisis phase operation is moving smoothly in Orissa and West Bengal with active cooperation and support from respective state/district/block administrations, local NGOs and the affected communities. Recently, LWSI representatives attended the Inter Agency Group meeting at Patna, Bihar, to assess the overall situation in the state.
LWSI has completed the first phase of relief operation at Sabang block of West Midnapore district in West Bengal, covering more than 2,500 families in 13 of the worst affected villages.
In Balasore, Orissa, LWSI has assisted 4,510 families out of the 5,000 targeted families and relief operations are expected to be completed within the next week. Terrible road conditions combined with continuous rains and floods cut off both our operational camps and caused severe hardships to LWSI staff in the process of relief distribution. However, the people are very happy with the quality of LWSI relief materials and the systematic method for determining deserving families. Distribution is being done without any political influence or consideration of caste, creed, etc.
The following items were provided in Balasore and West Midnapore: polythene sheets mosquito nets, bleaching powder, lime, water purification (halogen) tablets, bed sheets, high protein biscuits, men’s wear, women’s wear and children’s garments for boys and girls.
In Assam, LWSI has conducted a rapid assessment in Udalguri and Barpeta districts. Another assessment team was sent from the Assam Riot Victims’ Rehabilitation & Development Project to the Sonitpur district.
In Bihar, LWSI planned to cover 3500 families in East Champaran district. All necessary arrangements have been made to send the emergency response team to carry out the work from the 1st week of September 2007.
Opposition is mounting to a proposal that could put the Pine River Irrigation District in the water business far beyond its current involvement.
On June 19, the district, known as PRID, applied to the 6th Judicial District water court to lease Vallecito Reservoir water for household and other uses in areas outside the district, including the Florida River drainage and part of the Animas River basin.
On Monday, Caryl Helmin-Schmid filed a statement of opposition to PRID's application with the water court.
"I encourage individuals and ditch companies to protect their water rights," Helmin-Schmid said in an interview. "If this (PRID) application is approved it could destroy agriculture."
Eugene, OR — Tuesday, August 28, 2007. According to the Government of India, 2,217 people have lost their lives in India to the southwest monsoon since June. And with heavy rainfall predicted for the rest of this week, the number is expected to rise.
Close to 3,200 people in South Asia have died as the heavy monsoon rains and floods have taken their toll. Rivers are overflowing, tens of thousands of villages have been washed out, and refugees have numbered in the tens of millions. The number of people affected will rise as floodwaters recede, and water-borne diseases continue to spread. Outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera have been confirmed.
In Bihar, the hardest hit state in India, almost 10,000 villages with a population of over 20 million have been affected in the state's worst flooding in 30 years. More than 530 medical teams and 7,000 boats have been deployed in the state to provide medical care to the survivors, according to government sources. Military helicopters have dropped thousands of food packets to those affected.
In the eastern state of Orissa, state health workers were working to contain an outbreak of cholera. "People in several low-lying areas – where roads were submerged and water gushed into houses- suffered enormous panic", wrote a local source in Cuttack, Orissa.
Contact: Johan Meintjies, 0824435685, esprojects@swissmail.org; www.elshaddai.givengain.org
August 27th, 2007 at 7:59 am (IMMF Article 2002)
By Pouv Savuth,
The article was published in The IMMF Mekong River Times and The Nation,
November 2002, Bangkok, Thailand
The word “flood” brings bitter memories to downstream people in the Mekong River Basin. Devastating floods over the few years in Cambodia and Vietnam caused millions of dollars in damage to homes and crops, and claimed thousands of lives.
Environmental scientists say there are several possible reasons, including unusual weather patterns linked to global warning, years of widespread logging and even the construction of upstream dams.
Chinese dams may have contributed to this year’s flooding because excess water was released from reservoirs during the height of the rainy season, scientists say.
“Dam construction by the upriver countries causes serious impact to downstream countries along the Mekong River, especially Cambodia because the country is flat or lying close to the river,” said Ian Baird, Director of Global Association for People and Environment, an NGO based in Laos.
The situation could get worse. China plans to build eight dams on the upper Mekong (known as the Lancang in Chinese) to supply power to southern China and Thailand. Two dams have already been constructed.
KENNEWICK -- A 22-year-old man died when he apparently became entangled in thick milfoil in the Columbia River in southeast Washington.
Police say the man was visiting the Tri-Cities area with three friends when they decided to go for a late-night swim Friday in the river near the Kennewick boat launch.
The man apparently was not a strong swimmer and got caught in a bed of milfoil -- an invasive weed that grows in many Washington rivers and lakes.
Nigeria: HJRBDA Warns Jigawa Residents Against Flood
Daily Trust (Abuja)
27 August 2007
Posted to the web 27 August 2007
Flood warnings have been issued by the Hadejia Jama'are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA), and residents have begun evacuating to higher grounds.
The announcement which was sponsored by the authority has consistently been played on the radio stations in the state over the weekend warning residents along the river to leave for safer grounds due to the danger of flooding in the area.
Full Story
MUCH of the water in two of China's main rivers is too polluted to touch, let alone drink, despite more than a decade of clean-ups.
The pollution of the Huai and Liao Rivers is a risk to a sixth of the population, state media reported yesterday.
Half the checkpoints along the Huai River and its tributaries in central and eastern China showed pollution of "Grade 5" or worse -- the top of the dial in key toxins, meaning it was unfit for human contact and may not be fit for irrigation.
Fourteen years of bids to clean them up had reduced some of the worst pollution, but factory waste was still far too high, chairman of the National People's Congress Environment and Resources Protection Committee Mao Rubai said in a report.
The rivers posed a "threat to the water safety of one-sixth of the country's 1.3 billion population", the China Daily said.
by
Morning Edition, August 29, 2007 · Brazil's most hotly contested public conflicts today are often about water.
President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva says hydro-electric energy is a sine qua non for the development of South America's biggest economy. But environmental and indigenous groups increasingly oppose massive engineering projects.
The proposal to divert part of Brazil's mighty Sao Francisco River to the vast drought-prone Northeast epitomizes the debate.
No other river, the Amazon included, has such a hold on the imagination of Brazilians. "Old Chico," as the Sao Francisco River is affectionately, called has been immortalized in folklore and celebrated at Carnival.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The drought has provided communities that use the Tar River an opportunity to deal with water issues for the future, a riverkeeper said on Monday.
Heather Jacobs, riverkeeper for the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, addressed the Rocky Mount Rotary Club on Monday at the Holiday Inn-Gateway. As a riverkeeper, she monitors rivers and looks for signs of pollution, communicates concerns and helps to organize types of action, whether it be for new rules or to enforce the regulations in place.
Conservation efforts at any time, not just during a drought, need to be made a priority, as well as growth control and water quantity, Jacobs said. She also said it is important for communities to keep using the resources within their own river basin.
Aug 28, 2007 12:55 PM
KENNEWICK, Wash. - Columbia Basin Dive Rescue Public Information Officer Scott Pattison said over the years more and more milfoil has been growing in the Columbia River.
Across the country there have more reports of it growing in lakes and rivers, causing problems for boaters and swimmers.
Saturday morning emergency crews in Kennewick discovered the body of 22-year-old Maxwell McCain of Everett. He apparently went swimming with friends Friday night and did not make it out of the river alive.
Pattison said that it is unclear exactly what caused McCain to drown, but thinks the large amount of milfoil in the river might have played a part in the accident.
McCain drowned when it was dark out and authorities think he might have come across the dark green, slimy aquatic plant by mistake, which could have caused him to panic while in the water.
It is believed that milfoil was brought into the country from Europe and Asia through personal aquariums. A number of reports indicate that milfoil was in the tanks that were brought into the country, and then the owners would dump the tank water into a lake or river, causing the plant to grow in our environment. The milfoil grows and spreads very rapidly.
States across the country have spent millions of dollars trying to get rid of the invasive water plant.
JAJPUR: Even as the three rivers - Baitarani, Brahmani and Kharasrota - began receding since Wednesday night, the flood situation continued to be grim in the worst affected Bari block of Jajpur district on Thursday.
While Brahmani and Kharasrota were flowing just below the danger mark, Baitarani has receded. According to official sources, nearly 1.82 lakh people in 104 villages under 35 gram panchayats were marooned till Thursday evening.
Officially, 2.5 lakh people in 189 villages under 53 gram panchayats in Jajpur, Dasarathapur, Binjharpur, Korei, Dharmasala and Bari blocks of the district have been affected.
Meanwhile, vehicular movement on NH-5 to Jajpur Town and Bari- Kuakhia resumed though no communication has been established to Jajpur and Baruan yet. Four persons have died so far in the district.
EPIDEMIC FEAR: Over hundred persons including children from the flood-affected villages of the district have been affected by diarrhoea and other stomach-ailment diseases in the past few days.
At least 40 have been admitted to various hospitals across the district. Most cases have been reported from Sendhapur village under Sunduria gram panchayat and Golkund panchayat of Bari block in the district.
As many as 20 people have been admitted to Brahmabarada primary health centre in Maheswarpur. Sources said three children of Sendhapur and a woman of Golkund village have died of diarrhoea.
By BEN EVANSThe Associated Press
Sunday, August 26, 2007; 2:00 PM
WASHINGTON -- Despite promising changes, Congress has shown little enthusiasm for taking the unpopular steps that experts say are necessary to fix the nation's main flood insurance program.
Recent flooding in the Midwest has brought the issue back to the forefront. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, back-to-back storms in 2005, dispelled any notion that the insurance program was self-sustaining. They threw it roughly $20 billion into debt and called attention to major structural flawsSteamboat Springs — This spring, in the Yampa/White river basin, snowpack peaked on March 13 at a level that was 72 percent of average for that date.
According to statistics compiled throughout decades by the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, the snowpack’s peak — when snow contains its highest amount of water — came 31 days before the average peak date of April 13.
Gary Severson, executive director of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, said bark beetles, which infest weak trees and essentially strangle them by cutting off nutrient channels, could impact about 1 million acres in 15 Western Slope counties — killing up to 90 percent of the lodgepole pine trees in that area.
“We are the epicenter of the mountain pine beetle epidemic that’s going on,” Severson said. “Most of these forests are the headwaters for our rivers and streams … we’re in the process of seeing an entire lodgepole pine forest die, right before our very eyes.”
Flood toll shoots up to 702 in Bangladesh |
www.chinaview.cn  2007-08-26 19:59:58 |
DHAKA, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from flood-related incidents in Bangladesh rose to 702 by Sunday morning, private news agency UNB reported.
Meanwhile, the flood situation has improved greatly with all but two rivers flowing below their danger marks and floodwater receding from most affected areas. However, a latest spell of flooding hit western Raj shahi area amid rain and onrush of water from upstream of the Padma river, one of the country's three major rivers.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in its bulletin Sunday said the Padma was still flowing above danger level at several points.
Some 2.3 million people of 39 out of the country's districts have been affected by the floods, which started rolling in on July30 and engulfed most part of the country.
Flood Toll in N.Korea at 454 Dead, 156 Missing  |
| Floods in North Korea have left at least 454 dead, 156 missing, and 4,351 injured, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sunday. In a comprehensive compilation of reports on flood damage from North Korean authorities and international agencies, UNOCHA said torrential rains in early August affected more than 436,000 residents in six provinces and 92 counties in North Korea. Full Story |
A new £20 billion Thames barrier to save London from a potentially disastrous flooding threat is the centrepiece of a series of measures planned by the Government.
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Phil Woolas, the minister for climate change, told The Sunday Telegraph that a feasibility study into a second Thames barrier, potentially required within 25 years, was due to report in a matter of weeks.
In addition, new flood defences are being planned for all major police, fire and power stations and other vital infrastructure in a bid to avoid more disastrous flooding of the kind that hit Britain last month.
Mr Woolas said that during the floods, which caused up to £3 billion worth of damage, parts of Gloucestershire came within minutes of the biggest peacetime evacuation Britain has seen. It came after a crucial electricity sub-station was nearly destroyed.
Reuters
Sunday, August 26, 2007; 6:39 AM
PATNA, India (Reuters) - Flood victims in eastern India were eating raw wheat flour to survive as devastating monsoon flooding in South Asia continued to spread misery among millions.
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed by snake bites, drowning, diarrhea and in house collapses since July when swollen rivers burst their banks, inundating huge areas in eastern India and Bangladesh.
"My family has been chewing flour soaked in water to survive as we do not have access to firewood to make rotis (bread)," said Genu Sada, 90, in Begusarai district on Sunday.
In neighboring West Bengal state, hundreds of people have turned trucks stranded on highways into makeshift homes. Flood waters have swamped vast areas, making elevated roads points of refuge.
"We are sleeping and eating inside the trucks as there is water everywhere and we have nowhere to go," Anukul Samanta, a villager in West Midnapore district, said.
In the eastern state of Orissa, at least four villagers have died from water-borne diseases since Saturday, pushing the overall toll to 43 in the state since floods began earlier this month.
Flood leaves 100,000 people homeless in DPRK |
| www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-25 22:41:29 |
PYONGYANG, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- A serious flood caused by heavy rain that started earlier this month in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has left 100,000 people homeless, the official news agency reported on Saturday.
The heavy rain, which started on Aug. 7, hit all parts of the DPRK and caused huge losses of life and property, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
"Torrential rain, strong wind and landslide left at least 600 people dead or missing and thousands of people wounded," said the KCNA quoting the information available from the DPRK Central Statistics Bureau.
This flood has affected some 900,000 people and left at least 100,000 people homeless, it added.
The flood also destroyed many main roads across the country including the expressway between the capital and Kaesong, which caused the postponement of the second inter-Korean summit scheduled at the end of August.
"The flood destroyed major roads and tourist roads extending some 600 km in at least 2,000 sections in Pyongyang-Kaesong motorway, Pyongyang-Wonsan tourist motorway and others, as well as some 2,200 sections of bridges," said the KCNA.
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Jeff Chostner, a lawyer and former city councilman, is a Pueblo County commissioner. |
The water issues confronting Colorado’s Front Range, and Pueblo County in particular, are complex and subtly intertwined. The Preferred Storage Option Plan (PSOP), the Fountain Creek Visioning Task Force, the “Crown Jewel” concept and various other initiatives and organizations can be bewildering to the casual observer.
Even those intimately involved with the issue of preserving and enhancing Pueblo’s water resources can find the intricacies of water law to be confusing.
Issues of water quality, quantity and land use matters dominate discussion each Friday at Fountain City Hall as representatives of 28 entities struggle to solve these problems. How these entities may find a mechanism to fund measures addressing each of these subjects will go under discussion at the end of this month.
However, one issue of great importance, intimately tied to the preservation of Pueblo’s water resources, concerns water leases and the propriety of long-term agreements. The Pueblo Board of Water Works and the Pueblo West Metro District have been leasing water to the city of Aurora.
