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Myanmar junta still blocking cyclone aid A trickle of aid shipments arrived in Myanmar on Sunday, more than a week after a massive cyclone smashed the country, but officials continued to bar major shipments to the storm's hard-hit survivors. Reuters reported Sunday that state-run Myanmar TV had said that 28,458 people had died in the cyclone and that 33,416 were missing. Reuters also reported that the UN humanitarian agency had said in a new assessment that 1.2 million to 1.9 million people were struggling to survive in the aftermath of the storm. Some water and electricity had been restored by Sunday in Yangon, but prices for rice and fuel had increased sharply, along with prices for candles while the power was out. As aid shipments continued Sunday, a spokesman for the World Food Program, Paul Risley, said that they amounted to about one-tenth of what was needed and that the country also needed to start a major logistical operation to help victims of the storm. The focus of the military junta, meanwhile, was on its referendum for a constitution that was intended to perpetuate its rule. International Herald Tribune_ 5/11/08
President Bush signs Platte River recovery measure Legislation that supplies the federal share of money for the Platte River recovery program in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska was signed into law Thursday. The bill President Bush signed provides $157 million to help carry out a three-state agreement with the federal government. U.S. Senators Carl Levin and George Voinovich introduce Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2008 Levin, D-Mich., and Voinovich, R-Ohio, co-chairmen of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, today introduced the bipartisan Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2008 to expand on legislation passed six years ago. The bill authorizes $150 million a year to clean up contaminated expanses in the Great Lakes known as “Areas of Concern” within 10 years. Forty-three Areas of Concern have been identified in the Great Lakes, 13 of which are in Michigan and four in Ohio. These sites do not meet the water quality goals established by the United States and Canada in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, mainly because of contaminated sediments from historic industrial activity. News Release_ 5/8/08 Oil companies settle MTBE groundwater suit About a dozen oil companies agreed to pay $423 million and clean-up costs to settle litigation over decades of groundwater contamination from the gasoline additive and possible carcinogen MTBE, lawyers said on Wednesday. The settlement affects public water utilities and public agencies in 17 states, attorneys for water agencies said. Refiner Valero Energy Corp confirmed the agreement but added that the court must affirm it. "The one big holdout was ExxonMobil Corp," said Robert Gordon, of Weitz and Luxenberg, one of the three lead lawyers for the plaintiffs. Exxon did not immediately comment. MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, in 1979 replaced lead in gasoline to make car engines run smoother. Then Congress in 1990 required refiners to use oxygenates like MTBE to clean up tailpipe emissions. MTBE helps air quality, but it hurts water quality. The additive has leaked into water supplies in many states, sparking the lawsuits. Reuters_ 5/7/08 Around the U.S. New Jersey weighs water tax for open space preservation Hawaii first state to require solar water heaters in new homes All new homes in Hawaii will be required to have solar water heaters installed starting in 2010 under a law approved by the Legislature. Solar water heaters typically cost home buyers about $5,000 extra on their mortgage, but island residents will save thousands of dollars over the years on their electricity bills, supporters said. AP/MSNBC_ 5/6/08 Alabama, Florida, Georgia water sharing Georgia's water czar lifts some restrictions, but not for Atlanta Carol Couch said Tuesday she was lifting a mandate to utilities in 61 North Georgia counties to reduce water use by 10 percent, and she may even allow those utilities to use more water this summer from reservoirs that refilled over the winter. But that deal — said Couch, director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division — extends only to about 200 North Georgia utilities and communities that don't rely on Lake Lanier for their water. It excludes the city of Atlanta; Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties; and other municipalities in metro Atlanta that rely on Lanier for the estimated 600 million gallons of water metro Atlanta consumes each day — 65 percent of it originating from Lake Lanier. The reason for that, Couch told a meeting of the State Drought Response Committee, is Lanier is 13 feet below full, the lowest point the lake has ever been at this time of year in its more than 50-year history. Atlanta Journal-Constitution_ 5/7/08 Business News PepsiCo buys UK vitamin water brand V Water India's TCS signs 60 million pounds deal with Scottish Water Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has signed an eight-year IT application services contract, worth 60 million pounds, with the Britain's sole public sector water utility Scottish Water, the company said in a statement on Monday. The contract will help Scottish Water, which serves 5.5 million customers in Scotland, save one million pounds per annum in operational expenses or a total savings of eight million pounds during the contract period. Economic times_ 4/28/08 Bottled Water News Seattle's mayor urges residents to stop buying bottled water Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels urged Seattleites today to stop buying bottled water as a way to be more environmentally conscious. The mayor explained that Seattle's tap water, "some of the finest-tasting, purest-source water in the world," is an excellent alternative. Nickels said the city charges one third of a cent for a gallon of water, compared to an average of 79 cents for a pint of bottled water. Nickels said the city's two water sources, the Cedar and Tolt rivers, produce "gold standard" water, and tap water is better than bottled water because it contains fluoride. In March, Nickels directed the city to stop buying bottled water, estimating it could save taxpayers as much as $57,000 a year. Seattle Times_ 5/7/08 Desalination French desalination giant Degremont to bid for Melbourne, Australia's seawater treatment plant In an interview with the Herald Sun, Degremont chief executive Thierry Mallet has sought to allay fears about the A$3 billion plant, scheduled to be operating by 2011, and even suggests it may be a plus for the area. Degremont joins two other companies in the race to build and run the plant. Mr Mallet said that the plant could be built with minimal impact on the environment. Degremont has built more than 250 desalination plants over more than 20 years. The Government is expected to award the contract next year. Herald-Sun_ 5/12/08 San Leandro, California desalination company Energy Recovery Inc. plans IPO Looking to capitalize on the world's ever-increasing thirst for fresh water, desalination equipment supplier Energy Recovery Inc. last month filed to raise as much as $175 million in an initial public offering to expand its business in a fast-growing segment of the global water desalination industry. "This is definitely a time of growth for the water sector and desalination in particular," said Richard Stover, chief technology officer and head of sales. There are two main types of desalination: thermal, which uses heat in the conversion process, and reverse osmosis, which uses very high pressure to push water through a filtering membrane. ERI focuses on the seawater reverse osmosis, or SWRO, segment. That method is growing faster than the overall desalination market in part because of better membranes and in part because desalination facilities are using energy recovery devices that increase efficiency. Desalination is an energy-intensive process; the recovery devices help lower costs. ERI says its PX Pressure Exchanger, or PX, which captures and recycles energy in the desalination process, reduces energy consumption by 60 percent compared with the traditional thermal desalination method. East Bay Business Times_ 5/2/08 Desalination: Part of the answer to California water problems The Marina Coast Water District. near Monterey has been sucking water from the ocean and making it drinkable since 1997. The small plant can provide water for nearly a thousand homes. It is one of several around the state that is being used to study the feasibility of desalination plants. The water district is now hoping to build that bigger plant near a garbage dump, using the methane gas expelled by the site to power the water plant. That plant could potentially provide enough water for 10,000 homes each year.The State Department of Water Resources says desalination plants are being tested or proposed all over the state. They won't solve the problem, but might make a dent. "It is expected that desalination would play not major role, maybe less than 10 percent," said Fehti Ben Jamaa from the California Department of Water Resources. KGOABC7_ 5/2/08 In California's Monterey Bay area, Water Standard Co. proposes off-shore desalination Amanda Brock, CEO of the Water Standard Company, proposed placing a ship carrying a desalination plant a few miles out to sea over the deep waters of the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary. The ship would drop large pipes deep down below most of the precious fish and other sea life protected by the sanctuary. The ship would then suck up the ocean water, use some special filters designed by the Water Standard Company and turn the salt water into drinking water. Company officials said the desalination ship could meet the daily demands of three-quarters of a million people. The Monterey Peninsula Water Management Agency is moving toward a land-based desalination solution based in Sand City, but Water Standard Company officials said they are continuing to pitch the ship solution to Central Coast water districts. KSBW_ 4/30/08 Israel's IDE Technologies takes its desalination expertise worldwide No radio or TV news broadcast during the winter months in Israel would be complete without a mention of the water level in the Sea of Galilee. The lake that played such a prominent role in Biblical times today provides about 40% of Israel's fresh water supply. Annual winter rains are crucial for replenishing the inland lake and ensuring its ability to quench the thirst of Israel's 7 million inhabitants, but after four straight years of drought, dwindling water resources have forced the Jewish state increasingly to turn to desalination as a long-term solution. Israel's dire straits, along with shortages in dozens of other countries, have proven a blessing for IDE Technologies, a 40-year-old private company based in Kadima that is fast becoming a global leader in an industry forecasted to grow at double-digit rates for the foreseeable future. Businessweek_ 4/28/08 Recent advances in technology have made removing salt from seawater and groundwater a realistic option for increasing water supplies in some parts of the U.S., and desalination will likely have a niche in meeting the nation's future water needs, says a new report from the National Research Council. However, a coordinated research effort with steady funding is required to better understand and minimize desalination's environmental impacts -- and find ways to further lower its costs and energy use. Over 97 percent of the Earth's water -- seawater and brackish groundwater -- is too salty to use for drinking water or agriculture. Though desalination still generates less than 0.4 percent of the water used in the U.S., the nation's capacity to desalinate water grew by around 40 percent between 2000 and 2005, and plants now exist in every state. Most use a method called reverse osmosis, which pushes water through a membrane to separate out most of the salts. The report recommends that federal R&D on desalination be planned and coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and funded at the level of existing desalination R&D programs -- approximately $25 million a year. Currently there is no overall strategic direction to federal research on desalination, which is conducted by many agencies with varying goals. It also depends heavily on earmarks, which are unsteady sources of funding; from 2006 to 2007, federal funds declined by nearly 60 percent. Meanwhile, the private sector appears to fund the majority of the nation's desalination research. The study was sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. News Release_ 4/24/08 download pdf of the full report Desalination: A national perspective Federal Legislation Federal EPA likely to pass on regulating perchlorate The Bush administration likely won't follow California in regulating a rocket fuel chemical that has contaminated drinking water supplies in at least 35 states, a federal official told a Senate committee Tuesday. Benjamin Grumbles, the Environmental Protection Agency's assistant water chief, said agency officials do not dispute studies showing that the chemical -- perchlorate -- increases developmental health risks for babies. But, Grumbles said, there's a "distinct possibility" EPA officials won't take action because they don't know whether regulation would meaningfully reduce those risks. The Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee. is considering three bills that would the give the EPA an 18-month deadline to set drinking water standards limiting the amounts of perchlorate and trichloroethylene (TCE), a toxic solvent that has been linked to brain damage, liver cancer, skin diseases and immune disorders. The Defense Department has deemed the chemicals "mission critical." But their decades-long use in munitions and rockets has led to widespread contamination of soil and water. In the absence of EPA action, California, Massachusetts and New Jersey have set their own enforceable standard, which is permissible under the federal Clean Water Act. Large doses of the chemical have been shown to interfere with the thyroid gland, which plays a major role in children's brain development. Perchlorate contamination is especially acute in California because of the large number of military operations and defense contractors. Sacramento Bee_ 5/6/08 Great Lakes Meeting on Great Lakes water levels: Don't tamper with nature A $15 million International Upper Great Lakes Study, funded by the International Joint Commission, is examining whether actions are needed to stabilize sinking water levels in lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron. Water levels in all three lakes are well below long-term averages, according to government data. Despite that, few of the 75 people attending the meeting Saturday at Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute called for a quick fix to an issue that is scientifically complex and emotionally charged. Great Lakes water levels fluctuate slightly from year to year and more widely over roughly 30-year cycles. Over the past decade, water levels in lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior have been on a steady decline and are within a few inches of record lows, according to federal data. A team of U.S. and Canadian scientists are studying whether the plunging lake levels are the result of weather changes -- warmer air temperatures, less precipitation and more evaporation -- or manmade changes in the lakes. A focal point is whether dredging in the St. Clair River over the past century has created an abnormally large drain hole for lakes Michigan and Huron, causing water levels to drop like a rock in recent years. The IJC, a U.S.-Canadian panel that mediates Great Lakes issues, will issue its report on the St. Clair River controversy in June 2009. Kalamazoo Gazette/MILive_ 5/4/08 International News China turns to algae-gobbling carp, hoping to clear country's fetid lakes When spring warms into sultry summer, China's Lake Chaohu turns slimy and stinky as algae fed by sewage, farm and factory runoff bloom leave it toxic and undrinkable. Across the country, officials desperate to meet a national goal of restoring China's severely polluted lakes by 2030 are dumping tons of voracious fish into lakes in hopes they'll gobble up the algae infestations. Other countries have tried this in sewage treatment pools or drinking water reservoirs with mixed success, but nowhere else has it been attempted on such a large scale. Workers dumped 1.6 million silver carp fry into Chaohu Lake in February in the largest such project in China. They expect each fish to eat as much as 45 kilograms of algae as they grow, helping to ensure clean drinking water for more than a million people. AP/canoe_ 5/4/08 MTBE California Water Service Co. wins $49.7 million as part of national MTBE settlement A San Jose-based water company will receive $49.7 million as part of a national deal to settle a lawsuit with oil companies over water contamination from the gasoline additive MTBE. California Water Service Co. is one of 156 plaintiffs in the case, which was filed in 2003 and 2004 against a dozen major refiners. The $422 million settlement agreement will be filed with the federal court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. A total of 27 drinking water wells owned by the company, known as Cal-Water, were contaminated by MTBE in northern and southern California starting more than a decade ago. MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, was added to gasoline in low levels starting in the late 1970s. In the early 1990s, however, Congress required states with high smog levels to add larger amounts of such oxygenates to gasoline. San Jose Mercury News_ 5/10/08 Myanmar Cyclone Nargis U.N. resuming aid to Myanmar after dispute with junta As misery grew for a sixth day for uncounted survivors of the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, the United Nations said Friday that the government had seized its relief supplies in Yangon, while a Pentagon official said that the junta had come to a breakthrough agreement to allow a single American aid plane to land on its territory. Both developments underscored the painstaking negotiations over aid and its excruciatingly slow pace as the country’s iron-fisted military rulers block relief workers and most supplies. Altogether, by one count, 11 chartered planes with relief supplies have landed in Myanmar, a tiny amount for a disaster that the United Nations said may have affected 1.5 million people. Six days after the cyclone struck, ravaging much of Myanmar’s coast, the scale of the damage has yet to be fully assessed. Reports from inside the country, including from the few outside organizations allowed to operate there, suggest that food and clean water are scarce or entirely unavailable in the worst-struck areas, and that the death toll could escalate from the official count of 22,500. New York Times_ 5/9/08
Regional Water Issues Colorado legislators approve $60.6 million Republican River pipeline loan Colorado lawmakers, who end their 2008 legislative session this week, approved a $60.6 million loan to eastern Colorado farmers to build a compact-compliance pipeline that will deliver Republican River water to the state line. They also endorsed spending upwards of $15 million to meet the three-state agreement on protecting endangered species along the South Platte River and preventing the spread of zebra mussels from Pueblo Reservoir to other Colorado lakes and ponds. And anyone who wants to donate a water right to the Colorado Water Conservation Board to improve in-stream flow for recreation and fish habitat can now do so under the Healthy Rivers Act that Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law last month. But northeastern Colorado’s lawmakers couldn’t overcome long-held grievances over past well depletions from the South Platte River to help Front Range farmers take advantage of this winter’s heavy snowpack. A late bill that would have allowed the well users to irrigate and augment at the same time never made it out of committee. Journal-Advocate_ 5/6/08 Research and Technology NASA satellite to map Earth's water cycle Water Rates Water bills in two Maryland counties to increase 8% on July 1 Residents of Prince George's and Montgomery counties will see their rates for water use jump by 8 percent starting July 1, raising the average customer's quarterly bill by $11.25. Meeting jointly, the councils of the two counties agreed to the increase yesterday as they approved a $913.7 million budget for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which provides water and sewer service to 1.8 million customers in the counties. The budget will fund the utility's operations as well as the replacement of 27 miles of water lines and 51 miles of sewer pipes. The commissioners agreed in February to an 8 percent increase after the members who represent the counties clashed over a proposal by the utility to raise rates by 9.5 percent. Utility managers also wanted to impose a monthly $20 fee devoted to replacing the system's 10,800 miles of underground water and sewer pipes. The managers said there is a desperate need to take action to prevent breaks. With the 9.5 percent increase and the fee, water bills would have risen 50 percent starting in July. Commissioners rejected the fee in February. There were 2,129 breaks last year, a record. The utility froze rates from fiscal 1999 through 2004, a time of restructuring during which officials said that maintenance was put on hold. Washington Post_ 5/9/08 Headlines from April 29-May 12, 2008 Around the U.S. Duke Energy nuclear plant causes Carolina water concerns Charlotte Observer_ 5/4/08 Belle Glade, Florida boil-water order drags into third week Palm Beach Post_ 5/3/08 Idaho water board buys fish farm to aid water supplies Ag Weekly_ 5/3/08 California water officials: March, April driest on record San Jose Mercury News_5/1/08 U.S. House of Representatives Water Caucus would pool ideas on national problem Atlanta Journal-Constitution_ 4/29/08 GAO: Farmers owe feds more than $450 million for California water project AP/San Jose Mercury-News_ 1/17/08 (logon required) download full GAO report Alabama, Florida, Georgia water sharing Florida takes issue with plan to keep more water in Georgia Atlanta Journal Constitution_4/30/08 Forgotten Georgia county now in spotlight over water rights AP/Charlotte Observer_ 4/28/08 Bottled Water U.S. Conference of Mayors begins its discussion of bottled water WaterWebster staff report May 1, 2008 Learn how your organization can republish this report at no cost Bottled water market in Europe is still sparkling Fox Business_4/23/08 Canadian school board bans sale of bottled water at its schools The Star_4/24/08 Bottling companies face opposition as worries grow over water supplies Baltimore Sun_4/24/08 Business News American Water Works falls as much as 6% on first NYSE trading day Bloomberg_ 4/23/08 Calgon Carbon awarded $2.3M water treatment contract The Earth Times_4/17/08 Water purification companies draw investors' interest International Herald Tribune_4/16/08 Analyst pushes water sector as global warming affects supply AP/Forbes_ 4/15/08 Call For Papers ECSM'08 - European Conference on Sludge Management Liège, Belgium September 4-5, 2008 Colorado River Record snowpack soon will be heading downriver Aspen Daily News_ 4/28/08 Colorado River to drop to 500-year low as world warms Bloomberg_ 4/17/08 Bureau of Reclamation plan manages Colorado River in drought: 'everyone shares the pain' Salt Lake Tribune_ 11/2/07 download the final environmental impact study Construction Cost to funnel water around the California delta has soared AP/San Jose Mercury-News_ 4/25/08 Desalination Cheap energy in United Arab Emirates is over Gulf News_ 4/19/08 New technique adds magnesium to desalinated water in Israel Jerusalem Post_ 4/12/08 Environment Study backing more water exports to Southern California is nullified; Report failed to account for effects on endangered fish Los Angeles Times_4/17/08 AWWA urges science-based approach to water analysis Fox News_4/16/08 Plastic bottle chemical may be harmful: U.S. agency Reuters_ 4/15/08 Warming felt more in Western U.S. Los Angeles Times_ 3/28/08 (logon required) download full .pdf report Hotter and Drier EPA chief shelves agency findings on greenhouse gases Los Angeles Times_ 3/28/08 (logon required) UN: Glaciers melting at record speed Business Week_ 3/17/08 More details from the United Nations Environment Programme Great Lakes water issues U.S.-Canada plans to protect five Great Lakes now available News Release_ 4/24/08 download the plans U.S. House passes ballast water treatment standards The Muskegon Chronicle_4/24/08 International In rural Pakistan, naturally-occurring fluoride contaminates water supply Daily Times_ 5/4/08 Newly discovered water, oil and gas surveyed in Afghanistan Science Daily_5/1/08 Safe Water? Lessons from Kazakhstan Science Daily_ 4/30/08 Myanmar Cyclone UNICEF: Safe water is the difference between life and death in post-cyclone Myanmar Relief Web Press Release_5/9/08 Myanmar cyclone death toll soars past 22,000: state radio AP_ 5/6/08 Cyclone sends Myanmar back in time: Power cuts, water scarce AP/Yahoo_ 5/5/08 Wastewater Draining the basin that's Mexico City Los Angeles Times_ 4/28/08 (logon required) And Finally... Could you drink, bathe and clean using just 20 litres a day? The Independent_4/24/08 Mets game delayed by water main break Newsday_ 5/1/08
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