How much water is on earth? Is that amount changing?
23/03/12 10:11
While seemingly basic questions, they are actually a bit complex and there is much research occurring around them right now:
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Revenge of the Nerds: Climate Change and Water at the World Water Forum
21/03/12 14:05
Three years ago, I attended my first World Water Forum in Istanbul. These meetings occur every three years, with each Forum in a different country. For me, Istanbul marked the beginning of several key alliances and initiatives. It was the Forum that happened before the Copenhagen COP in particular, and climate change discussions were already at a fever pitch by March and contained a strongly optimistic view of what might happen that year on mitigation policy. This was also the first period when we saw the extended water community begin to discuss adaptation in a more serious, sustained way.
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Big Dams and Climate Change: A Debate
21/03/12 14:04
I did not personally attend this session though I was in Marseille at the same time, but a colleague sent a link this morning to a debate at the World Water Forum last week on big dams and their role in maintaining or creating climate resilience:
http://www.worldwaterforum6.org/en/gallery/videos/forum-sessions-and-conferences/friday-16-march/?id=308
(scroll to the bottom of the screen to the third of the three YouTube vidoes to watch the debate, which itself is divided into eight or nine segments)
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http://www.worldwaterforum6.org/en/gallery/videos/forum-sessions-and-conferences/friday-16-march/?id=308
(scroll to the bottom of the screen to the third of the three YouTube vidoes to watch the debate, which itself is divided into eight or nine segments)
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New stationarities: avoiding problems in the solutions
06/03/12 13:27
Most of the things that are wrong with water are easy to identify: the massive quantities of largely untreated sewage, industrial pollution that has been the legacy of the industrial revolution worldwide, chemical fertilizer and pest management runoff that is the legacy of the agricultural revolution in the most productive countries, building “bad dams” that are designed and/or operated in ways that significantly an negatively alter the ecosystems and livelihoods of rivers, invasive species, and the overconsumption and diversion of water resources, killing rivers for great lengths or draining lakes and marshes into cities, fields, and factories.
You could call these “first-order problems” with managing water. Read More...
You could call these “first-order problems” with managing water. Read More...
Water footprint: a tool for climate adaptation?
28/02/12 15:42
Today, a major new article on water footprinting by Hoekstra and Mekonnen published in PNAS as an open-source PDF. Hoekstra is the most famous proponent of water footprint analyses, and he’s responsible for publicizing one of the most influential ideas in the past decade or two about water.
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Peter Gleick, double standards, and faith in science: Lessons for communicating climate issues?
26/02/12 09:49
The leadership of progressive thinking about water and climate has taken a major hit in the past ten days with the public shaming of Peter Gleick. Many of you are probably familiar with Gleick, founder and head of the Pacific Institute, but if not, Gleick is the closest that the water community has ever had to a “face.” Gleick never pretended to represent all of the water community — he didn’t champion WASH issues, for instance, and his discussions of water issues in the developing world and climate change adaptation around water have often been somewhat simplistic. But he has been an incredibly effective champion of issues for the energy-water nexus (the connections between energy generation of all kinds and water consumption, and the high energy costs of moving water, both virtual and real water). He has also been extraordinary in communicating to corporations about water issues, even corporations whose work is not obviously and directly connected to water. More generally, the Pacific Institute has served as a very effective communications hub for global water issues.
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New publication: Water rights in a changing world
03/11/11 07:29
The landscape of rights of access and management of water resources is changing rapidly, both for hydrological and political reasons. The UN has recently weighed into this debate, and this blog and many other sources have documented the shifts that are occurring in terms of water timing, quality, and quantity. The intersection of this debate is extremely sensitive — and basically agua incognita. A new publication from Hydrology.nl explores these issues in a compelling way. Read More...
A federal freshwater adaptation law in the US? Pat Mulroy - Part 3: Consensus & Economics
03/11/11 07:20
Part 3 — Consensus and Economics (and the first piece of US freshwater adaptation legislation to come before the US Congress!)
In the third and final part of Pat Mulroy’s interview, she discusses how policy, economics, and climate change come together — both in the Colorado river basin and around freshwater management across the US. Climate impacts in hydrology and ecology are altering the economic landscape across the region, and policymakers and the public are faced with difficult and often expensive choices.
Perhaps most remarkable, Pat Mulroy discusses the first domestic piece of climate adaptation legislation at the national level in the US, which has been proposed in the US House of Representatives by Lois Cardin of California and in the Senate by Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Barbara Boxer of California, and Harry Reid of Nevada (where Pat’s office is located).
For more information on this first piece of climate adaptation legislation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More. Read More...
In the third and final part of Pat Mulroy’s interview, she discusses how policy, economics, and climate change come together — both in the Colorado river basin and around freshwater management across the US. Climate impacts in hydrology and ecology are altering the economic landscape across the region, and policymakers and the public are faced with difficult and often expensive choices.
Perhaps most remarkable, Pat Mulroy discusses the first domestic piece of climate adaptation legislation at the national level in the US, which has been proposed in the US House of Representatives by Lois Cardin of California and in the Senate by Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Barbara Boxer of California, and Harry Reid of Nevada (where Pat’s office is located).
For more information on this first piece of climate adaptation legislation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More. Read More...
Pat Mulroy - Part 2: Adapting the Invisible Utility
21/10/11 22:28
Part 2 — Institutions and Infrastructure
Expanding on topics brought up in Part 1, water manager Pat Mulroy explores in Institutions and Infrastructure how the policy, governance, and history of the Colorado river region are interacting with the “new normal” water-scarce conditions.
How are ordinary people and decision makers responding to a long drought? How do we pursue consensus over conflict? While institutions can shift, bend, and anticipate, water infrastructure like dams, pipes, and valves are far more fixed and rigid. If they weren’t designed for current (or projected) conditions, then how can people either adjust to inefficiency or modify that infrastructure? Perhaps most importantly, how do we begin to think about sustainability in the context of a shifting climate?
For more information and background on the Colorado River and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More. Read More...
Expanding on topics brought up in Part 1, water manager Pat Mulroy explores in Institutions and Infrastructure how the policy, governance, and history of the Colorado river region are interacting with the “new normal” water-scarce conditions.
How are ordinary people and decision makers responding to a long drought? How do we pursue consensus over conflict? While institutions can shift, bend, and anticipate, water infrastructure like dams, pipes, and valves are far more fixed and rigid. If they weren’t designed for current (or projected) conditions, then how can people either adjust to inefficiency or modify that infrastructure? Perhaps most importantly, how do we begin to think about sustainability in the context of a shifting climate?
For more information and background on the Colorado River and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More. Read More...
ClimateWater: Final Symposium, Stakeholder Platform
20/10/11 05:02
From our colleagues at Europamedia.wordpress.com
The link between climate change and water resources and the water cycle might not be so evident to all of us immediately. However, the impacts of climate change on the environment are not only the increase in the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere
and the change in temperatures. Due to climate change induced events, we are observing more and more frequently floods as well as water scarcity and droughts in the same year. At the same time, several water-related sectors such as marine navigation, hydropower energy production and agricultural production are also negatively affected. Water resources and natural hydrological cycles are having quite a tough time in trying to cope with the impacts of climate change. Read More...
The link between climate change and water resources and the water cycle might not be so evident to all of us immediately. However, the impacts of climate change on the environment are not only the increase in the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere
Pat Mulroy - Part 1: Adapting the Invisible Utility
20/10/11 04:50
Part 1 — Connections and Threats
Pat Mulroy manages water over a vast piece of real estate in the southwestern United States. But — as she will quickly make clear — there isn’t a lot of water there. There never was much water there, in fact. As a result, the cities, farms, and factories spanning the greater Colorado River basin have learned to live with less. The best of them have also learned to be efficient and smart in their growth. But the past twelve years have either been a drought or the start of a new normal, where only a few inches of rain each year became even less. That’s the threat.
As a result, the region whose water is governed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority that Pat manages has had to look beyond its borders for allies and cooperation. The stability, security, and growth of economic engines such as Las Vegas depend on these alliances. Those are the connections.
In the first of three videos presented here, Pat discusses the actual and virtual basin where southern Nevada is embedded.
For more information and background on the Colorado River and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More. Read More...
Pat Mulroy manages water over a vast piece of real estate in the southwestern United States. But — as she will quickly make clear — there isn’t a lot of water there. There never was much water there, in fact. As a result, the cities, farms, and factories spanning the greater Colorado River basin have learned to live with less. The best of them have also learned to be efficient and smart in their growth. But the past twelve years have either been a drought or the start of a new normal, where only a few inches of rain each year became even less. That’s the threat.
As a result, the region whose water is governed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority that Pat manages has had to look beyond its borders for allies and cooperation. The stability, security, and growth of economic engines such as Las Vegas depend on these alliances. Those are the connections.
In the first of three videos presented here, Pat discusses the actual and virtual basin where southern Nevada is embedded.
For more information and background on the Colorado River and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More. Read More...
The first adaptation-only climate change legislation in the US
17/10/11 04:51
With stealth and no acclaim, a group of US federal legislators have submitted the first-ever climate adaptation federal legislation for approval to the Congress. Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised that this bill is focused exclusively on water management. Called the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2012, the legislation is designed to assist city-level water infrastructure in the US. You can download a copy here. Read More...
