Water

We Are Losing Our Large Lakes And Reservoirs

May 22, 2023 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! climate crisis, Drought, Environment, Water

More than half of the large lakes and reservoirs on the planet have diminished since the early 1990s due to climate change and human diversion and consumption, an international team of researchers has found. The findings have implications for people who rely on their supply of freshwater for drinking, hydropower and agriculture. The researchers looked at almost 2,000 of the largest lakes and found they are losing about 5.7 trillion gallons per year. That’s about the same amount as the entire U.S. used in 2015, or 17 times the volume of the biggest reservoir in the U.S., Nevada’s Lake Mead, between 1992 and 2020, the study said.

Protecting New Mexico’s Centuries-Old Water Democracy

May 18, 2023 Pamela Haines, Waging Nonviolence. Resist! New Mexico, The Commons, Water, Water Scarcity

How do we mediate our relationship with water? Those in areas with unquestioned and sufficient supply may have issues with affordability and cleanliness. But in dryer parts of the country — and the world — more fundamental challenges with the allocation of scarce water are coming increasingly to the fore. In New Mexico, the reality of scarcity pits an Indigenous perspective of water as part of the commons against a Western worldview that is centered in a system of individual property rights. These two perspectives are colliding with ever greater intensity and higher stakes. On the one side there is a deep history of traditional water systems, bringing wide support from the Indigenous community, local food and water supporters, and religious and environmental groups.

Hydropolitics: An Interview With Erik Swyngedouw

May 8, 2023 Sanaa Alimia, Red Pepper. Strategize! Global South, Ownership, Politics, The Commons, Water

Water is not, and has never been, a standalone issue. Over the past 20 or 30 years, in a context of increasing concern with access to water in terms of quality, particularly in the global south, there has been an extraordinary amount of activism around water: access, struggle, ownership, etc. What has that done to systematically change the configuration of access to water? Almost nothing. Clearly the highly triaged and uneven access and distribution of water is a major issue. It’s the number one cause of premature mortality in the world. Poor access to water is a concern that many activists share. Something has to be done. But the focus on the specificity of the issue is politically stifling.

Ten Rivers Facing Pollution, Development, And Climate Change

April 20, 2023 Saima May Sidik, Ecowatch. Educate! climate crisis, pollution, Rivers, Water

By America’s waterways need help. Threats such as industrial pollution, poorly planned development, and climate change are widespread. In some cases, help could be imminent—but only with support from the public and lawmakers, according to a report out today from the conservation group American Rivers. The report, called America’s Most Endangered Rivers, has been produced annually since 1984. Each report describes 10 threatened rivers, each facing an upcoming decision with the potential for public influence, such as whether to remove a dam or compel polluters to clean up waste. “I like the focus on action,” said hydrologist Reed Maxwell from Princeton University.

Universal Public Services: The Power Of Decommodifying Survival

April 18, 2023 Jason Hickel, Resilience. Create! Capitalism, Class Struggle, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Health Care, Public ownership, Water

One of the central insights emerging from research on degrowth and climate mitigation is that universal public services are crucial to a just and effective transition. Capitalism relies on maintaining an artificial scarcity of essential goods and services (like housing, healthcare, transport, etc), through processes of enclosure and commodification. We know that enclosure enables monopolists to raise prices and maximize their profits (consider the rental market, the US healthcare system, or the British rail system). But it also has another effect. When essential goods are privatized and expensive, people need more income than they would otherwise require to access them.

‘Plantation Politics’ To Blame For Jackson, Mississippi Water Crisis

April 12, 2023 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. Educate! Jackson, Mississippi, Racism, Water

Jackson, Mississippi - Jackson, Mississippi made international headlines last summer when from August 30 to September 5, water stopped flowing entirely for over 150,000 residents. In the past seven months since then, the Mississippi capital’s water system has been plagued with crisis after crisis. And yet, the crumbling water infrastructure remains largely unchanged. Why is this? The answer lies in the antagonistic and racist attitude that majority white state leadership has towards the Black officials of Jackson, which has one of the largest Black populations per capita of any city in the US.

Drought Profiteers: Wall Street Billionaires Snatch Up America’s Water

April 7, 2023 Lee Camp, Mintpress News. Resistance Report Capitalism, Environment, Profiteers, Water

It is time to stop calling the financial industry executives who are buying up freshwater “investors” or “hedge fund managers” and instead call them “drought profiteers.” I mean, you can also call them vultures and parasites. They all apply quite well. Come up with your own names for them. Get creative with it. Really listen to your heart. Water. We all need it to survive. It’s the main ingredient in alcohol. Just think of how many more people would be killed each year if we didn’t have alcohol to take the edge off. But here’s the problem: as the climate crisis causes drought around the world, the richest of the rich are snatching up all the fresh water.

Water Defenders Protect Guatemalan Lake From Mountains Of Garbage

April 1, 2023 Jeff Abbott, Waging Nonviolence. Organize! Environment, Guatemala, Plastic, Water

Hundreds of activists from across Guatemala walked along the shores of the majestic Lake Atitlán in the country’s western highlands in commemoration of World Water Day on March 22. In their hands they carried white flowers, which they left floating along the shores as an offering. The ceremony was held as part of the regional meeting of water activists to mark the international day meant to bring awareness to the water crisis around the world. This meeting was hosted by the local collective Comunidad Tz’unun Ya’, which has become one of the most active water rights defenders in the Central American country.

Fresh Clashes Rock France As Protests Shift To Water Dispute

March 29, 2023 Agence France Press, South China Morning Post. Resist! France, State Repression, Water, Worker Rights and Jobs

French police again clashed with protesters on Saturday as campaigners in the southwest sought to stop the construction of giant water storage facilities, the latest flashpoint as social tensions erupt nationwide. The violent scenes at Sainte-Soline came after days of unrest over President Emmanuel Macron’s pensions reform, which forced the cancellation of a visit by Britain’s King Charles. The protest movement against the pension reform has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron’s second mandate, with police and protesters clashing daily in Paris and other cities over the past week.

Acrylate Water Safety Emergency Hits Philly

March 27, 2023 Dan Feidt, Unicorn Riot. Educate! East Palestine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Water, Water Pollution

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - A warm and sunny Sunday afternoon was suddenly interrupted by an emergency phone alert: Philadelphia authorities warned the city water supply could be endangered and everyone should cease using drinking water after 2 p.m. Eastern time. Within minutes, people headed to grocery, corner and beer stores to grab water jugs and bottles. By 4 p.m. a couple stores Unicorn Riot checked were mostly picked over. City authorities warned at a Sunday morning news conference that ethyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate and butyl acrylate spilled into Otter Creek from a pipe rupture at the Trinseo PLC chemical plant near the Delaware River late Friday night.

Lack Of Safe Drinking Water For City Dwellers To Double By 2050

March 23, 2023 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, Ecowatch. Educate! climate crisis, Environment, Water, Water Pollution

At the start of the first UN Water Conference since 1977, a global water crisis is imminent, according to a new UN report. New research has found that the number of people living in cities without access to safe drinking water worldwide will double by 2050, with an 80 percent increase in demand for water predicted for urban areas by that time, The Guardian reported. “Water is our common future and we need to act together to share it equitably and manage it sustainably. As the world convenes for the first major United Nations conference on water in the last half century, we have a responsibility to plot a collective course ensuring water and sanitation for all,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay on the UN World Water Development Report website.

IPCC Report: A Warning, And An Opportunity To Act

March 22, 2023 Tanupriya Singh, People's Dispatch. Educate! climate crisis, Food and Agriculture, Global Warming, Green Transition, IPCC, Water

On Monday, March 20, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the final part of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), called the Synthesis Report (SYR). The report is a compilation of the IPCC’s three previous assessment reports, which covered the science of climate change, its risks and impacts, and the means of adaptation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The text also covers the 2018 report on the impacts of global heating beyond 1.5°C and special reports on climate, oceans, and land. The IPCC notes that human activities have “unequivocally caused global warming, with global surface temperature reaching 1.1°C above 1850-1900 [pre-industrial levels] in 2011-2020.”

Global Freshwater Demand Will Exceed Supply 40% By 2030, Experts Warn

March 18, 2023 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, Ecowatch. Create! climate crisis, Environment, United Nations, Water

Today, the planet is facing an unprecedented water crisis, with global freshwater demand predicted to exceed supply by 40 percent by 2030, President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly Csaba Kőrösi said at a press conference on the upcoming UN Water Conference, as Down to Earth reported. “The scientific evidence is that we have a water crisis. We are misusing water, polluting water, and changing the whole global hydrological cycle, through what we are doing to the climate. It’s a triple crisis,” Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Johan Rockstrom, who is co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW), told The Guardian.

Water Testing After Ohio Derailment Led By Rail Company Itself

February 20, 2023 Chris D'Angelo, HuffPost. Educate! Disaster, East Palestine, Railroads, Water

East Palestine, Ohio - The testing that Ohio authorities relied on to declare the municipal water in East Palestine safe to drink after a disastrous train derailment was funded by the railroad operator itself and did not initially comply with federal standards, HuffPost has learned. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Wednesday afternoon announced that new testing from five wells that supply the town’s municipal drinking water “showed no evidence of contamination” after a Norfolk Southern freight train loaded with tons of hazardous materials derailed in the area on Feb. 3. “With these tests results, Ohio EPA is confident that the municipal water is safe to drink,” DeWine’s office wrote in a news release.

Mississippi Lawmakers Trying To Take Over Jackson Water Funds

February 6, 2023 Nick Judin, Pro Publica. Educate! Federal funds, Jackson, Mississippi, Water

Jackson, Mississippi — The freeze of early 2021 wasn’t the origin of Jackson, Mississippi’s water system collapse. But the winter storm introduced the country to Jackson’s aging and improperly maintained pipes and water plants, which failed and left residents without clean water for over a month. The crisis surged back in the summer of 2022, leaving residents without clean water for two months and drawing comparisons to Flint, Michigan’s lead-poisoning scandal, another banner example of America’s ruinous infrastructure systems. Here, as in Flint, the federal government stepped in: In November, The Department Of Justice Appointed A Federal Manager to take control of the beleaguered utility, and less than a month later, Congress approved $600 million exclusively for the city’s water system. But the rescue effort is already running up against the realities of local politics, reflecting historic tensions between Jackson and the rest of the state.

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