BLACK CANYON WATER RIGHTS LITIGATION TO PROCEED
A US District Court has refused to dismiss an environmentalists’ lawsuit challenging a settlement between the Dept. of Interior and Colorado over federal reserved water rights for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Judge Brimmer said, federal agencies had a legal duty to preserve the park, in part by setting water flows high enough to preserve the canyon’s ecology. He said the federal government abdicated its responsibility by letting Colorado set the minimum flows. “The Secretary (of Interior), who is specifically charged with administering these lands and rivers, cannot wholly delegate responsibility to a local entity which is not bound by the statutory obligations,” wrote Brimmer. The environmental groups said the settlement’s minimum flows are too low and were set by politics, not the 20 years of scientific research that recommended higher peak flows in the spring. <http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2824343,00.html>
NAS BACKS PLATTE RIVER SPECIES PROTECTIONS
Federal officials and environmental groups in the Platte River Basin could almost be heard breathing a sigh of relief after the National Academy of Sciences issued a report supporting the Interior Department’s decision to impose Endangered Species Act protections for two birds and a fish. <http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/04/29/news/c4841ecb213f36f487256e85000424b4.txt>
COLORADO FRONT RANGE INTERESTS TRY ANOTHER RUN AT POWER PLAY FOR WATER
A new movement to create a Front Range water conservation district looks suspiciously like the failed Referendum A, despite promises that future efforts would consider Western Slope concerns too. Grand Junction Sentinel; 4/29 <http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/epaper/editions/sunday/4_25_water_edit.html;COXnetJSessionID=AR7J1xt3cuSaSTNBdkJhEMgPL3m045lPTfLNTpwA1yksgQ9WHVVC!1705023042?urac=n&urvf=10832597859550.7451403601757564>
WATERING RESTRICTIONS SWEEP COLORADO
– After yet another disappointing Colorado snow season, Denver water utility officials voted Wednesday to restrict water use for the third straight summer. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-15/s_22843.asp>
DENVER WATER IMPOSES ANOTHER YEAR OF LIMITS, FEES
Denver’s utility will allow homeowners to water only twice a week and charge them extra if they use more than their allotment, rules similar to last year. Denver Post; April 15 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2084524,00.html>
COLORADO WATER COMPANIES CONSERVATIVE ON CONSERVATION SPENDING
Colorado cities have some of the highest residential water-use rates in the nation, but a Denver Rocky Mountain News survey showed 10 of the largest Front Range water companies spend 1.7 percent of their annual budgets or less on water conservation programs. Denver Rocky Mountain News; April 18 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2815355,00.html>
REGION WRESTLES WITH SIXTH YEAR OF DROUGHT
Across the West, six years of drought are resulting in ranch foreclosures and water worries at levels not seen since the Dust Bowl era. Christian Science Monitor; April 27 <http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0427/p03s01-usec.html>
COLORADO MIGHT BE FORCED TO SEND ITS WATER DOWNSTREAM
Another two or three years of drought could drain Lake Powell and force Colorado to yield some of its precious water to California to meet legal obligations. Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); 4/27 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=15060>
FEDS THREATEN COLORADO RIVER USERS WITH RESTRICTIONS
The Colorado River supplies water to more than 25 million people in seven states, and with a deepening drought, federal officials are telling those states to develop a plan or face federally imposed restrictions. Arizona Republic; April 30 <http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0430drought.html>
WESTERN SENATORS SAY ADMINISTRATION IGNORES WATER ISSUES
Western senators said the Bush budget lacks money for new water projects and reasonable levels of operation for the existing ones. Deseret News; April 21 <http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595057683,00.html>
COLORADO RIVER NATION’S MOST ENDANGERED
The Colorado River is the nation’s most endangered, according to American Rivers’ annual ranking, which cited uranium tailings in Moab, septic tanks in Arizona and a missile-fuel plant in Nevada as main sources of pollution. Salt Lake Tribune; April 14 <http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04142004/utah/156967.asp> <http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2306> <http://www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcquality/4colorive5.html>
COLORADO MOUNTAIN TROUT FOUND TO CONTAIN MERCURY
Researchers have found higher-than-expected levels of mercury in trout in high-elevation lakes in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. Denver Rocky Mountain News; April 8 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2791698,00.html>
AGENCY WON’T LIST COLORADO CUTTHROAT AS ENDANGERED
Federal officials decided there’s too little biological evidence to justify listing the Colorado River cutthroat trout as an endangered species, rejecting a petition filed in 2000. The petition by conservationists, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Biodiversity Legal Foundation, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and others presented evidence that the species has sharply declined due to overfishing, degraded water quality from mining, grazing and logging and competition from non-native fish.Salt Lake Tribune; April 21 <http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04212004/utah/159214.asp>
STOCKING MINNOWS BUYS TIME
Fishery biologists released about 50,000 captive-bred silvery minnows into an 11-mile stretch of the Rio Grande last week. The Fish and Wildlife Service hopes its stocking and monitoring program will help answer questions about the fish’s habitat needs and behavior. Greenwire, 4/7
RECOVERING NEW MEXICO TROUT WILL BOOST LOCAL BUSINESSES, TOO
New Mexico’s Gila trout have been an endangered species for decades, and off-limits to fisherman; their recovery will be a boon to both conservation and local economies. Craig Springer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; April 6 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/040504Springer.html>
SANTA FE TO STAY THE COURSE ON WATER RESTRICTIONS
City Manager Jim Romero said restrictions limiting outdoor watering to three days a week will probably remain in effect for at least the next five years, despite optimistic water forecasts. Santa Fe New Mexican; April 16 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=43527>
SANTA FE PIPELINE PLAN DEVOID OF WATER
Northern farmers are worried they may lose their rural water rights after plans were unveiled to build a $23 million pipeline from Santa Fe to the Rio Grande, but neither the city nor the county have any existing rights to water to fill the pipeline. Santa Fe New Mexican; April 4 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=42891&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=6>
USUALLY DRY SANTA FE RIVER FLOWS AGAIN
The Santa Fe River began flowing through the middle of the city on Monday, a rare event brought on by recent heavy rains that filled an upstream reservoir and reason for optimism for water supplies. Santa Fe New Mexican; April 15 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=43461>
NEW MEXICO COURT SAYS NO ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO WATER
The state Supreme Court’s ruling tells developers that just because they build it doesn’t mean water rights will flow to it. Santa Fe New Mexican; April 9 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=14771>
SANTA FE CITY, COUNTY OFFICIALS SIT DOWN FOR FIRST WATER TALKS Santa Fe County and Santa Fe city officials met for the first time to discuss renewing and expanding water agreements slated to end shortly, but they immediately turned negotiations over to a committee that meets in secret. 4/13 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=43340> <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=26&SubSectionID=142&ArticleID=44073>
UTAH’S LAKE POWELL 117 FEET BELOW FULL
Lake Powell is at 42 percent capacity, the lowest it’s been since the reservoir first began filling in 1970 and the result of the driest five-year period since record-keeping began. Deseret News; 4/13 <http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595055710,00.html>
RECOVER GOALS CHALLENGED
Conservation groups are going to court to jump-start recovery efforts for the humpback chub, says the Arizona Daily Star 4/5. The Grand Canyon Trust, represented by Earthjustice, contend that a 2002 plan’s recovery goal of 2,100 fish in the canyon is “too low” and that “politics not science, have driven the plans and recovery goals for these fish.” The lawsuit seeks new recovery goals that include restoring more natural flows, better control of non-native fish, and efforts to restore beaches, backwaters and warmer river water more suitable for chub spawning.
LIVING RIVERS DEMANDS MANAGEMENT STUDY
A coalition of conservation, social justice and recreation groups from Alaska to Florida are calling for the Bush administration to prepare an environmental impact statement on Glen Canyon Dam’s impact on endangered fish in the Grand Canyon, says Living Rivers 4/8. The groups charge that eight years of tinkering with flows from Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River and $80 million in fish recovery efforts have failed to stop the extirpation of the razorback sucker in the canyon nor have these efforts slowed the decline of the humpback chub.
WETLANDS REFUGE SAVED IN NORTHERN UTAH
About 800 acres of marshlands were restored in the 5,200-acre Salt Creek Waterfowl Management Area, the last Utah stop for migratory birds on their trip north in the spring and first on their trip south in the winter. Salt Lake Tribune; April 23 <http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04232004/utah/159897.asp>
FLOW RAISED TO PROMOTE SPAWN
Flows in Utah’s Provo River have been raised to try and get the endangered June sucker to spawn says the Salt Lake Tribune 4/23. Since 1994, over 7,000 hatchery reared suckers have been released into Utah Lake, “but few or no adult offspring have survived” and experts estimate that only 450 adult wild June suckers survive. For the last 10 years, the recovery program has purchased nearly 7 billion gallons of water for the release designed to “simulate the way a nondammed river would spike in water flow following the annual spring runoff” and provide a “nursery flow that will allow the spawn to hatch and get to the lake.”
NEW BUSINESSES SPRING UP TO TREAT WYOMING MINE WATER
Water resource specialists are creating new ways to treat the high-alkaline discharge water from the state’s coalbed methane mines in the Powder River Basin; estimates are that 7.5 trillion gallons of water will be released over the life of the coalbed. Casper Star-Tribune; April 4 <http://www.casperstartribune.net/news/wyoming/e48ddfeea965cec287256e6b008034ed.txt>
CBM COMPANIES HOPE FOR TAX BREAKS FOR WATER TREATMENT
There is no legislation to give coalbed methane producers a tax break for money spent treating millions of gallons of water produced during drilling, but industry officials say a tax break would make costly treatments more attractive. Casper Star Tribune; 4/30 <http://www.casperstartribune.net/news/wyoming/1a994f3f17fc5e1a87256e860005fedf.txt>
NEBRASKA MAKES A COMPACT CALL ON WYOMING
Wyoming irrigators will have to yield their water rights on the North Platte River to downstream users in Nebraska. The call is arising on the N. Platte between Guernsey and Pathfinder reservoirs, curtailing water rights junior to Dec. 6, 1904 from storing or diverting upstream. Denver Post, 4/4
OFFICIAL SAYS ARIZONA GOVERNOR IGNORING WATER CRISIS
The head of the state’s largest water supplier said Gov. Janet Napolitano should be pushing the federal government to restart a desalting plant near Yuma which would save the state about 32 billion gallons of water a year. Arizona Republic; April 2 <http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0402waterfight02.html>
WATER AGENCIES FILE CLAIM AGAINST U.S.
Two California water agencies are seeking $500 million for a decade’s worth of water that they say the federal government failed to deliver. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-27/s_23202.asp>
AGENCY TO INCLUDE HATCHERY SALMON IN ENDANGERED SPECIES COUNTS
When considering what measures to take to protect threatened Pacific salmon under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government will, in a sharp break from years of policy, take into account the number of hatchery salmon in the West’s rivers. The decision, contained in a draft document and confirmed by federal officials, is expected to inform policy as early as this summer. The controversy over whether hatchery salmon are a legitimate substitute for wild salmon, sparked by a 2001 court ruling that the Bush administration failed to appeal, draws an unusually sharp line between science and politics. On the science side: Six leading experts on salmon ecology wrote an article last month in the journal Science arguing that hatchery fish should not be counted, and contending that their recommendations had been suppressed by federal officials. On the politics side: Some groups that have supported the Bush administration — including utilities, timber companies, agriculture interests, and developers — don’t much like strict salmon-protection rules. New York Times; April 6 <http://www.idahostatesman.com/News/story.asp?ID=64961> <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/06/science/06SALM.html?pagewanted=print&position=> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51480-2004Apr28.html>
HATCHERY REFORM PLAN OUT
State, federal and tribal officials have released “more than 1,000 recommendations for reforming Washington’s salmon hatchery system – the world’s largest,” says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer 4/24. The report, the product of “four years and $28 million worth of work,” concludes that “it’s possible to revamp how some hatcheries are run and close others so people can keep raising and eating hatchery-bred salmon without seeing them overwhelm protected wild runs.” Under the plan, hatcheries would either “crank out fish for people to eat” or “help the wild fish” and the fish hatched in the former would be kept “as separate as possible from wild runs” to keep them from interbreeding and competing for food and habitat.
BULL TROUT PROTECTION PEGGED AT $230 MILLION-PLUS
The cost of protecting endangered bull trout in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington would be $230 million to $300 million, according to a Missoula firm’s study that said many of the costs are already being incurred in efforts to protect salmon. Billings Gazette (AP); April 6 <http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/04/06/build/state/50-bull-trout-cost.inc>
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS IGNORES BENEFITS
Conservation groups that sued to have threatened bull trout in Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon protected and critical habitat designated are critical of a Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) economic analysis which projects the cost of habitat protection at $230 to $300 million over the next decade says the Missoulian 4/6. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Wild Swan maintain the report is “not a legitimate economic analysis” because it only lists costs and not the potential benefits, “You can’t ignore the benefits of recovering bull trout; it skews the whole analysis.” The FWS responds that the ESA requires them to look only at costs but acknowledges that “bringing back bull trout to healthy numbers would most assuredly benefit local economies.”
AGENCY CUT OUT BENEFITS OF SAVING BULL TROUT
Federal officials deleted portions of an economic analysis on bull trout recovery that showed $215 million in benefits from preserving the species, a decision officials would only say was made in Washington. Missoulian; April 15 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/miss.troutbenefits.html>
IDAHO OFFICIALS PUSH REVIEW OF INCOMPLETE SAFEGUARDS FOR BULL TROUT
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will review protections for endangered bull trout, even before all those protections have been put in place, at the request of Idaho’s governor and congressional delegation. Twin Falls Times News; April 14 <http://www.magicvalley.com/news/localstate/index.asp?StoryID=9351>
MONTANA WANTS TO FIX LONG-STANDING ‘ERROR’ THAT SENDS WATER TO CANADA
Montana Gov. Judy Martz said she wants to correct a 1921 agreement that has allowed Canadian farmers to take 90,000 extra acre-feet of water from two rivers that flow east out of Glacier National Park. Billings Gazette; April 7 <http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/04/07/build/state/25-canada-water.inc>
MONTANA RANCHERS SIGN NOVEL WATER DEAL FOR BLACKFOOT RIVER
One landowner on the North Fork of Montana’s Blackfoot River has agreed to lease water rights to Trout Unlimited to keep the river from running dry, the first of what conservationists hope will be a series of deals under a 1995 law. Missoulian; April 28 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/miss.blackfootwater.html>
LANDMARK DEAL REPORTED CLOSER IN IDAHO TRIBE’S CLAIM TO SNAKE RIVER WATER
The Nez Perce Tribe, state and federal officials and irrigators have reportedly reached the basis for an agreement on the tribe’s claim to nearly all the water in the Snake River, in what could prove a turning point in policies affecting salmon, power, dams and irrigation. Twin Falls Times News; April 22 <http://www.magicvalley.com/news/localstate/index.asp?StoryID=9466>
IDAHO RIVER SUCKED NEARLY DRY
A mistake by eastern Idaho irrigators cut the flow in Idaho’s Snake River to nearly nothing early last month, and state officials said it’s impossible to gauge the damage to fish. About 150 large and small canals took water from the river between Palisades Reservoir and American Falls, downstream of Blackfoot. The Bureau of Reclamation has “downplayed the incident” that exposed most of the river bottom for several hours along a 14 mile stretch, calling it a “mistake.” Birds gorged on the “exposed smorgasbord” so there were “no carcasses left to help estimate the deaths” of imperiled fish. Casper Star-Tribune (AP); April 22 <http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/04/22/news/wyoming/638ee2439a9ebcf987256e7d007c9e86.txt>
IDAHO BIOLOGISTS HOPE DAM RELEASE WILL HELP RESTORE NATIVE SNAKE RIVER TROUT
Fish biologists plan to ramp up releases from eastern Idaho’s Palisades Dam to scour rainbow trout eggs from the Snake River and help keep native cutthroat trout off the endangered list. Idaho Falls Post Register; April 27 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/pr.palisadestrout.html>
BPA PLAN WOULD USE WATER FOR POWER INSTEAD OF SALMON, AT IDAHO’S EXPENSE
A federal plan to cut back water releases for salmon to generate more power reneges on commitments to save the species and help Idaho recover an industry worth millions. Idaho Statesman; April 8 <http://www.idahostatesman.com/Opinion/story.asp?ID=64929>
TRIBES READY LAWSUIT OVER SALMON SPILLS
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation announced that they will go to court “to prevent fish agencies from curtailing spill operations at federal dams in July and August,” says the Tri-City Herald 4/21. The tribe contends that plans to reduce spills needed to help young salmon migrate down streams just to increase power generation would harm fish listed under the ESA. While the agencies claim that “only a handful” of protected fish would be killed, the tribe estimates “the death toll could be five to 800 listed fish out of 30,000 to 140,000 total” and dispute that new mitigation measures will reduce fish mortality “as much as advertised.” <http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/15654.aspx>
SALMON HARVEST CUT
The Pacific Management Council has cut commercial fishing quotas for chinook salmon to meet obligations to “prevent overfishing of Snake River fall chinook, a stock listed as threatened under the ESA,” says the Oregonian 4/11. Commercial, tribal and recreational fishing groups contend that “regulators are indirectly forcing them to pay for the destructive effects of dams in the Columbia River” and singled out plans by the Bonneville Power Administration to “reduce water releases over dam spillways, a measure typically used to improve salmon survival.”
LOW WATER KEEPS IDAHO POWER RATES FROM DROPPING
Idaho Power customers won’t see their power rates fall over the summer, when power rates typically drop, as the company uses power from its hydroelectric dams. Idaho Statesman; April 16 <http://www.idahostatesman.com/story.asp?ID=65535>
FEDERAL LAW, IDAHO FARMERS HELP PUSH SALMON DOWN DRYING RIVER
Farmers in Idaho’s Lemhi Valley are turning off their irrigation pumps during the worst drought in 50 years to help flush salmon smolts downstream. Idaho Statesman; April 20 <http://www.idahostatesman.com/News/story.asp?ID=65833>
GRAVEL MINE ITP ISSUED
A proposed gravel mine on the East Fork of the Lewis River in Washington, habitat for threatened salmon and steelhead, has received an incidental take permit (ITP) to begin operation “without risk of violating the ESA,” says the Columbian 4/19. The associated Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) is “the first in the Northwest covering gravel mining near a stream that harbors federally protected fish,” and the 18 mitigation measures in the plan include controlling wash water to reduce the discharge of turbid water, planting conifers and hardwoods on the floodplain, recontouring existing ponds and restoring a small East Fork tributary.
ENDANGERED STURGEON TO GET MORE HABITAT IN MISSOURI RIVER
The Army Corps of Engineers is breaching dikes in the Missouri River to create 1,200 acres of habitat for endangered pallid sturgeon. The restoration is a substitute for managing the river to mimic the seasonal rise and flow that biologists contend is needed to save the species and according to the Corps will allow them to maintain summer water levels needed for barge traffic. Once complete, “stocks of farm-raised sturgeon will be used to replenish populations throughout the river system in the hopes they will reproduce naturally.” Helena Independent Record (AP); April 15 <http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/04/15/montana/a05041504_01.txt>
STURGEON HATCHERY TO EXPAND
A South Dakota fish hatchery, which is the lead recovery station for sturgeon propagation, has been so successful at spawning the endangered fish that they are expanding says the Grand Forks Herald, AP 4/19. The hatchery was established in 1991 “to breed wild pallid sturgeon, study their behavior and rear the young until they were able to be released into the wild.” The pallid sturgeon “essentially had its natural spawning habitat destroyed when the Missouri River dams were built” and although the many of the young fish released in the wild have “done well,” natural reproduction is still nearly nonexistent due to the lack of suitable breeding habitat and management of the river by the Army Corps of Engineers.
HIGH COURT DECLINES TO ENTER MISSOURI FRAY
The Supreme Court has declined to review an appeals court decision that gives flood control and barge traffic on the Missouri River priority over recreation, fish and other wildlife says the Aberdeen News, AP 4/19. Environmentalists and up river states called the decision a “minor setback” and said other pending “litigation is going forward full-steam ahead” and that “the fight isn’t over.” North Dakota has intervened on the side of American Rivers and other environmental groups which charges that Army Corps of Engineers’ management of the river “violates the ESA by depriving two rare shore birds and pallid sturgeon of the habitat they need to survive.”
DEVELOPERS, ENVIROS ATTEMPT TO SETTLE FLA. ALLOCATION DISPUTE
Environmental groups and developers are trying to stitch together a last-minute compromise on a policy that would allow water managers to set aside water for environmental protection and wetland restoration. The proposed policy could dictate both the long-term progress of the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration project and a process for development in one of the country’s fastest growing states. Greenwire, 4/15
BUSH CHANGES ADMINISTRATION POLICY TO ‘NET GAIN’ OF RESOURCE
President Bush changed his administration’s position on wetlands, reversing a “no net loss” policy adopted by his father to one calling for a 3-million-acre net increase in wetlands in 5 years. The goal is reasonable, administration officials said, partly because federal data showing an increase in wetlands formerly used for growing crops and other farming activities. Enviros, though, knocked the plan as nothing more than a bundle of already-existing voluntary programs. Critics pointed out that in January 2003, the administration issued a directive to the U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to limit the kinds of wetlands and waterways protected under the act, which could result in some 20 million fewer protected acres. The administration has also weakened the environmental standards for permits to fill wetlands, and repealed the requirement that every acre of wetlands filled or destroyed be replaced. <http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2356>
CORPS PRESSES AHEAD WITH CONTROVERSIAL MISSISSIPPI DELTA FLOOD-CONTROL PROJECTS
The Army Corps of Engineers is moving forward with a controversial plan for two flood-control projects in the Mississippi Delta that would drain tens of thousands of acres of flood-prone wetlands and dredge more than 100 miles of river bottom in an effort to boost agricultural production, remove contaminated soil and protect about 1,500 homes from flooding. Greenwire, 4/22
HOMEOWNERS WARM TO TANKLESS WATER HEATERS
Americans love their hot water. Lots of it. And while tankless water heaters deliver unquenchable supplies of on-demand hot water, many homeowners are warming to other benefits of these appliances: big energy and water savings. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-13/s_22726.asp>
U.K. REPORT WARNS OF RISING FLOOD DANGERS AND COSTS
The U.K. government marked Earth Day with characteristic British cheer, releasing a report warning that much of the country is going to experience flooding in coming decades. According to an expert government panel, the cost of physical and psychological damage from floods in the U.K. is likely to rise from $1.8 billion a year now to some $35.5 billion a year over the next century, thanks to climate change. Lest optimistic enviros be allowed some hope, the report points out that even if substantial international efforts are made to curtail greenhouse-gas emissions, the costs will still double. The report recommends a range of immediate bad-TV-movie-sounding precautions, from relocating oil refineries inland to abandoning parts of some urban areas to create flood channels. Potential flood-related problems include waterborne pollution, destroyed sewer mains, psychological stress, and, uh, lots of things that used to be above water being under water. <http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2346>
AMAZON DROUGHT CAN BE MEASURED FROM SPACE, SAYS STUDY
Satellites can accurately tell scientists about the effects of drought on the ground, which in turn can help them further understand and predict climate change, researchers reported Monday. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-06/s_22516.asp>
PERU TO RATION WATER IN LIMA FROM MAY TO DECEMBER
Peru’s state water company Sedapal will halt overnight water flow in Lima and the Callao port area until the end of the year because of a drought in the Andes. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-30/s_23337.asp>
INSTITUTE WARNS OF WATER SHORTAGE IF FOOD PRODUCTION PRACTICES ARE NOT CHANGED
A recently released report warned that if more is not done to reduce the amount of water used to produce food, the effort to reduce the number of the world’s malnourished people would be jeopardized. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-21/s_23025.asp>
AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE MEET AT NIGER RIVER BASIN CONFERENCE
African leaders gathered in Paris on Monday for a conference on the receding waters of the Niger River, the continent’s third-longest river and a lifeline that sustains 100 million people. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-27/s_23198.asp>
CLOUD SEEDING TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING APPROVED FOR AUSTRALIAN SKI REGION
Cloud seeding is going to be used to keep Australia’s Snowy Mountains true to their name: snowy. The New South Wales government said Thursday it’s the best way to reverse decades of declining snowfall because of global warming. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-09/s_22647.asp>
WATER TROUBLES CAUSE MEXICO CITY TO SINK
– Mexico City is sinking — in some areas, by as much as a foot a year, and altogether by about 30 feet over the past century. The sprawling, smoggy metropolis — more than double the size of greater London — has been depleting the aquifer on which it was built, and that aquifer is now collapsing. To meet current demand for 10.5 million gallons of water a day, the city pumps water from two nearby river basins at a cost of some $50,000 a day for water rights alone. The sinking city also puts massive stress on the network of water distribution and drainage systems that spiderweb beneath it, which routinely crack, leading to a loss of around 40 percent of potable water. The city must also now pump its sewage uphill before it can be drained into the Gulf of Mexico. The smog-shrouded city’s water troubles are a sign of things to come for the world’s metastasizing megacities. According to UNESCO, 7 billion people from 60 countries could face water shortages by 2050. <http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=516630>
CHINA’S PRIME MINISTER UNEXPECTEDLY SUSPENDS DAM PROJECT
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has suspended — pending further study and review — the massive hydroelectric dam system planned for the Nu River, which runs through an unspoiled, richly biodiverse area in western China dubbed a World Heritage Site by the U.N. The dam was opposed by China’s nascent environmental movement, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the State Environmental Protection Agency, but few observers held out much hope that the project could be stopped. Wen’s move seemed to signal a new concern for environmental protection on the part of the Communist government. In a written order, Wen said, “We should carefully consider and make a scientific decision about major hydroelectric projects like this that have aroused a high level of concern in society, and with which the environmental protection side disagrees.” Chinese enviros and scientists were shocked and pleased. Said professor and dam opponent He Daming, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like this ever happening before.” <http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2283> <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-14/s_22733.asp>
MEKONG DAMS COULD WIPE OUT SOME OF LAST HEALTHY INLAND FISHERIES
Across the world, thirst for cheap electricity from hydroelectric dams has strained inland fisheries, and now one of the world’s last relatively wild rivers faces the same fate. The Mekong River flows some 2,800 miles from the Tibetan ice fields, through the mountains of southern China, and over the floodplains of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, where its highly seasonal flows deposit rich sediment and a bounty of wild fish. Poverty-stricken residents of Cambodia are dependent on wild protein, and if they lose that source of sustenance, their alternative is “working all hours in a textiles factory in Phnom Penh,” says Chris Barlow of the Mekong River Commission. But two massive dams built on the river in energy-hungry China are already draining the fisheries, two more are under construction, and at least four more are planned. Barlow laments the shortsighted policy, saying “a dam has a short life; 30 years or less. Even when the dam is dismantled, the fishery may never come back.” <http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2343>
SUPREME COURT DENIES PETITIONS TO HEAR ‘DRAINAGE DITCH’ CASES
The Supreme Court rejected a petition by landowners to hear three controversial cases in which separate appeals courts affirmed the authority of the Army Corps of Engineers to regulate discharges of soil to drainage ditches. The decision lowered the spirits of landowner advocates who hoped to overturn lower court decisions on the issue and drew praise from environmental groups. Greenwire, 4/5 <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-06/s_22524.asp>
CALIFORNIA LAW THREATENS WATERSHED RESTORATION PROJECTS
An obscure California law may threaten watershed restoration efforts across the state. At issue are the use of volunteers — a common practice by watershed-restoration groups perpetually strapped for cash — and a 2001 law mandating that all workers on public-works projects be paid the prevailing market wage for their work. Last year, a labor union complained when one of its members saw volunteers operating heavy machinery, and the state Department of Industrial Relations ordered a local environmental group to pay $50,000 in fines and back wages (the group is appealing). The law, which expanded the definition of a public-works project in such a way that it included watershed restoration efforts, was written by state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D), who said through a spokesperson that he never intended to curtail volunteer work. Enviros hope that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) will overturn the department’s position; state Assemblyperson Loni Hancock (D) has also introduced legislation that would explicitly exempt environmental restoration projects from the law, though it likely wouldn’t go into effect until next year. <http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2260>
TIGHTER RULES FOR RIVER POLLUTION COULD CURB GROWTH IN NORTH IDAHO
A limit to north Idaho’s double-digit growth may come in the form of water, not a scarcity, but the inability of the Spokane River to dilute much more septic tank effluent, industrial discharge or farm runoff. Spokane Spokesman-Review; April 14 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=14845>
HONG KONG-BOUND CHINESE WATER HEAVILY POLLUTED, SAYS GREENPEACE
Greenpeace said Thursday that Chinese drinking water bound for Hong Kong contains a large amount of harmful chemicals, but the Hong Kong government insisted the water was safe. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-09/s_22646.asp>
WORLD LAGS ON CLEAN WATER GOALS DESPITE BENEFITS
The world is falling behind on U.N. goals for access to clean water and sanitation even though the benefits in better health and faster growth would dwarf the huge costs, the head of a U.N. commission said. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-14/s_22786.asp>
