Category: Water

The world’s fresh water supplies are almost fully exploited.Almost al, 97 per cent, of the world’s water is salt. Of the fresh water in the world, two thirds is locked up as ice and snow (the cryosphere – to you and me, kid!). Globally, three quarters of the water that is used is used by agriculture. India, China and the United States, use more fresh water than is available. The water level in those nation’s aquifers is falling as a result.The current food crisis has come about largely as a result as the shortfall in available water begins to impact on the cost of irrigation. 

Mangrove forests hit by coastal developments

admin /12 April, 2010

Ecologist

9th April, 2010

Increasing threats to mangrove species are a symptom of the widespread destruction and exploitation of forest habitats, say campaigners

The widespread destruction of mangrove forests due to logging and coastal development projects has been revealed by a pioneering global assessment.

According to an analysis by the Global Marine Species Assessment Unit (GMSA), more than one in six mangrove species are threatened with extinction.

U.S, Has (almost) 100.000 Grid-tied PV Systems

admin /17 February, 2010

Posted on February 14, 2010

U.S. Has (Almost?) 100,000 Grid-Tied PV Systems – Happy Valentines Day!*

I am a self-confessed data junky when it comes to PV installations. And my favorite metric for following a PV market is the number of installations, rather than the capacity of MW installed. Perhaps I favor distributed generation over centralized, or maybe it seems like the more systems installed, the more jobs created.

Our country is now, very likely, hosting more than 100,000 grid-tied PV systems. Quite a milestone.*(see comments below). The last data milestone this exciting was when we hit our first cumulative Gigawatt of grid-tied PV capacity, sometime last year. That went mostly unreported, but based on Larry Sherwood’s “Annual Trends” report we may reach the 1GW per year milestone in 2010. In any case, we are now past our first “onesies.” One Gigawatt, and One-Hundred-Thousand distributed systems.

Water crisis in west as Lachan River runs dry

admin /24 October, 2009

Water crisis in west as Lachlan River runs dry

MARIAN WILKINSON AND BEN CUBBY

October 24, 2009

THOUSANDS of households in western NSW are facing an unprecedented water crisis and the State Government is stepping up plans to help truck water to several towns, while others will be restricted to using water only for critical human needs.

The Lachlan River is expected to cease flowing west of Condobolin within weeks after the decision was taken yesterday to at least halve water flows from the region’s biggest dam, Wyangala, on November 1.

Adelaide latest victim of global water shortages

admin /29 September, 2009

Adelaide latest victim of global water shortages

Australia’s fifth-largest city could be reliant on bottled water as early as next week as overuse and drought stretch the Murray River to its limits

Murray River

Lake Hume, part of the Murray River system in Australia, has been devastated by drought. Photograph: Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images

The water in Australia‘s biggest river is running so low and is so salty that the nation’s fifth-largest city, Adelaide, is at risk of having to ship water in to its residents, politicians have warned.

Adelaide’s water crisis follows similar problems in cities around the world, as the combination of growing population, increasing agricultural use and global warming stretches resources to the limit. Experts are warning of permanent drought in many regions.

Salinity levels in some stretches of the Murray River already exceed the World Health Organisation‘s recommendations for safe drinking, and South Australia’s water authority and 11 rural townships east of Adelaide have been told to prepare for the worst.

SA towns to get water the Murray can’t buy

admin /18 September, 2009

PETER KER – The Land
WATER put on sale to restore environmental health in the Murray River will now be consumed in towns and cities, after South Australia seized on the popularity of a scheme for farmers to sell their water rights.

SA Water Minister Karlene Maywald announced plans yesterday to buy more than 11 billion litres of water that SA irrigators originally tried to sell to the Commonwealth to aid the Murray.

The Commonwealth recently rejected attempts by some irrigators to sell water back to the Murray, because the current round of their $3.1 billion buyback scheme was over-subscribed.

 

Decision opens door for legal action on Lithgow river

admin /11 September, 2009

By BEN CUBBY
A LANDMARK court decision yesterday cleared the way for an environment group to pursue a power company for allegedly allowing toxic water to spill into the Sydney Water catchment near Lithgow.

The Blue Mountains Conservation Society was granted the right to have its court costs capped, allowing it to go ahead with a case against Delta Electricity, the operator of Wallerawang coal-fired power station. Delta Electricity obtained a two-week adjournment to consider whether to appeal the judgment.

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