Water Rights and Information

Colorado

Nestle water plan approved
Last week, Nestle received approval to tap mountain spring water and haul it to Denver for bottling and distribution under its Arrowhead label. The approval came from a unanimous board of Chaffee County Commissioners, following months of deliberations and lengthy hearings. Chaffee County, with about 15,000 residents, sits along the Arkansas River in central Colorado. Nestle plans to take about 125 gallons a minute from one or two wells that will tap the same aquifer that supplies the springs. The water will be piped four miles to a loading terminal at the Johnson Village truck stop (the intersection of U.S. 24 and U.S. 285 at the foot of Trout Creek Pass), then loaded into tankers (about 25 per day) and trucked 120 miles to Denver. High Country News; 8/24/09

Higher ed channels funds from water managers
Colorado water managers have to deal with complex laws, a booming population and a host of other worries. Now, they have to help figure out how to pay for public colleges, too. That was the message a senior lawmaker and the head of the state's natural resources department delivered at the Colorado Water Congress' summer convention. State lawmakers have turned to savings accounts for dams, canals and pipelines in order to cope with a budget crisis that's entering its third year. In the past two years, the Legislature has taken $107 million out of the water accounts, said Harris Sherman, director of the Department of Natural Resources. Sherman's department recently issued a report that predicted a doubling of the population to 10 million people by 2050. Sherman thinks most Coloradans don't understand how expensive it will be to provide water for everyone. Cortez Journal; 8/22/09

Slow water frustrates officials
A Republican candidate for governor chided Colorado leaders for moving too slowly on building new water projects Friday. "There is a real need in the here and now to address these issues. There is an urgency," said Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction. Penry's remarks to the Colorado Water Congress come at a time when many Front Range members of that organization are voicing their frustration at the slow progress toward an agreement to get more Western Slope water. Penry's message puts the Grand Junction senator at odds with some Western Slope water managers, who want to delay major new projects until they know they will have enough water for their own population as well as recreation and the environment. Cortez Journal; 8/22/09

State faces thirsty future
Ten million people will live in Colorado by 2050, putting strains on the water supply that can only be met by taking water from agriculture and building new pipelines from the Western Slope to the Front Range, according to new government reports. Reports from the Interbasin Compact Committee predict a doubling of the statewide population, with most of the growth happening on the Front Range. But the population of Southwest Colorado will grow at least that fast, to between 202,000 and 260,000, up from about 100,000 today. All those new Coloradans will need water, and the reports predict a shortfall for cities and industry of 320,000 to 1.4 million acre-feet by 2050. The oil shale industry, if it exists, could take half a million acre-feet. An acre-foot is enough for one or two suburban families for a year. Cortez Journal; 8/8/09

Fort Collins requests “alternatives analysis” for the Windy Gap Firming Project
At the August 11, 2009 Council work session, multiple Fort Collins City Councilmembers requested that the City do an "alternatives analysis" to see if the Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) can find other sources of water rather than participating in the Windy Gap Firming Project. Fort Collins owns 49% of PRPA, and PRPA is the second largest participant in the Windy Gap Firming Project. PRPA proposes to use the water to cool its coal-fired "Rawhide Station" power plant. The capital cost for the Windy Gap Firming Project is predicted to be at least $272 million of which PRPA will pay at least $38 million. Colorado Environmental Coalition; 8/11/09

Water funding flows in to Colorado
The little Adams County water district that had birds in the storage tank and rupturing lines will be getting some help from the economic-stimulus bill. So will Hot Sulphur Springs, the Grand County town where everyone had to boil their water for months last year. Pueblo will get an interest-free loan to power its wastewater plant with solar energy. And in El Paso and Fremont counties, failing septic systems will be eliminated from neighborhoods where 3,200 people live. Those are among the 31 drinking-water and wastewater projects in Colorado that will get interest-free loans and reimbursements from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Gov. Bill Ritter announced Wednesday. Denver Post; 8/27/09

Xcel, Denver Water join with NAIOP Colorado on conservation initiative
Denver Water and Xcel Energy Inc. have teamed up with industry group NAIOP Colorado to promote energy and water conservation in commercial buildings. The three organizations have launched a new program toward those ends called ResourceSmart Colorado, they said Tuesday. In metro Denver alone, Denver Water’s commercial customers use more than 14.7 billion gallons of water a year. That’s enough water to pour one foot of water on 45,000 football fields. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter called the partnership “unprecedented,” and a way to boost Colorado’s economy by helping businesses save on utility costs. Denver Business Journal; 8/11/09

How to increase yield from the Fryingpan-Arkansas project?
The Fryingpan-Arkansas Project was designed to bring much more water into the Arkansas River basin, so it’s time to find out if, and how, that could happen. “There is a 14,400-acre-foot gap,” Executive Director Jim Broderick told the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District board last week. “How do we lower that gap?” The gap represents the difference in the water that potentially could be provided through the collection system in the Fryingpan River basin and what actually comes over. It would not be an expansion of the district’s existing water rights, Broderick said. His point is that cities and farmers in the nine counties covered by the district signed up for the project anticipating that 69,100 acre-feet per year would be delivered. Instead, only about 54,700 acre-feet have been delivered each year, for a variety of reasons. Pueblo Chieftain; 8/30/09

Hundreds ‘blitz’ Rocky Mountain National Park to collect water
Hundreds of water samples were collected Wednesday when volunteers, researchers and rangers fanned out across the steep slopes on both sides of the Continental Divide as part of the second annual "WaterBlitz." Scientists at the University of Colorado will use information gleaned from the samples -- including pH, concentration of dissolved salts and loads of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous -- to better understand how the watershed is changing. "Lakes and streams here in the mountains, they literally change by the day," said Judy Visty, the park's research administrator, as she hiked to the lake with Knox on Wednesday. "Getting all the samples in one day allows for a comprehensive picture of the area, which is why we have so many people out here today." Colorado Daily; 8/20/09

Acid rock talk
The precious metals extracted from the millennia-old mountains that put Silverton, a town of 500, on the map and gave it a name aren't the only minerals whose presence still affects the craggy landscape. An all-day workshop Saturday, one of the Moving Mountain Education Seminar series sponsored by the Mountain Studies Institute here, brought together 20 people interested in talking about and seeing the consequences of acid-rock drainage - the leaching of minerals into waterways. In the last several million years, a wealth of subterranean minerals has accumulated in this region, which has been - among other things - an ocean basin and the scene of volcanic activity. Durango Herald; 8/6/09

EPA proposes new clean-up plan for Leadville
To outsiders, the amber hills of piled up mine waste, or tailings, that mark the countryside here are just part of the dramatic mountain scenery. But they’re the subject of a new round in a long conflict between historic preservationists and environmentalists. To some long-time Leadville residents and state preservationists, the tailings piles are a valuable part of a distinct local history, a symbol of the great gold and silver booms of the past. To the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, though, they are poison, the refuse of a century and more of industrial extraction that, despite decades spent on clean-up efforts, is still leaching heavy metals like zinc and cadmium into area water, putting the Arkansas River and downstream communities and wildlife at risk. Colorado Independent; 8/4/09

Colorado rain law wetting appetites
High in the San Juan Mountains, on a century-old mining claim dubbed "Last Chance," Chris Blatter plans to do something nobody has been able to do legally in Colorado's statehood. He plans to catch the rain. Blatter, an engineering consultant from Palisade, is the first person in Colorado to secure a permit for capturing and reusing rainwater, after the state legislature pried open the state's strict water law allowing some people to harvest rain. "It's foolish in Colorado that we have not been allowed to do that," Blatter said. "Think of it in these terms: I water my lawn with better quality drinking water than half the world has access to." Colorado water law holds that every raindrop that falls on the state is already claimed by a water-rights holder. Denver Post; 8/5/09

Water levels in Colorado declared healthy
The peaks and valleys of snowfall last winter left water experts in Colorado concerned about water availability for 2009, but thanks to a few late snowfalls and a cool, wet summer, Colorado’s water level is as good as any recent year. Mike Gillespie, the snow supervisor for the Natural Resources Conservation Ser­vice, said there were a couple of times in the 2008-09 winter that snowfall wasn’t living up to expectations. In the first months of the season, the snowfall was at or near the record minimum. Statewide, snowpack was 17 percent above the 30-year average last year. Steamboat Pilot; 8/21/09

Colorado landowners wary of effort to resume drilling
Ben and Melanie Bounds and other residents of Huerfano County in south-central Colorado blame natural gas drilling for the methane that has seeped into their wells and made them fear switching on lights in their homes. That's why they and their neighbors on the edge of the San Luis Valley are warily watching as Petroglyph Energy seeks state and federal approval to run tests to try to stop the methane leaks and eventually start drilling again. State regulators halted Petroglyph's operations in July 2007. A state order requires the Boise, Idaho-based company to monitor water wells, remove methane from water and find a way to keep the methane from migrating before starting to drill again. A hearing is set for Monday in Walsenburg, about 10 miles east of the Bounds' property, on Petroglyph's request for a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency to pump water and reinject it into wells. Aspen Times; 8/9/09

Going with the flow: Longmont, group looking into aquaponics
Marion Murphy is part of the “Grow Your Own Meal” project, which wants to help Longmont build an aquaponic greenhouse at the wastewater-treatment plant. An aquaponic system grows both fish and plants, using waste from the fish to fertilize its plants — which, in turn, helps keep the water clean for the fish. The 1,500-square-foot greenhouse would be powered by methane from the wastewater plant, and the food would be given to the OUR Center as a way of giving back to the community. It’s a small project, Murphy said, but could help inspire others. Longmont Times-Call; 8/31/09

Powertech’s request to modify uranium mining water quality measures raises concerns
If Powertech is allowed to open the Centennial Project uranium mine northeast of Fort Collins, a 2008 law requires the company to clean up the site and return the groundwater there to the condition it was in before mining begins. But in a move uranium-mine opponents fear might prove Powertech is trying to skirt around clean-water standards, the company Wednesday asked state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, or DRMS, officials to allow it to change original water-quality information for the mine site while uranium is being mined. Coloradoan; 8/23/09

Hartland Dam project progresses to design phase
Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) is funding the majority of the concept design phase with some financial support from Delta County. The project leader, Painted Sky Resource & Conservation Development Council, has hired Tetra Tech, an international engineering firm with an office in Breckenridge, to complete the preliminary design and cost estimate. The project has broad support across the Delta and Montrose region. Modifications to the Hartland Dam have been needed for years. Although the project has been discussed, funding has not materialized until now. Delta County Independent; 8/19/09

COGCC director: Unnecessary FRAC Act would spread staff too thin
When it comes to the safety of hydraulic fracturing– the “stimulating” of natural gas wells with high-pressure injections of water, sand and chemicals to free up more gas– Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission director David Neslin argues the state has it covered. Federal oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act, as proposed by Colo. U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette and Jared Polis in the FRAC Act, is not only redundant, Neslin said in a recent interview with the Colorado Independent, but it could force the state to divert staffing and resources from other environmental programs monitoring the oil and gas industry. DeGette earlier this summer said oil and gas production is the only extractive industry that is exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act and the FRAC Act is needed to remove that exemption, put in place in 2005 by the Bush administration, so groundwater supplies can be protected with uniform regulations nationwide. Colorado Independent; 8/12/09


Western U.S.

Who’s keeping Utah canals safe?
Glen Stringham tramps through a patch of waist-high weeds, stops at the hillside precipice and tilts back his dingy white cowboy hat for a better view of the valley below. "Well, who wouldn't want to live here?" he wonders aloud as he looks over the fertile narrow that runs between the hillside and the Blacksmith Fork River. "It's beautiful." But that beauty has a price. And for Stringham and other owners of the Millville Canal Co. that price is $97,000. That's the cost of sinking a 420-foot flood-preventing pipe into the side of the hill -- a construction project precipitated by a single home that has been built about 50 feet below. Stringham's company is upgrading the canal because its shareholders have decided it's the only way to ensure the safety of new homes below. Salt Lake Tribune; 8/2/09

Are North Fork oil leases hindering Montana’s transboundary argument?
During Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s Aug. 11 visit to the North Fork of the Flathead River, he heard from members of various local conservation groups about ways to discourage the development of coalmines and gas drilling in British Columbia, north of Glacier National Park. But when Dave Hadden of the Flathead Coalition spoke to Salazar, he wondered out loud whether there were measures the United States could take on its own territory to help the cause of preserving wildlife and water quality in the Flathead. “What can we do south of the border to secure further protection, to demonstrate to the Canadians that we’re doing what we say we want them to do?” Hadden asked Salazar, along with Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester. “There are proposals for Glacier National Park, there are dormant oil and gas leases in the North Fork, there are lands on the North Fork against the Canadian border that the Forest Service has recommended for Wilderness – these are the kinds of proactive things that we can do and assert our conservation vision for the watershed.” Flathead Beacon; 8/26/09

Cloud seeding creates rain Northern Nevada needs, Las Vegas wants
When Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy suggested the agency fund a shuttering Desert Research Institute cloud seeding program, it turned more than a few heads. The project is vital to a stable water supply in Northern Nevada, but what does it have to do with Southern Nevada? Well, not much — at least not right now. The cloud-seeding program provided precipitation to some of the rural ground water basins from which the authority wants to eventually pump water for Las Vegas. The authority has been involved in the institute’s cloud-seeding program for years — but not in Nevada. It has paid the research institute $121,000 over the past three years to conduct cloud-seeding research and spur precipitation in the mountains between Denver and Grand Junction, Colo. Las Vegas Sun; 8/31/09

Thirsty cities eye Wyoming water
A project once considered far-fetched — piping water from western Wyoming across the Continental Divide to Colorado's booming Front Range cities — is getting a renewed look. Colorado municipal water suppliers are in discussions with their Wyoming counterparts exploring the feasibility. Separately, a private entrepreneur's proposal to build a pipeline is under federal review. Colorado government officials — who have met with both contingents and are talking with Wyoming officials — recently included the "Flaming Gorge concept" among four options for diverting Western Slope water to the Front Range. Huge hurdles remain, including financing and Colorado's and Wyoming's obligations to downriver states under an interstate compact. Conservationists object to the potential environmental impact of withdrawing the water. Denver Post; 8/16/09

Researchers: shrinking Teton glaciers will affect Utah water
Glaciers on the iconic Teton Range are shrinking, researchers say, joining a growing list of glaciers in North America and beyond that are losing their surface area and potentially reducing the water supply for nearby regions. Two of the Tetons' biggest glaciers have lost more than 20 percent of their surface area since the late 1960s, three University of Wyoming researchers concluded after comparing old and new aerial photographs of the glaciers. The glaciers are a fairly substantial source of irrigation water, meaning the findings have wider implications than simply what the mountains look like to tourists by late summer. People in Wyoming and Idaho and to a lesser extent Utah use water from the glaciers. Salt Lake Tribune; 8/17/09

Water problems emerge in Kansas
Elevated concentrations of the popular weedkiller atrazine infiltrates public drinking water across Kansas in April, May and June when spraying of farm chemicals is greatest and rainfall the heaviest, a state regulatory official said Monday. "There are tests that show spikes in atrazine. Very few watersheds would not have agriculture," said Dave Waldo, chief of the public water supply section at Kansas Department of Health and Environment. He said seasonal atrazine surges in tap water wouldn't jeopardize human health. KDHE doesn't view atrazine as an "acute" health hazard that triggers alarms if surface water tests reveal short-term instances of higher contamination, Waldo said. Instead, KDHE focuses on lifetime exposure. Rainfall carries atrazine and other farm chemicals into streams, rivers, ponds and lakes tied to the drinking water supply. Topeka Capital-Journal; 8/25/09

Arizona’s precious water factor (Op-Ed piece)
To understand the future of water in Arizona, one must first understand its value. Anyone who wants to use water in Utah must obtain a permit from the State Engineer's Office, Utah's equivalent to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. In most Western states, regulators have routinely rubber-stamped requests for water permits without regard to whether there is actually water available. It's a foolish charade, of course, but it's a time-honored practice. Think of our water supply as a giant milkshake glass. And imagine each demand for water as a straw in the glass. Most American states allow a limitless number of straws in the single glass. It's an invitation to excessive water use that is utterly unsustainable. By squarely facing the problem of water scarcity, Utah offers a model for Arizona. Arizona Republic; 8/31/09

Bonneville Environmental Foundation unveils first-ever voluntary water restoration marketplace
In an effort to bring life back into U.S. rivers and streams that are critically dewatered, the nonprofit Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) announced the creation of the first and only national voluntary water restoration marketplace via BEF Water Restoration CertificatesTM (WRCs). "Americans use twice as much water as Europeans and almost forty times more than people in developing countries," said Margie Gardner, CEO of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. "At least 36 U.S. states anticipate water shortages by 2013. Clearly we need to think more deeply about how we use water. Through WRCs, BEF offers businesses and individuals an opportunity to take responsibility for their water consumption by restoring to nature an amount of water equal to what they use. Each WRC represents one thousand gallons of water restored to critically dewatered streams. Business Wire; 8/18/09

Pipeline receives go-ahead
At its meeting, the Southern Nevada Water Authority voted unanimously to continue work on a proposal to build a 285-mile, multibillion-dollar pipeline to ship groundwater from the Snake Valley to Las Vegas, and opponents of the project vowed to continue to fight the proposal. Board members listened to dire warnings from the water authority's management team and counterarguments from critics of the scheme, including rural residents whose land and livelihoods lie in the path of the project. Las Vegas Review Journal; 8/21/09

Great Salt Lake stands out — for mercury pollution
The Great Salt Lake is indeed the hottest of hot spots for mercury pollution. That's the "take-home message" from the U.S. Geological Survey's most extensive report to date on mercury pollution in the nation's freshwater streams, lakes and wetlands, says a Utah scientist. The national report, released this week, revealed that mercury pollution is so pervasive that every one of the 291 fish sampled nationwide was contaminated. The Great Salt Lake was not part of the study, because it is not a freshwater lake. But the new findings provide a useful tool for understanding just how contaminated the Great Salt Lake is. Salt Lake Tribune; 8/21/09

Members of Congress promise $390 million for Tahoe protection
When Congress resumes next month, Lake Tahoe's delegation will introduce legislation authorizing $390 million over the next eight years to fund environmental restoration efforts at the lake, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein promised during an annual summit Thursday. Officials Thursday also approved a management plan to control invading clams and other non-native species they said are posing a new and serious threat to Tahoe. Reno Gazette-Journal; 8/21/09


National

Bluenoses take note: Stimulus money allots millions for LUST
Given recent scandals in Washington, it might sound superfluous, but the stimulus law devotes $200 million to the federal LUST program. Spelled out in capital letters in bureaucratic reports, like the arrestingly titled “Guidance to Regions for Implementing the LUST Provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” the acronym can lend itself to amusing if sophomoric readings. LUST actually stands for Leaking Underground Storage Tank. The LUST program, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, provides money to clean up underground tanks that leak oil or other hazardous materials that threaten to contaminate the nation’s groundwater. New York Times; 7/31/09

Deep in the wilderness, power companies wade in
Small hydro plants like Youngs Creek in Washington are sprouting up across the country, with around 500 potential sites identified by a federal study in Washington state alone. Power managers are seeking ways to meet the growing demand for electricity without turning to sources like coal plants that are widely thought to contribute to global warming. In Colorado, Gov. Bill Ritter's energy office is working to get "10 to 15" small-hydro projects built out of about 200 potential sites federal officials have identified in the Rocky Mountain state, says Todd Hartman, a spokesman for the office. The sites the governor's office is pushing would use existing infrastructure like dams or irrigation ditches, and so wouldn't entail as much stream disruption as other places, Mr. Hartman says. Wall Street Journal; 8/21/09

Senate Committee approves CWA restoration act
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has reported a controversial bill to restore environmental protections for wetlands, streams, lakes and drinking water sources that were eroded by 2001 and 2006 Supreme Court decisions. The committee passed the Clean Water Restoration Act in a 12-7 party-line vote. President Barack Obama has signaled he would sign the bill if Congress passes it. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), a member of the environment committee, voted against the bill and indicated he would try to filibuster it on the Senate floor. The Natural Resources Defense Council supported the bill. “Because of the Supreme Court’s decisions, government officials had declared thousands of bodies of waters – including lakes, streams, and wetlands – outside the purview of the CWA.” Waterworld; 8/3/09

Groups seek mining ban across Bristol Bay watershed
A coalition of sportsmen groups, businesses and conservation groups petitioned the Interior Department to ban mining in the Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska, where some of the world's most productive salmon streams run and where the controversial gold and copper Pebble mine is proposed on state lands. The groups on Wednesday sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, asking him to reject a plan from the final months of the Bush administration that, among other things, would open roughly 1 million acres in the Bristol Bay region to potential mining and oil and gas leasing. Anchorage Daily News; 8/26/09

Judge rebuffs Obama administration on mining rule
A federal judge on Wednesday rebuffed the Obama administration's attempt to reverse a last-minute Bush-era rule that allows surface mine waste to be dumped near streams. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wanted the rule vacated, saying in April the regulation approved the month President George W. Bush left office "failed to pass the smell test." Salazar wanted to return to a 1983 regulation that kept coal companies 100 feet from streams unless they can prove mining won't harm water quality or quantity. But U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. in Washington wrote in his ruling that granting Salazar's request would be tantamount to changing a federal regulation without public input. The Interior Department said it is reviewing the decision. Wtop.com; 8/12/09

How many people per AF?
One of the most widely used measures of water is the acre-foot (AF), i.e., enough water to cover one acre (0.4ha) on foot (30cm) deep. An acre-foot contains 325,851 gallons (1,234 m^3) of water. That's a lot of water. So much, in fact, that water managers, reporters, et al. try to translate the figure into something easier to grasp. Equivalents in bathtubs, swimming pools, etc., are vague measures that mean different things to different people ("my pool is bigger than your pool"), but the worst equivalent is "the amount of water the average family uses in a year." Why? Because use varies all over the place (does the family have a yard? live in Arizona? etc.) and various groups like to inflate/deflate the "number of families served" according to their agenda. Aguanomics; 8/18/09

Our water supply, down the drain (Op-Ed piece)
In the United States, we constantly fret about running out of oil. But we should be paying more attention to another limited natural resource: water. A water crisis is threatening many parts of the country -- not just the arid West. In 2008, metro Atlanta (home to nearly 5 million people) came within 90 days of seeing its principal water supply, Lake Lanier, dry up. In Florida, excessive groundwater pumping has dried up scores of lakes. In South Carolina, a paper company recently furloughed hundreds of workers because low river flows prevented the company from discharging its wastewater. Droughts make matters worse, but the real problem isn't shrinking water levels. It's population growth. Since California's last major drought ended in 1992, the state's population has surged by a staggering 7 million people. Washington Post; 8/23/09

Water quantity issues rising on the conservation agenda
Water quality has long been the focus for conservation efforts in Minnesota, but a string of drier-than-normal summers is pushing water quantity issues to the forefront as well. The Minnesota River Board took them on in Redwood Falls on July 27, when speakers addressed water quantity issues ranging from population growth in the metropolitan area to what’s being done in the desert Southwest, where water conservation practices are mandatory. The Metropolitan Council is working hard to promote voluntary water conservation practices by the 2.8 million people now served by water utilities in the state’s urban core, according to Sara Smith, environmental planner with the Council. West Central Tribune; 8/1/09


International

Fishy fishing practices threaten the environment
For years, fishing communities along Africa’s 30,000 km-long coastline have been raising the alarm on the depletion of their fish stocks, to no avail. Over-fishing by foreign vessels has been wiping out the livelihood of West African fishers, contributing to desperate migration attempts into Europe. But this could only be the tip of the iceberg. Emerging evidence suggests current fishing practices increasingly threaten global fish stocks, not just African ones, with complete extinction. "The End of The Line", Rupert Murray’s recent British documentary addressing the impact of industrial fishing, shows how catastrophically unsustainable the current trend is. Quoting research by Dalhousie University in Canada, the film warns that at the current pace all the planet’s fish will have been caught by 2050. IPS News; 8/5/09

Already facing supply crises, corporations craft resource plans
While federal governments are just beginning to grapple with the looming specter of worldwide water shortages, corporations for years have seen the economic impacts of water crises around the globe. The fallout has prompted some to take a comprehensive look at the way they use a resource that is growing chronically scarcer, placing them ahead of many countries in planning for growth in a water-poor world. As populations and living standards increase, the world is expecting more from a finite resource. Freshwater accounts for just 2.5 percent of the world's water, and most of that is locked up in the polar ice caps. New York Times; 8/26/09

New initiative to establish water use standards
A new initiative was launched during World Water Week to establish global standards for water stewardship, with the goal of addressing the global threat of water stress, the increasing pollution of rivers and a decline in fresh water wildlife species. The Global Water Roundtable is expected to provide a new tool to improve the way water is managed - by establishing rigorous, realistic water stewardship standards. The Roundtable’s primary objective is to bring together stakeholders from government, science and industry to evaluate and establish a clear set of standards and a certification system for efficient water use. When finished, these new standards will seek to recognize and reward water users who take steps to minimize the impacts of their water use on people and the environment. Drinks Business Review; 8/20/09

NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes.