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Hubs of economy face rain shortfall
Selina Mitchell and Sid Marris, The Australian
RAINFALL levels are declining in areas where it matters most and water catchments do not collect as much as they used to, according to a report to be delivered to John Howard today.
The Water for Our Cities report, obtained by The Australian, warns that the areas most affected by reductions in rainfall are the areas of highest population and economic activity.
And those areas are likely to suffer increasingly frequent and more severe drought, the report from leading scientific advisers says.
But it also suggests Australia could become a world leader in water services and technologies – if the commonwealth helps address a skills shortage in the sector and encourages a joint approach to solutions.
The report from the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council warns that Australia’s cities have inadequate water supplies and are relying on increasingly severe restrictions to balance demand and supply. ..
A second report to be delivered at a science council meeting in Canberra today warns that a priority plan must be drawn up to prepare city, farm and tourist areas for the changes wrought by climate change.
Ongoing water restrictions, substantial changes to building codes, flood protection for key infrastructure and controlled forest burn-offs during cool periods are all recommended.
(22 June 2007)
Scarce water and population boom leads California to ‘perfect drought’
Dan Glaister, The Guardian
A typical summer’s day in Los Angeles: temperatures nudge the nineties, the sun blazes high in the sky, palm trees sway in the ocean breeze, and sprinklers spray a fine mist of water into the scorching air.
But if the predictions of climatologists, environmentalists, city planners and the head of the water board are correct, the sprinklers and many other of the comforts that have made southern California habitable may have to be turned off.
Experts across the city concur that the conditions are ripe in southern California for the “perfect drought”. Los Angeles has recorded just 8.15cm (3.21in ) of rain in the year ending June 30, making it the driest year on record since 1877. According to the National Drought Mitigation Centre, southern California faces “extreme drought” this year, with no rain forecast before September. One climatologist referred to the temperatures in Los Angeles as “Death Valley numbers”.
The Sierra Nevada mountains, which typically provide Los Angeles with 50% of its water, have provided just 20% of their normal volume this year, and the snowpack is at its lowest for 20 years. Pumping from an aquifer in the San Fernando Valley was stopped this month because it was contaminated with chromium 6.
While the waters dry up, demand for the scarce resource increases. Not only has southern California seen a growth in its population of two-to-four times the national average in the past 50 years, but neighbouring states such as Nevada and Arizona are also experiencing population booms. And they all claim water from the same source, the Colorado River.
“I call it the dry incendiary summer of 2007,” says Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. “Mother nature is converging with human nature. With population growth and the decline in the water there are the elements in the equation which you could call the perfect drought.”
(25 June 2007)
Desalination no answer to water crisis: WWF
Laura MacInnis, Reuters
GENEVA (Reuters) – Removing salt from sea water to overcome a worldwide shortage of drinking water could end up worsening the crisis, environmental group WWF warned on Tuesday.
Desalination, the filtering and evaporation of sea water, is very energy-intensive and involves significant emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists say are a factor in the shrinking supplies of freshwater, the Swiss-based group said. ..
The WWF, or World Wildlife Fund, estimated there were more than 10,000 desalination plants around the world. It said the sector would likely grow exponentially in coming years as governments seek to supply water to fast-growing arid areas in the United States, India, China and elsewhere.
Half of the world’s desalination capacity is in the Gulf area, where wealthy oil-producing nations use it for about 60 percent of their water needs.
Australian cities have also relied heavily on the technology and Spain has used it extensively to support real estate development, agriculture and even golf courses along its Mediterranean coast. ..
(19 June 2007)
