Water

We can't live long without it; nor can our crops. We may die if we get too much of it too fast, and so may our crops, either from rotting or the leaching of nutrients or being washed away. Sea water is too salty to drink or to use on most crops. If crops are over-watered and the water table rises as a result, salty ground water may rise up and ruin the soil for crops. Some crops, such as cotton, are particularly greedy for water. Huge dams and canals may be built to supply areas where there are more people or crops than the area can support. Dams affect the flow of the water, and may prevent fish such as salmon from getting upriver to spawn.

States with rivers for boundaries fight over them. States upriver may extract so much water that there is none left for downriver states. Utilities extracting water from the ground table may lower it so much that local people's wells run dry. Water bottlers who also extract water may then try and sell that water back to the people for more than they can afford. Millions of people do not have access to pure drinking water at all and die of dysentery and diseases. We need water to fight fires.

We dump all kinds of pollutants directly into rivers and the seas, from untreated sewage to hormones to chemicals to oil. Other pollutants pour off the land, causing algae to bloom and kill of the fish by depriving them of oxygen. We eat the fish that are polluted by the dirty water, poisoning ourselves with everything from mercury and lead to rocket fuel and harming our children. We dump unwanted exotic fish such as the "frankenfish", which kill off native fish. Foreign ships dump ballast containing exotic species in our waters, which, having no local predators, then kill off our native species or choke up our waterways. Some species cope better with the pollution than others, changing the balance of nature.

Isn't it time that we paid water a great deal more respect?

China Announces Plan to Move 400,000 People for Giant Water-Diversion Project

China plans to build hundreds of miles (kilometers) of canals to move water from the Yangtze in the south to Beijing and the north. The project will cost more than 500 billion Yuan (US$60 billion; euro50 billion) and take up to 50 years. Large though the numbers of people affected are, they fall considerably short of the 1.3 million people who were moved to make way for the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. Parts of China are threatened with drought this year.

From Ocean Depths, Air Conditioning for the Tropics

Hawaii's air conditioners are run all year round on electricity derived from imported oil and coal, although the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) has been working on that. Now there are a number of projects on Hawaii and elsewhere which use cool deep sea water to provide cooling and for aquaculture. The research was begun during the oil crisis of the 1970's and should become more economical as oil prices rise. Provided that the nutrient-rich water is returned to the sea below the depth where sunlight can reach it, it should be an environmentally friendly solution.

Federal, State Officials Sign 50-Year Plan to Protect Colorado River

California, Arizona, Nevada and the federal government have agreed to a 50-year "Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program" to protect 400 miles of the lower Colorado River from Lake Mead to the U.S.-Mexico border. The plan had to reconcile the need of each state for water and power extraction with the needs of threatened and endangered species. Some environmentalists have slated the plan.

Panamanian Shipping Company to Pay $25 Million for Dumping Waste around U.S.

One of the world's largest shipping lines, Evergreen International, has been fined for illegally dumping waste oil around the U.S. on more than two dozen occasions and of covering up the evidence.

Other news

Top Fish Populations Being Replaced by Rays, Smaller Fish

In mid ocean, shark, tuna, marlin, and similar predator fish are being replaced by smaller and fewer rays and other fish as a result of industrial fishing.

Hawaii to List Its Endangered Species

Hawaii is to compile a list of all its native endangered species with a view to obtaining funds from the State Wildlife Grant Program.

Researchers to Study Apes, Forgiveness

Researchers in Iowa are to study forgiveness in bonobos this summer.

New Cotton Fabric May Absorb Toxins

Texas Tech University's Institute of Environmental and Human Health has announced a new composite cotton fabric containing a thin film of carbon that can be used to remove dangerous contaminants for use by the military.

Isn't it time that we paid water a great deal more respect?

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