Speed blogging

1. Lies: Another article describing Cadiz’s attempt to sell public water to Los Angeles. I’d use it as an “end of abundance” example of how desperate people make silly deals for more supply when smart people would look at reducing demand.

2. Got money? Natasha Gownaris is looking for $6,000. Why?
   

   I’m a marine science PhD student and my dissertation research focuses on understanding how water level declines in Lake Turkana, Kenya (due to irrigation, dam development, and climate change) will impact ecosystem functioning (with a focus on its fish communities and the fishery).

   This is a worthy cause, I think, because we’re going to need good baseline ecological data before dams — nearly certain to go up — block/impede water flows into this lake. (I’m slightly disturbed, btw, that PhD students are not getting enough research money. We have plenty to burn for Iraq and the War on Drugs, but not for research? Depressing!)

3. From great to WTF: Culp and Glennon note that US farmers are exporting high volumes of water (via alfalfa) to dairies in China. They call for laws to be reformed (to allow inter-state and inter-sector trading on the Colorado, for example), but then go off the rails (“the U.S. could capture more of the economic benefit of the embedded water by feeding it to cows here, supporting the growth of the dairy and milk-processing industries”). This is just plain silly. Water traded in markets should go to highest value, and I bet that Vegas can pay more than dairy farmers, esp, if it saves them from wasting another $900 million on white elephant supply-side projects.
4. Perspective: Fracking may possibly pollute groundwater (there are a few examples, mostly related to poorly-sealed drilling shafts), but BILLIONS of gallons of wastewater pollute the environment every year.
5. Forget dams: “A new 3R book on the advantages of water retention, recharge and reuse for drinking water and food security, and the economic justification underlying it.” Free pdf

H/Ts to PB, DL and RM

2012-10-15 11:20:05

Source: http://www.aguanomics.com/2012/10/speed-blogging_15.html