To save rivers, she helps farmers

Tian Jun remembers when she could still drink the water from the rivers. But that was long ago, before industrial and agricultural pollution turned the water a fetid brown.

Now, she is working to turn things around.

Ms. Tian is a Chinese environmentalist from Chengdu, the capital of western Sichuan Province. She lives in a small apartment in a city of 10 million people.

But she also makes regular trips to the surrounding countryside. One sunny spring afternoon, Tian toured the family farm of Gao Shengdian, a longtime farmer who, together with his wife, grows wheat, rice, corn, and 10 kinds of vegetables.

Like most farmers in China, Mr. Gao once used large quantities of chemical fertilizer. He purchased this fertilizer from the wheelbarrow of an unlicensed local vendor and he believes it was often impure, even toxic.

Now Gao points proudly to a series of tidy tomato plots. They are labeled with new signs that read, in neatly written Chinese characters, "Green vegetable farmland." He is converting these plots to organic farming, a three-year process. For Tian and other residents downstream, this means less agricultural pollution in their water supply.

This farm is one of a dozen now enrolled in a sustainable-­agriculture program that Tian helped launch three years ago. An environmental group that she heads splits the cost of equipment to produce "biofertilizer" from compost and manure on the farms, provides tips on what crops grow best, and connects farmers with nearby urban consumers who want organically grown produce.

Many more families have requested to join the program. Gao says his neighbors are jealous.

But Tian is growing the initiative slowly, taking time to perfect the model. "When I think about how to make a project sustainable, I don't just think about the land," she says. "The human relationships must be sustainable, too. We need to figure out how to make everyone's interests meet."

Tian didn't set out to save the countryside. She first embarked to clean up the city. But, as she found, those two goals are intertwined.

Her hometown of Chengdu is an ancient city at the convergence of the Fu and Nan rivers in southwest China. Like many Chinese cities, it began to grow rapidly in the 1970s. Factories began to dump wastewater into the rivers. Several thousand food vendors and small shopkeepers did the same. Sewage pipes led directly into urban canals.

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Rivers Running Dry

Remember last fall when the city of Atlanta was said to be just weeks away from running dry? It's getting warm in the Southeast again, and Lake Lanier, which supplies water to parts of three states (Georgia, Alabama and Florida) is still down 13 feet from where it should be this time of year. Part of the fault lies with the Army Corps of Engineers, which regulates the outflow from the lake down the Chattahoochee River and sent billions of gallons into the Atlantic to protect the endangered sturgeon population, based on a plan that had not been updated since 1989. It also lost an additional 22 billion gallons, owing to a broken gauge. But the bigger problem is the lack of a coherent policy for collecting, conserving and using fresh water there, or in much of the rest of the United States, or, for that matter, the world.

Environmentalists have long warned about the crisis in nonrenewable resources, such as oil. Water, of course, is the ultimate renewable resource—it falls from the sky—and therefore has been of less concern. But where and when rain falls, and what happens to it after it hits the ground, are crucial in determining the health and prosperity of human societies, says Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute and special adviser on environmental policy to an impressive number of foreign leaders including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, various governments, even rock stars (Bono is a friend). In his new book, "Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet," Sachs describes the worldwide water shortage as "one of our most daunting challenges." A six-year drought in Australia has virtually wiped out that country's rice crop, contributing to food riots in countries from Haiti to Indonesia this month. "Much of the world is already in water crisis," Sachs says. "And that crisis will only continue to grow."

Economists and geologists have identified one culprit in the water-management problem, a mind-set they call "stationarity"—the belief that natural systems fluctuate within a narrow, predictable range, even over long periods. "Stationarity is dead," says Chris Milly, author of a recent Science paper on the issue—done in by population growth, climate change and economic development. But the effect of the stationarity fallacy has been to leave water policy in the hands of relatively shortsighted municipal and state authorities, while the federal government has been looking the other way. This problem is especially acute in the Southwest. In February, one study found that Lake Mead, which supplies a stretch of the Colorado River that snakes through northern Arizona, could run dry in a decade or so, if current water use rates persist. Each year, the study found, the lake loses enough water for 8 million people. "Just like we have peak oil, we have peak water, and when it comes to the Colorado River, we are at that peak," says Tim Barnett, a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., and coauthor of the Mead study. "The whole West is under the gun here." And while the threat may be less immediate in regions such as the Northeast, less water in one area can mean less food and more illness in another.

Sachs poses several technical and economic strategies that may help avert disaster. And unlike the ultrahigh-tech fixes to the energy crisis, many of these are relatively uncomplicated, low-cost and already proved. For example, digging ponds or underground receptacles to store rainwater for irrigation during dry spells has increased crop yields for some Chinese farmers by 20 to 50 percent. Cities such as Las Vegas are recycling wastewater. And a handful of states around the country, and countries around the world, have begun manually replenishing natural underground aquifers with treated wastewater or storm runoff, hoping to protect against droughts.

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Bitter Waters

Not a drop of rain has fallen in months, and the only clouds come from sandstorms lashing across the desert. But as the Yellow River bends through the barren landscape of north-central China, a startling vision shimmers on the horizon: emerald green rice fields, acres of yellow sunflowers, lush tracts of corn, wheat, and wolfberry—all flourishing under a merciless sky.

This is no mirage. The vast oasis in northern Ningxia, near the midpoint of the Yellow River's 3,400-mile journey from the Plateau of Tibet to the Bo Hai sea, has survived for more than 2,000 years, ever since the Qin emperor dispatched an army of peasant engineers to build canals and grow crops for soldiers manning the Great Wall. Shen Xuexiang is trying to carry on that tradition today. Lured here three decades ago by the seemingly limitless supply of water, the 55-year-old farmer cultivates cornfields that lie between the ruins of the Great Wall and the silt-laden waters of the Yellow River. From the bank of an irrigation canal, Shen gazes over the green expanse and marvels at the river's power: "I always thought this was the most beautiful place under heaven."

But this earthly paradise is disappearing fast. The proliferation of factories, farms, and cities—all products of China's spectacular economic boomis sucking the Yellow River dry. What water remains is being poisoned. From the canal bank, Shen points to another surreal flash of color: blood-red chemical waste gushing from a drainage pipe, turning the water a garish purple. This canal, which empties into the Yellow River, once teemed with fish and turtles, he says. Now its water is too toxic to use even for irrigation; two of Shen's goats died within hours of drinking from the canal.

The deadly pollution comes from the phalanx of chemical and pharmaceutical factories above Shen's fields, in Shizuishan, now considered one of the most polluted cities in the world. A robust man with a salt-and-pepper crew cut, Shen has repeatedly petitioned the environmental bureau to stop the unregulated dumping. The local official in charge of enforcement responded by deeming Shen's property "uninhabitable." Declaring that nothing else could be done, the official then left for a new job promoting the very industrial park he was supposed to be policing. "We are slowly poisoning ourselves," says Shen, shaking with anger. "How can they let this happen to our Mother River?"

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Preparing water supplies for climate change

Climate change will transform water supplies and water quality, so the U.S. EPA is preparing for the hard times to come. In a draft report (PDF Size: 863 KB) released in March, the agency documents the predicted changes and outlines how it intends to respond.

Among the many challenges that water managers must face, the report lists changes in ocean and fresh water chemistry, rain and snowfall amounts, and groundwater availability. Regional forecasts show various and extreme impacts for Alaska and U.S. islands—for example, loss of ice shelves and mangroves—with repercussions for local communities.

Floods or intense storms are likely to release pollutants and pathogens into the environment and drinking-water supplies. Warmer waters could lead to more dead zones and shifts in the breeding cycles of fish and insects. As ecosystems change unpredictably, native species may disappear, making it easier for exotic ones to invade.

The report, National Water Program Strategy: Response to Climate Change, lays out a 5-year strategy for local and federal water managers. (The report's recommendations do not have the force of law.) One area of emphasis is more efficient management of both hydroelectric power plants and the electricity used to treat and deliver water. EPA considers such water-sector measures a part of greenhouse gas mitigation.

The agency is calling for research on adaptation and mitigation, as well as more data and analytical tools to pursue a "watershed approach" for future resource management. In February, EPA's Office of Research and Development called for proposals to study impacts on water quality caused by climate change; that Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant application period closes May 8. The public comment period on the EPA water climate-change strategy closes May 27.

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Water pollution: Dawn of the 'Dead Zones'

It's thousands of square miles wide, virtually devoid of oxygen and it has been blamed for an increase in shark attacks: the Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone" is getting bigger and forcing marine life -- including sharks - into shore.

The zone has been caused by a flood of nutrients, such as agricultural fertilizers, which boost algae production in the sea. These growths consume huge amounts of oxygen creating a "marine desert" almost devoid of life.

The "Dead Zone" varies in size each year, but in 1999 it was 7,728 square miles -- that's nearly the size of Delaware and Connecticut combined.

The huge size of the "Dead Zone' is due to the increase in nutrient pollution flowing down rivers, including the Mississippi, which is estimated to have risen threefold in the last fifty years as chemicals become more and more common on farms.

Environmentalists fear that the drive to radically increase the amount of corn-based biofuels produced in the U.S. from 15 billion gallons to 36 billion by 2022 could increase pollution in the Mississippi by 19 per cent.

But the problem is by no means limited to U.S. waters.

Similar "Dead Zones" are being discovered across the world and a major United Nations report in 2003 found that the number had doubled each decade since the 1960's.

The UN report also warned that the number will continue to increase as intensive agriculture spreads around the world and that they are already having a significant impact on commercial fish stocks. All of this can come as quite a surprise.

Growing water demands, more pollutants

Think about pollution and you tend to imagine tall smoking chimneys or pipes pouring industrial effluent into our rivers and lakes. But the use of chemicals in agriculture is increasingly becoming a concern for environmentalists across the world.

Agriculture, including livestock and poultry farming, can be a source of a wide range of pollutants that find their way into our water supplies through run-off and leaching. This happens when rainfall exceeds the capacity of the ground and it flows into watercourses and groundwater supplies taking dissolved pollutants with it.

These can include sediment from eroded land, as well as phosphorus and nitrogen compounds from chemical fertilizers and animal waste, which can also harbor disease pathogens.

These pollutants can have a serious effect on water sources by depleting oxygen levels, stunting the growth of plants and even suffocating fish -- as in the Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone."

The concentration of pollutants can be particularly high in drought years, when heavy water demand can reduce the flow rate in rivers and cut their ability to dilute chemicals.

The effects of this can be acute in the developing world, where the pressure to feed a growing population combined with a low level of regulation can cause serious problems.

A huge increase in the amount of synthetic chemicals being used in the Philippines over recent years has caused substantial environmental damage to the country's water supplies, according to a 2008 report by Greenpeace.

Between 1961 and 2005 fertilizer use in the Philippines increased by 1000 percent.

"This model of agricultural growth is fatally flawed because of declining crop yields and massive environmental impacts," says Greenpeace campaigner Daniel Ocampo.

"Aside from causing land degradation and losses in soil fertility, agrochemicals cause water pollution that directly and indirectly affects human health."

According to Greenpeace, analysis of groundwater in the Benguet and Bulacan provinces in the Philippines, found that 30 percent of tested wells had nitrates levels above the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water safety limit.

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Delta panel tries to prepare for sea-level rise

Global warming could put the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta under much deeper water than previously estimated.

A panel appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is urging him to prepare for a sea level rise of 55 inches in the Delta by the end of this century. That's a lot more water than any estimates currently in use by the state.

The Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, in fact, found during its research that many state agencies still have no target number at all to plan for sea level rise. That includes Caltrans, which is planning to widen Highway 12, a cross-Delta route between Lodi and Fairfield that already lies 20 feet below sea level in places.

A sea level increase of 55 inches, or about 1.4 meters, would probably overwhelm most levees in the Delta.

It would also likely flood thousands of acres of low-lying urban land surrounding the Delta, including some neighborhoods, urban water intakes, sewage treatment outfalls, highways and other utilities.

"The problem is, this is a high-risk area," said Phil Isenberg, Delta Vision chairman and a former Sacramento mayor and state assemblyman.

"We ought to have a common planning assumption for state agencies. Because the more rise you predict, well, the more complicated life becomes in the future."

The Delta is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise because its towns, farms and infrastructure sit on islands. Many islands have sunk well below sea level due to the loss of peat soils over the past century. They now depend on fragile levees to stay dry.

Scientists advising the Delta Vision panel reported in September that officials should prepare for a sea level rise of 39 inches by 2100. That number was double most estimates in use then.

The task force took that advice and went further in its March 28 letter to the governor.

Citing uncertainty in the projections – and the likelihood that seas will rise more, not less – the panel urged the governor to direct all state agencies to prepare for 16 inches of sea level rise by 2050 and 55 inches by 2100.

"I think that's the high range, but certainly plausible," said Jeffrey Mount, a UC Davis geology professor and chairman of a science panel that advises Delta Vision. "From a planning perspective, that's building in a factor of safety, and that's probably a good thing."

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Middle East water crisis warning

The amount of water available per person in the arid region will halve by 2050, a report from the bank estimates.

It blames climate change and population growth for new pressures on supplies.

Governments in the region should tackle water waste, build more efficient networks and reduce water use, the World Bank says.

Farming challenge

The bank's report suggests agriculture is a key target area.

With 85% of water-use devoted to agriculture, the report suggests countries such as Morocco will have to cut back on irrigation and switch to crops that require less water but earn more money.

According to its figures, declining water quality has already knocked around 1% off gross domestic product in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, and nearly 3% in Iran.

"We've simply got to reduce the amount of water used, especially in agriculture," said Julia Bucknall, natural resource management specialist at the World Bank, addressing reporters Rabat, Morocco.

She added that water firms needed to cut water lost by evaporation.

"If we plan for the future, it's a lot simpler than crisis management further down the line," said Ms Bucknall.

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Drought ignites Spain's 'water war'

There is a common saying in Spain that during a drought, the trees chase after the dogs. Now it is ringing true as the country struggles to deal with the worst drought since the Forties: reservoirs stand at 46 per cent of capacity and rainfall over the past 18 months has been 40 per cent below average.

But months before the scorching summer sun threatens to reduce supplies to a trickle, a bitter political battle is raging over how to manage Spain's scarcest resource - water.

Catalonia, in the parched north east, has been worst affected, with reservoirs standing at just a fifth of capacity.

Faced with the prospect of having to cut supplies, authorities in Barcelona have brought in hitherto unheard of fines of €30 (£23.50) for watering gardens or €3,000 for filling swimming pools over 300 square metres.

Municipal fountains, some lit up at night for tourists, are empty. Beach showers have been turned off.

In an emergency measure, the Catalan regional government is planning to ship in water from one of Spain's driest regions, Almería in the south east, and from Marseille in France. It may bring in more water by train.

The crisis has forced the fiercely nationalist Catalans, who like to see themselves as separate from Spaniards, into a humiliating plea to Madrid. Uttering a phrase which must have stuck in his throat, José Montilla, Socialist president of the Catalan regional government, reminded central government: 'Catalonia is also part of Spain.'

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High ammonia levels threaten Des Moines' water

Manure and commercial fertilizers spread on frozen ground contributed to record ammonia levels in water supplies across Iowa this spring, threatening tap water in Des Moines and harming fish and other aquatic life, officials said.

Sampling by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources found sharply elevated readings across the state, prompting environmental groups to urge new restrictions for farmers who use the fertilizers.

"We're alarmed about the ammonia levels Des Moines Water Works has had to deal with," said Roger Wolf, who works on river issues on behalf of the Iowa Soybean Association and a consortium called Agriculture's Clean Water Alliance. "We're trying to identify the sources so we can do something about it."
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The levels reached record highs because heavy ice cover acted like a lid on a pot, trapping ammonia from the manure and fertilizer runoff that otherwise might have naturally worked its way into the atmosphere, state biologists said. The same went for ammonia from decaying plant matter in the rivers. The ammonia built up to levels considered damaging to river life.

The ammonia problem was so pronounced in early March that Des Moines Water Works was forced to draw on alternative water sources to provide enough water for the metro area, said interim general manager Randy Beavers.

Because of the rising ammonia levels in the Raccoon River, plant operators feared they wouldn't be able to add chlorine fast enough during the treatment process to kill all bacteria and pathogens.

At times, the utility had to draw water from the shallow aquifer next to the city's treatment plant and from its backup plant at Maffitt Reservoir to keep taps running.

"We consider this a very serious situation," said Beavers.

"It made the Raccoon River basically unusable. We would have had a serious situation if we had lost the Des Moines River as a source because of a pump failure or something."

The spikes in ammonia forced Des Moines Water Works to quadruple the amount of chlorine used to disinfect the water it draws from the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, which usually provide the area's drinking water. Waterworks in cities such as Council Bluffs and Panora had to take similar measures to ensure the safety of their water.

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More than a million at risk from polluted tap water

MORE than one million people are drinking tap water from public supplies on an official pollution "name-and-shame" dossier finally published yesterday.

The 339 public supplies listed -- many of which are identified as not removing deadly bugs properly, such as cryptosporidium -- provide drinking water to 1,260,541 people.

The damning list, affecting more than a quarter of the population, was finally published yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

For the past three months, the agency had refused to identify 339 supplies -- more than one-third of the country's total supplies operated by the local authorities.

Affected householders had been kept in the dark. But yesterday, following an EPA board meeting, the State environment agency released the list of all the supplies.

It paints a worrying picture of the potential risk to human health from deadly cryptosporidium and E-coli bugs, excess aluminium and nitrates linked to cancer and blue baby syndrome.

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Bills aim to keep state’s water supply flowing

Heavy rains during the last month are expected to prompt the state to drop its drought watch this week.

Water levels in the Scituate Reservoir, along with other local reservoirs, have risen above the rated capacity.

And at the Old Forge Road Dam, on the East Greenwich-North Kingstown line, on the Hunt River — ground zero to those concerned about the state’s drinking water supplies — the water flows so heavily it roars and fills the river with white froth.

By all outward appearances, Rhode Island’s drinking water supplies are in good shape.

But those more familiar with how the state stores and delivers drinking water know that is not so.

This year, they seem optimistic that following more than two years of studies, reports and hearings, the General Assembly will pass legislation designed to increase supplies, to reduce summertime consumption and to protect rivers and streams from being pumped empty during dry periods.

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