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Water

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This working group is focused on discussions about water issues.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about water issues.

Members

ehyler Kathy Gilbeaux Maeryn Obley mdmcdonald Norea

Email address for group

water@m.resiliencesystem.org

Video - The Well: Water Voices from Ethiopia

submitted by Stella Tarnay

THE WELL: WATER VOICES FROM ETHIOPIA

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Turning Rural Indians Into Water Entrepreneurs

Water filtration system.

Image: Water filtration system.

fastcoexist.com - November 1st, 2012 - Whitney Pastorek

In Sanskrit, jal is the root for “water,” and sarva is the root for “everyone.” Put them together, and you’ve got exactly what Sarvajal delivers: Water for all. Originally launched as a nonprofit experiment in 2007, the company has grown into a thriving hub-and-spoke model of over 150 Sarvajal franchisees operating small reverse-osmosis filtration plants and revolutionary Water ATMs in India’s northwestern states, and its potent combination of entrepreneurship, common sense, and tech savvy has made a significant change in the quality of life for thousands of rural Indian villagers. “In 60 years of existence, India has always had getting clean water to people as the last mile at the top of its list of things to do,” says Sarvajal CEO Anand Shah. “We figured that if you put a lot of smart people on this idea, maybe you could come up with a solution.”

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More Ways to Combat Water Shortages

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - September 28, 2012

Water is the one element that every breathing, living organism on Earth needs, and unlike oil, there are no viable alternatives. In many undeveloped countries, water is becoming scarce. Concerns are growing about the availability of water in developed countries as well..

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Extreme Weather Means Extreme Food Prices Worldwide, Aid Agency Warns

      

Somali girls line up to receive a hot meal in Mogadishu last year after the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in decades, compounded by war, put millions in danger of starvation.  Roberto Schmmidt/AFP/Getty Images

npr.org - by Elizabeth Shogren - September 6, 2012

Reducing greenhouse gases and saving the polar bears tend to dominate discussions on climate change. But to the booming world population, one climate change issue may be even more pressing – hunger.

A new report by a leading international relief agency warns that climate change will increase the risk of large spikes in global food prices in the future, and lead to more hungry people in the world.

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Oxfam report - Extreme Weather, Extreme Prices
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/extreme-weather-extreme-prices

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Trade-offs between water for food and for curbing climate change

submitted by Samuel Bendett

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - September 4th, 2012

Earth’s growing human population needs fresh water for drinking and food production. Fresh water, however, is also needed for the growth of biomass, which acts as a sink of carbon dioxide and thus could help mitigate climate change. Does the Earth have enough freshwater resources to meet these competing demands?

An American Geophysical Union release reports that J. Rockström and colleagues, in their recent study, estimate the order of magnitude of freshwater consumption needed to feed a population of nine billion people by 2050 and the amount of water needed to realize the planet’s full biomass carbon sequestration potential.

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Risk of water wars rises with scarcity

aljazeera.com - Chris Arsenault - August 26th, 2012

The author Mark Twain once remarked that "whisky is for drinking; water is for fighting over" and a series of reports from intelligence agencies and research groups indicate the prospect of a water war is becoming increasingly likely.

In March, a report from the office of the US Director of National Intelligence said the risk of conflict would grow as water demand is set to outstrip sustainable current supplies by 40 per cent by 2030.

"These threats are real and they do raise serious national security concerns," Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said after the report's release.

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A Simple Solar Oven Makes Salt Water Drinkable

submitted by Bill Greenberg

      

fastcodesign.com

Designer Gabriele Diamanti developed a fascination with global water scarcity as a graduate student at Milan Polytechnic in 2005; he recently decided to pursue his interest again and the result is Eliodomestico, an open-source variation on a solar still.

It functions by filling the black boiler with salty sea water in the morning, then tightening the cap. As the temperature and pressure grows, steam is forced downwards through a connection pipe and collects in the lid, which acts as a condenser, turning the steam into fresh water.

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Water research thrives as discrepancy between supply and demand for water grows

submitted by Samuel Bendett

www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com - August 28, 2012

Research into water is growing faster than the average 4 percent annual growth rate for all research disciplines, claims a new report presented by Elsevier and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) during the 2012 World Water Week in Stockholm. The report, The Water and Food Nexus: Trends and Development of the Research Landscape, analyzes the major trends in water and food-related article output at international, national, and institutional levels. An Elsevier release reports that Elsevier and SIWI worked closely together on creating the report, which is based on the analysis of Scopus citation data by Elsevier’s SciVal Analytics team.

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Wastewater Key to Addressing Growing Global Water Shortage

Wastewater reclamation plant in Lansing, KS // Source: lansing.ks.us

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - August 10, 2012

Parched cities and regions across the globe are using sewage effluent and other wastewater in creative ways to augment drinking water, but four billion people still do not have adequate supplies, and that number will rise in coming decades

Wildlife, rivers, and ecosystems are also being decimated by the ceaseless quest for new water and disposal of waste. Changing human behavior and redoubling use of alternatives are critical to breaking that cycle.

Those are the conclusions of a sweeping review in a special 10 August issue of the journal Science.

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Water Sustainability Flows Through Complex Human-Nature Interactions

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - August 10, 2012

The fate of water in China mirrors problems across the world: water is fouled, pushed far from its natural origins, squandered, and exploited; China’s crisis is daunting, though not unique: two-thirds of China’s 669 cities have water shortages, more than 40 percent of its rivers are severely polluted, 80 percent of its lakes suffer from eutrophication — an over abundance of nutrients — and about 300 million rural residents lack access to safe drinking water

In this week’s Science journal, Jianguo “Jack” Liu, director of Michigan State University’s Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, and doctoral student Wu Yang look at lessons learned in China and management strategies that hold solutions for China — and across the world.

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