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The Daily Stream

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November 13: Brazil Nears Approval Of Water Diversion Project For Sao Paulo

The Global Rundown

The United States and China have agreed to landmark cuts in carbon emissions to fight climate change, which is warming groundwater as well as the air and surface water. The U.S. Congress is moving to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, documents suggest Shell spilled more oil in the Niger Delta than thought, and Japan is still struggling with water at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Barrick Gold looks to be revamping its stalled Pascua Lama mine in Chile. Brazil is investing millions to bring water to Sao Paulo, and Ireland is protesting household water charges. Urban farms now cover an area the size of Europe.

“It means we are very likely to get an agreement in Paris in December 2015,”—Sir David King, the United Kingdom foreign secretary’s special representative for climate change, on a landmark deal between China and the United States to cut carbon emissions. (Guardian)

By The Numbers

$275 million Amount Brazil is close to authorizing for a water diversion project to channel water from a river that supplies Rio de Janeiro to reservoirs in Sao Paulo. Bloomberg

6,000 workers Number employed at Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, two to three times more than when it was operating. Most are working to control contaminated water. Associated Press

$350/year Average water bill for a household with two adults and two children in Ireland, where thousands are protesting newly introduced water charges. The New York Times

Science, Studies, And Reports

Urban farms now cover 456 million hectares, an area the size of the European Union, according to a study released by researchers at the International Water Management Institute. Growing food in cities is expected to improve food security and agriculture’s footprint on resources like land and water. Reuters

The Shell oil company knew about faulty pipelines in the Niger Delta and grossly underestimated the amount of oil spilled through burst pipelines in 2008, according to internal documents. An independent assessment found that as many as 100,000 barrels of oil were spilled, instead of 4,000. Guardian

Warming soil and air temperatures are also leading to warmer groundwater temperatures, researchers from ETH Zurich found. The researchers said the warming could have implications for chemicals and bacteria in the water, as well as geothermal energy. ETH Zurich

On The Radar

The United States Congress has started moving legislation that would approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and could send a measure to President Obama as early as next week. The pipeline would bring oil from Canada’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico and has raised concerns about water pollution in the Ogallala Aquifer. Reuters

More than a year after suspending its Pascua-Lama project in Chile, mining company Barrick Gold has appointed a new project director for the $5 billion mine. One of the director’s top priorities is overseeing the engineering of a water management system, a key stumbling block for environmental approval. Reuters

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Water News

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U.S.-China Climate Deal Includes Provision on Water-Energy Research

A joint energy research program will be extended and expanded to include water.

Delays in Drought Response Push East Africa Toward Another Food Crisis

Despite early-warning systems, the world lacks urgency in heading off slow-moving disasters.

Report: International Panel on Climate Change Reiterates Three Urgent Water Concerns

IPCC says the water cycle will intensify, leading to bigger storms, more droughts, and worsening water quality.

Surrounded By Water, Ohio River Valley Experiences Economic Resurgence

Six-state region at head of American recovery.

Sao Paulo’s Water Waiting Game Avoided Rationing But Produced Huge Risk of Severe Shortage

Desire to protect the poor left Brazil’s driest city few options other than new pipes and prayers for rain.

Californians Will Vote on Big Water Bond Not Knowing Exactly What They Are Buying

Rules for choosing the most controversial projects will be written later.

San Antonio Pipeline Continues Texas Water Rush

America’s seventh-largest city debates a pipeline project worth billions as the second-fastest-growing state faces more demands for water in its third year of severe drought.

Hawaii River Restorations Reflect National Desire to Protect Water for Public Benefit

Using public trust doctrine, communities restore streams diverted for more than 100 years.

Report: U.S. Water Systems, Deteriorated and Slow to Change, Need New Strategy – And Money

More of the same is not working in changed conditions of the 21st century.

Jerry Brown, Smart and Prepared, Responds to California’s Drought Emergency

Steeled by past drought, governor is reshaping how largest U.S. state uses and distributes water.

Michigan Aquaculture, an Infant Industry, Attracts Powerful Opposition

Quest for protein and profits invites challenge about pollution and waste.

Video: Global Choke Point — On the Front Lines of the Water-Food-Energy Crisis

Circle of Blue and the Wilson Center team up for a Global Choke Point presentation.

Californians Ring In New Water Year with Trepidation

Pervasive fear about consequences of another dry winter.

World Stands By As Algae and Dead Zones Ruin Water

Expensive research and cleanup efforts make little headway.

Western U.S. Governors Begin Drought Discussions

Better plans and more data are needed to guide response.

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In The Circle: Fresh Focus

Newest Article

The Hydrologic Fast Lane (Also: IPCC Reports 101)

Reporter Kaye LaFond breaks down the newest IPCC report, and IPCC reports in general.

Risk Assessment Tool Puts a Price on Water Scarcity

The Water Risk Monetizer guides corporate investments where water is scarce.

Election 2014 Recap: Voters Mostly Say ‘Yes’ to Water Spending

easures passed in California, Florida, and Maine, while North Dakota voted against conservation fund.

Earth Pushes Back

Era of indifference greets droughts, floods, storms, tsunamis.

U.S. Government Builds a Home for Water Data

The Open Water Data Initiative wants a common house for real-time U.S. water information. But this could take decades.

Earth’s Major Aquifers Are in Trouble

Groundwater reserves are falling, but little is known about how much water is left.

Big Data Requires Strong Relationships to Improve Farming

To influence water and food systems, the data revolution needs more than billions of bits. Brett Walton analyzes the lessons from last week’s Water for Food Global Conference.

Social Media Is Not Easy

After being named the Guardian’s #1 Twitter pick for #waternews, outreach coordinator Aubrey Ann Parker explains our winning strategy.

Business, Finance Leaders Address U.S. Water Policy

From markets and higher prices, better water systems will flow, they say.

Showing Off Circle of Blue Colleagues and Reporting in Traverse City

World-changing reporting fresh from northern Michigan.

Matt Black’s California Drought Photographs Featured in New Yorker

Circle of Blue photographer documents Central Valley water shortage.

Great Lakes Mayors Ask State and Federal Governments to Step Up On Algae

Drinking water summit focuses on Toledo water crisis.

Celebrating with a Blue Streak

A new member of the Circle of Blue team introduces herself.

California Governor Comes Full Circle on Groundwater Reform

New laws signed today address challenges highlighted in Jerry Brown’s first term – in the 1970s.

Making Water Stress a ‘Wedge’ Issue

A new approach puts people at the center of the water discussion.

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Action Figures

Newest Article

Azzam Alwash

Can war end in environmental rejuvenation? It did for Iraq’s Mesopotamian Marshlands, believed by many to be the Biblical Garden of Eden. The marshes — straddled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that wind their way from Turkey’s eastern mountains through the desert plains of the Middle East — were systematically destroyed by Saddam Hussein’s […]

Dennis Nelson

Dennis Nelson grew up on his family’s North Dakota farm, where the groundwater well barely supplied their basic needs. As a child, he didn’t know why the water was scarce when their land was surrounded by wetlands, or “prairie potholes,” as he calls them. “I simply couldn’t make the connection at a young age about […]

Stacey Travis

For more than 15 years, Stacey Travis was a television producer for networks like FOX, A&E, and AMC. Until, that is, she drastically switched careers in 2006, when doctors in Uganda and South Sudan told her about the water-related illnesses that plague these nations. Travis felt compelled to help and soon after founded Drop In […]

Ajay Krishnan

Can something be made of nothing? According to the research of 16-year-old Ajay Krishnan, the answer is yes. A research enthusiast since the sixth grade, Krishnan — now a junior at Oregon Episcopal School — found a way to produce hydrogen gas from wastewater utilizing microbial electrolysis cells. For his work in renewable energy, Krishnan […]

Rose George

While working as an editor and writer at COLORS Magazine, Rose George was assigned to work on Cacas, a coffee table book featuring photographs of animal and human feces, for which “caca” is slang. Through the project, she discovered Sulabh International, an organization in India that provides public toilets and works to liberate those whose […]

Peter Thum

Wine turned Peter Thum to water. While working on a project in South Africa involving two wineries, Thum saw the difficulties that many people experienced just trying to get clean water every day. “I did a bit of research and began to see the size and magnitude of this problem,” he says. So he decided […]

Vessela Monta

“We cannot say that rain is not interesting just because we can dig wells,” says Vessela Monta, a civil engineer by trade who began working with the International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) in 2002. Some resources — like the availability of harvestable rainwater — get forgotten when discussing sustainability, but not to Monta. She points […]

Isabella Bovolo

Guyana means “land of many waters” in a native Amerindian language, but it also houses one of the most pristine rainforests left in existence, the Iwokrama. In 1996, Guyana and the Commonwealth of Nations established an organization of the same name. According to Iwokrama resident scientist Isabella Bovolo, the organization aims to fill large data […]

David Breashears

In 2007, from 5,600 meters atop the north side of Mount Everest, explorer David Breashears recalls how he was “astonished” by what he saw and “shocked” that he hadn’t been more aware of the state of this Tibetan glacier. Breashears was on a comparative photography assignment to match a photo from 1921 with the modern […]

Erin Huber

Erin Huber grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, near the Great Lakes, where clean fresh water is abundant and tap water is sometimes taken for granted. As a humanitarian and an environmentalist, Huber spearheaded rooftop gardens and farmers’ markets, but eventually honed her focus to water. Huber founded the Drink Local Drink Tap (DLDT) campaign in […]

Rohini Nilekani

Rohini Nilekani began her career as a journalist and writer. But upon marrying Nadan Nilekani — co-founder of the Indian tech-consulting firm Infosys — and coming into some money, she sought a cause to support financially. “I was looking for an area that would make sense to me and that would also have some kind […]

Chris Groves

Dr. Chris Groves spends a lot of his time going underground into caves carved by eons of water flow. Once a boy with an interest in rocks, today Groves is a world-renowned cave and limestone karst expert who directs the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute at Western Kentucky University. “It was the only practical way to […]

Lori Pottinger

Lori Pottinger advocates for rural communities that are at risk of being displaced by dam construction. She says that residents are not always aware of the extent of cultural and lifestyle adjustments they will have to make — or the option of resisting development. “They’re giving their all, and then they’re getting nothing from these […]

Kunal Sangani

Innovation started early for incoming Stanford University freshman Kunal Sangani. At just 17, he was named the U.S. finalist for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize for his project about the environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing (also known as “fracking”). A native of Syracuse, New York, where intense discussion about fracking led to a moratorium on […]

Ed Wargin

Ed Wargin set out almost 17 years ago to document the Great Lakes, and he’s almost finished. The Fresh Coast Project is an effort to document the Great Lakes as a single unit. “I have felt through the years that we needed a solitary type of message, that we needed to look at the Great […]