A 145-mile-long transmission line, the New England Clean Energy Connect passes through commercial woodland in western Maine. Photo credit: Flickr/Creative Commons user bdewey
your global rundown
- of new hydropower projects mainewas touted as climate action and won jury support to continue construction despite clearing miles of forest.
- in less than a year Arizona The state attorney general approved a deep-sea well for a foreign-owned alfalfa farm, but then revoked the permit, citing the water crisis.
- Textile dyeing and clothing export Bangladeshi The Buriganga River, which is considered nearly biologically dead.
- As part of its climate adaptation strategy, Sri Lanka It aims to revive an ancient irrigation system that collects and preserves rainwater.
the family of SudanThe country, whose water infrastructure has been destroyed in fighting between armies and militias, is risking the journey to the Nile from its capital, Khartoum.
“The water has completely run out, so I came to fetch water from the river. The electricity is also cut off and we are in the dark. While everyone is fasting, people are really, really suffering. The women and children must also be helped.” — Nameless Man on the banks of the Nile.
In Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, sewer, electricity and internet lines have been cut or erratic, leaving residents without water for drinking, cooking and cooking amid gunshots and fuel depletion. I have no choice but to go to the Nile River in search of it. cleaning.
On April 15, fighting broke out between two of Sudan’s most powerful generals, leaving five days of Ramadan to go. Observers refrain from eating and drinking during the day during the Islamic holy month. Temperatures in the capital consistently exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, exacerbating water scarcity. Residents are using buckets, bottles and containers carried by donkeys, carts and cars to transport valuable resources to their homes, Mohamed Osman BBC reportHouseholds that have not yet lost access to water share it with their neighbors.
Osman reports that the water in the White Nile is a place of constant smoke and is not reliably clean.a 2017 report The United Nations and the Sudanese government have warned that “water-related health risks are rapidly increasing,” reports the BBC. The Sudanese boil water drawn from the Nile River.
— Christian Thorsberg, Interim Stream Editor
Circle of Blue’s Recent WaterNews
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Until just 20 years ago, the Buriganga River underpinned the lives and businesses of Al Jazeera, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. reportFish thrived in its deep wakes, riparian ecosystems thrived, and residents were able to immerse themselves in water without fear of skin damage or burns.
However, overuse and pollution by the apparel industry has pushed what was once a lifeline to the brink, wiping out the economy and destroying the aquatic life, transportation and cultural connections of many of Dhaka’s 23 million people. is changing dramatically.
Researchers have declared the buriganga to be “biologically dead” during the dry season. This means “no fish or aquatic life” in Buriganga’s waters.
Rivers are many things at once for communities with few other options, such as places for bathing, recreation, transportation, waste discharge, and irrigation. According to Al Jazeera, lifelong fishermen are forced to change careers and can find it by selling street food or turning to other forms of labor.
Dhaka’s garment industry is one of the main sources of river pollution. Industry wastewater discharges have been regulated since 1995, but these regulations are often ignored and difficult to monitor. Red and blue fabric dyes often flow into rivers.
This week’s topwater story in numbers
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Miles of woodlands near the Maine-Canada border will be cleared to make way for the New England Clean Energy Connect hydropower projectProvides enough energy to support nearly one million homes in Central Maine and New England. reportThe project, touted as an effort to tackle climate change with renewable power, received pushback from 59% of Maines in a referendum in late 2021. Many critics cited deforestation for power line corridors as a particular exception. Nevertheless, last week the jury voted 9-0 for the developer to continue construction on his billion-dollar project.
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KTAR News 92.3 FM, months after permits for two deepwater wells were approved for Saudi-owned Alfalfa farms in La Paz County, Arizona. reportThe well, which is 1,200 feet deep and pumps 3,000 gallons of water per minute, was scrutinized by Arizona neighbors and farmers. Many of them have split irrigation quotas and have already switched to less water-intensive crops. Licensed Fondmonte Arizona LLC grows alfalfa and ships it to Saudi Arabia for livestock feed. The state land agency that approved the permit also faced criticism for this initial decision. The permit was revoked the night before Earth Day.
by radar
Sri Lanka has shown renewed interest in restoring ancient village irrigation systems in the country’s arid regions as part of its climate adaptation plan. Many of the systems were built in 500 BC. The remains of over 14,000 such tanks still remain, Mongabay report, in areas dominated by paddy fields, a water-intensive crop. The system utilizes high-elevation catchments and cascades of water flow to limit water loss and prove resilience to extreme weather.
More water news
Angola: Thousands of homes collapsed, hundreds of families homeless and at least 20 dead in Angola’s Luanda and Namibe provinces after days of heavy rains, Floodlist report.
Arctic seaweed: One scientist found that algae in Arctic ice “contains ten times the concentration of plastic particles in the surrounding seawater.” new research From the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research.
Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena, often slow and invisible, and explores these themes in journalism, poetry and fiction.
