http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/us/17water.html
Gaps in the Safe Water Drinking Act mean that certain pollutants found in America's tap water have not been officially banned by federal regulators - what can the EPA and other regulators do when technically the water does not violate legal standards?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/world/asia/18mekong.html?scp=1&sq=mekong%20river&st=cse
The New York Times reports on the increasing trend in damming the Mekong River. Although in the US dam decommissioning has recently been a trend (opening up waterways for salmon in places like the Augusta on the Kennebec River in Maine, the Mekong faces more dams with the promise of hydroelectric power and short term flood control, but with the potential for damage to the environment and displacement. We've seen this elsewhere where damming for flood control is counterbalanced by the loss of natural sediment and silt distribution in flood plains making those areas flood less often, but with more devastating results.
"The most controversial aspects of the dams are their effects on migrating fish and on the rice-growing Mekong Delta in Vietnam, where half of that country’s food is grown. The delta depends on mineral-rich silt, which the Chinese dams are partly blocking. Experts say the new dams will block even more sediment and the many types of fish that travel great distances to spawn, damaging what the Mekong River Commission, an advisory body set up in 1995 by the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, estimates is a $2 billion fishing industry.
Of the hundreds of fish species in the river, 87 percent are migratory, according to a 2006 study.
“The fish will have nowhere to go,” said Kaew Suanpad, a 78-year-old farmer and fisherman in the village of Nagrasang, Laos, which sits above the river’s great Khone Falls.
“The dams are a very big issue for the 60 million people in the Mekong basin,” said Milton Osborne, visiting fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, Australia, and the author of several books on the Mekong. “People depend in very substantial ways on the bounty of the Mekong.”
Some analysts see the seeds of international conflict in the rush to dam the river. Civic groups in Thailand say they are frustrated that China does not seem to care how its dams affect the lives of people downstream."
Economic frameworks to inform decision-making
Growing competition for scarce water resources is a growing business risk, a major economic threat, and a challenge for the sustainability of communities and the ecosystems upon which they rely. It is an issue that has serious implications for the stability of countries in which businesses operate, and for industries whose value chains are exposed to water scarcity.
Charting our water future: Economic frameworks to inform decision-makingshows that while meeting competing demands for water will be a considerable challenge, it is entirely possible to close the growing gap between water supply and demand. This report provides greater clarity on the scale of the water challenge and how it can be met in an affordable and sustainable manner.
The report offers case studies from four countries with drastically different water issues, which will collectively account for 40 percent of the world’s population, 30 percent of global GDP and 42 percent of projected water demand in 2030: China, India, South Africa and Brazil. The report’s methodology identifies supply- and demand-side measures that could constitute a more cost effective approach to closing the water gap and achieve savings in each country.
At heart of Yemen's conflicts: water crisis
A recent report shows that 70 to 80 percent of rural conflicts are over water shortages in Yemen, already on the brink of becoming a failed state.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1105/p06s13-wome.html
The World Bank considers Yemen "one of the most water-scarce countries in the world" where only 125 cubic meters of water are available yearly per capita compared to the world average of 2,500 cubic meters. Just 46 percent of Yemen's rural population has direct access to an adequate water supply and the number is only slighter better in cities, according to the German Development Service (GDS), which is working with the Yemeni government to improve water management.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/us/04sfwater.html?_r=2&hpw
As the Novato Sanitary District considers contracting with French water giant Veolia, local opposition has arisen over private operational control over the sewage system. Critics claim that privatization will mean higher rates, proponents say that efficiency will improve.
The Times article suggests that the key factor for communities faced with public-versus-private options is to properly enter into, assess and enforce their interests in contracts : "In 2002, the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a report noting that any community needed to monitor and enforce contract provisions. “No matter how well a privatization arrangement is crafted,” it said, the public agency’s interests seldom matched those of the contractor."
Look for our forthcoming article in the ABA's Natural Resources and Environment journal on corporate social responsibility and water - one goal we propose is greater transparency in reporting by the private sector operators and water users so that communities will have greater information to make more informed decisions.
See Professor Gabriel Eckstein's blog on water issues and his August 3rd posting entitled, "Why do so many governments oppose a human right to water?" The short answer - governments want to avoid liability and responsibilities that come with enforcement of rights. Interestingly, we note that at the same time that many companies are coming out ahead of states and advocating for the right to water. This makes sense as if states have to enforce the right to access water, then they may be forced to turn to the private sector to help them physically realize the goal of providing water to constituents.
http://internationalwaterlaw.org/blog/
