Nepal suffers power blackouts as rivers dry up

Kathmandu, Dec 29 (IANS) Slapped with a 51-hour weekly power outage from Wednesday and a warning that next month it could go up to 12 hours a day, Nepal has begun to lose its lustre as a holiday destination, especially for the budget tourist from India who crosses over the open border by bus. The […]

Elephants, other iconic animals dying in Kenya drought

By Nick Wadhams in Nairobi, for National Geographic News, September 21, 2009 This story is part of a special series that explores the global water crisis. For more clean water news, photos, and information, visit National Geographic’s Freshwater Web site. More than sixty African elephants and hundreds of other animals have died so far in […]

Kenya: Poor rainfall worsens food insecurity

  By Susan Anyangu-Amu, 31 December 2009 The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) has raised a red flag over the worsening food security situation in the Horn of Africa. Mr Karel De Gucht, the European Commissioner in charge of development and humanitarian aid, attributes the disastrous situation to the terrible potential of climate change. […]

Climate change depletes Saudi surface water by 30 percent

By Hana Namrouqa (MENAFN – Jordan Times) With people in over 17 Arab countries living well below the water poverty line of 500 cubic metres annually, Arab decision makers on Monday called for coordinated efforts to address the impact of climate change on the limited resource. Experts said more than 75 per cent of the […]

Graph of the Day: Kenya Food Security, October 2009

The 2009 short rains season is underway across most areas of the country. Above‐normal rains have been reported in most of the eastern half of the country, while rains have picked up in some areas reporting lower than average cumulative October rainfall. Food insecurity remains high for severely drought–affected pastoral and marginal agricultural households (Figure […]

Phase two of Mau evictions to begin

By Kipchumba Kemei The Government will next month embark on the second phase of the controversial Mau Forest evictions. Kenya Forest Service sources say the exercise will kick off shortly after President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga tour the forest for a tree planting ceremony along Narok North-Molo districts borders. The first exercise ended […]

Pakistan reservoirs almost empty

LAHORE: Water level at Tarbela and Mangla dams has been declining while water level at the Mangla dam was recorded only 40 feet higher than the dead level. According to IRSA, water inflow at Tarbela dam was recorded at 17,400 cusecs while outflow remained at 28,000 cusecs. On the other hand, water inflow at Mangla […]

Stimulus funds drill wells as California water vanishes

  By GARANCE BURKE, DOS PALOS, Calif. (AP) — The government is spending $40 million in federal stimulus funds to pull water from underground aquifers in drought-stricken California, even as evidence is growing that the well-drilling boom could degrade the quality of water delivered to millions of residents. Farmers, conservationists and engineers are criticizing the […]

Poor rains worsen east Africa famine

By Anisa Kadri A lack of rainfall has contributed to the ongoing food crisis in East Africa, Oxfam said on Thursday. It was hoped that rains expected in November would provide relief for those struck by famine in this region. However, areas including Ogaden in Ethiopia and Turkana in Kenya received below five per cent […]

Graph of the Day: Water-Level Decline in the High Plains Aquifer, 1950s to 2007

Water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2007 (modified from Gutentag and others, 1984; Lowry and others, 1967; Luckey and others, 1981; and Burbach, 2007). The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.6 million acres (174,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines […]

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