The News Review:

- A Chinese time bomb is dripping
- Water crisis looms at Walvis Bay
- Pendleton to treat high lead in water
- Latest tests show Camp Pendleton water OK.
- Introduce hosepipe bans, water companies urged
- Macao Water Supplier to Grant Salinity Relief
- In Boyds, an Enduring Debate Over Infrastructure, Tradition

A Chinese time bomb is dripping
International Herald Tribune – Feb 23, 2006
" China's cities are siphoning water away from farmers, undermining government pledges to improve living standards in the countryside – home to 70 percent of the nation's population. Rural water shortages threaten to stoke unrest and cut harvests. Guaranteeing adequate water supplies to rural areas, where average household income is less than a third of that in cities, is crucial to Beijing's goals of reducing social inequality and fostering sustainable growth. The government is undertaking a $62 billion project to move water to the arid north from southern and central regions. "China's water shortage reflects the nation's growing urban-rural wealth gap," says Andy Xie, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong. "China has to ensure its rural majority has access to water supplies or it may face unrest. " Today in Marketplace by Bloomberg… " Shen Jiadao, chief of Xiarun village, a community of about 500 in Minqin county, says that twice a year he asks the local government to help reduce upstream water diversions. "Their reply is always, 'The Shiyang River is dry, there's nothing much wecan do about it,'" says Shen, who earns about 3,000 yuan, or $373, a year growing cotton and fennel. Factories and urban residents used 34 percent of China's water in 2004, up from 25 percent in 1998, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. That has cut grain output, which fell 8. 4 million tons during the same period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Shortages are worst in northwestern provinces like Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi.

Water crisis looms at Walvis Bay
Namibian – Feb 23, 2006
"The Mile 7 reservoir, which supplies Walvis Bay, is 88 per cent full. According to our calculations, we have currently approximately one full day’s water supply available in our reservoirs. " Yesterday NamWater could supply only 133 cubic metres of water an hour to Walvis Bay. The harbour town uses about 700 cubic metres per hour. "Currently we cannot tell how long it will take to repair the damage, as we cannot access the river," Shigwedha said. He urged Walvis Bay residents to use water sparingly. Municipal spokesperson Utaara Hoveka told The Namibian that 15 pylons had been uprooted.
Related: Internal memos show border officials stalled details of Dziekanski…

Pendleton to treat high lead in water
San Diego Union Tribune – Feb 23, 2006
They also said more than 630 blood-lead level tests were taken during the same period, with all being negative. The tainted water, base officials said, was caused by copper plumbing or fixtures, which can contain trace amounts of lead – not by the well water or the main delivery pipes. To ward off future problems, Camp Pendleton leaders plan to start a pipe and water treatment program to limit corrosion and keep down levels of metal in the southern system. That network serves more than 5,000 homes, youth centers and three public schools. “We're taking these important steps to ensure our water remains within state and federal standards,” Col. Coleman, commanding officer at the base, said in a press release.

Latest tests show Camp Pendleton water OK.
Free with registration – North County Times – AccessMyLibrary.com – Feb 23, 2006
(23-FEB-06) North County Times (Escondido, CA). 23–CAMP PENDLETON —- More than six months after unsafe levels of lead were found in water on Camp Pendleton, extensive tests of the water supplies to base schools, homes.
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Introduce hosepipe bans, water companies urged
Daily Mail – Feb 23, 2006
Since October 2005, the region has received about 28cm (11ins)of rain. The long term average for this period is 38cm (15ins). Chief executive of the Environment Agency Barbara Young said:”We’re in a serious situation now, where both the environment andour water supplies are at risk. “There is still time for rain this winter and spring to reducethe risk of drought, but water companies shouldn’t just hope forrain – they must act now in case the weather stays dry. “Groundwater levels in some areas are the lowest on record andrainfall during winter has been the lowest since the drought of1920-22. “We’re seeing an impact on the environment, where fish spawningin some areas has been poor, and we’re concerned that we may soonsee fish dying because of low river levels. “If water companies delay introducing hosepipe bans now, extremesteps to manage water supplies over summer may be needed, such asstandpipes and rota cuts.

Macao Water Supplier to Grant Salinity Relief
CRI – Feb 23, 2006
dollars) to the people in Macao. Macao, counting on water supply from the Xijiang River in Guangdong province, has long been enduring the salinity crisis caused by the intake of the sea water during the winter season. However, the salinity crisis this year is the worst in history, Franklin Willemyns, executive director of Macao Water Thursday was quoted by Macao Post Daily as saying. The company has no plan to ration water in Macao, Willemyns said. Macao Water will try its best to provide people with a stable water supply, Willemyns told the newspaper. (Source: Xinhua)
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In Boyds, an Enduring Debate Over Infrastructure, Tradition
Washington Post – Feb 23, 2006
Mark’s members say water and sewer connections serve areas less than a mile away from their 112-year-old church, which is a short distance from the Presbyterian church, Victorian homes and a MARC train station that form the heart of Boyds. Mark’s congregation has grown from 40 to 170 members in the past three years, and Warner said neither the church’s water supply nor sewage holding tank is adequate. Institutional facilities typically do not fare as well on septic systems as homes do. A dozen or so members also own property near the church, where the land does not accommodate septic systems as well as it does in other parts of Boyds. While they support limits on high-density development, they say their heritage gives them standing to demand better services. “We’re descendants of those people, the founders,” Hawkins said, referring to ancestors who lived in the area before the Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was built in the early 1870s, which led to the town’s founding.