The News Review:

- Rich countries poor in supply of water: WWF
- Water crises everywhere, the First World warned to think
- Water projects data at the click of mouse
- EDITORIAL: A Dry Topic? Hardly: Speak up on Texas’ water plan…

Rich countries poor in supply of water: WWF
Times of India – Aug 16, 2006
In a survey ofthe situation across the industrialised world, it said many cities were alreadylosing the battle to maintain water supplies as governments talked aboutconservation but failed to implement theirpledges. “Supportinglarge-scale industry and growing populations using water at high rates has comeclose to exhausting the water supplies of some First World cities and is alooming threat for many, if not most, others,” the reportwarned. It suggested thatagriculture in the richer countries should have to pay more for water and beheld responsible more actively for its efficient use and for managing wastes,like salt, especially in intensive livestockfarming. From Seville in Spainto Sacramento in California and Sydney in Australia, the report said, water hadbecome a key political issue at local, regional and national levels as climatechange and loss of wetlands dramatically reducesupplies. “At the rhetoriclevel, it is now generally accepted in the developed world that water must beused more efficiently and that water must be made available again to theenvironment in sufficient quantity for natural systems tofunction.

Water crises everywhere, the First World warned to think
The Age – Aug 16, 2006
“Manycountries also recognise that extensive — and very expensive— repairs are required to reduce some of the damage inflictedon water systems and catchments in the past. But it added: “Putting the rhetoric into practice in the face ofhabitual practices and intense lobbying by vested interests hasbeen very difficult. In Europe, the report said, countries around the Atlantic aresuffering from recurring droughts, while in the Mediterraneanregion, water resources were being depleted by the boom in tourismand irrigated agriculture. In the US, many areas were using substantially more water thancould be naturally replenished. Even in Japan, with its highrainfall, contamination of water supplies had become a seriousissue. The overall picture, the WWF said, would worsen as globalwarming brought lower rainfall and increased evaporation of waterand changed the pattern of snow melting from mountain areas. The report proposed seven ways to tackle the problem: conservingcatchments and wetlands; balancing conservation and consumption;changing attitudes to water; repairing infrastructure; increasingcharges to farmers for water use; reducing water contamination; andmore study of water systems…
In Europe, the report said, countries around the Atlantic aresuffering from recurring droughts, while in the Mediterraneanregion, water resources were being depleted by the boom in tourismand irrigated agriculture. In the US, many areas were using substantially more water thancould be naturally replenished. Even in Japan, with its highrainfall, contamination of water supplies had become a seriousissue. The overall picture, the WWF said, would worsen as globalwarming brought lower rainfall and increased evaporation of waterand changed the pattern of snow melting from mountain areas. The report proposed seven ways to tackle the problem: conservingcatchments and wetlands; balancing conservation and consumption;changing attitudes to water; repairing infrastructure; increasingcharges to farmers for water use; reducing water contamination; andmore study of water systems.

Water projects data at the click of mouse
Hindu – Aug 16, 2006
They can visit the website of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board, which recently executed rural water supply projects in these areas. The facility is available to people of other districts too. The data on the status of the projects are furnished panchayat-wise, block-wise and district-wise. Information on the cost of the schemes and the number of beneficiaries is also there. The website also gives a break-up of the projects, completed month-wise, since May.

EDITORIAL: A Dry Topic? Hardly: Speak up on Texas’ water plan…
Free with registration – Dallas Morning News – AccessMyLibrary.com – Aug 16, 2006
(16-AUG-06) Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX). 16–By January 2007: Water supplies like Lake Lavon and Lake Chapman could be exhausted, if the drought persists. By 2010: Texas will need a 20 percent increase in water supplies to meet the d…
16–By January 2007: Water supplies like Lake Lavon and Lake Chapman could be exhausted, if the drought persists. By 2010: Texas will need a 20 percent increase in water supplies to meet the d.