The News Review:

- Farmers ‘denied water’
- Vancouver, BC, water not safe after reservoir mudslides
- Employees threaten water supply suspension
- China’s water pricing urged to hold water (2)
- Mother Nature was in charge

Farmers ‘denied water’
The Australian – Nov 18, 2006
Picture: Alan Pryke. module-item –> Murray River irrigators say the power company and its government owners have cut back the water Snowy usually supplies for their crops, devastating fragile rural economies already suffering from the drought. The water from the Snowy will be used to generate power to "support the electricity grid", the NSW Government confirmed yesterday. The Snowy Hydro Authority exists to back up the nation’s electricity generators, and can also make a healthy return on providing power to the market at times of shortage. On average it can make double the normal market price, and even more when demand peaks. But irrigators and farmers were relying on the Snowy water, which usually tops up flows in the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers, to grow crops in a season marked by massive cuts to allocations.

Vancouver, BC, water not safe after reservoir mudslides
Seattle Post Intelligencer – Nov 18, 2006
Perry Kendall, the province’s chief health officer, said one concern is that the water supply could contain viruses, such as the norovirus and the E. coli bacteria, both of which can lead to diarrhea. The advisory could last for weeks until the water supply clears. In British Columbia’s case, there was an intense period of heavy rainfall for 15 hours straight that caused a runoff into the three watersheds that supply water for about 2 million people.

Employees threaten water supply suspension
E-Pao.net – Nov 18, 2006
A statement issued by the Organisation cautioned that if the State Government indulge in any kind of intimidation or arrest of the employees in response to the proposed non-violent agitation, the employees would be rendered helpless but to vandalise the properties of the Department including rare and costly foreign machineries like engines, pumpsets, pipelines installed under the French project. In case things unfold to such an ugly situation, the State Government would be held accountable for all the untoward incidents. While appealing to the people to bear with the inconveniences as and when water supply to public is suspended, the Organisation pleaded to the people to support their cause.

China’s water pricing urged to hold water (2)
People's Daily Online – Nov 18, 2006
” While the authority believes the NDRC pricing regulation can help to supervise the water cost and save water, the public doubts about what is behind the rises. “I am wondering the relation between the rise of my water bill and that of the staff salary of water utilities,” said Kuang Fei, a 37-year-old civil servant in Beijing. “Although the welfare and hospitality cost are imposed quotas in the regulation, I am afraid those ‘swollen costs’ are not truly necessary for water supply and maybe shifted secretly to other costs, which in the end are shouldered by us consumers,”he said. Average wage income of workers in China’s monopoly sectors, such as telecom, finance, tobacco and water industries, has reached three times the national average, while non-wage income of workers in these sectors enlarged the gap with the national average up to 10 fold as much, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Shen Dajun, research fellow with China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, agreed that the consumers need transparency for the money collected from their water bills. “They need to be told that the fees they have paid for treating the wastewater have indeed been used for that purpose and the money to build facilities for the more efficient use of water resources has really been used in that area,” he said…
Average wage income of workers in China’s monopoly sectors, such as telecom, finance, tobacco and water industries, has reached three times the national average, while non-wage income of workers in these sectors enlarged the gap with the national average up to 10 fold as much, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Shen Dajun, research fellow with China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, agreed that the consumers need transparency for the money collected from their water bills. “They need to be told that the fees they have paid for treating the wastewater have indeed been used for that purpose and the money to build facilities for the more efficient use of water resources has really been used in that area,” he said. He noted that a good regulation alone would not solve all the problems. An independent auditing is indispensable and cost information should be made available to the public to prevent water suppliers from manipulating pricing, he said. Ma Jun, an environmental consultant and the author of the book “China’s Water Crisis, believes most people could afford water at a realistic price, and they would use the resource more prudently and efficiently if it came at a higher cost.

Mother Nature was in charge
Globe and Mail – Nov 18, 2006
But there is nothing you can do to stop the weather,” she said. “It was like trying to hold back the tide. ”Paul Archibald, division manager of water supply operations for the regional district, said they were not able to take much water out of Seymour as the storm raged on. But the switch to Capilano water from Seymour made no difference. The water in both reservoirs was terrible, he said. “It was pick your poison. Neither one was at all anywhere where you would want them to be,” he said.