The News Review:

- Dwindling water supply a cause for worry
- Labor pledges $30m to WA water supply
- Another problem water facility
- Colorado Springs Gazette : Gazette.com

Dwindling water supply a cause for worry
Hindu – Feb 18, 2007
Though the drop is minimal, they fear that with the onset of summer, it may turn out to be a bigger problem. Premanand of Purasawalkam says though the water supply has been regular, there is slight decrease in the supply time. Cut in time This went unnoticed as the supply time was cut by only15 to 30 minutes. Residents of Subramaniam Street at Purasawalkam say the supply through public fountains, which was available for almost 24 hours, has been restricted to evening hours. A similar situation prevails in several other streets in the Purasawalkam Tank area. A resident of Sivasailam Street at T…
Nagar says the supply time is being reduced slowly without much impact on the amount of water supplied. Residents of Villivakkam, who face similar problems, warn that further reduction in supply time will lead to decline in quantity. Several residents also complain of coloured water supply for several days now. Boopathy of Villivakkam laments that the muddy water has to be filtered twice before it can be drunk. Residents of Agathiyar Nagar in Villivakkam complain that the supply was sporadic at times during the past few weeks. Those living on Perambur High Road also complain about coloured water.

Labor pledges $30m to WA water supply
The Age – Feb 18, 2007
Under the Gnangara Mound project, 1. 5 billion litres of treatedwaste water each year will undergo further treatment includingdesalination before being pumped through bores into the Leedervilleaquifer on the Gnangara Mound. “Groundwater resources supply about 60 per cent of Perth’sdrinking water and Gnangara Mound is the largest and most importantshallow underground water resource in the Perth region,” Mr Ruddsaid. “The federal government has been dragging its feet on thisproject. Federal Labor has set a 30 per cent waste water recycling targetby 2015, Mr Rudd said. He said a Labor government would work in partnership with thestate governments on practical, national building projects. The Australian Water Fund, set up in 2004, is a $2 billiongovernment program that invests in water infrastructure andimproved water management of Australia’s scarce resources.

Another problem water facility
St. Petersburg Times – Feb 18, 2007
It failed to produce enough water. But Tampa Bay Water’s other plant, hailed as a success and handed national awards, has had nearly as many problems without the public fuss. Opening of the $144-million Surface Water Treatment Plant in Brandon, expected to produce 66-million gallons of water a day, was delayed. Its filters clogged too fast. It failed to produce enough water — just 42. 5-million gallons a day last year, more than 20-million gallons a day below its capacity. Now officials are planning a major expansion that is expected to cost taxpayers $94-million…
So Tampa Bay Water plans to install a large pump at the reservoir as part of its expansion of the Surface Water Treatment Plant. When the expansion is complete in 2010, the plant should be able to produce up to 99-million gallons a day, Kennedy said. It’s all part of a new water supply plan that the utility hopes to obtain funding for from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, with each agency paying $94-million. Tampa Bay Water’s half would come from its customers, while Swiftmud’s half would come from taxes levied by the state agency. Swiftmud’s board has not yet approved the deal. Last year the state agency’s staff expressed concern to Tampa Bay Water that the plant wasn’t producing 66-million gallons a day. Tampa Bay Water replied that “the plant cannot produce its design capacity on an annual average basis, and furthermore Tampa Bay Water never intended to operate the plant at its maximum rate on an annual basis’’ — the same argument it employed in regard to the desal plant.

Colorado Springs Gazette : Gazette.com
Colorado Springs Gazette – Feb 18, 2007
The district formed in 1973 to protect the water supply in the eastern El Paso County basin. Theyve been adding housing units left and right, and theyre all relying on the same water supply, she said. Despite warnings that groundwater will play out, there have been few signs that politicians, developers or home buyers are willing to face the facts. Between 2000 and 2006, for example, the portion of building permits issued in El Paso County for construction in unincorporated areas those most apt to rely on wells grew from 24 percent to 38 percent…
The district formed in 1973 to protect the water supply in the eastern El Paso County basin. Theyve been adding housing units left and right, and theyre all relying on the same water supply, she said. Despite warnings that groundwater will play out, there have been few signs that politicians, developers or home buyers are willing to face the facts. Between 2000 and 2006, for example, the portion of building permits issued in El Paso County for construction in unincorporated areas those most apt to rely on wells grew from 24 percent to 38 percent. – Snowmelt, the main source of water for Front Range cities, has fluctuated wildly from year to year.