The News Review:

- Plan to rectify flaws in water supply
- Environment News Service (ENS)
- Beijing’s water thirst causes neighbour problems
- Bill promises end to Soboba water dispute.

Plan to rectify flaws in water supply
Hindu – Mar 30, 2007
A survey would be conducted to identify the wells that could be used for drinking water purposes. Borewells would be sunk wherever necessary, in consultation with the Mayor and councillors, to tide over the situation, he said. Short-supply Responding to a slew of complaints on drinking water short-supply from councillors, the Commissioner B. Balachandran said that there was no major drop in the yield from city’s drinking water sources on the Cauvery river. There could be a fall in yield by about five to 10 million litres a day, which could be tackled by activating the huge borewells already sunk on the riverbed. Problems in the distribution network, especially in areas where short-supply is reported, would be rectified immediately. The Executive Engineer R…
About 200 to 300 cusecs would be released whenever a wetting was necessary to recharge the water sources. Borewells activated Some of the borewells on the Cauvery bed have already been activated and a few others have been kept ready to meet any contingency. The Corporation was providing water supply on alternative days on a turn system in the Golden Rock zone owing to a few problems in the distribution network. Jerome Arockiaraj of the Congress urged the authorities to monitor the distribution system closely to avoid inequities in supply to different parts of the city. The AIADMK floor leader Mariam Pitchai demanded that councillors from all parties were consulted on streamlining the drinking water supply.

Environment News Service (ENS)
Environment News Service – Mar 30, 2007
Increasing water conservation and efficiency in China will help reduce energy consumption and air pollution locally and globally, said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin Grumbles who signed the agreement with his counterpart at China’s Ministry of Water Resources. Under this agreement, EPA will collaborate with China to explore better management solutions through technical assistance to improve the health and accessibility of China’s water resources. The agreement provides a framework for cooperation in integrated river basin watershed management, human-made wetlands, water resources monitoring, and wastewater reuse. This agreement complements the 2003 agreement between the EPA and China’s State Environmental Protection Administration on scientific and technical cooperation on environment. An annex to that agreement sets forth a framework for scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries on water pollution.

Beijing’s water thirst causes neighbour problems
Reuters AlertNet – Mar 30, 2007
0 article header end –>. The arid province had just one-seventh the national average of per capita water supplies and for the last 30 years had had to rely more and more on groundwater, Xinhua said, citing an unnamed provincial official. Hebei also supplies the port city of Tianjin, recently earmarked to become a new growth engine for the Chinese economy with huge investment planned in factories and housing. Parts of the city of Cangzhou, south of Tianjin, have subsided more than 2 metres (6 ft 6 in) because of over-extraction of ground water, the report said. And in coastal Qinhuangdao, which will host some football events during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the groundwater has become unpotable due to infiltration of sea water, it added…
Parts of the city of Cangzhou, south of Tianjin, have subsided more than 2 metres (6 ft 6 in) because of over-extraction of ground water, the report said. And in coastal Qinhuangdao, which will host some football events during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the groundwater has become unpotable due to infiltration of sea water, it added. Over the last three decades enough water has been extracted in Hebei to fill northern China’s largest freshwater lake 200 times over, Xinhua said. "The expert urged the government to invest more money in environmental protection, and to take water efficiency measures to reduce consumption," it added. But Beijing’s water needs are set to grow, especially with the Olympics opening in less than 500 days’ time. The city is expected to host an extra 2. 5 million people during the Games and will need reliable water for drinking, hotel rooms and the belts of greenery being planted along its roads.

Bill promises end to Soboba water dispute.
Free with registration – Press-Enterprise – AccessMyLibrary.com – Mar 30, 2007
Mary Bono said the legislation she introduced would ratify an earlier settlement that would provide millions of dollars for economic development and billions of gallons of water that would help revitalize and expand the tribe’s agricultural and commercial endeavors. Surrounding communities in the San Jacinto Valley would benefit from assured water supplies as well as money and land to recharge the local aquifer and to protect endangered-species habitat.