The News Review:

- Panels look at water demand
- Blue-green algae found in another China lake; officials say drinking…
- Residents seek water supply
- As global warming impacts on water resources, steps must be taken now…

Panels look at water demand
Providence Journal – Jun 7, 2007
Lenihan said the current cost estimates for the reservoir stand at $1 billion and the development period would be 20 years, creating the possibility of far higher costs. Lenihan said the Senate is convinced the state can produce the same amount of additional water at one-tenth the cost by supporting improvements to individual water departments around Rhode Island. The complex new legislation seeks to overcome the fragmentation of water supply governance by creating a new water board comprising the heads of several state agencies now involved in regulating water supplies. It strengthens the state’s Water Resources Board, requires more statewide watershed management and planning, and provides more revenue to local water departments and gives them more tools to enforce water conservation. One tool will be to allow the imposition of surcharges on those who use excessive amounts of water in the summer. The House leadership reported yesterday that they are preparing legislation that incorporates some, but not all, of the changes recommended by the Senate. They said a House bill would be ready by next week.

Blue-green algae found in another China lake; officials say drinking…
International Herald Tribune – Jun 7, 2007
Environmental officials in Anhui province were closely monitoring the potentially poisonous algae bloom in Lake Chao, China's fifth-largest freshwater lake, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Thursday. The report came as government officials in Jiangsu province, just to the east, faced criticism for ignoring recurring pollution that in part fed a massive algae bloom last week in Lake Tai. Water supplies were cut off for days to 5 million residents in and around the city of Wuxi. “The algae is only in the western part of the lake (Lake Chao) and will not pollute the whole lake,” Xinhua quoted Zhang Zhiyuan, chief engineer of the Anhui environmental protection bureau, as saying. He gave no details about how large the affected area of water was. Water in Chaohu, a city of 320,000 on the lake's eastern banks, still “meets the country's drinking water standards,” Zhang said. Today in Asia – Pacific.

Residents seek water supply
Hindu – Jun 7, 2007
Shaikmohideen TIRUNELVELI: Vehicular traffic on the Tirunelveli – Thatchanallur stretch was affected on Wednesday when residents carrying empty pots blocked the road demanding drinking water. According to sources, water supply to Thatchanallur was affected for the past few days. Officials from Thatchanallur Zone of Tirunelveli Corporation, led by the Assistant Commissioner, Janaki Ravindran, spoke to the protestors. When drinking water was brought in lorries and tractors, the people refused to accept it, saying that they wanted to have a permanent solution to the “perennial problem. ” Following the protest, traffic on the road was thrown out of gear. The protest was later withdrawn following an assurance from the officials that water supply would be restored at the earliest.

As global warming impacts on water resources, steps must be taken now…
Taipei Times – Jun 7, 2007
The good news is that such solutions exist and are proving their efficacy every day. `The key is to anticipate the need for action before tensions escalate to the point of no return. ‘ Dams — provided they are adequately sized and designed — can contribute to human development by fighting climate change and regulating water supply. Yet in a new context of scarcity, upstream infrastructure projects on international rivers may impact water quality or availability for neighboring states, thus causing tensions. River basin organizations such as that established for the Nile, Niger or Senegal rivers help facilitate dialogue between states that share hydraulic resources. By developing a joint vision for the development of international waterways, these regional cooperation initiatives work toward common ownership of the resource, thereby reducing the risk that water-use disputes will escalate into violence. Most international waterways have such frameworks for dialogue, albeit at different stages of development and levels of achievement.