The News Review:

- Assembly Dems announce water ‘principles’
- Part 2: Though water is drying up, a Chinese metropolis booms
- Call to emulate Israel in water management
- Government urged to act over water supply

Assembly Dems announce water ‘principles’
Sacramento Bee – Sep 27, 2007
Here’s the Assembly Democrats’ intent language on “water supply” reliability, and below that, on protecting the Delta:It is the intent of the Legislature to invest state funding in programs and projects that improve the state’s water supply reliability and that promote all of the following principles:(a) An immediate response to the urgent crisis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by protecting its ecosystems and the integrity of its water supply through appropriate emergency measures, sustainable projects, and long-term solutions. (b) Water agencies and local governments within each region should collaborate to develop, to the extent reasonably possible, regional reliance on water resources within their region, in order to minimize reliance on water resources from other regions. (c) Each region should integrate and coordinate use of water resources from all available sources, including surface water and groundwater. The state should support regions that take responsibility for coordinated management of their own diverse water resources. (d) Water use efficiency, including conservation, recycling, reuse, and stormwater capture, provides one of the least expensive and least resource-intensive methods to enhance water supply reliability. (e) Safe and reliable drinking water for all communities, including disadvantaged communities, should be among the state’s top water policy objectives. (f) Water projects should contribute multiple benefits, to the extent reasonably possible, including benefits to water supply, water quality, the environment, and flood protection…
(h) State and local agencies that use state funding should be accountable for completion and outcomes that support statewide water supply reliability. (i) State and local agencies should consider the effects of a changing climate on the reliable availability of water resources for beneficial needs in the years ahead. (j) The state’s water supply and flood control systems should be coordinated, to the extent reasonably possible, to optimize the benefits for both of these state functions. (k) Water storage projects should include and make use of the most cost-effective strategies for accomplishing the purposes for which the storage project was designed to achieve, including the cleanup of groundwater aquifers. (l) The state should promote improvements to water quality, including both the protection of watersheds that produce the state’s water supply and the use of the latest water treatment technology, before and after use, in accordance with a comprehensive strategy that ensures long-term sustainability. (m) The State Water Resources Control Board should exercise its authority to the full extent provided by law to protect water quality for all beneficial uses, in conjunction with funding for projects that promote water quality.

Part 2: Though water is drying up, a Chinese metropolis booms
International Herald Tribune – Sep 27, 2007
Industry in China uses 3 to 10 times more water, depending on the product, than industries in developed nations. “We have to now focus on conservation,” said Ma Jun, a prominent environmentalist and author of “China's Water Crisis. ” “We don't have much extra water resources. We have the same resources and much bigger pressures from growth. ” In the past, the Communist Party has reflexively turned to engineering projects to address water problems, and now it is reaching back to one of Mao's unrealized schemes: the $62 billion South-to-North Water Transfer Project to funnel 45 billion cubic meters, or 12 trillion gallons, northward every year along three routes from the Yangtze River basin, where water is more abundant. The project, if fully built, would be completed in 2050. The eastern and central lines are already under construction; the western line, the most controversial because of environmental concerns, remains in the planning stages.

Call to emulate Israel in water management
Hindu – Sep 27, 2007
Rafeeque Ahmed at a conference on water resources in Chennai on Wednesday. Chennai Metrowater Managing Director Shiv Das Meena is in the picture. — CHENNAI: The importance of replicating the Israeli model of water management for judicious and efficient use of water resources in growing cities such as Chennai was highlighted by Shiv Das Meena, Managing Director, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board. Inaugurating a one-day conference on “Augmenting and Conserving Water Resources” organised by the Tamil Nadu State Council of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Wednesday, he said water management had always been a politically sensitive issue, including its pricing factor. “We are finding ways and means to tap additional sources to meet the growing demand for water”, Mr. The State Government was encouraging creation of check-dams, detection of leaks and rectification initiatives…
The State Government was encouraging creation of check-dams, detection of leaks and rectification initiatives. A proposal for setting up an Industrial Water Treatment Plant had also been mooted and SIPCOT came out with an Expression of Interest for the project. Consul-General of Israel Daniel Zohar Zonshine spoke on the water-saving methods through drip irrigation in a predominantly arid zone. Making a detailed technical presentation on judicious and efficient water management practised in Israel, he underscored the need for educating the masses on saving every drop of water. He also invited experts and those interested in conservation of water resources to participate in the water techniques exhibition and convention to be held in Tel Aviv from October 30 to November 1.

Government urged to act over water supply
rte.ie – Sep 27, 2007
A new report from the Irish Academy of Engineers says a public campaign to eliminate water wastage is needed and a prohibition on development in areas at high risk of flooding. Up to 42% of Dublin’s water used to be lost through leakages in the mid 1990s. Advertisement A total of 120m is now being spent replacing those leaking pipes, which is a recognition that due to global warming water will become increasingly scarce in Ireland. The report says forward planning on this vital issue needs to happen now.