The News Review:

- Climate Change Will Hurt NM Water Supply
- No drought for builders
- Zimbabwe: Take-Over of Water Supplies in Bulawayo a Travesty – MDC

Climate Change Will Hurt NM Water Supply
FOX News – Oct 24, 2007
— Researchers at New Mexico’s two largest universities are painting a grim picture of New Mexico’s economic and agricultural future with predictions that climate change will mean less water in the Rio Grande watershed. New Mexico State University agricultural economics professor Brian Hurd and University of New Mexico civil engineering professor Julie Coonrod say a wide range of climate models predict warmer weather and a change in precipitation patterns in New Mexico. The researchers said in a study released Tuesday that those changes could lead to a drop in the basin’s water supply by as little as a few percent or as much as one-third. That, in turn, could result in direct and indirect losses ranging between $13 million and $115 million by 2030 and from $21 million to more than $300 million by 2080. The researchers noted that water is used by people, plants and animals and it’s used to grow food and provide economic and ecological benefits. “Under current climate there is virtually no spare water in New Mexico,” the study says. “Imagine a very plausible future.

No drought for builders
Atlanta Journal Constitution – Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscripti… – Oct 24, 2007
“The attitude we have seen is basically unrestricted water for unrestricted growth. Bethea and other environmentalists say local governments in the Atlanta area need to tighten restrictions on developers, including making them disclose in advance how much water their projects will require. Homebuilders say environmentalists are to blame for the state’s water woes by fighting the construction of new water reservoirs and treatment plants in Georgia. “The term is deflection. That is what the environmental community is trying to do right now because they don’t want to accept responsibility for what they have done in the past,” said Ed Phillips, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Georgia, which represents more than 13,000 builders. With an eye toward these concerns, a state-mandated planning body issued a water supply plan for metro Atlanta in 2003. It broke down what percentage of available water each local jurisdiction could expect long term, said Joel Cowan, the founding chairman of the body, the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District…
The Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority and the city of Canton are now building a $100 million, 5. 7 billion gallon water reservoir in Canton to keep up with projected growth and prepare for the next drought. Olens agreed growth has had an impact on the region’s water supply. But like other local officials, he is targeting the federal government for releasing too much water from Lake Lanier, even referencing Hurricane Katrina in connection with the Atlanta region’s “impending disaster. “It would be a crime,” Olens wrote in an opinion piece for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday, “for our president and the two federal agencies involved to be fully aware, this time, of such an impending disaster for yet another major American city this decade — and just sit by and watch it happen. But federal officials say the region’s rapid growth is an undeniable factor. “The combination of recent droughts and ever-growing demand,” said Enesta Jones, a spokeswoman for the U.

Zimbabwe: Take-Over of Water Supplies in Bulawayo a Travesty – MDC
AllAfrica.com – Oct 24, 2007
GA_googleFillSlot(“AllAfrica_Story_Inset”); It had resisted the take-over all along and received the support of residents including leaders of the ruling ZANU-PF and had appealed to Chombo to ask Cabinet to reverse the decision to take-over the country's second largest city's water supplies. "As a party, we condemn the ZINWA (Zimbabwe National Water Authority) take-over and continue to support both the Bulawayo City Council's stated position and the stand taken by the people of Bulawayo who elected the current MDC council," party vice president Gibson Sibanda said in a statement. Some councillors are reported to have threatened to impeach the mayor, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, for handing over the water supplies against both a council resolution and the wishes of the people. The council had clearly stated that it would not hand over its water supplies to the government. If ZINWA wanted to take over by force then it was free to do so. Sibanda, however, said the party was quite aware that the council had been forced to comply with a directive from Chombo. "The people have said it clearly and strongly and also in support of their elected council, that they do not want ZINWA to take over those services (but) the government (has gone) against the wishes and will of the people," the statement said.