The News Review:

- RM6 Mln For Repairs To Water Treatment Plants In Three Flood-hit…
- Zimbabwe: Privatisation of Water Not the Answer
- Global warming to alter Calif. landscape
- ‘Double standards’ jibe over water pipeline

RM6 Mln For Repairs To Water Treatment Plants In Three Flood-hit…
Bernama – Dec 29, 2007
5 million would be for Pahang, RM2 million for Johor and RM500,000 for Kelantan. He said the estimates were based on the extent of the damage to the water pumps which were submerged in floodwaters, and the intake pumps which were covered by sand, as well as for drilling works. “Another estimated RM12 million will be needed to repair and upgrade the equipment of the Water Supply Department (JBA) nationwide,” he told reporters after surveying the water treatment plant in Kampung Lubuk Kawah here today. Lee said to avoid further damage to water infrastructure in future, a thorough study would be carried out before implementing any of the projects. Meanwhile, the Pahang JBA has assured residents that the state’s water supply would return to normal by next week. Its director Datuk Ismail Mohd Nor said the department, with the assistance of the army, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) and Puncak Niaga Holdings Berhad, was working round the clock to ensure that the 200,000 residents affected by the floods would be able to get back their water supply. He said among the water treatment plants affected by the floods were at Sungai Bera, Chenor, Simpang Jengka, Pekan Tajau in Maran and Lubuk Kawah here.

Zimbabwe: Privatisation of Water Not the Answer
AllAfrica.com – Dec 29, 2007
Ismail Serageldin, a former World Bank vice president brought this saying into common currency when in a 1995 interview with Newsweek he aid, "If the wars of (20th) Century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water. " Before that, Egypt’s Anwar al-Sadat had already pointed out that: "The only matter that could take Egypt to war again is water. " Though it is not often said, the reality that we will all have to face, particularly in the developing world, is that water supply is being gradually privatised and commodified with a value beyond the reach of many ordinary folk. In fact, one magazine has postulated that water "is one of the world’s great business opportunities. It promises to be to the 21st Century what oil was to the 20th". It is a sobering thought when one considers what competition for oil has so far done to the world. Over the past decade, three companies have grown to control the water supply of some 300 million people: Vivendi and Suez (France) and Thames Water of England (owned by a German company).

Global warming to alter Calif. landscape
USA Today – Dec 29, 2007
Scientists already are considering relocating Joshua tree seedlings to areas where the plants, a hallmark of the high desert and namesake of a national park, might survive climate change. “They could be wiped out of California depending on how quickly the change happens,” said Cameron Barrows, who studies the effects of climate change for the Center for Conservation Biology in Riverside. Farther north, where wet, cold winters are crucial for the water supply of the entire state, warmer temperatures will lead to more rain than snow in the Sierra Nevada and faster melting in the spring. Because 35 percent of the state’s water supply is stored annually in the Sierra snowpack, changes to that hydrologic system will lead to far-reaching consequences for California and its ever-growing population. Some transformations already are apparent, from the Sierra high country to the great valleys that have made California the nation’s top agricultural state. The snow line is receding, as it is in many other alpine regions around the world. Throughout the 400-mile-long Sierra, trees are under stress, leading scientists to speculate that the mix of flora could change significantly as the climate warms…
“They could be wiped out of California depending on how quickly the change happens,” said Cameron Barrows, who studies the effects of climate change for the Center for Conservation Biology in Riverside. Farther north, where wet, cold winters are crucial for the water supply of the entire state, warmer temperatures will lead to more rain than snow in the Sierra Nevada and faster melting in the spring. Because 35 percent of the state’s water supply is stored annually in the Sierra snowpack, changes to that hydrologic system will lead to far-reaching consequences for California and its ever-growing population. Some transformations already are apparent, from the Sierra high country to the great valleys that have made California the nation’s top agricultural state. The snow line is receding, as it is in many other alpine regions around the world. Throughout the 400-mile-long Sierra, trees are under stress, leading scientists to speculate that the mix of flora could change significantly as the climate warms. The death rate of fir and pine trees has accelerated over the past two decades.

‘Double standards’ jibe over water pipeline
The Age – Dec 29, 2007
The Brumby Government’s plans for the desalination plant and topipe water from across the Great Dividing Range have been met bystrong opposition from some farmers, environmental and communitygroups. The public will be able to comment on the draft terms ofreference into the desalination study, to be released in February,and public hearings will be conducted. The plant, to be completedby 2011, is expected to add 150 billion litres a year toMelbourne’s water supply. Mike Dalmau, from the group Plug the Pipe, said the decision notto hold an environmental study into the pipeline, which willprovide 75 billion litres of water a year to Melbourne, wasdeplorable and “smacks of double standards”. “It’s not just about a study into the impact of the pipe, it’sabout the environmental vandalism of taking water out of theMurray-Darling Basin,” he said. The Victorian Liberal and National parties condemned thedecision not to conduct an environmental statement into the $750million north-south pipeline. “The fact of the matter is thenorth-south pipeline should not be built,” Victorian Nationalsleader Peter Ryan said.