The News Review:

- Crews dive deep for NYC water tunnel job
- Gaza: Children showing signs of illness, as water supplies become…
- Zimbabwe: Full Dams Do Not Translate Into Water Supplies

Crews dive deep for NYC water tunnel job
USA Today – Feb 29, 2008
Their voices are so high support crews need to use a special recording device to translate. What’s the point of this bizarre subterranean life? Coming up with a way to save drinking water for New York City, which is losing the equivalent of a small lake every day in an enormous, aging, leaky tunnel. About half the city’s water supply passes through the tunnel from upstate reservoirs. Of the hundreds of millions of gallons that flow there every day, some 10 million to 36 million escape from cracks in a 45-mile stretch. Not only is it a waste, the leaks create sinkholes and other problems at the surface. The city Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the water supply, has been aware of the leaks for decades, but repair work is complicated and takes careful and extensive planning, officials said. The city began sending divers down to the tunnel in mid-February to gather data that will be used to develop a plan for repairs…
Then there’s the helium they have to breathe to survive at such depths. Their voices are so high support crews need to use a special recording device to translate. What’s the point of this bizarre subterranean life? Coming up with a way to save drinking water for New York City, which is losing the equivalent of a small lake every day in an enormous, aging, leaky tunnel. About half the city’s water supply passes through the tunnel from upstate reservoirs. Of the hundreds of millions of gallons that flow there every day, some 10 million to 36 million escape from cracks in a 45-mile stretch. Not only is it a waste, the leaks create sinkholes and other problems at the surface. The city Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the water supply, has been aware of the leaks for decades, but repair work is complicated and takes careful and extensive planning, officials said.

Gaza: Children showing signs of illness, as water supplies become…
Reuters AlertNet – Feb 29, 2008
Nine-year-old Hadeel is one of the sponsored children whose family is affected by this latest crisis in Gaza. The water is severely rationed and only gets to her home once a week for two hours at a time. This is due to the continuing fuel shortage, which renders the pumping stations inoperable and therefore unable to supply households with sufficient water. Hadeel’s father, Abdel Salam, has taken his children to the local clinic several times in the past few weeks in order to be treated for diarrhea, nausea and worms, as a result of drinking unclean water and told World Vision’s North Gaza ADP staff that he is worried about the health of his children. ‘We are looking at a deepening health crisis in the Gaza Strip, if a clean supply of water remains unavailable,’ said Charles Clayton, National Director for World Vision – Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza. Hadeel’s family owns a piece of land that her father, Abdel Salam, was cultivating for the family’s use. The produce was intended to keep the household at a level of self-sufficiency, given the current poverty levels in Gaza.

Zimbabwe: Full Dams Do Not Translate Into Water Supplies
AllAfrica.com – Feb 28, 2008
As you approach the settlement there is an overpowering stench of excreta wafting out of burst sewer pipes and toilets that have not been flushed for days due to the lack of running water. "As you can see, we are in a mess. One wonders where the hell is the water when Lake Chivero is said to be filled to capacity and newspaper front pages always show pictures of it spilling," said Macheka. Lake Chivero is the largest water supply dam for Harare. The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) has just released statistics showing that Lake Chivero was at 103. 8 percent of its capacity in January. Figures nationwide indicate that Zimbabwe’s major dams were at 94.