The News Review:

- Ghana: Tamale, Accra, Volta Bear Brunt of Water Crisis
- newsobserver.com |Readers’ Corner – Readers thirst for more…
- Corps reduces Falls release
- Bill would make N. Idaho water adjudication voluntary
- Nigeria: Water Vendors Protest at Nyanya

Ghana: Tamale, Accra, Volta Bear Brunt of Water Crisis
AllAfrica.com – Mar 4, 2008
According to him, the reduction in the contract value would deprive some of the most endemic guinea worm communities, like Chilifoyili, Tali, Tolon and Woribogu and many others, from getting access to portable drinking water, since they were not captured under the project. When completed, the water expansion project cannot meet the 12 million gallons required, but would only add 6 million gallons to the existing 4 million being supplied by the GWCL. The Chronicle has learnt that the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, is liaising with the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to find a possible way of factoring in some of the guinea worm affected communities, to enjoy potable water. He has also challenged the contractors to speed up the work, to save the people from their predicament. Meanwhile, the Savelugu-Nanton District is currently also facing serious water problems, as well Damango, in the West Gonja District, all in the Northern Region. Cape CoastDavid Allan Paintsil & Magdalene Sey report from Cape Coast that the perennial water problem in the Central Region is gradually coming to an end, with various water projects in the districts almost 90% complete. Relevant Links West AfricaFood, Agriculture and Rural IssuesGhanaSustainable DevelopmentWater and Sanitation Unlike the previous years, when it became an annual ritual, to see residents with all kinds of containers going about in search of water, the situation in and around Cape Coast has now improved.

newsobserver.com |Readers’ Corner – Readers thirst for more…
News & Observer – Mar 4, 2008
[More:] “I don’t think there can be too much coverage,” said Karen Edwards of Raleigh. Mary Ellen Bowers of Chapel Hill said, “Coverage has been good recently, but I’d like to see more. What is the worst-case scenario? If we don’t get enough rain in the next couple of months, what will happen?” Other questions people want answered: * Why have state and local governments waited so late to act? * Who are the biggest water hogs? * What’s the breakdown among business, agricultural and homeowner water use? * What is the doomsday scenario, if water supply craters, and who will have to suffer how much if governments ration water? The N&O already has addressed many of these questions and has stories in the works to address others. The paper started writing about the drought March 20, and the story moved to the front page June 1, when officials declared a moderate drought. 1 through Friday, there had been 67 stories, editorials and op-ed pieces, including 10 on the front page and a Q section devoted to “Water wars. ” Stories have told you: * History lessons from past droughts…
* Water conservation ideas. In addition, The N&O has placed a lot of information online, including timeline maps of the drought’s progress, a “fact finder” of drought-related information and a drought discussion forum. John Morris, director of the N. Division of Water Resources, praised the paper’s work, especially photos of dried-up lakes and graphics comparing local water supplies that he said dramatically illustrated the problem. He cautioned the paper not to paint the drought picture with too broad a brush, because some communities are suffering less than others. “In some of these communities, it’s not as crucial for them to be rigidly restricting water use,” he said.

Corps reduces Falls release
News & Observer – Mar 4, 2008
comp –> HOW IT HELPS What does the Corps of Engineers’ action mean for Raleigh’s water supply?The reduction in water releases into the Neuse River doesn’t increase the supply of drinking water Raleigh has remaining in Falls Lake, which as of Friday stood at 124 days. Instead, by slashing those releases by almost half, the corps’ engineers delay the point at which the city would have to tap into the reservoir’s silt-filled sedimentation pool for drinking water, something that has never been done. comp –> Related Content.

Bill would make N. Idaho water adjudication voluntary
Seattle Times – Mar 4, 2008
But residents already there are concerned they could lose access to water through the process or that water could become more expensive. Barry Rosenberg, executive director of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance, said domestic water rights holders should take part in adjudication, a legal sorting-out of water rights in which a court determines who has rights to how much water and issues permanent decrees. “If they don’t participate in the process and a neighbor diminishes their water supply, they will have to establish their water right and prove the injury in district court,” Rosenberg said in a statement. “That would involve hiring an attorney and an expert such as a hydrogeologist. The cost could run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Broadsword said she expects most people to take part in the process. “I anticipate that once the fees are lowered and the education has taken place, most of those people will determine that they want to participate, and they have a right to participate,” she said.

Nigeria: Water Vendors Protest at Nyanya
AllAfrica.com – Mar 4, 2008
Nasiru, a vendor, said they were not aware of the protest by their members. "Nobody told us that there would be a protest and we just met these people who call themselves our officials attacking us," he said. Another vendor said the protest has greatly affected his finances as he had only N100 in his house and decided to use it to fetch water to supply in order to get some money to feed. "Now that the water I have fetched has been thrown away, how would I survive today, he wondered?Our reporter noticed that throughout the protest no policeman came to the assistance of the vendors that were attacked by the monitoring group. A member of the monitoring team said the directive given out is that no water vendor should supply water in Nyanya until the prices have been reversed to normal. Another official, Chimaobi Chidi said the increase is annoying because water vendors return N500 weekly to the owners of their carts and jerry cans. He said vendors also take -up other expenses such as repairing the carts if it goes bad or fixing their jerry cans.