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Archive for February, 2016
Australia to start register of foreign ownership of water rights
Posted by Reuters: Byron Kaye on February 22nd, 2016
Reuters: The Australian government said on Monday it plans to start a register of foreign ownership of water rights, redoubling its efforts to appease voters concerned about the amount of farming assets being sold offshore. Nine months after the government said it would force foreign owners of farmland to register, Treasurer Scott Morrison said the government plans to introduce laws to create a separate register of foreign ownership of water rights by Dec. 1. "Our agricultural land and water resources are...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Australia to start register of foreign ownership of water rightsSenate to examine BP’s plans to drill for oil in Great Australian Bight
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2016
Guardian: A Senate inquiry will investigate BP’s plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight and examine how a spill could be dealt with.
The company’s application to drill four exploratory wells was knocked back last year by National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, but details of why were not made public. BP quickly vowed to reapply.
The Wilderness Society South Australia director, Peter Owen, said BP should wait until after the inquiry had reported in May...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Senate to examine BP’s plans to drill for oil in Great Australian BightFossil fuel emissions behind Australia’s record-breaking spring heat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 21st, 2016
Guardian: World leaders and street protesters were struggling in a heatwave with temperatures hovering around 40C at Brisbane’s G20 meeting. Longreach in central Queensland had 13 days straight when the maximum temperature hit 40C (104F) or higher – four days longer than the town’s previous record. Down in New South Wales and Tasmania, residents fought off bushfires. A few weeks earlier, South Australia had its hottest October on record. This was the spring of 2014, Australia’s hottest September-November...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fossil fuel emissions behind Australia’s record-breaking spring heatAs U.S. shale sinks, pipeline fight sends woes downstream
Posted by Reuters: Tom Hals on February 21st, 2016
Reuters: Within weeks, two low-profile legal disputes may determine whether an unprecedented wave of bankruptcies expected to hit U.S. oil and gas producers this year will imperil the $500 billion pipeline sector as well.
In the two court fights, U.S. energy producers are trying to use Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to shed long-term contracts with the pipeline operators that gather and process shale gas before it is delivered to consumer markets.
The attempts to shed the contracts by Sabine Oil &...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As U.S. shale sinks, pipeline fight sends woes downstreamToxins Found in 39% of U.S. Southeastern Streams
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on February 21st, 2016
Environment News Service: Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey have found toxins produced by algae, known as microcystins, in 39 percent of the small streams assessed in the southeastern United States.
Their study looked at 75 streams in parts of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
"This is the first systematic stream survey of algal toxins in the southeastern United States," said Keith Loftin, the USGS research chemist who led the study.
"It`s important, because it provides a better...
Lake Powell Pipeline: Keeping up with demand
Posted by Spectrum: None Given on February 21st, 2016
Spectrum: From the upper floors of the imposing cliff-top offices of the Washington County Water Conservancy District, managers have an impressive view of the City of St. George and of the empty space beyond it that they figure to soon fill up, as well.
Ron Thompson, who has worked more than three decades as the entity’s general manager, sits in a conference room and explains how he’s seen the area grow, spilling out of the main valleys of the Virgin River and its tributaries, creeping up onto the cliffsides...
A map of the most vulnerable places on the planet
Posted by Ars Technica: Annalee Newitz on February 21st, 2016
Ars Technica: Climate change isn't just one, uniform transformation of the planet. Over time, some areas are going to get hotter, some wetter, some cloudier—and vice versa. This map, produced using a new system for analyzing satellite data, reveals which parts of the planet will be most affected by these changes. Published in Nature, the map shows what the researchers call a vegetation sensitivity index (VSI). The VSI is a new measure of environmental vulnerability that combines several sources of data. The first...
Nuclear dump decision: Canada asks for more environmental info from OPG
Posted by Voice: Jim Bloch on February 21st, 2016
Voice: Instead of granting or denying a license to build a nuclear dump, the Canadian government has asked Ontario Power Generation for more information and additional studies. Canadian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna had been expected to make a decision on the Deep Geological Repository for Low- and Intermediate-Level Nuclear Waste, proposed for the shore of Lake Huron in the Ontario municipality of Kincardine, by March 1. Instead, McKenna made her request for more information...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nuclear dump decision: Canada asks for more environmental info from OPGThe innovators: looped water system for Earth friendly shower
Posted by Guardian: Shane Hickey on February 21st, 2016
Guardian: When he was working on an academic project with Nasa, Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, a Swedish industrial designer, realised there could be parallels between sustainability in space and on Earth. The extremes of space required that the vital resource of water be used in the most efficient way possible. Water should also be used like this in the home, he thought.
Inspired by those experiences with the space agency, Mahdjoubi created a shower system that reuses the same water in a circular loop, while two filters...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The innovators: looped water system for Earth friendly showerHome & dry? The flood victims who are putting up their own defences
Posted by Guardian: Morgan Meaker on February 21st, 2016
Guardian: Government pledges to spend billions of pounds on flood defences are failing to convince vulnerable householders, who are taking matters into their own hands. The government plans to spend £2.3bn on flood management and defences over the next six years. Yet, as UK residents are warned to expect more flooding after the devastation in Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire, some homeowners are installing or building their own defence systems.
The Pavitts – Charlotte, 33, and Andrew, 36 – have chosen...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Home & dry? The flood victims who are putting up their own defences