A major drought along the lower Danube is demonstrating the river's reduced ability to buffer extreme weather events while also hampering navigation, reports
a recent Agence France-Presse article. "The current dry conditions highlight the need to minimize the impact of structural interventions" says   World Wildlife Fund (WWF) program director Andreas Beckmann.  According to WWF, "Human intervention such as gravel extraction, dredging and dams has contributed to the gradual loss of wetlands that can soak up water during rainy periods and release it slowly during drier times."  

Here's a silly holiday video brought to you by a few of AWRA's official office pups:  Mosby, Sally, and Barkley.

 

The Need for a Coordinated Water Policy is Brought to U.S. Senate's Attention 

  

How to Keep the Clean Water Act Strong?  

William K. Reilly, former administrator of the EPA under George H.W. Bush, writes an OP-ED appearing in the November 28th edition of The New York Times on the importance of the Clean Water Act. "If we narrow our vision of the Clean Water Act, if we buy into the misguided notion that reducing protection of our waters will somehow ignite the economy, we will shortchange our health, environment and economy."

A Perennial Revolution in Agriculture  

An article in Yes Magazine portrays Wes Jackson as a one man revolution in agriculture. In order to prevent soil erosion, run off, and the disruption of natural processes, he has spent over thirty years "developing perennial crops that produced edible seeds, and required far fewer inputs than most of modern agriculture. He would address what he calls "solving the problem of agriculture" by creating new ways to produce grain that drew inspiration from natural energy flows, and did not require annual disruption of the soil."

Jackson's most significant success, says this article, "has been the refinement - through painstaking plant breeding rather than gene-modification shortcuts -of kernza, a perennial grain that originated in Turkey and Afghanistan... Jackson speaks of the dire need for sustained funding for perennial research and development. "To get to the threshold level, we would need about $1.6 billion. That's a fraction of what we now spend subsidizing ethanol." It is also a tiny fraction -one hundredth - of what the United States now pays each year for the energy needed to fuel its food system says Yes. As oil supplies dwindle, and as climate fluctuates, Jackson feels the efficiencies of perennials will become all the more critical.

On December 21, the Philippine Star reported that "Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection and Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) general manager Neric Acosta said recently that hundreds of industries in Metro Manila and CALABARZON are in clear violation of ... The Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004... 'With the country's high vulnerability to climate change, increased demand for food security, scarce water supply, and flooding, the lake's water quality and viability is very important and has to be protected. We have a law for that and it has to be enforced,'

LLDA data show that effluents from some industries have contributed to the high metal content of the water like lead, increased biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), low levels of dissolved oxygen, and sedimentation...The LLDA is looking at the first quarter of 2012 as the time frame for the closing down of identified violators."   

  U - 238 

Uranium Mining in Virginia?  

The Virginia Pilot Newspaper reports that a $1.4 million study released on December 19 suggests that there are economic benefits to harvesting a large deposit of uranium in Pittsylvania County but huge environmental and health risks to be overcome or substantially reduced as well. This 302 page report conducted by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences "is expected to be a critical tool in the debate over whether to lift a 30-year ban on uranium mining in the state. Proponents say the site, considered one of the largest uranium deposits in the world, could be the center of an economic boom and supply needed nuclear fuel for the country. Critics contend that allowing mining poses an unacceptable risk of radioactive contamination to people and the environment, including the nearby river system that feeds Lake Gaston - a major source of water for Hampton Roads."   A copy of the study is available on the Virginia State website  

An article on uranium mining and water resources in Virginia by AWRA's Dick Engberg  appeared in last week's  Middleburg Eccentric    

 This interesting piece of history appeared in the most recent Japan Water Forum e-newsletter.... Visionaries matter.

Alexander Graham Bell's Prediction  

"In 1898, on a visit to Japan, Alexander Graham Bell delivered a lecture at the Imperial Hotel. He was famous for his patent of the telephone in 1876. The lecture was a hymn to the future of Japan. He said,

 "Japan has many rivers and ample water resources. By utilizing these rich water resources, it is possible for Japan to achieve economic development that uses electricity as an energy source. It may become possible to move automobiles with electricity, replace steam engines with electric engines, and use electricity in production activities. By taking advantage of its favorable environment, Japan has the potential to attain even greater growth in the future."  

This is an excerpt of his speech from National Geographic Magazine. He saw the weather and topography of Japan as a treasure for Japan. Bell was one of the world's most prominent scholars in meteorology and topography. He was also president of the National Geographic Society and chief editor of National Geographic Magazine."