Category:

Saving dying lake is priority for Iranian leader

The first cabinet decision made under Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, wasn’t about how to resolve his country’s nuclear dispute with world powers. It was about how to keep the nation’s largest lake from disappearing. Lake Oroumieh, one of the biggest saltwater lakes on Earth, has shrunk more than 80 percent to 1,000 square kilometers (nearly 400 square miles) in the past decade, mainly because of climate change, expanded irrigation for surrounding farms and the damming of rivers that feed the body of water, experts say. Salt-covered rocks that were once deep underwater now sit in the middle of desert. Experts fear the lake — famous in years past as a tourist spot and a favorite stopping point for migrating flamingos, pelicans and gulls — could disappear within two years if nothing is done. "The lake is gone. My job is gone. My children are […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Study: Fracking, agriculture are on water demand 'collision course'

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the most water-stressed and drought-ridden U.S. regions, a study indicated. Fracking involves massive amounts of water, sand and chemicals injected at high pressure to fracture rock and release stored gas. The technique has unleashed a U.S. oil and gas boom. The study by Ceres — an investor group based in Boston that focuses on sustainability issues — is based on water use data from 39,294 oil and gas wells reported to FracFocus.org from January 2011 through May 2013 and water stress indicator maps developed by the World Resources Institute. More than 55 percent of the wells were in areas experiencing drought and more than 36 percent overlay regions experiencing groundwater depletion, Ceres said in a news release Wednesday announcing its "Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress: Water Demand by the Numbers" report. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Study: Fracking, agriculture are on water demand ‘collision course’

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the most water-stressed and drought-ridden U.S. regions, a study indicated. Fracking involves massive amounts of water, sand and chemicals injected at high pressure to fracture rock and release stored gas. The technique has unleashed a U.S. oil and gas boom. The study by Ceres — an investor group based in Boston that focuses on sustainability issues — is based on water use data from 39,294 oil and gas wells reported to FracFocus.org from January 2011 through May 2013 and water stress indicator maps developed by the World Resources Institute. More than 55 percent of the wells were in areas experiencing drought and more than 36 percent overlay regions experiencing groundwater depletion, Ceres said in a news release Wednesday announcing its "Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress: Water Demand by the Numbers" report. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fracking's Thirst for Water: Investors Warned of the Hidden Financial Risks

Some of the nation’s driest, drought-plagued places have quickly become its busiest hot spots of drilling for shale gas and oil, especially in Texas, Colorado and California. It’s a dust-bowl-sized problem likely to become worse, according to a study released Wednesday by the nonprofit sustainability advocacy group firm Ceres . Fracking, the controversial drilling technique, is consuming billions of gallons of water each year in states where water is increasingly scarce. The report warns that investors need to demand information about how energy companies are managing this problem or risk their investment portfolios being clobbered. Put simply, Ceres is saying there probably isn’t enough fracking water where fracking most wants to happen. And eventually, there will be a price to pay. The study found that nearly half the wells being hydraulically fractured in the U.S. since 2011, a time of explosive growth in shale […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fracking’s Thirst for Water: Investors Warned of the Hidden Financial Risks

Some of the nation’s driest, drought-plagued places have quickly become its busiest hot spots of drilling for shale gas and oil, especially in Texas, Colorado and California. It’s a dust-bowl-sized problem likely to become worse, according to a study released Wednesday by the nonprofit sustainability advocacy group firm Ceres . Fracking, the controversial drilling technique, is consuming billions of gallons of water each year in states where water is increasingly scarce. The report warns that investors need to demand information about how energy companies are managing this problem or risk their investment portfolios being clobbered. Put simply, Ceres is saying there probably isn’t enough fracking water where fracking most wants to happen. And eventually, there will be a price to pay. The study found that nearly half the wells being hydraulically fractured in the U.S. since 2011, a time of explosive growth in shale […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Environmentalists say NC river is 'toxic soup' after coal ash spill

Environmentalists and residents of North Carolina and Virginia are anxiously waiting for toxicity test results from the Dan River, where tens of thousands of tons of coal ash spilled earlier this week. Danville’s city manager has released a statement saying that while preliminary findings indicate the area drinking water is safe, they await final confirmation. North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources has yet to provide an official determination, but people around the Dan River report that the spill was having visible and adverse effects. The spill originated from a 27-acre pond of coal ash and slurry — the waste product of burning coal — at a defunct  Duke Energy  power plant along the Dan River in Eden, N.C.   Hundreds of workers are trying to cap the leaking pipe, which has so far allowed 82,000 tons of toxic ash and 27 million gallons of contaminated water to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Environmentalists say NC river is ‘toxic soup’ after coal ash spill

Environmentalists and residents of North Carolina and Virginia are anxiously waiting for toxicity test results from the Dan River, where tens of thousands of tons of coal ash spilled earlier this week. Danville’s city manager has released a statement saying that while preliminary findings indicate the area drinking water is safe, they await final confirmation. North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources has yet to provide an official determination, but people around the Dan River report that the spill was having visible and adverse effects. The spill originated from a 27-acre pond of coal ash and slurry — the waste product of burning coal — at a defunct  Duke Energy  power plant along the Dan River in Eden, N.C.   Hundreds of workers are trying to cap the leaking pipe, which has so far allowed 82,000 tons of toxic ash and 27 million gallons of contaminated water to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US shale under fire over thirst for water

Gov. Jerry Brown formally proclaimed California in a drought Friday Jan. 17, 2014, saying the state is in the midst of perhaps its worst dry spell in a century and the conditions are putting residents and their property in "extreme peril." (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) ©AP Folsom Lake in California recedes in state’s worst dry spell in a century Water shortages have put the US oil and gas industry on a “collision course” with other users because of the large volumes needed for hydraulic fracturing , a group of leading investors has warned. Almost 40 per cent of the oil and gas wells drilled since 2011 are in areas of “extremely high” water stress, according to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Its Great Lake Shriveled, Iran Confronts Crisis of Water Supply

Iran — After driving for 15 minutes over the bottom of what was once Iran’s largest lake, a local environmental official stepped out of his truck, pushed his hands deep into his pockets and silently wandered into the great dry plain, as if searching for water he knew he would never find. Just an hour earlier, on a cold winter day here in western Iran, the official, Hamid Ranaghadr, had recalled how as recently as a decade ago, cruise ships filled with tourists plied the lake’s waters in search of flocks of migrating flamingos. Now, the ships are rusting in the mud and the flamingos fly over the remains of the lake on their […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Brown tells Californians to conserve amid drought

Gov. Jerry Brown provided some very practical guidance for Californians amid a deepening drought: Take shorter showers, turn off the water while brushing teeth, and "don’t flush more than you have to." "Make no mistake, this drought is a big wakeup call," Brown said Thursday in downtown Los Angeles before meeting with local water district officials. "Hopefully it’s going to rain. If it doesn’t, we’re going to have to act in a very strenuous way in every part of the state to get through." The governor’s pragmatic plea came as wet weather finally moved through northern portions of the state, which has been in an extraordinary dry period during what is normally the time for rain and snow. But the stingy storm system was squeezing out only dribs and drabs of moisture in most areas. The National Weather Service office in San Francisco […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple