China And India 'Water Grab" Dams Put Hydrology Of Himalayas In Danger

China And India "Water Grab" Dams Put Hydrology Of Himalayas In Danger

The future of the world's most famous mountain range could be endangered by a vast dam-building project, as a risky regional race for water resources takes place in Asia.

New academic research shows that India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan are engaged in a huge "water grab" in the Himalayas, as they seek new sources of electricity to power their economies. Taken together, the countries have plans for more than 400 hydro dams which, if built, could together provide more than 160,000MW of electricity – three times more than the UK uses.

In addition, China has plans for around 100 dams to generate a similar amount of power from major rivers rising in Tibet. A further 60 or more dams are being planned for the Mekong river which also rises in Tibet and flows south through south-east Asia.

Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys. Many of the proposed dams would be among the tallest in the world, able to generate more than 4,000MW, as much as the Hoover dam on the Colorado river in the US.

The result, over the next 20 years, "could be that the Himalayas become the most dammed region in the world", said Ed Grumbine, visiting international scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Kunming. "India aims to construct 292 dams … doubling current hydropower capacity and contributing 6% to projected national energy needs. If all dams are constructed as proposed, in 28 of 32 major river valleys, the Indian Himalayas would have one of the highest average dam densities in the world, with one dam for every 32km of river channel. Every neighbour of India with undeveloped hydropower sites is building or planning to build multiple dams, totalling at minimum 129 projects," said Grumbine, author of a paper in Science.

China, which is building multiple dams on all the major rivers running off the Tibetan plateau, is likely to emerge as the ultimate controller of water for nearly 40% of the world's population. "The plateau is the source of the single largest collection of international rivers in the world, including the Mekong, the Brahmaputra, the Yangtse and the Yellow rivers. It is the headwater of rivers on which nearly half the world depends. The net effect of the dam building could be disastrous. We just don't know the consequences," said Tashi Tsering, a water resource researcher at the University of British Columbia in Canada. "China is engaged in the greatest water grab in history. Not only is it damming the rivers on the plateau, it is financing and building mega-dams in Pakistan, Laos, Burma and elsewhere and making agreements to take the power," said Indian geopolitical analyst Brahma Chellaney. "China-India disputes have shifted from land to water. Water is the new divide and is going centre stage in politics. Only China has the capacity to build these mega-dams and the power to crush resistance. This is effectively war without a shot being fired."

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China and India have both displaced tens of millions of people with giant dams such as the Narmada and Three Gorges over the last 30 years, but governments have not published estimates of how many people would have to be relocated or how much land would be drowned by the new dams. "This is being totally ignored. No one knows, either, about the impact of climate change on the rivers. The dams are all being built in rivers that are fed by glaciers and snowfields which are melting at a fast rate," said Tsering.

Climate models suggest that major rivers running off the Himalayas, after increasing flows as glaciers melt, could lose 10-20% of their flow by 2050. This would not only reduce the rivers' capacity to produce electricity, but would exacerbate regional political tensions.

End of excerpt.



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You cannot be an environmentalist and applaud the building of these dams. This could not be more foolhardy. The environment of this region is fragile. The people who live here are steeped in culture and tradition. Their lives depend on farming. Flooding so much land and displacing the amounts of people that would have to be displaced all to show some sort of might and control over the region should be roundly decried by every international human rights organization.

It is known fact that in so many instances these dams that displace thousands of people offer little in remuneration after having their homes taken from them. Livelihoods, homes, cultures, farms, all taken in a regional war of power for investors to make money to provide power to the rich to satisfy their ravenous selfish appetite for it. At a time when climate change effects are now sending this region careening into catastrophe this is the last thing they should be thinking of.

They need the flow of the rivers as nature intended to grow food and to protect the biodiversity of this region. China as well as India and Pakistan are in a cycle of perpetual heatwave, drought and flood now. Hydro dams of this magnitude in a region where glaciers are melting precipitously as the planet continues to warm will not help in giving a solution. Are they so blinded by greed they cannot or will not see this?

This dam rush is tantamount to the Fracking frenzy being pushed by US President Obama and the fossil fuel industry as well as other leaders like David Cameron of the UK. In that push as well, the rush is on for control of what is left of the fossil fuels buried deeper in the ground and harder to get and more expensive to excavate. Once again, we see the folly of greed manifested in the likeness of politicians who present one face to the people and another behind their backs.

Dams on the whole specifically of the mega dam variety are huge environmental disruptors. It isn't only the flow of the river that is disturbed, it is the very rhythm of life and all that depends on these waters for life. Fish, birds, insects, plants as well as humans depend on the water for their sustenance. However, it would appear that the government of China is also two faced in trying to present an image of a solar patron saint because it cares about the environment, when really all they are doing is trying to corner the market on a "new trend." The day I see solar take the place of these megadams and coal plants they are still building is the day I will believe they really care about the environment.

It matters not if it is China, the US, Britain, etc. It would appear that we the people of this world have a huge fight ahead of us to preserve that which gives us life from those who only see the false choice of profit. Thousands upon thousands of lives are at stake here. Dams are also not clean energy. They are a vehicle for profit to moneyed investors and exacerbate climate change due to the amount of CO2 needed to build them and the methane released from organic matter within them.

To see this many dams built is as was quoted above: a way for China and other countries in the region to declare war without having to fire a shot. Oil was and to a great extent still is a weapon used to subjugate countries to the whims of those owning it. Now, water will be even more of a weapon as we see climate change take firm hold on the world. And for those who think building dams in China, India, etc like the Hoover Dam is a good thing, it is now said that due to the loss of water in the Colorado due to climate change and overuse that there may not even be enough water to power the Hoover Dam into the mid century.

The disconnect we have as humans to water and its capacity in our hands when abused is one of the greatest moral challenges we now face for the present and future.

I stand with all people in this area of the world who stand to keep these dams out of their rivers, their farms and their lives. We have better ways to provide electricity that will not disturb the natural flow of water which flows as it does for a reason. Who are we to be so arrogant to think we can change the flow of rivers? To drill the Earth until her lifeblood runs dry? She will not be kind and she will find a way to make it known that what we do brings great pain not only to her but to ourselves.

Also see: Dam Construction To Reduce Greenhouse Gases Causes Ecosystem Disruption

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Will we ever get it right? To work with nature is the only way to survive.

See more from this site on dams

See more from this site on dams

Global Water Shortages Grow Worse But Nations Have Few Answers

Global Water Shortages Grow Worse But Nations Have Few Answers

As we have been hearing, global water shortages are poised to exacerbate regional conflict and hobble economic growth. Yet the problem is growing worse, and is threatening to deal devastating blows to health, according to top water officials from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who spoke before a House panel hearing today.

Ever-rising water demand, and climate change, are expected to boost water problems worldwide, especially in countries that are already experiencing shortages. Globally, the world is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people unable to reach or afford safe drinking water by 2015, but it still must make strides to improve global sanitation, says Aaron Salzberg, the State Department’s Special Coordinator for Water Resources. In addition to supply problems, unclean water causes more than four billion cases of diarrhea a year which lead to roughly 2.2 million deaths, and most are in children under the age of five.

“The magnitude of it is extraordinary.” says Christian Holmes, global water coordinator for USAID.

The hearing comes on the heels of stark reminders of the current water shortages that are apparent across the globe. Pakistan, one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, is on the brink of crisis. A recent report from the Asian Development Bank, highlighted by The Atlantic, states that the country’s emergency water reserve only has enough supply for 30 days – more than 30 times below the 1,000-day recommendation for similar countries. Pakistan, the report states, is “not far from being classified as ‘water scarce,’ with less than 1,000 cubic meters per person per year.” Among other factors, climate change is affecting snowmelt and reducing flows into the Indus River, the area’s main water source.

end of excerpt

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Firstly, the title of this is bullocks. There are a plethora of answers to solve the global water crisis, however they all require a change in moral will on the part of humans who do not have it. Therein lies the main reason why we now see our world teetering on catastrophe in more ways than one. It is about US. There was a time when countries like the US and other countries were developing as well. However, over time great and vast water/sanitation systems were built. What is the excuse for not doing so now for those people in countries where we see such misery? In the 21st Century NO ONE should be without a toilet, one of the most basic needs!

It is said that more people in India have a cell phone than a toilet. Something is wrong with this picture and it also goes back to the corrupted corporate- capitalistic state mindset and the predominance of the money/greed paradigm taking precedence over humanity. I would also suggest privatization, class warfare, political corruption and racism are part of this paradigm of greed. We see this same paradigm revealing itself regarding clean energy and the procrastination in implementing it on a vast scale for maximum profit at the expense of human life and the biosphere.



The day is coming when our collective submission to these forces will leave no other solution but worldwide revolt. That is the truth of it. When humanity deems to spend more on war than water we know we are in need of a serious intervention. That is not to say there aren't many on this planet already working to provide water to those who need it. However, to see the total lack of moral and political will on this collectively on a global scale is infuriating. It seems as a species we are really good talkers. We need to be walking a hell of a lot more. People are dying due to lack of water and that includes polluted water which adds to scarcity.

It has been said that a time of higher consciousness is coming. It better hurry because we are running out of time.

No water, no food, no life.

Arctic Ice, Oceans, Climate And The Human Condition

As of this writing the Arctic ice continues its rapid melting (regardless of what parrots of denier websites claim) surpassing what was expected by scientists. Biodiversity continues to decrease as consumption increases. Strains upon our resources (particularly water) continue as population rises. Reports by the EIA state that energy consumption will increase by 56% by 2040. In other words, we the human species are affecting the Earth in ways we never have before. It is said we have entered a new epoch in history known as the Anthropocene Era where humans now control where this Earth goes based on our behavior. And yet, we still see no drastic action taking place on the part of governments including our own to aggressively address the crises that we face.

We are still debating, arguing and using politics as a crutch to not have to take action out of fear, complacency, comfort and greed. Environmental organizations tasked with holding governments accountable also play a partisan game that takes precedence over doing what is necessary. We already see that regarding the current administration. We have allowed politics and ego to take precedence over a true moral imperative with both sides seeming to find more pleasure in bickering over what is necessary regarding all of our survival and the survival of those to come than really doing something.

Which makes me wonder more times than I used to if we as a species are even capable of addressing crises such as what we now face with our climate. I really do not know how much clearer the warnings can be made: Humans are forcing the climate system as never before during our existence due to the overloading of our atmosphere and oceans with CO2 and other potent greenhouses gases like methane. This is pushing the hydrologic and carbon cycles beyond natural boundaries and leaving us living in a world where we are playing Russian Roulette with our very lives. We are in essence performing a scientific experiment without any regard for the precautionary principle or scientific ethics. Every day we continue to add to the CO2 pollution in our atmosphere is one more day in our future we can be assured we will see an exacerbation of this crisis.

NASA Video: This Is The US In 2100



Yet, we also hear nothing from deniers but that climate change stopped 16 years ago which was already debunked because well, the atmosphere isn't the only part of the world... unless of course, you are a cherry picker.

The Consensus Project

No Warming In 16 Years



Are the oceans not part of this world? If they have indeed been storing over 90% of CO2 emissions with us still seeing 2000-2010 as the hottest decade on record it is only a testament to the warming effect of greenhouse gases.

What we are also experiencing now are the time lag effects of the CO2 we have been emitting into the atmosphere for the last 100 plus years. This besides now seeing the effects of ocean acidification is not something to be dismissed, especially when using 16 years as a basis point when we have been seeing this much longer and warning of the effects since the 1800s.

What we have now put into motion should be the central concern, not quibbling over cherry picked points of reference skewing them to suit an agenda.

This is serious because what is now occurring globally is a direct reflection of what we have become and what we have forgotten about regarding our place on this Earth.

Each Degree Of Global Warming Might Ultimately Raise Global Sea Levels By More Than 2 Meters

NOAA Scientists Embark On Voyage To Assess Ocean Acidification

Biodiversity decline, record Arctic sea ice melt and loss, ocean acidification, drastic changes in jet stream affecting climate, aquifer depletion and peak oil are all leading us to our turning point as a species. Only 20% of current total fossil fuel reserves can be utilized to keep the world under the 2 degree C threshold that is said will bring upon us the tipping point.

Renewables Growing But World Still On Course To Smash 2 C-EIA

Warmer Conditions Cause Open Water Areas In The Arctic

There then appears to be no other answer to this at this point but civil disobedience against the status quo that is resolute in keeping business as usual regardless of the consequences and to disenthrall ourselves from the system we have built on greed where money means more than a sustainable planet.



On a brighter note I think we are beginning to see the signs of a shift in consciousness. The urgent question that needs to be asked however, is this shift happening at a pace that will outrun the pace of what we may now see as runaway climate change in this Anthropocene Era? I leave you to answer that.

Anti Fracking Activists In UK Arrested For Caring About Clean Water

Updates at this link: Frack Off



Sussex police have made several arrests at an oil drilling site near the village of Balcombe after local residents and anti-fracking activists attempted to block the delivery of machinery for a second day.

Activists said police removed people who had formed a human chain across gates to the rural West Sussex site where the energy company Cuadrilla, headed by the former BP chief Lord Browne, intends to start test drilling for oil next week.

A spokeswoman for Sussex police confirmed the arrests, believed to be of about nine people. It is understood the protesters also tried to blockade the gated entrance to the site on London Road using a tree.

On Thursday the protesters, who had gathered on the private road to the drilling site at the junction with London Road, had been warned by police that they would be committing an offence if they blocked trucks from entering. The alliance of environmentalists and local villagers succeeded in turning away at least one truck carrying parts for the drilling operation, which Cuadrilla says could result in controversial hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Sussex shale. Many camped overnight, but on Friday there was a heavier police presence, according to reports from campaigners.

"This morning there was quite a heavy police presence," said Andrew West from the campaign group Frack Off. "The trucks started to arrive again and a human chain was formed in front of the gates and the police have made the first arrests. People are really shocked it escalated so quickly."

This week the Environment Agency and the Department for Energy granted permits for oil exploration on the site to Cuadrilla, which also operates hydraulic fracturing rigs in Lancashire.

end of excerpt

Anti-Fracking Activists in UK Arrested

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Imagine this...Standing up to protect your land and water is a criminal offense, whereas toxifying that water that is a common as well as destroying forests, crops and anything else in their corporate path is not. Clearly the governments of the world in league with their corporate masters have gone certificably insane with greed.

Bravo for the people in Balcombe standing up and risking arrest for their children, their land and their water! I suppose all the "Royal Baby" media distractions haven't been able to mesmerize everyone.

And get ready, because as this becomes much more prevalent there WILL be more people standing up to protect their water despite the lies put out by the companies now looking to make profit off a totally UNNECESSARY form of energy that is anything but renewable or clean.

SAVE OUR WATER.

NUS Researchers Develop World's First Water Treatment Techniques Using Tomato And Apple Peels

NUS Researchers Develop World's First Water Treatment Techniques Using Tomato And Apple Peels

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The studies were conducted under the guidance of Associate Professor Suresh Valiyaveettil of the Department of Chemistry at the NUS Faculty of Science. The NUS team hopes that their water purification methods can benefit communities living in places where there is little electricity or resources to set up a water purification plant.

Scarcity of clean water

The scarcity of clean water is expected to worsen in the future due to over usage, lack of conservation methods and dwindling natural supply of clean water, even in countries with significant water resources.

Many hazardous pollutants enter the water supply through many channels, including waste disposal, industry effluent release or rain water drainage. Such pollutants need to be removed before the water can be consumed. However, most water purification technologies are not accessible to economically disadvantaged people around the world.

snip

Tomato peel: an efficient adsorbent for water purification

Tomato is the second most consumed vegetable in the world, with approximately 30 per cent consumed as processed products. The disposal of the tomato skin and its other fibrous materials is an economic waste for many food processing industries.

Mr Ramakrishna evaluated the effectiveness of tomato peel as an adsorbent by using different pollutants. He also studied the structure of the tomato peels to assess their efficiency as biomaterials to remove toxic metal ions and organic pollutants from water. In addition, factors such as the pH, nature and amount of adsorbent used for extraction were considered to establish the optimum conditions under which tomato peel could remove various pollutants from water.

His study revealed that tomato peels can effectively remove different contaminants in water, including dissolved organic and inorganic chemicals, dyes and pesticides, and they can also be used in large scale applications. The results were published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal RSC Advances in September 2012.

Apple peel: a biomass for water purification

In addition to tomato peels, Mr Ramakrishna also explored the viability of using the peels of apples for water purification, as apple peels are easily available as biowaste from food processing industries and they are biodegradable.

Similar to tomato peels, apple peels can also remove a range of dissolved water pollutants through the adsorption process. In order to enhance the ability of apple peels towards extraction of negatively charged pollutants, Mr Ramakrishna immobilised naturally occurring zirconium oxides onto the surface of apple peels. Zirconium loaded apple peels were found to be able to extract anions such as phosphate, arsenate, arsenite, and chromate ions from aqueous solutions. This method of water purification can also be used for large scale applications.

The findings are published in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces in May 2013.

Research findings to benefit communities living in remote villages

Both Mr Ramakrishna and Assoc Prof Suresh hope that the findings on the use apple and tomato peels for water purification can be applied to benefit economically and technologically disadvantaged farmers living in remote villages, who depend on contaminated ground water or local rivers for their daily water needs. They intend to work with non-governmental organisations to transfer their research findings and knowledge to benefit the people.

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I had also read something a while ago regarding banana peels as well. This could be a boon to developing areas where water is scarce. These are the solutions we need to see now.

What If Americans Only Had As Much Water As Families In Africa?

What If Americans Only Had As Much Water As Families In Africa?



What Is Your Water Footprint?

The average family in Africa gets by on only five gallons of water a day, according to this thought-provoking PSA video from bewaterwise.com, a project of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The average American family (directly) uses 552 gallons of water a day, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Clearly, that is an inequality, and it may give U.S. consumers pause when it comes to wasting water.

End of excerpt.

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Our collective perception of what is valuable in this country needs a monumental shift.

House Republicans Propose Giving You Toxic Water And Dangerous Infrastructure

House Republicans Propose Giving You Toxic Water And Dangerous Infrastructure

I do not usually comment about Republicans because their total lack of morality and conscience gets my blood pressure up. Today however, I must make an exception because the bill they have proposed here is an abomination to all that is human. And for what? To assuage a political vendetta? It goes beyond my comprehension how people can be so morally bankrupt and riddled with hatred as to deliberately set out to kill their own people. That is exactly what this bill would do if passed.

Cutting 34% of the EPA budget and primarily all that has to do with clean water preservation and infrastructure as well as riders to prohibit passing of greenhouse gas rules? There is no justification for this especially at a time when water regulations are a must. Fracking waste, nitrogen pollution and run off, pesticides, aging infrastructure, effects of climate change such as floods, drought, storms all require funding and action.

However, I am not only angry at Republicans. I am angry at Obama because he came out and gave a speech stating that he recommended the EPA to go forward with greenhouse gas rules knowing Republicans would put up roadblocks thus stalling it. It is to me a classic political maneuver. Suggest something you know won't really be successful (even if you have the power to do more) but will ultimately make you look good by being able to point the finger while the goal you wanted to achieve is reached anyway. In this instance, continuation of the status quo allowing fracking and oil extraction under their "All Of The Above" policy.

I also find it curious that this bill was put out just days after confirming Gina McCarthy to head the EPA after waiting for over a hundred days to do it. Was this bill part of the compromise David Vetter said they came to in order for her to be confirmed? Let's face it people, politics is not about moral courage or doing the right thing. It is about compromise for the sake of those doing the wheeling and dealing not us.

If this bill is passed water safety is gone and the baby steps requested on climate change will more then likely not be taken on a scale or in a time frame needed for any sort of adequate results. But again, Obama must have known Republicans would put that rider in a bill to stop the EPA so where is his true executive action on climate change? This is what infuriates and frustrates me about the entire dysfunctional bought and sold political system of the USA which has now been renamed The United Corporate States Of America. Now all we will have is more partisan bickering back and forth while water and climate continue to suffer.

Rep Jim Moran walked out of the session of this bill, but he is only one person. Where are all the other representatives of any side with a conscience in joining him?

My question to anyone who voted for any of these people who now work to make this planet a hell on Earth for you and your children is this: What the hell were you thinking?