WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A plan launched by New Mexico’s Democratic governor at COP28 to use $100 million in state funds to buy treated brackish or wastewater from oil and gas operations failed to get support from the state’s legislature on Thursday.
The southwestern state’s legislature closed its 2024 session on Thursday without approving legislation to enable the state to set up a strategic water supply comprised of treated water but the state’s environmental agency will move forward with a request for information on the issue with a March 31 deadline.
New Mexico is the second-biggest oil and gas producing state, behind Texas, and it brings enormous amounts of water to the surface. Most of it is put back underground untreated, as it produces oil and gas.
At the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a plan to spend up to $500 million to buy treated drilling wastewater, along with brackish water from underground sources, to build a strategic water supply.
She had hoped to launch the program this spring, and the aim was to take pressure off the arid state’s dwindling water supplies and relieve its reinjection wells, which researchers say are at risk of filling and triggering earthquakes.
The governor had told Reuters the brackish underground water could potentially be treated for public consumption, while the produced water from drillers would be made fit for use in clean energy manufacturing.
Environmental groups had raised concerns about the governor’s plan – and subsequent legislation to enact the plan – saying it could pose risks to aquifers and would mainly benefit oil and gas producers.
“The state should step back from the brink of spending $100 million dollars of the people’s money on a concept that presents serious, unaddressed risks to our state’s aquifers,” said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center.
About 70 million people are exposed to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in US drinking water, new testing from the Environmental Protection Agency has found.
But the testing completed to date has only checked about one-third of the nation’s public water systems, meaning the agency is on pace to find over 200 million people are exposed, or at least 60% of the US population.
The figure does not include private wells, and the federal government previously estimated about 8 million people who draw water from those are exposed to PFAS.
The EPA’s continuing testing is the first comprehensive nationwide assessment aimed at understanding the scale of PFAS contamination in US drinking water. So far, the government figures match up with independent estimates that found about 200 million people drink tainted water, and the widespread contamination cuts across geographic and socioeconomic boundaries.
“As we get more data in from water systems, we’re seeing PFAS is pretty prevalent in US drinking water supplies, and we’re seeing more and more people are exposed in states across the US,” said Jared Hayes, a policy analyst with the Environmental Working Group non-profit, which tracks PFAS pollution.
PFAS are a class of more than 15,000 compounds typically used across dozens of industries to make products water-, stain- or heat-resistant. They are in everyday consumer products such as stain guards, cookware and waterproof clothing and are common in industrial manufacturing.
The chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid problems, decreased immunity, hormone disruption and a range of other serious health issues. PFAS are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, and they also easily move through the environment, often ending up in drinking water.
The EPA’s new data includes testing completed in 2023, and more tests are planned for this year and 2025. The findings come as the EPA works toward finalizing limits for six kinds of PFAS compounds in drinking water, and amid a broader push by the Biden administration to rein in forever chemical pollution.
The nationwide testing does not need to be complete for the proposed drinking water limits to be made law, but the findings underscore the situation’s urgency, Hayes said.
“The whole thing is really showing we need to get drinking water standards in place soon because of how prevalent and toxic PFAS are, and because they are everywhere,” Hayes said. “We need leadership from the Biden administration and EPA.” Public health advocates expect the agency to finalize the rules before the November election.
The findings also show 60 million people are exposed to PFOA and PFOS, two of the most dangerous PFAS compounds, at levels above the EPA’s proposed limits. Once the limits are made law, utilities will be required to install technology, such as granular activated carbon or reverse osmosis systems, that will remove most PFAS.
The federal government has made billions of dollars available for utilities to install the systems and ease the burden on ratepayers, and chemical companies that produce PFAS have so far been court ordered to pay about $14bn toward new systems.
As far back as she can remember, Shahanaz Ali has been running from cyclones. “Moving constantly from one place to another is exhausting,” says Ali. “Nowhere feels like home.” Her family first fled from their house in 1970, when Bangladesh was devastated by Cyclone Bhola – one of the deadliest cyclones in history.
Natural disasters continue to shape political and economic life in Bangladesh. Situated on the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta – the world’s largest – the small south Asian country’s unique geography and low-lying topography make it particularly vulnerable to climate change. Yet against the odds, Bangladeshis have adapted as best they can.
Now a new report by the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), a leading research institute in Dhaka, warns that the country is reaching the limit of its ability to adapt to extreme weather.
Climate events in Bangladesh are increasing at such an alarming rate, it says, that current policies and adaptation strategies will soon not be enough to safeguard the country’s people, infrastructure and ecosystems.
Between 2000 and 2019, Bangladesh experienced 185 extreme weather events, including cyclones, heatwaves, flooding and droughts.
In 2005, Bangladesh was one of the first least-developed countries to develop a national programme of action and has now become recognised as a global leader in adaptation and resilience. Government policy and local initiatives have averted the worst effects and saved millions of lives; the death toll from cyclones alone has fallen from up to 500,000 during Cyclone Bhola in 1970 to 35 during Cyclone Sitrang in 2022.
Prof Mizan Khan, deputy director of ICCCAD and one of the lead authors of the report, says: “The research shows that by the end of the century, even under a very low-emissions scenario, Bangladesh could see a further 0.8C [1.44F] of warming compared with previous decades.
“Heavier rainfall could increase peak river flow by 16% relative to 1971–2000, raising the inevitable risk of flooding and causing further devastation than we are already seeing,” he says.
We are not just victims of climate change – we are global leaders in the fight against it
Saber Chowdhury, environment minister
Despite Bangladesh’s progress in adapting, the report says significant gaps remain at grassroots level and in monitoring the policies’ effectiveness.
To help her community become more climate resilient, Ali, 36, who is now settled in Barishal, joined the Hatkhola Squad, a female-led disaster-response team, set up by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society. Ahead of the cyclone season, the women go from house to house to help neighbours prepare and make sure they know when and how to safely evacuate.
The transformative, community-led approach of these women has inspired others to join. Nipa Khatun, 23, one of the younger members, sees it as an opportunity to challenge cultural stereotypes.
“It’s not common for women to help in such a physical way during an emergency,” she says. “I feel like I have much more respect now and am taken more seriously.”
But the women’s work is under threat. Due to limited funding, the Bangladesh Red Crescent has only been able to support 2,500 people in the community, despite a need to help many more.
The ICCCAD report, one of the first to look at the limits of adaptation in the country, is dedicated to the lead author, Prof Saleemul Huq, the renowned Bangladeshi scientist and director of the centre who died last October. It concludes that Bangladesh’s ability to continue responding to the climate crisis requires multiple strands of action: national coordination and government investment; locally led adaptation; fair loss and damage funding; and a large-scale shift to secure, low-carbon energy.
“We are running out of time,” says Khan. “To address these challenges, Bangladesh must assess climate-change impacts from a human-vulnerability perspective and take immediate action. The poorest in the country are the most vulnerable as they have no cushion to withstand these adversities.”
He also argues that development partners need to step up financing for local adaptation.
The Bangladesh government spends roughly 7% of its annual budget on climate adaptation, about 75% of which comes from domestic sources. However, scaling up measures outlined in the National Adaptation Plan will require seven times the current spending.
During Cop28, global leaders agreed on a loss-and-damage deal, totalling more than $700m (£550m), to support nations facing the brunt of climate crisis. There are concerns, however, about the size of the fund and it being managed by the World Bank. Pledges are in the form of loans rather than grants, which will add to vulnerable countries’ already significant debt burdens.
Bangladesh has emphasised the fund needs to be based on grants to reflect developing countries’ needs in the face of the climate crisis. “The international community must understand there are limits to adaptation,” says Saber Chowdhury, Bangladesh’s environment minister.
“While we welcome the loss-and-damage fund, it is nowhere near what is needed. Along with raising more funding, it needs to raise its ambitions to ensure adaptation plans are effective in the long term.”
On the sidelines of Cop28, Bangladesh initiated talks on setting up a Climate Development Partnership Platform, the first of its kind in Asia, to bolster its mitigation and adaptation financing.
“We are not just victims of climate change – we are global leaders in the fight against it,” says Chowdhury, noting Bangladesh’s plans for 40% of its energy to come from renewables by 2041.
However, even with accelerated action, continued warming and extreme weather will put stress on Bangladesh’s adaptation efforts, making it harder to protect lives and livelihoods, and highlighting the need to step up international action.
“What’s happening in Bangladesh is not only limited to our borders,” says Chowdhury. “There will be spillover – it is not a question of where but when. This is a global crisis and we all need to come together and solve it faster than we are creating it.”
Worried about plastic pollution in your tap water? Try boiling it, a new study suggests.
Boiling tap water can destroy at least 80 percent of three of the most common plastic compounds that can be found in your water, according to findings published Wednesday in Environmental Research Letters.
This means drinking tap water that has been boiled, something commonly done in East Asian kitchens already, may be a safer bet than drinking bottled water. Columbia researchers found last month that bottled water can contain up to a quarter-million fragments of nanoplastics per liter.
The researchers looked at the impacts of boiling on three compounds that have been found in water — polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene.
Because these compounds don’t fully break down, they ultimately fragment into nanoplastics the approximate size of a virus — making them the ideal size to wreak havoc with the machinery of human cells, and to cross through key protective filters like the intestinal lining and blood brain barrier.
Of the tested compounds, the most concerning is polystyrene, which can inflame the intestine and may kill red blood cells. The others are largely believed to be safe, though endocrinologists argue that the methodology for determining whether plastics are safe has serious flaws.
In the study, scientists put the three plastic compounds into ‘hard water’ — a common type of U.S. freshwater that contains high levels of calcium carbonate and magnesium.
Those compounds are characteristic of groundwater pulled from cavities in underground limestone deposits, a rock that is mostly made up of calcium carbonate.
When the plastic-containing water was boiled, these calcium carbonates formed tiny clumps around most of the microscopic plastics, trapping them within and rendering them harmless.
“This simple boiling-water strategy can ‘decontaminate’ [nano- and microplastics, or NMPs] from household tap water and has the potential for harmlessly alleviating human intake of NMPs through water consumption,” the report authors wrote.
The report comes with significant caveats, however.
Scientists only looked at three of the most common — and in the case of polyethylene and polypropylenes, the safest — plastic polymers. They didn’t look at vinyl chloride, for example, a compound of serious concern last month’s study found in bottled water.
Boiling also didn’t manage to remove all of the polymers.
That’s worrisome because Monday’s report from the Endocrine Society suggested that because plastic particles are so similar to the chemical messengers that run many key biological systems — and because those systems are so sensitive — there may be no safe level of exposure.
Finally, scientists like those at the Endocrine Society are increasingly focused on a risk that goes beyond the plastic compounds themselves: the fact that those polymers are often mixed with “plasticizers” like BPA, PFAS and phthalates which can wreak havoc on the endocrine, circulatory and reproductive systems.
It is unclear whether boiling water breaks down these materials. The study only looked at the plastic polymers, not these potential additives.
Finally, this method requires either hard water — or the addition of calcium carbonate to work — something that is common but far from universal across the world.
Nonetheless, when stacked up next to last month’s findings about microplastics in bottled water, the report suggests a potential answer to how to protect against at least some forms of plastic pollution.
MEXICO CITY — The most populous city in North America is in the grips of a severe water crisis, as lingering drought and years of low rainfall push the already-strained system that supplies Mexico City with running water to its limit.
More than 21 million residents across the Mexico City metropolitan area have endured weeks of water shortages, with local authorities imposing rations as reservoirs hit historic low levels.
Olga González, a 50-year-old woman who lives in the neighborhood of Coyoacán, said local officials have been using water tanker trucks to supply water to residents in the area, but there just isn’t enough.
“Sometimes it takes four or five days for the trucks to arrive,” she said.
The shortage means González has to do as much as possible with what little water is available.
“I recycle the water. I go into the shower and collect the water to use it in the toilet,” she said. “And it’s the same with the washing machine. I recycle the water from the wash cycle to use in the toilet.”
She added that she also has to buy drinking water from the store because the water provided by the city is too dirty and chlorinated for consumption.
In Mexico City’s Tlalpan district, Nancy Cabrera Cepeda, a 40-year-old office worker, said that local authorities typically provide residents with water only once a week.
“We have a tank and, when the water arrives it fills up, but in general we have no water supply,” she said.
The shortages have unfortunately become all too familiar for residents of Mexico City, where poorly planned urban development, insufficient infrastructure and the area’s unique history and geography are all taking a critical toll on the region’s water system.
“Last year, we spent two months without water,” said Estela Hernández Villa, a 42-year-old merchant who lives in the Iztapalapa district. “There are areas that go even longer without water.”
Darío Solano-Rojas, an associate professor in the earth science engineering division at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said it’s unlikely that the entire city will run out of water — a milestone that is sometimes referred to as “day zero” — but that the months ahead will likely prove challenging.
“If I run out of water, then for me it’s day zero already,” he said. “This kind of thing has been happening for a long while already.”
The region’s complicated relationship with water is as old as the city itself. Mexico City sits atop a high-altitude former lake bed that was drained in the 16th century after the Spanish conquered the area.
As a result, the city’s main source of water comes from pumping underground aquifers and channeling a network of canals, dams and reservoirs that make up the Cutzamala System.
Roughly 70% of water in Mexico City is pumped from underground, while the Cutzamala System supplies the other 30% to the Mexico City metropolitan area and the nearby Toluca Valley, Solano-Rojas said.
But underground aquifers are becoming stressed as the city rapidly expands, and years of overuse are causing the ground to sink, a process known as subsidence.
A 2021 study co-authored by Solano-Rojas and published in the journal JGR Solid Earth found that groundwater extraction has caused the city to sink at a rate of about 20 inches per year since 1950.
“The city has been growing a lot,” he said. “We have other sources of water but we still get water from underground, so subsidence continues and it’s a problem that hasn’t stopped ever since the construction of the big pyramids in the pre-Hispanic history of the city.”
Local infrastructure has also not kept pace with how quickly Mexico City is expanding, Solano-Rojas said, adding that authorities have been scrambling to repair leaks and replace aging pipes to bolster the region’s water system.
All of these issues are major challenges on their own, but he said that climate change is compounding the water crisis because the region has been suffering from ongoing drought conditions.
The country as a whole has been warmer and drier than normal, according to a recent report from Mexico’s National Water Commission (Conagua). The agency found that January was the warmest on record, with average temperatures 1.26 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal for the month.
Warmer temperatures and less precipitation across central Mexico mean fewer chances to replenish the aquifers and dams that feed the Cutzamala System.
“In Mexico City, we are not ready to respond as quickly as the drought is producing problems,” Solano-Rojas said.
All these stresses combined make it difficult for the city to provide enough water for human consumption, industrial activities and agriculture.
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Global mining giant Rio Tinto, which sparked outrage after destroying an ancient Indigenous site in Australia in 2020, faces new pressure from socially conscious investors and lenders, this time on water practices at two of its mines.
A group representing UK pension funds, Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), has raised concerns about the company’s water management at its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia and an ilmenite mine in Madagascar.
It’s a burr in the saddle for CEO Jakob Stausholm, who was brought in to restore the company’s social license after it blew up an Aboriginal rock shelter at Juukan Gorge.
Questions around Rio Tinto’s environmental credentials could complicate its efforts to secure government approvals to build a lithium mine in Serbia and dig a giant copper mine in Arizona, both projects long delayed by local protests.
“Rio Tinto already has significant reputational risk stemming from Juukan Gorge, so its water challenges in Madagascar and Mongolia (as two pressing examples) pose a huge threat of further reputational damage,” LAPFF Chair Doug McMurdo told Reuters.
Given growing incidents of litigation around water management globally and tougher regulations coming into place, these challenges are also a highly financially material issue, he said.
Rio Tinto said it recognised the importance of water to its host communities and that it was “committed to driving effective water stewardship and enhanced transparency for stakeholders.”
LAPFF, whose members hold more than GPB 350 billion ($445 billion) in UK pension funds, has been trying to build support for a resolution that would press Rio Tinto to undertake independent water impact assessments at its mine sites.
“There is a sense that companies have been greenwashing and that they need to face a reckoning. Shareholder resolutions are a good way to bring that reckoning,” McMurdo said, speaking about companies in general. Water practices in the mining industry were of particular concern, he said.
Rio Tinto was graded an “F” by environmental adviser CDP for failing to disclose its water data to the group since 2016. Other major miners, too, have been given fail ratings for non-disclosure.
TAILINGS SEEPAGE
LAPFF circulated an investor briefing late last year that said Oyu Tolgoi’s copper operations have affected ground water quality outside the mine lease and questioned whether its tailings dam was watertight.
Civil society group Accountability Counsel, which works with Mongolian herders, told Reuters that some livestock became ill and died after mine operations began, which herders blame on worsening water quality.
Their concerns have not been adequately addressed by Rio Tinto, it said.
Rio Tinto said Oyu Tolgoi has a rigorous water monitoring programme in place and results were consistently shared with communities, lenders, regulators and in public reports. It said it is taking action to fix the seepage.
“The seepage has not impacted the water quality of herder wells or of any users to any extent as confirmed by monitoring data,” Oyu Tolgoi said in a November 2023 report.
Reuters was unable to quantify the number of livestock affected or whether they died as a result of poor water quality.
However, the seepage which has been ongoing since 2018 has been declared an environmental incident by the project’s lenders, which include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Oyu Tolgoi said in a report in November.
That requires the Oyu Tolgoi mine to undertake a remedial action plan.
To be sure, lenders are unlikely to pull funding for the $7 billion project, but given the precious nature of water in the arid region, EBRD spokesman Anton Usov said the bank is closely monitoring Rio’s remedial action plan.
“Lenders have to ensure that OT is held accountable for its failure to comply with lenders’ environmental and social framework,” said Julio Castor Achmadi, communities associate of Accountability Counsel.
In Madagascar, a local advocacy group says tailings dam failures in 2010, 2018 and 2022 at Rio’s QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM) ilmenite mine, which produces titanium dioxide for paints, have worsened water quality, contributed to fish deaths and spurred conflict in the Anosy region.
The Andrew Lees Trust is pushing for “independent audits … in order to provide the transparency and accountability required to resolve the current QMM challenges and meet international standards.”
Rio Tinto said it had compensated local fisherfolk, that an independent report it commissioned found no conclusive link between its mine activities and observed dead fish, and it has supported local leaders and authorities to resolve unrest.
INDEPENDENT REPORTS QUESTIONED
In both locations, LAPFF and advocacy groups say Rio Tinto’s water audits don’t give the full picture of the impact of its operations.
Critics of Rio’s planned mines in Serbia and Arizona say they are also worried about the company’s practices, according to the investor briefing.
The pension fund group decided to hold off filing its proposed resolution until April 2025 after Rio Tinto engaged with it and acknowledged in a December report that it could do better at its Madagascar site.
In the Madagascar report, Rio Tinto said it recognised greater transparency and equity around its water management was required.
What’s the most eco-friendly water heating option for my home?
What’s the next big thing in home heating? Electricity! That’s right — “electrification,” the act of swapping natural gas-fired appliances for those that run on renewable electricity, is a powerful way we can all fight climate change from the cozy comfort of our warm homes and showers.
But if your boiler or furnace isn’t due to be replaced soon, it might not make sense to rush out and get a cold climate heat pump. That doesn’t mean you don’t have any opportunities to go electric. Another major user of natural gas in our homes is the water heater. What electric alternatives are there for water heating? Let’s dive in!
Why Electric Water Heating
On average, water heating accounts for about 18% of our energy bills. That means water heating presents a great opportunity for saving energy – and money. Water heaters typically last 8-12 years, so if yours is getting up there in years, it’s a good idea to come up with a game plan for replacing it.
Why consider an electric water heater? Residents with standalone natural gas water heaters could increase efficiency by about a third by switching to an electric unit. Plus, electricity in Summit County is already 40% renewable, which makes converting from a gas to electric water heater a long-term environmental win, too.
A great way to find out what type of water heater you currently have and get personalized recommendations for upgrades is to sign up for a home energy assessment through the High Country Conservation Center. Their local rebate program even offers generous incentives for certain types of electric water heaters. But how do you know what type to get? Here’s a quick run down of different water heaters along with their pros and cons.
Another alternative is a tankless or on-demand water heater. On-demand water heaters instantaneously heat water and therefore have the benefit of never running out. These systems save energy by eliminating the need to maintain a tank of hot water all the time and only use energy when you turn on the tap. The downside is that they draw a lot of electricity to produce the amount of heat needed, which may require an expensive electrical service upgrade.
A technological step above? Enter the heat pump water heater. Leveraging principles of refrigeration, heat pump water heaters extract energy from the air and use it to heat the water. Because the electricity is used to transfer heat from one place to another, heat pumps can achieve much higher efficiencies and significantly reduce energy consumption. Heat pump water heaters typically contain a backup heating element, too. Location is an important consideration, as they need to pull the heat from somewhere. A warm mechanical room is ideal.
The journey toward electrifying your home is an important step towards a carbon free future, but it’s not always straightforward. As we navigate the waters of clean and efficient energy choices, may we all make informed decisions that not only benefit our homes but also contribute to the larger goal of mitigating climate change.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government on Friday announced plans for a deep-water expedition to explore the mythical galleon San José, sunk in the 18th century in the country’s northern Caribbean and believed to contain cargo valued at billions of dollars.
It is the first phase of a scientific research into deep waters that aims at collecting information to determine which pieces are suitable and possible to extract. The wreckage is 600 meters deep in the sea.
Colombia located the galleon in 2015 but it has since been mired in legal and diplomatic disputes, and its exact location is a state secret.
Colombia’s government says it will invest around $4.5 million this year in an archaeological exploration of the 62-gun, three-masted galleon that sank in 1708 after being ambushed by an English squadron on its way to Cartagena.
For the first phase of the investigation, the Colombian government does not intend to partner with private companies, said Alhena Caicedo Fernández, general director of the Colombian Institute of Archeology and History (ICANH) during a symposium on the galleon held Friday in Cartagena.
The expedition would start in spring depending on weather conditions.
Hermann León Rincón, a Navy Rear Admiral and oceanographer, told reporters the expedition involves submerging robotic equipment that is connected to a Navy ship. From there, using cameras and keeping a detailed record of its movements, he said, the robot will be positioned in connection with a satellite that is in geostationary orbit.
The robotic system was acquired by Colombia in 2021 and has the capacity to descend up to 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) deep.
Carlos Reina Martínez, archaeologist and leader of the submerged cultural heritage of ICANH, said the operation seeks to discover what life was like for the 600 people on board the boat when it sank and to study daily life, the cargo, artillery and merchandise of the colonial era in America.
“It is time to claim the heritage elements for which the remains of the galleon should be valued,” said Juan David Correa, Colombia’s minister of culture, who insisted that the value of the wreck is patrimonial and not monetary. “History is the treasure.”
The ship has been the subject of a legal battle in the U.S., Colombia and Spain over who owns the rights to the sunken treasure.
Colombia’s government said Thursday that it formally began arbitration litigation with Sea Search Armada, a group of American investors, for the economic rights of the San José. The firm claims $10 billion corresponding to what they assume is worth 50% of the galleon treasure that they claim to have discovered in 1982.
The ship is believed to hold 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious cargo from Spanish-controlled colonies, which could be worth billions of dollars if ever recovered.
Arecent California snowpack update provided some good news for reservoir water levels.
Average snowpack throughout the state of California has skyrocketed since early January. At the start of the year, snowpack levels were much lower than expected. A series of atmospheric rivers has since brought torrential rain and heavy snowfall to the state, and the state’s snowpack is now 86 percent of its average, a sigh of relief for California reservoirs.
Although most of the state’s reservoirs are near their historical average or exceeding it, low snowpack could signal the return of water struggles when hot, dry weather arrives as the state relies on snowmelt to supplement a third of its water supply.
“California’s snowpack has made a fantastic comeback this winter jumping from a dismal 28 percent of normal on January 1 to 86 percent of normal today,” weather analyst Colin McCarthy posted on X, formerly Twitter, in the early morning hours on Friday. “With more storms possible in early March it’s possible we could see a 100 percent of normal snowpack by April 1!”
In a follow-up post, McCarthy shared a satellite image that showed the snow spread throughout the state of California.
“A breathtaking snowy and green California from space today,” he wrote with the image.
In early January, snow survey data revealed that in the northern Sierra mountains, snowpack was only 38 percent of its average. The levels turned even more dire southward. Snowpack in the central Sierra Nevada mountains was only 34 percent of average, and only 27 percent in the southern peaks.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Sacramento shared that as of Friday, snowpack in the northern Sierras was at 99 percent of average, the central Sierras were at 82 percent of average and the southern Sierras were at 80 percent of average.
Although the numbers are encouraging, Michael Anderson, state climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources, told Newsweek that March will be a critical transition month, as “California moves out of the wettest months of the year.”
“Recent storms over the past month helped provide a boost to the snowpack, but overall we have not caught up from the deficit caused by a dry fall and early winter,” Anderson said. “The Northern Sierra snowpack benefited from recent storms and is much closer to average for this date, but the Southern Sierra remains only 80 percent of average due to the high snow elevations of recent storms, causing more precipitation to fall as rain rather than snow.
“If there are extended dry periods between now and the end of the season, the snowpack could still end the year significantly below average,” he added.
Last year, snowpack levels skyrocketed to 257 percent of their average after California experienced an abnormally wet winter, but experts warned that one wet season wasn’t enough to replenish the state’s water reserves, and a lack of snow this season—also known as a snow drought—is raising concerns that the crisis could return.
More snow is on the way, and the NWS office in Hanford forecast that up to 30 inches could fall in parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
“A storm system will impact Central California Sunday evening until Tuesday morning, resulting in generally light to moderate precipitation. Snow will fall mainly in the Sierra Nevada,” NWS Hanford posted on X on Thursday.
SINGAPORE (AP) — A crack of thunder booms as dozens of screens in a locked office flash between live video of cars splashing through wet roads, drains sapping the streets dry, and reservoirs collecting the precious rainwater across the tropical island of Singapore. A team of government employees intently monitors the water, which will be collected and purified for use by the country’s six million residents.
“We make use of real-time data to manage the storm water,” Harry Seah, deputy chief executive of operations at PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, says with a smile while standing in front of the screens. “All of this water will go to the marina and reservoirs.”
The room is part of Singapore’s cutting-edge water management system that combines technology, diplomacy and community involvement to help one of the most water-stressed nations in the world secure its water future. The country’s innovations have attracted the attention of other water-scarce nations seeking solutions.
A small city-state island located in Southeast Asia, Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries on the planet. In recent decades the island has also transformed into a modern international business hub, with a rapidly developing economy. The boom has caused the country’s water consumption to increase by over twelve times since the nation’s independence from Malaysia in 1965, and the economy is only expected to keep growing.
With no natural water resources, the country has relied on importing water from neighboring Malaysia via a series of deals allowing inexpensive purchase of water drawn from the country’s Johor River. But the deal is set to expire in 2061, with uncertainty over its renewal.
For years Malaysian politicians have targeted the water deal, sparking political tensions with Singapore. The Malaysian government has claimed the price at which Singapore purchases water — set decades ago — is too low and should be renegotiated, while the Singaporean government argues its treatment and resale of of the water to Malaysia is done at a generous price.
And climate change, which brings increased intense weather, rising seas and a rise in average temperatures, is expected to exacerbate water insecurity, according to research done by the Singaporean government.
“For us, water is not an inexhaustible gift of nature. It is a strategic and scarce resource,” Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the opening of a water treatment facility in 2021. “We are always pushing the limits of our water resources. And producing each additional drop of water gets harder and harder, and more and more expensive.”
Seeking solutions to its water stresses, the Singaporean government has spent decades developing a master plan focusing on what they call their four “national taps”: water catchment, recycling, desalination and imports.
Across the island, seventeen reservoirs catch and store rainwater, which is treated through a series of chemical coagulation, rapid gravity filtration and disinfection.
Five desalination plants, which produce drinking water by pushing seawater through membranes to remove dissolved salts and minerals, operate across the island, creating millions of gallons of clean water every day.
A massive sewage recycling program purifies wastewater through microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet irradiation, adding to drinking supply reservoirs. Dubbed “NEWater”, the treated wastewater now provides Singapore 40% of its water, with the government hoping to increase capacity to 55% of demand in years to come. To help build people’s confidence in the safety, Singapore’s national water agency collaborated with a local craft brewery to create a line of beer made from treated sewage.
Innovation has been possible partially because of the involvement of private businesses, Seah said.
“Sometimes private sectors may have a different way of doing things, and you can learn from them. Industry involvement in us is very important,” Seah said.
Getting community participation and buy in has been an effective method to improved awareness and conservation as well, Seah said.
In 2006 the government launched the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Program, which transformed the country’s water systems into more public areas. Through the program, residents can kayak, hike and picnic on the reservoirs, giving a greater sense of ownership and value to the country’s water supplies. Several water facilities now have public green spaces on the roofs where the public can picnic amid big lush green lawns.
In schools, children are taught about best practices for water use and conservation. Schools hold mock water rationing exercises where water taps are shut off and students collect water in pails.
The international community has tapped into Singapore’s water innovation as well. The country has become a global hub for water technology, as home to nearly 200 water companies and over 20 research centers and hosts a biennial International Water Week.
Water technology developed and used in Singapore, such as portable water filters, water testing technology and flood management tools, have been exported to over 30 countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal.
But not all of the solutions used in Singapore will relevant to other countries, especially those with less-developed infrastructure concedes Seah.
Despite the leaps that Singapore has made in its journey for water security, Seah warns that continued progress is essential for the island.
“After more than two decades we are still constantly analyzing the water,” he said. “We can never be complacent.”
