The week that was, 8/8-14/2010
It is one of the most graphic temperature increases on the planet. — Lake Superior surface waters are warmest on record, Duluth News Tribune, August 13, 2010
Since 1980, Lake Superior’s surface water temperature in summer has increased about two-degrees F per decade. For more, click on the cover of the Large Lakes Observatory report.
X“If the Kalabagh dam had been built, this flood could have been tamed in the reservoir.” — Shams-ul Mulk, former chief of Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority, Pakistan floods renew debate over unbuilt dam, Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2010
“Their crops have gone, their livestock has gone, the infrastructure, the roads are gone. Right now our land link with the rest of the country is gone.” Punjab regional assemblyman Mohsin Leghari, Pakistan floods cause ‘huge losses’ to crops, BBC News, August 12, 2010
Swimming in the rivers that feed …
The week that was, 8/1-7/2010
“It is unprecedented …” — Major General Athar Abbas, Half a million evacuated from Pakistan floods, Daily Telegraph, August 6, 2010
“I appeal to the world to help us.” — Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on floods now estimated to impact more than two million people, Rains worsen Pakistan flood misery, Al Jazeera, August 8, 2010*
Refugees from record monsoon flooding in Pakistan. Click on the image to make a donation to British Red Cross relief efforts. A £20 sterling donation will translate to roughly $32 US dollars.
“If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?” That’s an excellent question, but it turns out [Chief Seattle] never asked it. The entire “web of life” speech was concocted in 1972 by a Hollywood screenwriter. — H2Ownership: Ancient, Equitable Traditions of Efficient Water Resource Trading …
Mr Smith goes to council
July 6: A laughing Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith wipes a tear from his eye as he taunts a Department of Water & Power representative over his success in flouting and, eventually, over-turning the department's hugely successful lawn watering ordinance. The Council is expected to vote in a watered-down ordinance soon. Click on the image to be taken to the city's On Demand video service.
In June 2009, an ordinance limiting lawn and garden watering with sprinklers to two days a week took effect in Los Angeles. Citywide water consumption dropped by more than 20%.
Yet, 13 months later, the ordinance that pushed Los Angeles to the fore of the Western water conservation movement is about to be gutted, having become collateral damage in a roiling brawl over rate hikes and green energy between the City Council and the mayor’s office.
On July 6, the City Council sent the …
The week that was, 7/18-24/2010
"The first time I pulled back the bushes and saw a spring, I knew those magical places would be a permanent part of my life. Our area (north Florida) offers one of the greatest natural wonders on earth. It is a giant, three-dimensional karst terrain that produces a renewable resource.... the finest water on the planet. I can think of no place on the planet more worthy of my attention and love than my own backyard." -- Photographer Wes Skiles, who died last week in a diving accident. Click on the image to be taken to his essay at Florida Springs.com
The man who had filmed where no one had before – whether in the underwater caves of North Florida or on assignment for National Geographic in the blue holes of the Bahamas – died Wednesday in a diving accident off Palm Beach.– Photographer Wes Skiles brought Florida waters to …
The week that was, 7/4-10/2010
Detail from Watts Towers. Photo: Emily Green. Click on the image to read Robin Rauzi argue in the Los Angeles Times, "An Angeleno who has never toured Watts Towers is the urban equivalent of a New Yorker who has never bothered with the Statue of Liberty."
Emily Green is on vacation. The week that was will return July 25th. However, for those following the Las Vegas pipeline story, one announcement from Carson City deserves noting.
“The water rights issued to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) under the 1989 applications in Spring Valley, Cave Valley, Dry Lake Valley and Delamar Valley will revert to application status.” — State Engineer of Nevada, July 7, 2010
Los Angeles water news is currently being most capably watched and explained by the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times. For daily round-ups of California water news, try Aquafornia, the newsfeed of …
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