Droughts in Argentina and South Africa highlight the economic importance of water
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, South Africa has declared a national disaster as extreme drought ravages the Western Cape region.
The effects of water scarcity on a country’s agricultural sector can send ripples across domestic economies, and are reflected in national economic indicators.
The cases of Argentina and South Africa bring into sharp focus the need for policymakers to shield the economy from future droughts, particularly given the threat of a changing climate.
In the case of a major agricultural exporter like Argentina, a drought can also reverberate across international markets as global commodity prices react to changes in production As recently as October, Argentine farmers were expecting to expand their corn planting, but are now braced for the worst harvest since 2009, which at the time was heralded as the worst drought in 100 years.
“Even with irrigation, there is a level of vulnerability due to the fact that the water shortages, which are usually associated with droughts, can impact irrigated agriculture as well.” While famine is not a risk here, the drought has severely impacted farmers’ growing schedules.
As of January, only 72 percent of the 44.7 million acres in the country dedicated to soy crop had been planted.
Tariffs are now on track to reach 18 percent by the end of 2019, down from 35 percent when Macri was inaugurated.
Corn and soy may be the most impacted crops, but damage from drought is not isolated to the agricultural sector.
All trouble in the Western Cape The drought plaguing South Africa’s Western Cape region has diminished its projections of agricultural output by a fifth compared with last year.
This will also cause South Africa to increase its wheat imports to 2.1 million tons in 2018, up from 935,000 tons 2017.
Uruguay: Drought – Mar 2018
Since the beginning of 2018, there has been a significant reduction in availability and access to water due to a deficit caused by a lack of rain, which has been further affected by the La Niña phenomenon in the South American region.
The most affected departments in the country are Tacuarembó, Salto, Durazno and certain areas of Artigas, Paysandú, Rivera and Río Negro.
In some areas, there is a considerable reduction in the levels of water in wells and dams, affecting the availability of water in the affected departments.
In total, 95 per cent of the national population has potable water supply and access to it through water pipes, while the other 5 per cent use dams and storage tanks; this latter group of families have been directly affected by the water deficit, and the lack of water has considerably reduced available areas for growing crops and raising livestock, which has affected families’ food supply…According to SINAE’s forecasts issued on 6 March 2018, this drought could go on for two or three more months; although it could also last beyond the middle of the year.
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Spending bill includes money for Klamath drought relief
Oregon’s U.S. Sens.
“As we look ahead to a difficult summer of drought, I know that the Klamath community is doing the hard work on the ground to build a better future,” Merkley said.
“The resources in this bill will help Klamath families through the summer, as well as support long-term planning and habitat restoration.
"I greatly appreciate the tremendous work Congressman Walden did on the House side to achieve this result.
I will continue to do everything I can to assist the Klamath community through these challenging times.” Wells, idling land Sources say that the money could total $10 million and be used to help irrigators improve wells needed for groundwater to balance out irrigation water taken from rivers and streams.
It could also compensate farmers for idling cropland.
This is an important continuation of an ongoing effort to bring certainty to the Basin.” “This plan will provide immediate drought relief for irrigators in the Klamath Basin, helping our farmers survive this challenging water year,” Walden said.
I look forward to continue working with the local community, my Oregon colleagues in Congress, and the Administration to accomplish that.” Drought Relief Act The 2018 spending bill released yesterday includes a reauthorization of the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act, which is expected to give the Bureau of Reclamation the flexibility this summer to help water users within the Klamath Reclamation Project.
In addition, Merkley and Walden have weighed in directly with Bureau of Reclamation leadership and with Speaker Ryan and Leader Schumer to ensure funding reaches the Klamath Basin to cope with drought this summer.
Fish and Wildlife’s fisheries restoration efforts and the Klamath Tribes’ technical capacity for planning for conservation and habitat restoration.
KPBS Drought Tracker Finds Drier Than Normal Conditions
Last year’s deluge of water was significant enough in Southern California to end a six-year drought in the region, but not enough to keep the drought at bay this year.
The U.S. Drought monitor finds most of San Diego County is experiencing moderate drought conditions with much of the region in the Los Angeles basin experiencing severe drought conditions.
The KPBS Drought Tracker follows rainfall and snowpack conditions, with the help of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and both indicators are significantly below where they should be for this time of year.
Rainfall totals are well outside local norms for this time of year, according to the numbers compiled by Scripps researchers.
“Right now we’ve received about a third of the annual precipitation that we get so, on March 22nd we received about a third.
So normally we would’ve gotten about three-quarters of our yearly precipitation.
We’re quite a bit below that.
And the normal range that about two-thirds of the years fall into, we should have gotten at least half of our precipitation by now,” said David Pierce, Scripps climate researcher.
The Sierra Nevada snowpack is also only at about 57 percent of where it should be, although this week’s storms could push those number up noticeably.
Drought and conflict leave millions more hungry in 2017 – UN-backed report
Driven largely by climate disasters and conflict, levels of acute hunger surged in 2017, leaving some 124 million people across 51 countries facing hunger crises –11 million more than the previous year, according to a new United Nations report.
“Reports such as this give us the vital data and analysis to better understand the challenge.
It is now up to us to take action to meet the needs of those facing the daily scourge of hunger and to tackle its root causes,” said Secretary-General António Guterres in a video message on the report.
The increase is largely attributable to new or intensified conflict and insecurity in Myanmar, north-east Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Yemen.
“The fighting must stop now and the world must come together to avert these crises often happening right in front of our eyes,” underscored David Beasley, WFP Executive Director.
Mr. da Silva stated: “Investing in food security and livelihood in conflict situations saves lives, strengthens resilience and can also contribute to sustaining peace.” We must acknowledge and address the link between hunger and conflict if we are to achieve zero hunger — José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General The report finds that food crises are increasingly determined by other complex causes as well, such as extreme climatic shocks and high prices of staple food – often acting at the same time.
For instance, prolonged drought conditions resulted in consecutive poor harvests in countries already facing high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in eastern and southern Africa.
The report also flags that entire communities and more children and women are in need of nutritional support compared to last year, indicating the need for long-lasting solutions to revert the trend.
The report, which brings together regional and national data and analysis from multiple sources, demonstrates that in addition to critically needed humanitarian aid, development action needs to engage much earlier so as to tackle the root causes of extreme vulnerability, therefore, building resilience.
“This Global Report on Food Crises shows the magnitude of today’s crises but also shows us that if we bring together political will and today’s technology, we can have a world that’s more peaceful, more stable and where hunger becomes a thing of the past,” Mr. Beasley concluded.
NWS extends drought period for CNMI
Drought in the Northern Mariana Islands is expected to worsen in the next couple of weeks, according to a notice yesterday from the National Weather Service Forecast Office out of Tiyan, Guam.
The NWS notice said that satellite images show very dry weather over the Mariana Islands and remain in short-term moderate drought, called Drought Level 1 of 4.
Some showers have fallen recently; however, much drier weather is expected to develop during the next few weeks.
There has been a rash of grassfires in the CNMI in the last few weeks.
A house in Chalan Kanoa went up in flames this week.
With the expectation of moderate to occasionally strong trade winds over most of Micronesia in the next couple of months, the Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management is advising CNMI residents to refrain from outdoor burning activities so as not to cause wildfires and endanger surrounding life and property.
The Office of HSEM advises to take all necessary precautionary measures at this time; all outdoor burning activity is not recommended and should be delayed.
Visit the following links for the latest advisory information: – NWS Website: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/guam/ – NWS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NWSGuam/ – CNMI EOC State Warning Point Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cnmieocswp/ (PR, With Saipan Tribune)
R433m disaster relief announced for drought funding
Port Elizabeth – Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Zweli Mkhize on Thursday announced that a total amount of R433.524 million would be made available as immediate disaster relief funding for drought for the three most affected provinces, namely the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
Of this amount, R348.846 million is to be transferred in the 2017/18 financial year, with the R84.678 million transferred in the 2018/19 financial year.
Last month, Mkhize on behalf of the inter-ministerial task team on water, declared the prevailing water crisis affecting multiple provinces a national state of disaster.
"The reclassification of the drought as a national disaster by the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre, under Government Notice 107/2017 published in Government Gazette 41439 on 13 February 2018, designated the primary responsibility for the coordination and management of the disaster to the national executive who must act in close cooperation with the other spheres of government to deal with the disaster and its consequences," a statement read.
Mkhize emphasised that the declaration of a state of disaster at any level was not primarily aimed at requesting funding, but it is aimed at activating extra-ordinary measures, which might include funding, based on the need and other relevant conditions to address the impact of such a disaster.
African News Agency/ANA
NRCS program may help Klamath County farmers amid drought
As Klamath County, Ore., farmers and ranchers prepare for drought, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is offering financial assistance for mitigating wind erosion on highly vulnerable soils.
Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown declared a drought emergency for Klamath County on March 13, which officials predict could result in economic losses exceeding $557 million.
Meanwhile, the NRCS is encouraging producers to apply for funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, to plant a small grain cover crop that will protect against erosion.
The potential for wind erosion increases during a drought, due to the lack of available irrigation water.
EQIP funding is only available for farmers and ranchers with highly erodible soils.
Seeding will be reimbursed at $41.90 per acre.
A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Reclamation in Klamath Falls said there is still no start date or water allocation set for basin irrigators.
The document is due March 23, and a hearing date may be held April 4 or April 11.
For more information about EQIP, contact Ferguson at the NRCS in Klamath Falls at 541-887-3503.
Brazil battles drought as world’s largest water forum meets
CEILANDIA, Brazil (Reuters) – Diane Pereira had already used up half a large plastic water barrel by 9 a.m. as she cooked rice and beans for the coming lunch crowd as gospel music played quietly in her small, doorless restaurant in Ceilandia, a poor suburb of Brazil’s capital.
Roberto Souza uses a bucket to collect water in an improvised reservoir, on the day of water rationing, in his neighborhood in Brasilia, Brazil March 21, 2018.
REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino In the face of a government-instituted all-day water cutoff on Wednesday, Pereira said she was doing everything she could to economize, including using plastic cups instead of glass and using less water in the food.
If her two barrels run dry, she will have to close up for the day.
This week’s conference, which ends on Friday, comes as Brazil is still dealing with prolonged droughts while panels such as “Water Crisis in Brazil” contend with the question of how people in the country richest in fresh water reserves could go thirsty.
More than 900 of Brazil’s 5,570 municipalities have water emergencies as a result of drought, according to the Ministry of National Integration.
Much of the problem is getting the water where it needs to go, with government officials pointing to strides in delivering water in drought-stricken Brasilia, Sao Paulo and the northeast.
Roberto Souza uses a bucket to collect water in an improvised reservoir, on the day of water rationing, in his neighborhood in Brasilia, Brazil March 21, 2018.
In the Federal District, the main reservoir level is up more than twelve fold thanks largely to new infrastructure and the rotating water rationing every six days will be eliminated this year, Luduvice said.
“The day rationing comes again, I’ll have this routine all in place.”
Drought causing dry conditions across Arizona
TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) – Every part of Arizona is currently experiencing some level of dryness or drought.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, 100 percent of the state’s population is experiencing unusual dryness or drought.
Fernando Molina from Tucson Water said despite those numbers, Tucson residents have nothing to worry about.
Tucson is not running out of water, but Molina does recommend water conservation.
He said as temperatures rise, people start reaching for the hose to water their plants.
Water usage doubles in the summer and Molina said that is mostly because of landscaping.
The gathered water can go directly into the ground or be stored for later use.
“We have done a really good job planning for the future and making sure we have adequate water supplies, so from a water supply outlook, that is not a problem.” Tucson Water has a drought preparedness plan in place if the drought gets severe.
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