South Africa: Water Can’t Be Saved Without Change.
Following all the rules to save water might be a great way of conserving the precious natural resource, but it won’t work if it’s done by some of the people some of the time.
A major shift in societal mindsets, behaviour and attitude is the only way to make sure that water saving efforts are effective and sustainable, says the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Acting Deputy Director-General for Infrastructure, Leonardo Manus.
Manus was one of several speakers at a roundtable hosted by the department, in partnership with engineering company, GIBB and Sunlight, one of the leading manufacturers of laundry and dishwashing detergents.
Held on Thursday at the GIBB headquarters in Johannesburg, the roundtable was a platform to discuss ways in which water saving and use can be more effective to aid future security efforts, and expand the pool of water resources in the country.
Participants at the roundtable said human behaviour change towards water remains a challenge that contributes to water scarcity in the country.
Public awareness campaigns are needed to effect change in the way people respond to certain situations that result in water losses.
"This increases demand for water.
Meanwhile, our water resources remain the same.
Desalination of seawater and the reuse of waste water into potable water were the main alternatives discussed during the roundtable.

IFCO e-Book Helps Manage Water Resources, Reduce Water Footprint.
Clean water shortages continue to emerge across the globe as the population grows, along with demand for drinking water and water for irrigation.
With water being an essential resource for agricultural companies, it’s paramount for farms to make water conservation a regular part of business operations.
Presently, 4 billion people face severe water scarcity for one month each year.
Water shortage is critical problem that greatly impacts the world at large as well as the agricultural industry.
IFCO has released a new, free ebook, The Challenge of Managing Water Resources, that takes a look a the current global state of water resources, efforts to manage water conservation and reduce consumption, and how resusable RPCs contribute to a decrease in water usage.
Said IFCO Vice President of Global Marketing Hillary Femal, “In this downloadable resource, you will learn more about the current global state of water resources , what it means for businesses, and how utilizing RPCs contributes to decreased water usage.” Download the PDF here.

Rawalpindi – Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) in collaboration with Sustainable Land Management Programme (SLMP) organised a seminar on ‘Combating Desertification in Pakistan’ and an awareness walk as well as tree planting to mark the World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD), here on Thursday.
The WDCD is observed every year on 17 June to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.
Country Director, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan, Ignacio Artaza was the chief guest while Prof Dr Rai Niaz Ahmad Vice Chancellor PMAS-AAUR, National Programme Director (SLMP-II), Ishrat Ali, Hamid Marwat, National Programme Coordinator (SLMP-II), Prof Dr Maqsood Anwar, Dean Faculty of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, Prof Dr Sarwat N Mirza, Chairman Department of Forestry & Range Management of PMAS-AAUR, Deans, Directors, faculty members and large numbers of students were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the audience at the seminar, Country Director United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan, Ignacio Artaza emphasized to mainstream efforts for sustainable land management to combat desertification.
He said, “Desertification is a global phenomenon, affecting the livelihoods of 900 million people across the five continents and representing a third of worldwide threats to biodiversity.
It requires global attention and local action.” Artaza acknowledged efforts by the Ministry of Climate Change and appreciated Sustainable Land Management Programme (SLMP) for on-the-ground efforts to combat desertification in 14 districts in all four provinces of the country.
Prof Dr Rai Niaz Ahmad, Vice Chancellor PMAS AAUR, highlighted the role university was playing for better climate in the country.
He also appreciated UNDP Pakistan and Ministry of Climate Change for taking the lead in sustainable land management through their joint programme, SLMP.
He said, “SLMP is working on developing Integrated Sustainable Land Management Policies, Land Use Plans at district and village levels, and on ground interventions that aim for effective environmental management for combating desertification, land degradation and drought in Pakistan.” Earlier, Hamid Marwat, National Programme Coordinator (SLMP-II) briefed the audience about World Desertification Day and about SLMP approaches and interventions for better land management in Pakistan.
In order to meet the objectives of the convention, Government of Pakistan, with support from United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) is implementing second phase of the Sustainable Land Management Program (SLMP-II) in fourteen dry land districts of all four provinces.

What if farmers could have predicted severe drought before the Dust Bowl?
We are now like the pre-Dust Bowl farmers in that scenario.
Scientists warn that the world is getting warmer, and greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels are the primary cause.
Will we become better stewards of our atmosphere, or will we wait until severe disaster is upon us?
Already, Oklahomans are seeing harmful effects of rising temperatures.
In Syria, the civil war followed a 15-year “megadrought,” the worst in centuries.
Seventy-five percent of farms failed; 85 percent of livestock died.
We can cut that risk by about half if we aggressively limit emissions.
Can we ensure other nations do their part?
By reducing their carbon footprints, families could avoid using dividends as price offsets and instead enjoy the income as the country transitions to a low-carbon economy.

Award-winning, San Francisco-based Songwriter RAZTERIA Announces New Multi-Artist Latin EP "CRUZANDO CORAZONES" and New Music Video "AVENTURERA".
CRUZANDO CORAZONES (translation "Where Hearts Collide") is an eclectic new Latin release by RAZTERIA, born out of syncing artists, bands, engineers and producers in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Recorded at LA Estudio and Truffula Oak studio.
Quite simply, a love song infused with a feeling of gratitude for being alive.
Recorded at Chafirete studio.
Recorded and mixed at Afro Estudios.
Recorded and mixed at Chafirete studio.
Shot and chopped by Japanese director Hitoshi Inoue, the official music video AVENTURERA is the title track from RAZTERIA’s most recent album (AVENTURERA, Asteria Records 2016).
Multi-genre, tri-lingual, singer-songwriter & producer RAZTERIA (Renee Asteria) is a San Francisco-based artist with Bolivian-Dutch roots.
MORE INFORMATION ASTERIA RECORDS WEBSITE Facebook – CRUZANDO CORAZONES iTunes Presale Bandcamp Presale AVENTURERA (video) RAZTERIA WEBSITE Facebook – RAZTERIA Facebook – Renee Asteria Facebook – Truffula Oak Studio Facebook – Asteria Records Twitter Instagram CONTACT General, Renee Asteria: renee@RAZTERIA.com Press & Promotion, Alex Kilgore: alex@RAZTERIA.com Distribution, Independent Distribution Collective (IDC), ben@independentdistro.com — Press release service and press release distribution provided by http://www.24-7pressrelease.com

Brunei students to compete in Robotic Challenge in US.
In H2O FLOW, teams learn about real world water scarcity and contamination issues.
The students have been working hard with their mentors to design, build and test their ideas for the upcoming competition.
They look forward to meeting and working together with other team members from around the world in solving global issues.
“We hope that our effort in the competition will help inspire many more students in Brunei to take up STEM education.
“For the competition, they have to design a robot that can pick up and differentiate contaminants in the water and separate it.
The competition name is H2O challenge.
This year’s competition is about how robotics tackles the global issue on the scarcity of water.
One of the issues with water is that once the water is contaminated, you can’t use or drink it.” “In this challenge, Brunei participants will form an alliance with two other different countries and challenge other team from three other different countries.
“We will try to do our best and this is the first time that Brunei is competing in the first global challenge.

Common staples threatened by water scarcity.
A new report has revealed that supplies of animal feed, rice, cotton, grapes and pistachios could be impacted in the near future as they come from regions facing water shortages.
Over a third of Europe’s water needs come from other parts of the world, due to imported crops.
“Right now it is more like an alert,” said Professor Bart van den Hurk, who co-ordinates the Horizon 2020-funded IMPREX project, a Europe-wide research effort which produced the report as part of its efforts to analyse the links between climate change and water.
He added: “The next step is really to look at climate change sentinels (indicators) in the areas of exposure … and see whether you can actually translate climate change effects in those areas to European sensitivities.” According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the frequency and intensity of heatwaves and droughts will rise over the coming years as man-made climate change takes hold.
Dr Ertug Ercin, the lead author of the report entitled Vulnerabilities of Europe’s economy to global water scarcity and drought, from the Water Footprint Network, a Dutch non-governmental organisation which is part of the IMPREX project, explained that the project worked out Europe’s water vulnerability by looking at trade flows into and out of Europe, and then examining the water situation in countries from where the food originates.
“We always look at the supply side of the water issue,” he said, “but looking from the demand perspective and understanding the issues from the demand perspective is not well understood.” Analysing water demand is part of a broader effort by the IMPREX project to encourage public officials and businesses to take climate change forecasts into account when making decisions by predicting how global warming will lead to extreme weather in Europe.
Van den Hurk concluded: “I’m really on a mission to embed this physical climate science further down the chain.”

The Indian government’s policy of using treated sewage water to run operations in coal-fired power plants is not economically viable and will do little to resolve conflicts over water use An ambitious plan to reduce the dependence of India’s coal-fired power plants on freshwater has stalled in its starting blocks.
The policy for some plants to use treated sewage water, introduced last year, is impractical and economically non-viable, according to a recent report by Greenpeace India.
The report also states that less than 11% of India’s total treated sewage water can be used by thermal power plants.
Some 3.5 litres of water are needed to produce one unit of energy and across India, coal power plants use an estimated 4.6 billion cubic metres of freshwater per year, enough to meet the basic needs of 250 million people.
But sewage treatment facilities are mostly built in urban areas, away from power plants.
The use of sewage to meet coal power plants’ cooling needs will not resolve the conflict over water between thermal power plants and farmers and urban communities, Greenpeace said.
In addition to the billions needed to invest in treatment facility infrastructure, the report claims that coal plants that can viably use wastewater will see water costs soar by at least 300% — a financial burden that would be passed on to customers.
In March 2016, the 1,700 MW Raichur thermal power station in the Krishna River basin was closed for several days due to water shortages.
The effect of low water levels in March last year was also dramatically driven home when National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), India’s largest power generation company, completely halted production at its 2,100 MW Farakka plant in the eastern state of West Bengal.
See: Low water reserves spell trouble for India Switching from freshwater to treated sewage water will not reduce the impact of coal power plants on India’s water scarcity, the environmental lobby group said.

Opponents of California’s Delta Tunnels Project Push Alternative Strategies.
The state’s proposal to build twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta cleared another hurdle last month, but opponents still believe that better options exist.
The existing pumps that export Delta water have drastically upset the balance of the estuary’s ecosystem, causing fish declines and the intrusion of saltwater from San Francisco Bay.
But if not WaterFix, then what?
“If you oppose the tunnels, you need to propose an alternative,” Moyle said.
Some of its opponents have called for changes to cropping systems to reduce California agriculture’s heavy demand for water.
The single tunnel proposed in the plan would take one-third of the river water that WaterFix would take, but still provide a reliable emergency system in the case of a failure at the south Delta pumps.
Some policy analysts have suggested that farmers could use less water by growing less.
However, California’s almond growers have almost tripled their acreage over the same period, with farmers still planting more almond trees in what advocates of sustainable agriculture consider a reckless strategy.
Rosenfield would rather see farmers growing annual row crops, like grains, vegetables and melons, than trees.

Thanks to insufficient storage capacity and systemic losses, the waste is huge.
Globally, economic value of water is around $2 billion per maf.
Even if one halves that figure to $1 billion given Pakistan is a developing country, annual water loss comes to around $20 billion, or 7 percent of GDP!
What to talk of new dams, over time the storage capacity of existing dams has also eroded.
In a flood-exposed country like Pakistan, dams in strategic areas can also help in flood mitigation.
Besides, the country can save some rainwater, too, which currently goes to waste.
On the supply-side, building storage capacity of an additional 20 maf is critical.
Overall, water use in Pakistan is highly inefficient.
Such issues have been highlighted by BR Research earlier on various occasions.
While planners can expect a little help from China to expand storage capacity, the issue of looming water scarcity will not be solved until and unless all aspects of water management, including those on the demand-side, are also tackled.