To mark World Water Day on March 22, WaterAid released its State of the World’s Water report, warning that because of climate change, the world’s poorest communities will face an even tougher struggle for access to clean water. Countries ranking highest in population without access to clean water also rank high in vulnerability to climate change and low in their ability to adapt to it. “Extreme weather events resulting from climate change can mean more storm surges, flooding, droughts and contaminated water sources. They can wipe out fragile infrastructure, dry up rivers, ponds and springs, and contribute to the spread of waterborne diseases making an already difficult situation worse for the 663 million people in the world without access to clean water. When climate disasters strike rural populations, the challenges are even greater,” CEO of WaterAid Canada, Nicole Hurtubise, told Lady Freethinker. Since 2010, the right to clean water has been recognized as a basic human right. It is the primary step in the struggle to overcome poverty and gain access to fundamental healthcare, education, and employment. Even so, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas. These are areas where the demand for clean water outweighs the supply. WOMEN AND CHILDREN HARDEST HIT Of the 663 million people without access to water, most are in rural communities, with women and children being disproportionately affected. A report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) notes that one in four—or 600 million—children will be living without basic access to water by 2040. With a 31.7 percent global gender gap, water is an essential component of achieving gender…

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the lives of nearly 600 million children globally would be at risk in 2040 as a result of water stress. The Fund also noted that in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, the three states most directly affected by conflict, almost 4 million required water, sanitation and hygiene assistance. It lamented that 192 out of 450 health facilities, ranging from hospitals to basic public health care centres, had been completely destroyed in Borno, the hardest hit state. Speaking at a programme marking the World Water Day, Geoffrey Ijumba, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria, Maiduguri Field Office, in a goodwill message on the event, revealed that in the northeast of Nigeria, with funding support from donors, UNICEF was working with government and development partners to provide water and sanitation facilities in internally displaced persons’ camps and host communities to address the water needs of the people Borno. He said on this year’s world water day, UNICEF launched a report: Thirsting for a Future: Water and children in a changing climate. The report highlights the adverse effects of a changing climate on water sources and its impact on the lives of children. According to Ijumba, the report further elaborated that the lives of nearly 600 million children will be at risk in 2040 as a result of water…

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Following high levels of the contaminant PFOA in Hoosick Falls drinking water and busted pipes and lead contamination in Flint, Michigan, water quality is taking a forefront in both chambers of New York’s government.
“The older stuff is definitely dilapidated.
Some places like troy still use wooden pipes.
Senate Republicans want to invest three billion more than the governor to prevent water contamination, clean up pollution and protect water sources.
Assembly Democrats are concerned spending more could put New York in a budget hole.
“Does it push our debt limit over our limit, which I think it does and I think that’s something we need to be very mindful of,” Assemblyman John McDonald III said.
Scott says plans are ready to improve water quality in New York, they just need the money to make it happen.
“We need more funding to get the money to pay for all this stuff,” Scott said.
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Hi, I’m Angela Godwin for WaterWorld magazine, bringing you water and wastewater news headlines for the week of March 20th.
Coming up… Water, wastewater funding takes hit in Trump budget proposal Water accelerator showcases winners, finalists Utah water data ordered to be made public Study finds water quality impacted by ‘legacy phosphorus’ The Trump administration released its proposed budget last week, which includes several cuts impacting water, wastewater and environmental programs across the nation.
However, this proposal guts the USDA infrastructure budget which has funded rural infrastructure for the past 70 years."
The budget also proposes a 31% cut to the Environmental Protection Agency, which would impact funding for enforcement, water pollution cleanup programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and the Superfund toxic cleanup program.
Water innovation accelerator Imagine H2O showcased the winners and finalists of its 8th annual innovation program last week.
Twelve water data startups were selected from 180 applicants from 30 countries.
Top honors went to Utilis for its cost-competitive satellite imagery solution to detect leaks in water distribution systems.
The database used by the state of Utah to calculate its annual water usage and future water needs should be public information.
The scientists suggest that solutions be focused on "stopping phosphorus from going onto the landscape or mining the excess amount that is already built up.” You can learn more about their research at wisc.edu.
As you were browsing http://www.waterworld.com something about your browser made us think you were a bot.

Groundwater is by far our largest of the four water reservoir systems in California, where agriculture and urban users consume about 40 million acre-feet (MAF) each year, mostly from spring to fall: Mountain snowpack, in an average winter and spring, holds about 15 MAF Surface water storage reservoirs have a total capacity of 40 MAF Soils store many 10s of MAF of our winter precipitation for use by natural vegetation, crops, and urban landscaping Groundwater reservoirs are endowed with well over 1,000 MAF of freshwater With this endowment, groundwater storage works like a large bank account.
Water levels rise during winter and spring due to recharge from precipitation and recharge from streams that carry winter runoff (plenty of bank deposits), while groundwater pumping is limited (small account withdrawals).
In dry years, it is common to see water levels recover less during the (dry) winter.
In wet years, the opposite occurs: water levels recover more strongly after a wet winter and groundwater levels are not drawn down as much in the summer, resulting in a net year-over-year rise in water levels.
In other places, the decline in groundwater levels may be less obvious: year-over-year water levels fall during drought, but recover during wet years.
The decline has also created groundwater storage space to replenish with extra water in wet years.
Recharge as the driver for groundwater recovery after drought.
Figure 3 shows some good examples from the Sacramento Valley (Yolo County) and the southern Central Valley (Tulare County): If neither of these resources are at hand, consider the rate at which water levels have fallen over the past five years: recovery may likely happen at about the same rate as water levels have fallen.
Irrigating suitable agricultural land with surplus winter water may allow recharge of one-half to two feet of water between December and March – allowing for additional intentional recharge in wet years of perhaps 2-6 MAF across the Central Valley, if and where water rights, infrastructure, and agricultural chemicals could also be managed appropriately (Water Foundation, 2015).
Groundwater: Where does our water come from?

One common abatement: Dig up old lead lines and replace a portion of them with another metal, such as copper.
However, this technique can dislodge lead particulates and release them into the water supply.
Furthermore, partially replacing the lead pipe connection instead of entirely exchanging it is problematic.
A team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new way to model and track where lead particles might be transported during the partial-replacement process, in an effort to keep the water supply safer.
“We all know lead is not safe, it needs to go,” said assistant vice chancellor of international programs Pratim Biswas, the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Professor and the chair of energy, environmental, and chemical engineering at the School of Engineering & Applied Science.
“This is the first comprehensive model that works as a tool to help drinking-water utility companies and others to predict the outcome of an action.
If they have the necessary information of a potential action, they can run this model and it can advise them on how best to proceed with a pipe replacement to ensure there are no adverse effects.” In the research, recently accepted by the journal Environmental Science & Technology, Biswas and graduate research assistant Ahmed A. Abokifa present their approach, which predicts how far lead particles and dissolved species might travel after they’ve been disturbed.
Biswas said the companies can input their individual system’s information and receive recommendations so partial-pipe replacement can proceed without compromising water quality.
Abokifa and Biswas have developed several other drinking-water distribution system models to accurately predict disinfectant concentrations in the pipe network, especially dead-end systems.
“The predictions of the model will guide them on best practices to ensure the safety of the public at large.”

Meet Aisyah. Empowered with access to safe water at home, she changed her own world. Aisyah is a wife, a mother, and a farmer. Most critical to all of her roles is time. Asiyah explained, “Time to work my rice fields means more money I can make for my family; our life is better.” As a smart business woman growing one of Indonesia’s most desired crops, Aisyah recognized lack of access to water at home as the main obstacle keeping her from having the time needed to farm. Until…

Access to safe water and toilets are imperative to solving the global water and sanitation crisis. Yet one thing remains critical to the success of these solutions – hygiene. A read on how the people of Ragpur are practicing better hygiene. Access to safe water and toilets are imperative to solving the global water and sanitation crisis. Critical to the long-term success of these solutions is the need for education, specifically with regards to personal hygiene. Without the practice of good hygiene, the transformative power of safe water and personal toilets fall short of their full potential. Teaching children good hygiene at an early age ensures they’ll always follow hygienic practices. What’s more, kids will pass along their newfound knowledge to their whole family – parents, grandparents, older siblings – with a kindhearted effectiveness more…

Water.org’s work around the world includes removing the financial barriers that separate poor women like Edita from access to safe water. She seems unassuming; however upon conversation with Edita one will discover the quiet confidence that drove her to bring her family to a place where they could access both good schools and running water. Edita and her husband started their family in a small village deep in the Andes Mountains. Together with their children, they lived a difficult life. Each day held the need for long walks for water and laborious domestic chores. There were no nearby schools. Edita believed that somewhere, somehow, a better life awaited her family. With hope and…

BURO Bangladesh has emerged as a high performer since becoming a Water.org partner in 2014. Despite a tenuous start, BURO Bangladesh has achieved 389% of its set target– disbursing a cumulative principal amount of BDT 432.6 million for 32,559 WaterCredit loans, and reaching more than 146,000 people to date. This success is exemplary, especially given the early challenges that BURO faced during its piloting stage. BURO designed a unique WaterCredit pilot to be launched in 226 branches—nearly 40% of its total branches. To compare, most other partners…