SIKSA, Pakistan, Sept 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When a pipeline was installed last year to bring spring water and snowmelt to this village of 500 households in northern Pakistan, it brought something else as well: peace.
She estimates the system now channels over 5 billion litres of water a year – and ensures a water supply year-round.
“That can only be achieved by providing mountain communities with a reliable source of water in the right quantity and at the right time,” Khan said.
Sakina, who like most villagers uses just one name, said that until a few years ago water was abundant, with heavy winter snow meaning plenty of water flowed even in summer.
That meant less water for irrigation and less crops and income,” she said.
But since the water storage tank was installed, “all these fields have become green again”, she said, pointing to terraced fields where tomatoes, aubergine, okra and pumpkin grow against a backdrop of towering, bare-sloped mountains.
“We would have to go fetch water in plastic containers from springs higher up in the mountains, which would take hours, then use it sparingly to wash clothes and for cooking and drinking.
A reliable supply of water also has allowed villagers for the first time in year to sell a surplus of vegetables grown in the nearby market towns of Khaplu and Skardu, Khan said.
Villagers also have planted fruit trees – meaning better nutrition and higher incomes, Khan said.
Khan said the previous government had pushed for more tree planting and provided villagers with free popular saplings, which will also become a new source of income as they grow.

Pakistan is a water stressed country and recent reports have alerted that the country could reach absolute water scarcity by the year 2025.
Reports have also stressed upon the need for a groundwater regulatory framework in the country that will guarantee a sustainable and equitable use of groundwater resource.
According to Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), over 60 percent of Pakistan’s irrigation water requirements are met from groundwater sources which also provide over 90 percent of the country’s potable water.
In most areas of Sindh, groundwater needs to be mixed with canal water before it can be effectively utilised for agricultural purposes.
According to the report, increasing variability of monsoon rains, rapid melting of glaciers and prolonged droughts are threatening the natural recharge of the Indus aquifer through surface water.
In March this year, National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change was informed that the groundwater table in every city of Pakistan was falling by one meter every year.
“Consequently, the cost of irrigation is 2.19 times higher at the tail end of the Indus River basin, compared to the northern Indus River basin,” PCRWR report states.
“There are two major issues in terms of ground water: quality and irresponsible extraction.
The extraction is being done for industrial, agriculture and domestic purposes.
“In two third of Sindh there is no groundwater.

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, water utilities were shut down, making access to safe drinking water one of the most pressing issues across the island.
So, a citizen science group in Rincón, Puerto Rico, rallied to help test drinking water sources.
Steve Tomar, who has lived in Rincón for more than 40 years, was in a position to help.
It was like three months at the earliest before they started responding.” Without a functioning central water authority and with all the stores having sold out of bottled water and soda, locals had to resort to natural water sources like springs, wells and streams.
Once they were able to get the right supplies, they tested for other contaminants, including bacteria from fecal matter.
They have to take samples back to the lab in the Surfrider office to test for the things that can really make people sick, including coliform, enterococcus bacteria and E. coli.
After the hurricane, this was no longer an issue.
“These are your people, so whatever you can do to keep them healthy and informed, you do it.” Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force is the largest citizen science program in Puerto Rico.
Tomar says it was relatively easy to transition the skills volunteers developed for testing ocean water into testing drinking water.
“In a lot of ways, I think the major benefit of these community-based science programs is developing skill sets in the community,” he says.

Irish Water is still in talks with five local authorities to allow contractors, hired by the utility company, access to their areas to "find and fix" leaks, as the water supply remains at critical levels because of drought and with up 50pc of supply leaking from the system.
While Irish Water has reached agreement with 26 local authorities to allow its crews to work alongside local authority staff, the utility told the Sunday Independent it is "still engaging" with local authorities in Mayo, Waterford, Wexford, Longford and Kilkenny to "get crews mobilised".
"When you bring in contractual resources, from a health and safety point of view and from an operational point of view, what you want is that local authority staff and the contracted staff are going to work in harmony," said a source.
"To bring in contractors requires a lot of discussion to ensure that when they do come in, things go smoothly.
We are quite happy to take that route.
Irish Water’s attempts to negotiate smooth access to local authority areas for their "find and fix" fleet comes at a sensitive time for the company, both in terms of water supply, which came to critically low levels as a result of drought, and in terms of its future.
The Government plans to separate Irish Water from its parent company Ervia to make it a single independent utility.
The utility claimed making the documents public could have a "significant, adverse impact" on those negotiations.
In a statement to the Sunday Independent, Irish Water said: "Irish Water works closely with our partners in local authorities to secure safe clean drinking water.
Local authorities appreciated the impact of drought on their homes and businesses in their communities and were fully supportive of activities and works in areas prioritised by Irish Water for leakage management."

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Pender County Utilities urges water consumers to conserve water or the utility will have to end service.
“We are in critical need of fuel to keep our water treatment plant up and running,” said Kenny Keel, Pender County Utilities director.
Water conservation is critical due to inaccessibility of some of our facilities to replenish fuel supplies to our generators.
Widespread flooding is preventing us from accessing critical pumping stations that deliver water to our tanks in Hampstead and Topsail mainland areas.
“It is important PCU customers conserve water,” said Keel.
“We don’t want to shut off our service, but the lack of fuel could force us to interrupt service.” “We are in critical need of diesel fuel to keep our water facility on NC 210 pumping water to the Hampstead area,” said Randell Woodruff, county manager.
“We are exploring every avenue to find a fuel source and access to the facility.
However, if we do not get the needed fuel within the next 48-hours, we will not be able to continue water service for public health and safety such as fire suppression and other life-sustaining activities.
Also, our customers will be without drinking water.” “Thank you for your cooperation with this most important public health and safety matter,” said Keel.
“The lack of water would hamper fire suppression and other public services.

Customers of Pender County Utilities are encouraged to conserve water.
“We are in critical need of fuel to keep our water treatment plant up and running,” said Kenny Keel, Pender County Utilities director.
Widespread flooding is preventing the utility from accessing fuel to replenish supplies to the generators.
Pender County Utility cannot access pumping stations that deliver water to the tanks in Hampstead and Topsail mainland areas.
“We are in critical need of diesel fuel to keep our water facility on NC 210 pumping water to the Hampstead area,” said Randell Woodruff, county manager.
“We are exploring every avenue to find a fuel source and access to the facility.
However, if we do not get the needed fuel within the next 48-hours, we will not be able to continue water service for public health and safety such as fire suppression and other life-sustaining activities.
Also, our customers will be without drinking water.” Keel said the lack of water would hamper fire suppression and other public services.
“It is important PCU customers conserve water,” said Keel.
All rights reserved.

The August 2018 flood is the worst witnessed in the region in nearly a century.
According to the local government, one-sixth of the total population of Kerala was affected by these floods.
Access to clean drinking water is limited because the water treatment plants were forced to cease pumping.
The floods affected hundreds of villages, destroyed an estimated 10,000 km of roads, and thousands of homes were either damaged or destroyed.
80% of the state of Kerala is without power.
All the sections in the Southwest India Union have sent local church members from different regions to join relief efforts and participate in raising funds and distributing relief material to help people begin to rebuild their lives.
The Church in the North Kerala Section distributed clothes to flood victims.
Members from Thambaram church, Tamil Nadu, sent a truck full of supplies to Idukki Section to be distributed to people affected in this area.
Iddukki Section is providing all the assistance possible to affected church members.
The Tamil church in Hosur sent a truck load of relief packets including clothes, food grains and other supplies to be distributed to church members and other members of the community.

WILMINGTON, NC — Homes and businesses in Wilmington and other parts of New Hanover County may lose drinking water because a major utility is critically low on fuel.
They could lose drinking water if the agency doesn’t get needed fuel within 48 hours.
"We are in critical need of fuel to keep our water treatment plants running," the utility wrote.
It said it is exploring "every avenue" to find a potential fuel source.
If it’s unable to, water service for public health and safety — including firefighting and other vital services — will halt.
Flood waters have made it impossible for authorities to access the area.
Customers are asked to begin making contingency plans, including filling up bathtubs and water jugs.
Further updates will provided as soon as possible.
We are not asking you to leave your homes.
Please prepare.

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, water utilities were shut down, making access to safe drinking water one of the most pressing issues across the island.
So, a citizen science group in Rincón, Puerto Rico, rallied to help test drinking water sources.
Steve Tomar, who has lived in Rincón for more than 40 years, was in a position to help.
It was like three months at the earliest before they started responding.” Without a functioning central water authority and with all the stores having sold out of bottled water and soda, locals had to resort to natural water sources like springs, wells and streams.
Once they were able to get the right supplies, they tested for other contaminants, including bacteria from fecal matter.
They have to take samples back to the lab in the Surfrider office to test for the things that can really make people sick, including coliform, enterococcus bacteria and E. coli.
After the hurricane, this was no longer an issue.
“These are your people, so whatever you can do to keep them healthy and informed, you do it.” Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force is the largest citizen science program in Puerto Rico.
Tomar says it was relatively easy to transition the skills volunteers developed for testing ocean water into testing drinking water.
“In a lot of ways, I think the major benefit of these community-based science programs is developing skill sets in the community,” he says.

“But water?
Water is everything.” Petra Gonzalez uses bottles of water to wash dishes in a sink that hangs outside her makeshift house after Maria destroyed the home she shared with her husband for 63 years.
In the year since Maria, 50 percent of Puerto Ricans say people in their households could not get enough water to drink, according to a new Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey.
More than 230 of these rural neighborhoods across Puerto Rico subsist on their own wells or natural springs.
LEFT: Granddaughter Marta Fernandez looks out the window of her home, the only one in the family compound that was not destroyed.
‘It broke my soul’ Carlos Fernandez and Petra Gonzalez lived in the same pink, wooden house for 63 years.
For days after the storm, Fernandez refused to leave his battered home.
‘I searched and searched’ As Hurricane Maria swept through their mountains, Fernandez and Gonzalez waited out the storm at their nephew’s concrete house.
Most important, the pouch carried a silver ring, engraved with the name of his son — Tony.
‘Llegó el agua’ After finishing lunch, Gonzalez tried turning on the kitchen faucet to wash the dishes piled up in the sink.