Even with this abundance, the increasing pressures from land use/development and changes in rainfall patterns and distribution are impacting both the quality and quantity of this precious resource.
This is good news for Greenwich and everyone interested in protecting drinking water supplies and finding a way to balance the use of our water resources.
The utilities are concerned with language in the plan that refers to water as a public trust resource.
In 1971, the General Assembly declared, “there is a public trust in the air, water and other natural resources of the state of Connecticut and that each person is entitled to the protection, preservation and enhancement of the same.
Taking the reference to water as public trust resource out of the Plan will not change state statute.
What it will do is begin the erosion of this public trust doctrine that protects one of our most important natural resources.
The State Water Plan recognizes this.
It also recognizes that this protection will only happen as a result of coordination between state and local government and our water utilities.
It is important for Greenwich and all of Connecticut to have a State Water Plan now.
The Plan should be adopted by the CT General Assembly, as presented by the Water Planning Council, with over whelming, bi-partisan support that includes water as a public trust resource.

Aa Aa Small-scale hydropower projects are soaring in number across the Balkans — but they’re also destroying the region’s wild rivers and threatening one of Europe’s most biodiverse areas, according to environmental groups.
Despite the environmental damages that these plants produce, governments and companies are continuing to fund their construction.
The Balkan region represents a biodiversity hotspot and many of its rivers are still in outstanding conditions, according to Pippa Gallop, an expert from BankWatch, a global network focused on monitoring activities of several international financial institutions.
Ulrich Eichelmann of RiverWatch, an organisation focused on protecting the Balkan rivers from dam construction, said local communities need rivers’ freshwater in order “to irrigate their fields and gardens, sometimes use it as drinking supply, to catch fish and — most importantly — for their sheep, goats and cattle.” He added: “There are villages in Albania with hundreds or even thousands of sheep that rely on natural sources to water their flocks.” These types of plants also damage areas surrounding rivers and streams.
In most cases, flagrant violations of national laws and international financial institutions’ standards are visible and include blocking fish passes, releasing insufficient or no water at all downstream, and creating significant erosion with access roads.” Flouting local environmental laws?
An EBRD spokesperson refuted this, however, saying that all of their projects: “Must fulfil strict local and international laws and regulations and under these conditions we are committed to sustainable hydropower solutions.
He added that EIB does not “usually finance directly small-scale hydropower projects”, as these are normally financed with credit lines via local banks as intermediaries.
In Valbona National Park in Albania, three plants are under construction, leaving locals without water supply.
According to Schwarz, there is no restoration concept for dam-affected rivers and says there should be a “moratorium for new hydropower plants construction for specific rivers in the countries that wish to access the EU.” For Eichelmann, financial institutions like EBRD and EIB must stop funding Balkan projects, and instead push these countries to more balanced renewable energy production, focused on solar and wind power.
The bank finances the full range of renewable energy activities both inside and outside the EU.

20 April 2018: The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation has called on the Government of Mongolia to do more to meet the water and sanitation standards set by the SDGs.
He notes that sufficient access to water for nomads’ personal consumption and livestock could help prevent large-scale migration into cities and rural towns.
His report highlights existing disparities between nomadic, rural and urban populations, and between apartment-dwellers and those who live in ger, traditional yurts that usually lack sewage connections, and that rely on mobile water sales for drinking water.
In a statement issued at the end of his 12-day official visit to Mongolia, Special Rapporteur Léo Heller emphasizes that the SDG targets on water and sanitation access (targets 6.1 and 6.2, respectively) aim to provide “universal safely managed services,” a higher level of ambition than was previously set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aimed only for “improved services.” Heller calls for prioritizing the provision of drinking water and sanitation services, noting that only one-quarter of the Mongolian population receives water supply direct to their premises, and just 13% of have sewerage connections.
Other recommendations from Heller are to prioritize menstrual hygiene programmes in schools and dormitories, establish a government body to coordinate water and sanitation policy across relevant ministries, and provide the public with information on water quality.
He highlights the need for clearer procedures on disconnecting water services, noting that doing so because of people’s inability to pay would constitute a human rights violation.
Mongolia did not achieve the MDG target of halving, by 2015, the proportion of population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Heller’s final report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council when it convenes its 39th session in September 2018.
In 2017, he reported to the Council on water and sanitation services in Mexico.
[Heller’s Statement] [SDG Knowledge Hub story on Heller’s Mexico report]

The Middle East, oil-rich but water-poor, with about six percent of the world’s population, has only one percent of the earth’s renewable water resources.
For many MENA countries water scarcity has become a national security issue.
The underground aquifers, however, are drying out at alarming rates.
Only Iran and Turkey have been self-sufficient in water.
As a downstream country, Egypt is almost entirely dependent on the River Nile.
The headwaters originate in the mountainous region of southeastern Turkey – an area largely populated by Kurds.
The politics of water has always fueled the wars between Israelis, Palestinians, and their neighbors.
Israel declared the water resources of the occupied Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip property of the state, putting them under complete military authority.
Over 200,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have no access to piped water systems.
(c) 2018, Dr. M. Reza Behnam M. Reza Behnam, Ph.D., is a political scientist specializing in the politics, governments and history of the Middle East.

Home | Environment Union Leader Correspondent MERRIMACK — Despite a petition from more than 700 residents asking Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics to pay for water filtration systems at local schools, the company says it is not prepared to take that action.
Last month, voters adopted the school district’s budget, which includes $128,000 to install central filtration systems at the schools that would treat select faucets and water fountains.
“Testing shows that PFOA levels in the school district’s water are below the state’s 70 ppt standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency for the most sensitive populations based on a lifetime of exposure,” said Pokedoff.
“I have yet to see any action by Saint-Gobain to make up for the years they were a major contributor to the polluted drinking water the citizens and children of Merrimack innocently consumed.
It will be years before we fully understand the full extent of the adverse health ramifications in Merrimack and its surrounding communities,” said Cinda Guagliumi, a Merrimack resident and member of the local school board.
In addition, she said health advisory levels vary between states and experts, and will likely continue to be refined as more data becomes available.
Pokedoff explained that Saint-Gobain recently reached a consent decree to fund the extension of municipal water service in portions of Merrimack, Manchester, Litchfield and Bedford.
Furthermore, she said the company recently agreed to fund a granular activated carbon filtration system on two public wells operated by the Merrimack Village District.
“The Merrimack public water random blood sample conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services last year (shows) at a minimum two to three times the expected serum levels for PFOA.
“These chemicals don’t belong in drinking water and our schools should have been immediately made a chemical-free zone.” Wendy Thomas of Merrimack previously installed a $1,100 water filtration system at her home.

New Delhi: Over five years to 2017, water-borne diseases–cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid and viral hepatitis–caused 10,738 deaths, latest government data show.
Diarrhoea caused 6,514 deaths, the most of water-borne diseases in India, over five years to 2017.
Reported Cases And Deaths By Water-Borne Diseases in India Disease 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Cases Deaths Cases Deaths Cases Deaths Cases Deaths Cases Deaths Cholera 1130 5 844 5 913 4 718 3 385 3 Acute Diarrhoeal Diseases 11413610 1629 11748631 1137 12913606 1353 14166574 1555 9230572 840 Typhoid 1650145 387 1736687 425 1937413 452 2215805 511 1493050 286 Viral Hepatitis 110125 574 138554 400 140861 435 145970 451 98086 283 Uttar Pradesh recorded most diarrhoea deaths Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, recorded the most diarrhoeal deaths–22.21% of deaths nationwide–over five years to 2017, according to the data, followed by West Bengal (14.33%), Assam ( 12.03%), Odisha (10.63%) and Madhya Pradesh (7.24%).
Limited access to safe drinking water Water-borne diseases can be prevented with improved access to safe drinking water.
About 86% Indian households have access to “safe drinking water”, according to official data.
In a decade to 2015, India’s efforts to tackle diarrhoea–a disease easily preventable through sanitation, safe drinking water and hygiene–have reduced the deaths of children below the age of four by 52%, IndiaSpend reported on March 27, 2018.
In 2015, deaths due to diarrhoea of Indian children under five accounted for 10% (117,285) of all deaths in the age-group, higher than 7% (3,273 children) in Myanmar, 7% (5,442 children) in Kenya and 9% (39,484 children) in Pakistan–countries with lower per capita incomes–IndiaSpend reported on July 29, 2017.
Diarrhoea, which results in dehydration, is also a leading cause of malnutrition globally.
(Tripathi is a principal correspondent with IndiaSpend.)
We welcome feedback.

About 5 years ago we embarked on a global initiative titled “Thirsty Energy” to respond to water-energy nexus challenges around the world.
At the country level, we tailored approaches depending on the available resources, modeling experience, and institutional and political realities to create water-smart energy planning tools to promote a more sustainable development of energy resources.
It is therefore important to understand the regional challenges and devise context specific solutions to address the nexus in these critical hot-spots.
Sustainable energy planning needs to take into account water use and needs.
Our results show that accounting for the regional variability of water supply and the associated costs of water supply infrastructure for energy needs can significantly impact energy planning, especially in a water-scarce country like South Africa.
However, if decision makers plan in a more integrated manner they can ensure the robustness of water supply for energy and for other water users, thus maximizing the value of both energy and water infrastructure investments.
Water availability is a necessary condition for reaching universal energy access and meeting the future energy needs both in developing and developed countries, as almost all energy generation processes require water.
Energy infrastructure is designed to last for decades and thus, decisions should be made taking future water availability into account, including climate change impacts and increasing future competing water demands across sectors.
Energy projects need to assess if their water supply is sustainable now and into the future.
Other communication Material: All this material and other can be found in the Initiative’s website: http://www.worldbank.org/thirstyenergy

Harihuko Knoda, former President of the Asian Development Bank, said, “Without appropriate infrastructure, countless millions of people will lack access to jobs, markets, hospitals and schools.” Weak infrastructure costs Africa an estimated two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) annually, while hindering intra-regional trade and foreign direct investment (FDI).
According to global consultancy firm Deloitte a dollar of infrastructure investment can raise GDP by 20 cents over the long term by boosting productivity.
The World Bank also estimated that a one per cent hike in capital stock increases the nation’s GDP by one per cent.
Tackling the infrastructure deficit Growth-enhancing public capital expenditure is Africa’s top priority, as its regional rating on global infrastructure development index lags behind peer developing regions.
But regional investment in four main sectors, transport, energy, water and ITC, in 2016 totalled US$62.5bn – down from US$78.9bn in 2015 (ICA data).
China remains by far the single largest investor in African infrastructure projects – spending US$12bn/year over 2011-16 (ICA data).
(Image source: Infrastructure financing in Africa 2016 The African Development Bank (AfDB) projections underpin the urgency for increased investments to cope with strong demographic trends in the coming decades.
Yet investing in African capital projects can be profitable with an average return on investment (ROI) estimated by Deloitte at 19-22 per cent – exceeding the 8-12 per cent offered in developed markets.
Most countries must look at developing basic infrastructure, and financing it.
To end on a positive note: infrastructure spending in Africa as a percentage of total emerging market capital spending is expected to increase from 2.1 per cent in 2000-15 to 3.4 per cent between 2016 and 2030, according to Deloitte.

Unfortunately, In India’s capital city it is the poorest people who pay the highest costs for the water crisis because of the overall shortage as well as the supply of poor quality and polluted water.
Devraj, a socially conscious youth, said that at a time when income levels are very low, people have to pay Rs 200 per month to people in another colony just to get water for their daily needs.
As this water is of poor quality, they have to spend more on water for drinking and cooking.
The quality of drinking water from the taps is often poor and is frequently found to be foul smelling.
C-2 Sector-27 Resettlement Colony, Rohini is inhabited by people evicted from the Kirti Nagar-Mayapuri area.
People here say that only about 25 per cent of the evicted persons were allotted plots while others were left to their own fate.
As the water quality in the colony is poor many people have to buy water.
Such a worrisome situation of water shortage and poor quality at a time when summer has just started draws attention to the wider failure of the government in meeting the most basic need of people.
The difficulties which the poor have to face in meeting this most basic need can be seen at four levels.
5,635 crore to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation but only Rs.

ARENA has announced an Australian-first trial of drinking water systems that produce clean drinking water drawn directly from the air using solar power.
The $821,500 total project will demonstrate the technology not yet seen in Australia – a product that produces clean, renewable, infrastructure-free drinking water extracted from the air using solar energy.
The SOURCE hydropanels are infrastructure free with no external electricity or water required for operation.
Each SOURCE hydropanel produces enough water to displace over 20,000 plastic water bottles over 15 years.
Under the trial, SOURCE will be rolled out in 150 sites across Australia including Sydney, Adelaide, Perth as well as regional towns and remote communities.
The pilot will trial SOURCE in a variety of locations including airports, cafes, community centres, commercial buildings and sustainable properties.
The project will reduce the reliance on plastic bottled water while also provide accessible clean drinking water to rural communities with limited access to clean drinking water or electricity, or during droughts.
The pilot phase of the project will also incorporate a third party study to evaluate the environmental impacts of bottled water in Australia.
Using a combination of solar PV with solar thermal technology, SOURCE’s ability to create clean drinking water could be utilised to achieve positive solutions around water supply,” Frischknecht said.
“The potential benefits of this technology to the environment are important.