CAIRO – 14 October 2018: Egypt adopted a four-way strategy to mitigate water scarcity that resulted from climate change and the increased consumption, said First Deputy Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Ragab Abdel-Azim.
This came during Abdel Azim’s speech at the fourth session of the Islamic Conference of OIC for Water Ministers, held on Sunday, Oct. 14 on the sidelines of the First Cairo Water Week.
Egypt’s 2050 strategy boils down to improving water quality, developing water resources, rationalizing consumption and creating a good environment to implement this strategy, he added in the speech that was given on behalf of Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Atti.
Egypt suffers a water shortage crisis amid an increasing consumption rate, he added, noting that 79 percent of Egypt’s resources come from outside its borders.
Abdel Azim said that the country has taken several steps to start implementing this strategy via reducing rice cultivation areas by more than 30 percent.
On May 21, Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ratified new amendments to Agriculture Law No.
53 of 1966, per which the government will determine the areas to cultivate certain water-intensive crops, such as rice and sugarcane, amid the water shortage crisis in order to rationalize water usage.
The deputy minister said that Egypt also focused on using solar energy in irrigation systems, adding that the Egyptian government signed an agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on using solar-powered irrigation systems in sites depending on underground water.
Egypt’s first Cairo Water Week (CWW) kicked off on Sunday, Oct 14 under the auspices of President Sisi, aiming at increasing public awareness of water rationalization for sustainable development amid a state of water shortage.
The four-day CWW is being held in cooperation with the European Union and the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to tackle water issues, amid climate change that impacts the world’s freshwater.

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.

OAKLAND — The Oakland Unified school board adopted a new policy Wednesday to address high lead levels in water taps at its schools.
Board members voted unanimously to adopt the “Clean Drinking Water Policy,” which requires the district to test all of its schools and early childhood centers for “potential contaminants, including lead,” according to the policy, post the results of the tests publicly and replace or fix taps that contain lead levels higher than five parts per billion — which is below the state and federal guideline deeming lead levels higher than 15 parts per billion as dangerous.
If taps are found to contain more than five parts per billion of lead, the school must close access to the tap within 24 hours until the issue is fixed, the policy said.
The school will also have to test all other fixtures at a site where a tap with more than five parts per billion of lead is found.
If a tap is found to contain more than five parts per billion of lead, the superintendent must notify teachers, parents and faculty within one business day.
By 2019, the board will review the policy to consider testing taps for anything above one part per billion.

New Study Shows Diversified Crop Rotation System Could Be Adopted Widely Across Corn Belt And Increase Corn-Soy Yields While Slashing Soil Erosion and Water Pollution.
WASHINGTON (May 9, 2017)—A new study released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that modified three- and four-crop farming systems could be scaled up and adopted widely in Corn Belt states, generating benefits to farmers and taxpayers worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The analysis, “Rotating Crops, Turning Profits: How Diversified Farming Systems Can Help Farmers While Protecting Soil and Preventing Pollution,” builds on a long-term study at Iowa State University, known as the Marsden Farm study, which demonstrated that adding combinations of alfalfa, cover crops, and small grains such as oats to a typical corn-soy rotation can increase farmers’ yields and maintain profits while reducing herbicide and fertilizer use.
Over time, and with the expansion of markets for oats or other small grains in the rotation, the system could be scaled up to nearly 40 percent of Iowa’s current farmland without driving farmers back to predominantly corn-soy.
“In 2015 alone, we spent $1.5 million running our nitrate-removal system for a record 177 days in order to provide our customers with safe drinking water; these costs are directly passed on to our ratepayers.
We need a different set of farm policies that help farmers and also protect our natural resources.” The UCS report says federal farm policies can help farmers reap the benefits of diversified cropping system by funding additional research, education and technical assistance.
“Our farmers want to implement diverse crop rotations, but the way that financial markets and incentives work, they can’t profitably grow oats or other crops besides corn or soy,” said Sarah Carlson, director of the Practical Farmers of Iowa’s Midwest Cover Crop Project, an initiative that helps farmers adopt cover crops and works with food companies to change the market for small grain crops.
Stand up for science and stop the new administration from putting politics before science at the expense of our health and the environment.
To: President Donald Trump Subject: Stand Up for Science As you forge a new path forward for America, it is vitally important that science and a respect for the facts guide your decision making.
We, the undersigned, believe that: rigorous, independent science should inform government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices; people who are appointed to lead critical agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency should have demonstrated support for the agencies’ mission; America’s Founding Fathers understood the importance of science to building a strong nation and sustaining the prosperity, health, and security of its citizens; America should continue to be a global leader in science and innovation; we can strengthen American democracy by advancing the essential role of science, evidence-based decision making, and constructive debate as a means to improve the lives of all people; and all scientists should be free to conduct and speak out about their research without fear of retribution or censorship.