Step forward with organic farming?.
Alongside the world’s aspirations toward a sustainable future, using fertilizers and pesticides for cultivations is increasing massively.
The excessive and unconscious application of conventional farming has led to major problems in many agricultural areas of the world, resulting in contamination of drinking water resources in aquifers as well as eutrophication of freshwater and costal marine ecosystems.
One of the environmental consequences resulting from conventional farming is soil erosion which happens as result of electrolyte imbalance and chemical toxins because the same crop is being grown time after time, on the contrary of organic farming, which enhances and promotes health of the soil through the crop rotation.
Fukoka is one of many who thinks a sustainable future can only be achieved by organic farming.
In 1988, the world applied 137 million metric tons of chemical fertilizers, of which US agricultural system consumed approximately 15% of them.
Although it is well-known that the crop yields as a result of organic farming are slightly lower than conventional farming.
A fertile soil is rich in nutrients which is highly important for crop plant growth.
Food toxicity is one of the miserable consequences of industrial farming and it can lead to direct carcinogenic and other diseases.
Unfortunately, over 99% of Americans were tested positive for exposure to DDT.

The State Water Board’s Groundwater Management Program website and GSA Compliance Map are located here: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/gmp/ All GSA notifications can be submitted, viewed, and managed within DWR’s SGMA Portal: http://sgma.water.ca.gov/portal/#gsa Contact: Mark Nordberg Mark.Nordberg@water.ca.gov or (916) 651-9673 Draft Guidance Documents for Engagement and Communication DWR is releasing the draft guidance documents – Guidance Document for Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) Stakeholder Communication and Engagement (C&E) and Engagement with Tribal Governments.
DWR Releases Facilitation Support Service Online Application Beginning July 1, 2017, DWR will be focusing its available FSS resources on supporting the development of Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs).
The goal of the FSS related to GSP development is to assist GSAs in reaching consensus on potentially contentious water management topics arising from the diverse beneficial uses and users of groundwater.
2017 Final Proposal Solicitation Package (PSP) for Groundwater Sustainability Plans and Projects The Sustainable Groundwater Planning (SGWP) grant program is funded by Proposition 1, the $7.5 billion water bond overwhelmingly approved by California voters in 2014.
DWR will solicit proposals to award funding on a competitive basis in two funding categories: projects that serve severely disadvantaged communities and Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs).
For more information visit their Restoration Grant Programs.
Technical Assistance Providing technical assistance to GSAs will be crucial to enabling their success in sustainably managing their groundwater basins.
The goal of the technical assistance program is to comply with requirements in SGMA (10729 and 10733.2) and the GSP regulations (353.2, 354.8, 354.16, and 354.18) for DWR to provide education, data, and tools at both regional and statewide scales to aid GSAs with development and implementation of GSPs and inform water resource planning decisions.
March 31, 2018 – Submission Period Closes and 30-day Public Comment Period opens o All information to support a boundary modification should be submitted to the BBMRS April 30, 2018 – Public Comment Period Closes o DWR begins boundary modification requests and public comments Approximately July 2018 – Draft Basin Boundary Modifications released Approximately August 2018 – Final Basin Boundary Modifications released Contact: Tim Godwin Timothy.Godwin@water.ca.gov or (916) 651-9223 Measuring Groundwater Pumping for SGMA Compliance An educational workshop program from the American Ground Water Trust – Organized in cooperation with the Center for Irrigation Technology Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Fresno, CA Center for Irrigation Technology (CIT), California State University The program will provide practical insight and guidance for Growers, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, County & Municipal Planners, Irrigation Districts and Groundwater End-Users.
For more information and registration, visit http://www.watereducation.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/dwr_sjv_subsidence_aug16_flye.pdf SGMA Definitions and Groundwater Glossary SGMA provided California with a roadmap for sustainably managing our groundwater, and it also came with its own lexicon.

In a move to help build thriving communities, Kenya Breweries Limited in collaboration with AMREF Health Africa in Kenya, Tuesday commissioned Kerwa-Nduma Water Project in Kikuyu Constituency, a novel initiative aimed at providing clean and safe drinking water to over 20,000 residents of Kikuyu Constituency.
The water project to be managed by Kerwa Water Project Welfare Association (KWPWA) comprises of a 4Km water distribution line, a 225,000litre rehabilitated water tank, a borehole, a water pump house and a water kiosk.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Diageo Corporate Relations Director, Dan Mobley said, “As a company, we seek to contribute to the communities by way of implementing innovative projects in the areas of access to clean drinking water, water conservation and management as underpinned by Diageo 2020 Sustainability Blueprint.” A World Bank study on water revealed that by 2050 over 40% of the global population will live under severe water stress; and as global population increases, so will tensions among different water uses.
Today, 18 million Kenyans have no access to water and sanitation services, therefore Nduma Water Project is fundamental in bridging the existing difference.
As a responsible corporate citizen, passionate about doing its part to respond to this societal need, KBL, through EABL Foundation is committed to invest in water projects within water-stressed communities such as Nduma,” said EABL Corporate Relation Director, Eric Kiniti.
“This is a project that is directly impacting people’s lives.
It is indeed changing people lives in a big way.
The residents will not only be able to access clean drinking water, but the water will promote economic activities,” added Mr. Ichungwah.
The program is part of a larger plan, dubbed “Water of Life” under which the Foundation has implemented over 78 community water projects in areas encountering a perennial water shortage across Kenya.
According to a study released in April 2016 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the Society for International Development (SID), only 35 per cent of Kiambu County’s population use improved sources of water, a situation that exacerbates sanitation-related illnesses.

We now also realize that New Hanover County and the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority have little real authority concerning what pollutants are dumped into the Cape Fear River above our drinking water intake.
We do little, however, to protect our groundwater.
The county and CFPUA should exercise their powers and work together to further develop the following programs: Wellhead protection regulations to tightly protect the immediate areas around public drinking water wells; Groundwater pumping restrictions to protect the sustainability of public wells; Full disclosure by industries of anticipated groundwater use and other externalities.
Dave Weaver, Wilmington Editor’s note: The writer, a retired New Hanover assistant county manager, serves on the county planning board.
Disparity in health care EDITOR: African-Americans have a higher risk of heart failure than Caucasians, but lower rates of heart transplantation.
This did not occur in North Carolina and the other states that did not opt for the expansion, thus serving as a control group.
Bottled not best option EDITOR: The article “Where does bottled water come from and how is it treated?” (StarNews, June 21) stated that bottled water manufacturers must adhere to FDA regulations, but local residents should be aware those requirements are very limited.
In fact, bottled water is monitored less frequently and for fewer contaminants than public tap water.
While water treated with reverse osmosis prior to bottling may provide temporary peace of mind when high levels of a harmful compound like GenX are found in the local tap water, installing a home filtration system is a more surefooted and sustainable way for residents to protect their health until the Chemours facility’s discharge of GenX is cleaned up once and for all.
Katie Hicks, Asheville Editor’s note: The writer is associate director of Clean Water for North Carolina.

No quick-fixes again to farmer unrest, please.
Recent UN reports project that by 2050, global population will rise from the current total of 7 billion to about 9 billion.
The imperative for such tremendous agricultural boost will hit developing economies the hardest, where the challenge is not just to produce adequate food (with appropriate nutritional traits) but to ensure easy access of the same to the masses.
Unfortunately, the main reason behind such depletion is irrigational drafting itself.
And this is a key reason why providing free electricity (a major farmer demand), will only aggravate the situation.
Recent estimates of the Central Electrical Authority (CES) project national electricity demand to rise from 776 TW-h in 2012 to about 2500 TW-h in 2030.
In the past few years drought has become a key resistance to agricultural yield that needs to be addressed on priority basis.
In 2014 this was 69 per cent and in 2012, about 44 per cent, which indicates increasing prevalence of drought.
Today almost 1 billion people are undernourished globally, and particularly in Asia (578 million).
The problem is, all these will have to happen on existing agricultural land (which is a finite quantity).

Tsing Capital’s "The Road to Sustainability" White Paper Calls for Disruptive Innovation.
China’s first sustaintech fund management company unveils its investment strategy and recent US investments MENLO PARK, CA and BEIJING, CHINA–(Marketwired – Jun 26, 2017) – Tsing Capital, China’s first sustaintech fund management company, has released their highly anticipated white paper, "The Road to Sustainability," which provides an insightful analysis of the progression from envirotech to cleantech to sustaintech, the latest environmental and investment practices that support cleaner and better ways of producing and living.
The promise of sustainability depends on disruptive innovation — innovation that does not only come from traditional cleantech sectors, but also from technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence.
Sustaintech, short for sustainable technologies, are technologies which provide environmental and social value and help advance a better future for humanity.
The paper references companies like Lucid Motors, an electric vehicle company as an example of an integration of cleantech and smartech.
China emphasizes sustainable development and innovation: Government has enacted numerous policies favoring innovation and has set ambitious targets for sustainability industries from 2016 – 2020.
Road to sustainability calls for disruptive innovation: Two technology mega-trends are re-shaping sustainability around the world.
About Tsing Capital Founded in 2000 on the philosophy of "Doing Well by Doing Good©," Tsing Capital is China’s first fund management company dedicated to multi-disciplinary sustainable technology investing in China and globally.
Tsing Capital has deep domain expertise across environment, clean and efficient energy, new materials and intelligent technologies across broad industries with emphasis on advanced manufacturing, sustainable mobility, sustainable agriculture, and future cities.
Tsing Capital is also a leader in impact investment in China.

Businesses are not listening to Trump: Sustainabilty is still top of CEOs’ Agendas.
The SDGS present a radical shift in the traditional partnership between business and society.
All at the same time.
Because of this new approach, companies the world over have embraced the SDGS framework with Carlsberg, Novo Nordisk, Grundfos and Danish Institutional investors taking the lead.
Compared to previous “global good” campaigns, these companies no longer have to hide their intentions to profit from their sustainable actions or wrap their activities in the so called “Corporate Social Responsibilities” (CSR), or be accused of green washing like many of their peers.
For them, investing in say healthcare for low income earners, sustainable infrastructure or smart buildings, providing access to clean and safe drinking water, technologies to combat climate change or clean energy is not just the right thing to do, but the “profitable thing” to do.
On the back of these investments, new products get launched, new patents filed, better technologies invented, new markets discovered or old ones reinvented, keeping the companies ahead of the game while fending off competitors.
Where the world sees problems, these businesses see new opportunities.
Innovating for success and society The Morning Email Wake up to the day’s most important news.
Future-proof growth equals Long-term gains.

Today, major cities around the world use reverse osmosis or multi-stage evaporation to provide fresh water to hundreds of millions of people.
First, desalination still requires a lot of energy — three to four kilowatt-hours of electricity to make 1,000 liters of freshwater using reverse osmosis.
The energy needed for desalination has been falling for decades as engineers have drastically improved the systems.
In fact, renewable energy can easily power reverse osmosis.
When communities face droughts and growing populations, could seawater treatments prove to be sustainable methods to deliver an essential water supply to those who need it?
Does the desalination brine make the ocean saltier?
The fresh water produced also eventually returns to the sea, so that the amounts of water and salt in the ocean are, overall, unchanged.
Desalination plants are also drought resistant.
Major coastal cities are continuing to grow rapidly.
Current and future desalination technologies can safely and sustainably make the oceans part of the solution to the world’s rising need for fresh water.

Nearly a quarter of all the rivers in England are at risk because of the vast amounts of water being removed for use by farms, businesses and people homes, according to a new report.
Environment Agency figures obtained under freedom of information law by conservation charity WWF showed that 14 per cent of rivers were classed as over-abstracted – “meaning water removed is causing river to drop below levels required to sustain wildlife”.
The group warned Britain had experienced its driest winter and early spring in 20 years and was now in a “particularly perilous” situation with the prospect of further dry weather during the summer.
“If we have a dry summer, our green and pleasant land could become as parched as some of the Mediterranean.
“We have already seen the impacts of a drought in some place with rivers drying up or running low,” Ms Steele said.
“The UK Government must urgently set out an ambitious long-term plan for the environment, including new policies to manage our water resources, a plan to meet our climate change targets and proposals to tackle the illegal wildlife trade and protect our seas.” In a report called Water for Wildlife: Tackling Drought and Unsustainable Abstraction, WWF pointed out that freshwater species had declined globally by 81 per cent since 1970 – “faster than in any other species group”.
In England and Wales, fewer than one in five rivers are classed as in good ecological health,” the report said.
With the pressures of climate change and population growth, action is urgently needed.” It urged the Government to bring forward a promised Water Bill for England and Wales and take “urgent action in the 555 river water bodies where the environmental regulators indicate that abstraction is already damaging habitats and wildlife”.
“This has had a disastrous effect on the recreation sector, as people are just not interested in the area anymore.
“The Environment Agency is working actively with water companies, businesses and farmers to balance the needs of water users and minimise any potential impacts to people, the environment and wildlife.

Working together to improve Lancaster County’s water quality.
The recent Brubaker Run restoration effort (“Lime Spring Square’s flood plain restoration to save land, help bay and spare taxpayers,” May 1 LNP, insider) captures perfectly an innovative approach that land owners should consider as Lancaster County embraces the twin goals of providing appropriate economic growth and sustainable environmental benefits for its citizens.
Here and throughout the eastern United States, these practices included the damming or impoundment of nearly all small streams, primarily to generate power for a wide range of agricultural, timbering, manufacturing and related uses.
In Lancaster County alone, the 1840 census registered more than 400 such mill dams.
Most recently, it was the focus of a two-day workshop by the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee.
WSI mapping data presented at the conference show that erosion is occurring in local watersheds at a much greater rate than previously thought, injecting enormous amounts of sediment and associated nitrogen and phosphorus into local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.
WSI’s scientific analysis of imaging data and field research has demonstrated that along the banks of the Chickies Creek watershed alone, erosion of 81,000 cubic meters of sediment occurred between 2008 and 2014.
Each mile of stream in just this watershed contributes an average of 105 tons of sediment per year to the county total, impairing the quality of local water on its way to the Chesapeake Bay.
Chickies Creek is just one of 12 watersheds in Lancaster County with such challenges.
Developing a set of policy proposals and restoration strategies — such as flood plain restoration, public-private partnerships, municipal offset alternatives and enhanced riparian buffer programs — that reflects this new information will benefit taxpayers.