More Good News...

Water is scarce in Peru - and getting scarcer.  Climate change is melting glaciers in the Andes and therefore, worsening water woes.  

 

Like the poles, the Andes are unusually sensitive to climate change, with areas above 12,000 feet expected to experience particularly strong rises in the mercury. In the last 25 years, average recorded temperatures on Antisana have already jumped by 1 degree Fahrenheit.     http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/120716/the-vanishing-andean-glaciers   

 

This isn't the good news:  please watch the video below.



 

 

Isn't that an innovative solution to water shortages?

Moreover, the Nature Conservancy is working to mitigate water shortages in the Andes. It

is supporting the creation of Aquafondo, the Lima Water Fund, together with Grupo GEA and the Fondo de Las Américas (FONDAM). Similar to the Quito and Bogotá water funds the Conservancy has helped establish in Ecuador and Colombia, the Lima Water Fund will use contributions from major water users in Lima to finance conservation projects  that protect and restore the rivers and watersheds that the city depends on.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/southamerica/peru/placesweprotect/limas-watersheds.xml
 

One could donate to the Nature Conservancy to aid this work - no?
 And we , especially in Kamloops, could use less water here at home.
 Kamloopsians are the most profligate water uses in BC : reducing consumption would reduce pressure on our ecosystems.  Just a thought ......

If humans consume more water than is
naturally replenished in our ecosystem,
we are behaving unethically.  What makes us the most
important species on the planet - except hubris?

What we do to others, we do to ourselves.

Water Shortages in The Tar Sands

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/oil-sands-report-warns-of-investor-risk/article1571659/

Oil sands companies could soon run out of water and, in years to come, find themselves with a shrinking market for their product, according to grim new research.  Under current expansion plans, companies could run out of adequate winter water supplies as early as 2014, estimates the report, which was prepared for Boston-based investor and environmental advocacy group Ceres....“All of this should give investors pause as they consider anteing up for what has become a $200-billion bet,” said Douglas Kogan, director of climate risk management for research group Riskmetrics Group, which wrote the report. “There may be safer places to put their money, and certainly more environmentally sustainable ones.”

I predicted this: not the shrinking markets  -  the water shortages.  Check your RRSP and make sure you're not investing in the tar sands.  And nag your pension plan administrators regarding the issue.  Not only will you be environmentally responsible, you'll make more money investing elsewhere.  Where ??? Run proposed investments through my link titled "Corporate Environmental and Social Reports."

Pray for Rain

http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2010ENV0024-000542.htm

Environment Minister Barry Penner says below average snowpacks across British Columbia indicate significant potential for low stream flows and water-supply shortages to develop this summer. As a result, Penner says the B.C. government is developing a 2010 Drought Response Plan to guide government actions for low stream flows and drought conditions. Given the current low snowpack conditions, notice of potential drought is included in this bulletin, although should wet weather materialize in May and June, it could reduce the risk.

Forest fires, anyone?  Remember 2003?  Calling these weather conditions "drought" implies they are temporary.  Meet the new normal as climate change worsens.  I'm very glad the City of Kamloops voted in favour of water meters:  we're some of the piggiest comsumers of water in the world.  And, we cannot afford to waste water and have our usage exceed the natural replenishment of the acquifers and water systems.  Our well being depends upon the well being of the  environment - not the other way around.

Speaking of Climate Change and Water

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/regional-news/Warm+conditions+signal+threat+2010+drought/2658949/story.html

B.C's provincial environment Minister Barry Penner advised British Columbians on Monday to brace for possible drought in many areas of the province this summer following two months of unusually warm and dry weather.  It could also mean an earlier start to the forest-fire season, Penner warned.

Snowpacks in river basins across B.C. are below normal levels and with only four to six weeks of winter remaining, time is running out to make up the difference.

If the situation persists, it could pose serious problems for cattle ranchers who need both rain to foster vegetation growth and snowpack to refill lakes and stock watering ponds that have not yet recovered from drought conditions in the summer of 2009.  Snowpacks range from 65 per cent to 95 per cent of normal, according to a bulletin issued by the ministry's river forecast centre.

"I want to give advance notice to local governments, to individuals as well as industry, that we may have some water supply challenges this summer, and it's a good time to start looking at ways we can reduce our consumption over the summer months," Penner said.

Didn't Gwynne Dyer and others suggest wars might be fought about access to water as climate change alters rainfall patterns?   I hope we are a  long way away from armed conflict - but I did overhear (OK - I eavesdropped) vendors at the local farmers' market discussing  verbal conflicts about water rights last summer.   2010 looks as if it will be worse at the moment - perhaps we should begin reducing greenhouse gas emssions in a meaningful manner and working on plans to adapt to it.   Just a thought....

Water Woes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2010/mar/24/basic-countries-water

The headline point of the report is that by 2030, unless substantial changes are made to conserve water and build new supplies, there will be a 40% gap between projected water demand from a bigger, richer global population, and "accessible, reliable" supplies. 

Water shortages are not merely a future problem in the Interior of BC.  http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wsd/plan_protect_sustain/water_conservation/index.html

With 25% of the fresh flowing water in Canada, British Columbia appears to be richly endowed with water supplies. However, the increase in population growth, the expansion of industry and agriculture, and the potential for climate change impacts all place enormous pressure on the province’s water supplies. Snowmelt and rainfall contribute to the water supplies across B.C. But precipitation is limited in the summer months, when the demand for water increases and the supply availability decreases. Water conservation is critical in summer months but year round water conservation has significant benefits as well. Reducing water consumption decreases the amount of water that requires treatment, as well as sewage and infrastructure costs.

http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/drought/maps/bc_90_av_s_e.pdf

Please click on the above link for a drought map of the Pacific Region according to the government of Canada.  And I predict the drought will worsen this summer due to El Nino......

I'm very glad Kamloops City council decided to install water meters.

The Story of Bottled Water

Ethical Investing

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/more-carrot-than-stick/article1496341/

Shareholders of Suncor Energy Inc. will soon know more about the costs of carbon in the company’s business. ... Enbridge Inc. will provide additional disclosure about its Northern Gateway oil-pipeline project. These Calgary companies didn’t reach these decisions independently, however. In each case, the commitment to expanded disclosure about environmental issues came after talks with executives at Ethical Funds Co., an institutional investor with social responsibility as part of its core mission.  The efforts of Ethical Funds illustrate a growing place for environmental concerns in the corporate governance movement.....Now activist institutional investors are asking to bring carbon costs and water quality to the annual shareholder ballot.

Businesses that ignore climate change ignore both opportunities and risks.  Firstly, they ignore outright threats  to their business - such as the risk that they won't have available water when they need it. ( Just ask the Merritt rancher that was isntructed to turn off his irrigation pumps last fall because the kokanee were spawning.)  Secondly, they ignore the opportunity to positon themselves as environmental leaders and attract more customers or investors by doing so.

We Should Install Water Meters In Kamloops

I have the greatest respect for Anita Strong: however,  I feel she has not considered all of the ramifications of her opposition to water meters.  She wrote to the editor of the Kamloops This Week on March 5, 2010 expressing her distress at the potential installation of meters in Kamloops.  (Water meters were rejected in a referendum held in 2001. ) She asked "What is the meaning of the referendum results of the previous administration? Nothing? "  I'm wondering for what period of time  a vote should  be binding? For example, the law on slavery was voted on several times in Britain  until it was repealed - after said law  was upheld the first time. Would Ms. Strong suggest that the issue should never have been reviewed after it was upheld the first time?  Should slavery still be legal? Of course not - times change and no one approves of slavery in  2010.  The referendum rejecting water meters was held almost ten years ago - I think the zeitgeist has changed.   It is at least fair to ask the question : would the installation of water meters benefit Kamloops?

I feel it would.

The City of Kamloops states that a Kamloopsian consumes 800 liters of water per day.  800 liters!!!!!!Swedes use just  200 liters per person per day - and the average British Columbian uses just over 400 liters of water per day .  In 2004, the average Canadian used 329 liters of water per day according to the Real Estate Institute of Canada.  Using all that water has environmental impacts .  We return less water than we remove to the ecosystem - and the water returned is of a lower quality than that withdrawn. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, that bastion of environmental concern, states “high [water] consumption places stress on rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers and may require dams and flooding with serious ecological impacts.”

And then the spectre of climate change rattles its chains. 
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/climate/about/impacts-bc.htm

Historic data suggest that many parts of British Columbia are already starting to experience some of the impacts of climate change. ....Although warmer temperatures may be appealing, seemingly small changes in climate can have significant ecological, social, and economic consequences. For example, slightly warmer [winters]  have contributed to the devastating mountain pine beetle infestation in the B.C. interior. There are growing concerns about summer water shortages in the agriculturally-significant Okanagan region. The rate of global warming projected for the 21st century is much faster than observed changes during the 20th century, and likely faster than at any time during the past 10,000 years.  Rising air temperatures will reduce the amount of precipitation that falls as snow in the winter and in the mountain regions, resulting in lower river levels during the dry summer period. Higher temperatures in the summer will increase the need for water — for people, aquatic life, and irrigation in agriculture. What’s more, the increased heat will heighten the evaporation of water, leading to water loss. This will make it even harder to ensure adequate water supplies.

Kelowna began installing water meters in the middle 1990s.  Their average water consumption per capital per day has dropped to 400 liters per day since then.  The installation of water meters in Kamloops combined with educational programs would drop water consumption in Kamloops to similar levels.  Not only would that be good for the environment, it would benefit our pocketbooks. The water treatment plant cost millions: increasing its capacity would cost millions more.  Wouldn't it make more sense to use less water instead of squandering our tax dollars?

The New Economics Foundation - 21 Hours

I love the foundation's ideas and publications.   One of their latest is entitled 21 Hours.  They suggest that a twenty one hour work week become the new norm for three reasons.  Firstly, a shorter work week would eliminate unemployment and ensure that unpaid labour is distributed equitably between the sexes.  Working less may help break the "habit of living to work, working to earn, and earning to consume." Less consumption equals fewer ill effects on the ecosystems that sustain humanity.  Thirdly, less consumption and fewer paid hours may lead to a more resilient sustainable economy.

Sounds completely un-doable, doesn't it?   However, the nef lists examples of short work weeks in their paper and proves it can and has been done.  They point out that working less would give all of us more time to be active citizens,  among other benefits.  Part of a velvet climate revolution, don't you think?

Their paper is well worth time spent to read it - just click on the link to their site on my blogroll.

BC Government's Position on Climate Change

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/climate/about/impacts-bc.htm
From the above site:

Future Climate Change and Impacts in British Columbia

The rate of global warming projected for the 21st century is much faster than observed changes during the 20th century, and likely faster than at any time during the past 10,000 years. The actual rate of warming will depend on how fast greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, and how the climate system responds. Although climate change appears to be gradual at the global scale, atmospheric warming may in future trigger abrupt changes in regional climate. For this reason, past trends do not necessarily predict how biophysical systems will respond in future.

The best available science suggests that the impacts for B.C. in the 21st century will include:
•a 2-5 0C increase in average annual temperature;
•increased river flood risks in the spring and coastal flooding associated with storm surges;
•glacial retreat in the south; reduced winter snow pack and earlier snowmelt; contributing to reduced summer water supply; and
•increased stress on species at risk; shifts in the geographical range of vegetation, including economically important forest species;
•increased river temperatures and stress on salmon; and
•reduced summer soil moisture and increase in forest fire risk.
Water Resources: Rising air temperatures will reduce the amount of precipitation that falls as snow in the winter and in the mountain regions, resulting in lower river levels during the dry summer period. Higher temperatures in the summer will increase the need for water — for people, aquatic life, and irrigation in agriculture. What’s more, the increased heat will heighten the evaporation of water, leading to water loss. This will make it even harder to ensure adequate water supplies.

It may be a good idea to get accustomed to conserving water now!

Himalyan Glaciers Are Melting Too

http://www.asiasociety.org/onthinnerice
Click play on Melting Glaciers On the Roof of the World for a disturbing look at how glaciers are receding in Asia.  Climate change is a fact ........ glaciers and polar ice cpas are all going.
But so what if glaciers are melting - what difference does it make? Well, 2 billion people depend on the meltwater from Himalayan glaciers for their basic needs.... Oh so what - that's halfway around the world - a long way from North America.  OK then  - look at a map of Canada - what feeds the rivers running east from the Rockies into Alberta and Saskatchewan?  Bingo!   Glaciers .. and they're melting too. Gee - no one depends on those rivers for drinking or irrigation or industry or fishing, do they?  (Doesn't the Athabasca flow right through Fort Mcmurray? And doesn't tar sand extraction use enormous quantities of water?)  Hmmmnnnnn.... No worries then ......we can continue with Canadian policy  - ignore climate change for another twenty years.

On the other hand, if you think climate change is an immediate concern, email or write the Prime Minister.  Tell him you  don't want to see the prairies waterless in twenty years.

Canada's Rivers At Risk

The World Wildlife Fund has drawn Canadian's attention to more water woes. By focussing of water flow, rather than on global rankings based upon volume, the WWF has revealed serious problems with Canada's rivers. They sate "evidence shows that climate change will result in - and indeed is laready causing - significant changes to water cycles globally and locally. " You may remember that returning sockeye runs in the Fraser were so low in 2009 that commercial fishing was banned. So, in the face of more bad news, should we curl up in the fetal postion? No. The WWF states:
"Canada ....still has the opportunity to avert a national water crisis by keeping rivers flowing, for nature and for people - but only if we take immediate action." WWF recommends taking agressive action on climate change and keeping water use within nature's limits. I've added links that assist in finding one's MP or MLA to my blogroll: please email your MP and tell her(or him) that Canadians want REAL action on climate change.

Water Shortages in Canada Are Here

“Water disputes” can easily lead to trouble – even war – or so Gwynne Dyer suggests on page 20 of his newest book, Climate Wars. (Please see my earlier post on his book.)The World Bank is also fretting about water issues. They feel that “water management (In India) also remains a formidable challenge. The climate change projections indicate that even when farmers have largely adapted to arid cropping patterns, increased demand and consequent water stress could severely jeopardize livelihoods and diminish agricultural productivity.”
http://beta.worldbank.org/node/3675
Oh well – that’s India – always troubled – really poor - very far away. No disputes about water are going to arise here in Canada – right? Hmmmnnnnnn – ask Mike Rose of The Quilchena Cattle Company in Merritt, BC. http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20090922/KAMLOOPS0101/309229973/0/KAMLOOPS0102/rancher-calls-water-order-attack-on-agriculture
The BC Ministry of Environment ordered him to turn off his irrigation pumps on September 17, 2009. This order will cost him approximately $ 150, 000 for feed to replace the hay drying up without the irrigation water from the river. Understandably, Mr. Rose is hopping mad. I predict his problem – our problem – will worsen as climate change increases water scarcity. Global warming exacerbates and causes droughts: our lives are changing in a non linear fashion.

Water Consumption Woes

Why worry about conserving water?   Looking at the above photograph from the Interior of BC, we have plenty of water - right?  Short answer: no. Canada is already suffering from water woes: the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservaton Council is warning "In British Columbia, and elsewhere, water managers are faced with the challenge of balancing competing demands for water. Limits in supply or high demand create situations of water scarcity where not enough water is available for both human (out-of-stream) and ecological (instream) needs. As well, governing laws, institutions, or managers often do not to recognize that instream needs have a prior, or at least equal, right to water comparable to other users. In some situations water is allocated to out-of-stream users first, with instream needs being an afterthought or only if “excess” water exists. Current trends in B.C. suggest that balancing needs for water will become increasingly difficult in the future: the population is growing; rates of water consumption are among the highest in the country and the world; water use is currently in conflict with instream needs in many locations; climate change is increasing water scarcity; and populations of freshwater reliant fish species, such as Pacific salmon, are in decline. "
http://www.fish.bc.ca/
Remember that damage to ecosystems the OECD worries about if we waste water?  It rather looks as if a dubious future is upon us. 

True Confessions

Recently, I experienced an extremely uncomfortable moment at a Social Environmental Action committee meeting. There I sat, a dedicated environmentalist, in the midst of a group of environmentalists…. this doesn’t sound like a lead in to mental anguish, does it? But while discussing water conservation, I realized (roll doom-laden Wagnerian music here) that I enjoy squandering water. I like to hose down our red brick patio and the cedar deck in the heat of the summer. Everything is so fresh and clean afterwards – literally sparkling as the sun reflects on puddles of water – and the bricks are so cool I can cross them in my bare feet without doing an imitation of a badly trained modern dancer. I discovered I’m not alone in my water wasting ways. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says the only people piggier about water than Canadians are the Americans. And every person in my home town  must use water the way I do: we use twice the water of the average Canadian.

Clinging to my delusion that this isn’t such a bad thing, I did some research. OuuuuUUUCCCHH! The OECD, that bastion of environmental concern, states “high consumption places stress on rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers and may require dams and flooding with serious ecological impacts.” They then intone “high levels of water use require ever increasing and expensive investments in water system infrastructure.” Yup, doing what I do hits the rest of Kamloops right in the pocket book: the water treatment plant is fast approaching full capacity. Get ready to pay higher taxes and utility fees if nothing changes.