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CrossCurrent
International
National
Calls have been growing for the UN Security Council to include water issues on its agenda – and there’s rising international support for adopting “universal water security” as one of the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of mid-term global objectives being formulated to succeed the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (2000–2015). Marking World Water Day at UN Headquarters March 22, a common working definition was published, forged by UN and international experts from around the world.
Australia’s water industry is surging ahead in its efforts to secure safe and reliable water for consumers, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, Senator Don Farrell said at the World Water Day event in which AWA presented. Releasing two National Water Commission reports on the industry’s operation in 2011–12, Senator Farrell said they show sustained improvements in water quality, delivery efficiency and water conservation.
The Red-Dead canal could take a small step forward in light of projected environmental impacts and other constraints, says Batir Wardam. After a delay of more than six months, the World Bank has finally released the final drafts of the feasibility and environmental assessment studies for the controversial Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project, designed to channel some 1.2 billion cubic metres of water 180 kilometres from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.
Solar City New Zealand and Panasonic New Zealand have won a tender to supply a 131kWp (kilowatt peak) solar system to power a new desalination plant on the Pacific Island of Nauru. Hitachi AquaTech is managing the US$4 million Nauru project and has contracted SolarCity and Panasonic NZ to supply and install the solar system.
Australian businesses involved in the water industry can learn more about significant opportunities arising from China’s $272 billion investment in water conservation during a trade mission in June. The Australian Water Solutions Mission is organised by the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and AWA-funded industry body, waterAUSTRALIA, to showcase domestic water technologies and services to potential partners and customers in China.
The Solomon Islands, a developing island nation in the south-west Pacific Islands, has one of the highest urbanisation rates in the region, and the basic service infrastructure is struggling to cater for the influx of people from the provinces to the capital, Honiara. Thirty-five per cent of the city’s population, who live in informal settlements, are facing the health consequences of a dire shortage of clean water and sanitation.
The Standing Council on Environment and Water has held its fourth meeting in Wellington, New Zealand. Environment Ministers from across Australia and New Zealand, along with a representative from the Australian Local Government Association, affirmed their commitment to environment and water issues of national significance. Ministers agreed to a work plan for 2013–14 focusing on progressing national water reform, national waste policy and air quality improvements.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has released a podcast detailing how a lab working to develop a product to detect explosive materials discovered that nano-engineered silica beads mechanically absorbed hydrocarbon contaminants in water. It resulted in Osorb, which is impermeable to water, and being used and tested for the removal of contamination in stormwater and groundwater.
water MAY 2013
The National Water Commission’s first report on Murray–Darling Basin Plan implementation was tabled in Parliament on 25 March. This report highlights the priority areas that will be examined in the first full audit due in 2015. When the Commission next reports on progress, it is expected that concerted efforts have locked in the hard-won gains embodied in this historic plan. This is crucial so that real benefits can start to flow to the basin and its communities.
Management of the Great Artesian Basin will benefit from an increased understanding of how this nationally important water resource functions. Amanda Rishworth, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, has released the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment and the Allocating Water and Maintaining Springs in the Great Artesian Basin research project.
The CEWO has issued its 2011–12 Outcomes Report. This report outlines the environmental benefits that have resulted from Commonwealth environmental watering in the Murray-Darling Basin in 2011–12. The report includes case studies that highlight the results of monitoring projects in the Murray and Murrumbidgee catchments. These show that environmental watering is achieving a broad range of benefits for the many native plant and animal communities that rely on healthy habitats within these catchments to survive.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released its third annual Water Monitoring Report for the MurrayDarling Basin (MDB) under the Water Act 2007. The report provides information about the impact of water reforms on water markets and the irrigation industry in the MDB. New data collected by the ACCC for 2011–12 shows that fewer farmers are leaving irrigation in the MDB compared to two years ago. Rather than leaving irrigation, farmers are using water markets to increase business flexibility and maximise the value of their water assets.
Australian scientists have devised a way to model polluted groundwater with computer simulation. Researchers at the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) have developed a new model to predict where – and how fast – polluted groundwater can move from a contaminated site, allowing water managers to better locate and clean up the water.
The COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water has issued a draft Regulation Impact Statement on the regulation of water market intermediaries. Stakeholders in the water sector have