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2002 Water
News History Archives
ARCHIVES NEWS
Water News History Archives
Water
Archives
2002 Water Archive:
20021230
Desalination
-
- Water
- "Marin
thirsty for desalination: Officials say tapping
bay could solve water woes." ... "... the thorniest obstacle is that reverse
osmosis technology --the process of forcing water through a semi-permeable
membrane that blocks out salt molecules -- is still very expensive." ...
"Pushing water through the membranes takes a huge amount of electricity,
which is why most desalination projects are being built alongside electric
power generation plants." ... "Desalination has been a concept since the
fourth century B.C., when Aristotle made his proposal to condense seawater
vapor. The first crude plant was installed in 1862 in Key West, Fla., to
support military personnel at Fort Zachary Taylor." -By
Peter Fimrite -SFGate.com
20021210
- "Soaking
rain ends Sydney bushfire crisis." ... "Soaking rain
fell on Sydney on Tuesday to end the city's six-day bushfire emergency
that killed one man, destroyed around 50 homes and left large tracts of
bush scorched and blackened." ... "But officials said more hot, dry weather
was forecast ahead of Christmas and the fires were expected to flare again.
Australia is tinderbox dry due to one of the worst droughts in 100 years."
-By Michael Perry -Reuters/Asia
20020819
- "China
floods kill 1,532 people through Aug -Xinhua." ...
"Widespread floods across China this year killed 1,532 people through August
and caused damages estimated at 68 billion yuan, or $8.2 billion, the official
Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday."
-Reuters via
-AlertNet.org
- "[Germany's
chancellor, Gerhard] Schröder halts tax cuts for flood relief."
... "In an appeal to Germans' sense of solidarity in time of crisis, Mr
Schröder, who faces general elections in less than five weeks, said
the one year postponement was the only sensible way to finance essential
aid." -By Haig Simonian
-FT.com
- "Flooding
Hits Germany, Hungary." ... "Flooding that has forced
some 80,000 east Germans from their homes spread further through the region
Monday, threatening to add to the misery as the country faced its biggest
relief effort since World War II." ... "In Hungary, the Danube River peaked
at a historic high in Budapest without causing major flooding after relief
workers spent a frantic night bolstering dikes. The capital's high flood
walls, built at the turn of the last century, held off the floodwater in
the city center, though one barrier gave way in a northern suburb."
-AP via -Guardian.co.uk
20020810
"U.S.
Seeks to Limit Conservation Law." ... "The Bush administration
is arguing that a major environmental law does not apply to the vast majority
of oceans under United States control, a move that environmentalists say
could allow military maneuvers, oil and gas pipelines, commercial fishing,
ocean dumping and scores of other activities to escape public environmental
review." ... "That view is being challenged by the Natural Resources Defense
Council, which asserts that in addition to the territorial waters, the
act covers all activity within the nation's "exclusive economic zone,"
which extends 200 miles from shore." -By Katharine
Q. Seelye -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
"Environmental
groups say anti-sub device harms whales and other ocean mammals."
... "For the past seven years, environmental groups and dozens of internationally
known scientists have said active sonar is inappropriate for the ocean
because whales and other marine mammals comprehend through sound. Interference
from active sonar could disrupt the animals' ability to migrate, find food,
mate, care for their young and avoid predators, they say." ... "The new
technology would greatly increase the range and accuracy of the Navy in
locating and identifying quiet and potentially hostile submarines." -By
Jane Kay -SFGate.com
"Environmentalists
sue in San Francisco to block Navy sonar." ... "In
July, the fisheries service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Association, gave the Navy a five-year exemption from the Marine Mammal
Protection Act. That allowed the Navy to use Surveillance Towed Array Sensor
System Low Frequency Active sonar, or SURTASS LFA." -By
Colleen Valles -AP
via -SFGate.com
20020805
USS-Monitor
- "Heavy
seas slow salvage of USS Monitor's turret." ... "With
the weather expected to deteriorate even further by mid-week, the commander
of the Navy recovery operation acknowledged that the window of opportunity
for hoisting the 200-ton turret from the sea floor is shrinking." -By
Mike Toner -AJC
"Water
&
Gas: An American pricing paradox." ... "...because
many Americans buy bottled water in amounts of one liter or less, a gallon
of the product can ultimately cost consumers' more than $6." ... "In the
case of purified (as opposed to spring) bottled-water brands such as Pepsi's
Aquafina and Coke's Dasani, the water ... comes straight from municipal
water authorities." ... "For customers who use large amounts of water,
rates are set between $2 and $3 per thousand gallons, only slightly different
from rates set for regular consumers." -By Noel C.
Paul -CSMonitor/buy
20020801
- Animals
- "Pirate
or Policeman? High Seas Activist Says He Fights
to Uphold Law." ... "Capt. Paul Watson has been accused of a lot, including
attempted murder, but he says he was shocked when someone quoted him as
saying taking a human life to protect endangered species would just be
"collateral damage."" ... "Watson, a former member of the Norwegian and
Swedish merchant marines and of the Canadian Coast Guard, says his fight
is to uphold the law, so he founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
in 1977 to protect marine wildlife from poachers and fishing and whaling
being carried out in violation of international law." -By
Dean Schabner -ABCNEWS.com
20020722
- Animals
- "Giant
squid washes up on beach." ... "Scientists in Australia
are investigating what may be a new species of giant squid, after one of
the deep sea creatures washed up on a Tasmanian beach over the weekend."
-CNN
20020713
"EPA
Mulls New Water Cleanup Rule." ... "The Bush administration
is considering a plan to reduce federal oversight of a key Clean Water
Act anti-pollution program and instead "trust states" to clean up more
than 20,000 dirty rivers, lakes and estuaries, internal Environmental Protection
Agency documents show." ... "The proposal would reverse a July 2000 Clinton
administration rule requiring EPA approval of states' efforts to restore
"impaired water bodies," a designation applying to about 300,000 miles
of rivers and shorelines and 5 million acres of lakes." -By
Michael Grunwald -WashingtonPost
"EPA
May Shun Clean Water Program." ... "A federal regulation
from mid-2000 requires states to develop detailed plans to reduce pollution
in more than 20,000 lakes, rivers, streams and bays that do not meet minimum
federal water quality standards." ... "Congress stopped the regulation
from taking effect after questions were raised by many states and after
farm and business interests expressed their opposition. The Bush administration
has kept the regulation on hold while it considers changing them." -CBSNews
20020708
- "Storm-
Tossed Texans Finally See a Ray of Sunshine." ...
"At least seven people have died in flood waters since June 30th, an estimated
48,000 homes sustained flood damage, nearly 250 high-water rescue calls
were reported, more than 130 roads were closed, hundreds of flights were
delayed and thousands of citizens lost power and telephone service. President
Bush declared 13 Texas counties disaster areas, and Texas Governor Rick
Perry has requested disaster declarations for 17 additional counties."
-NOAA.gov-Magazine
- "Worst
of rain may be over in central Texas: After
heavy rains that have swelled rivers, lifted homes from foundations and
forced thousands to evacuate in south-central Texas, there was optimism
Saturday that the worst was over." -CNN
20020705
- "'Devastating'
Texas floods kill 9: An official in south-central
Texas described the damage from this week's flooding as "very devastating"
after conducting an aerial survey of the area." ... "Floods have wreaked
havoc across six central Texas counties in the last week, with some parts
receiving as much as 30 inches of rain since Monday night."
-CNN
- "Ice
reservoirs found on Mars." ... "Water-ice has been
found in vast quantities just below the surface across great swathes of
the planet Mars." ... "It confirms early observations that also pointed
to enormous reservoirs of ice just below the surface." ... The water ice
appears to be "in the regolith - the layer of loose rock and dust on the
surface." ... "Melted, [the ice] would create planet-wide ocean 500 metres
deep." -By Dr David Whitehouse -BBC
/News