A photographic essay by Brent Stirton tells many stories, from the tragedy brought by lack of safe water or too much water, to the joy and life-changing effects that a new water system can offer. Dr. Peter Gleick describes Stirton’s images in an audio slideshow. Also read Gleick’s essay on the global water crisis.

Please click the player below to listen to our fourth podcast for Sigma Xi’s Year of Water H20 08. I spoke with Dr. Peter Gleick at the National Academies Water Science and Technology Board’s annual meeting in Washington DC.

Dr. Peter Gleick is president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security. The institute conducts interdisciplinary research and builds partnerships to advance environmental protection, economic development, and social equity.

Dr. Gleick is also a guest panelist at the 2008 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference, November 22, in Washington, D.C.

Links
Report on National Academies Water Science & Technology Board meeting

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Politicians often get a hard time, perhaps deservedly on occasion.

But how do they fare when it comes to national water policy?

It’s increasingly clear that water is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Whether it’s drought in the West, floods along the Mississippi or Missouri watersheds, or aging urban infrastructure, there’s no doubt that the country needs a clear vision and strong leadership.

So how are we doing?

Not very well, according to a summary report in the online environmental magazine, Grist.

In her July 23 article, “Our national water policy” (subtitled “Oh, wait, we don’t have a national water policy”) guest essayist Elizabeth de la Vega argues that “the state of water resources management in this country… is sheer chaos.”

Basing her opinion on a June 24 meeting of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, addressing “Comprehensive Watershed Management Planning” Vega relays times during the event when she realized certain truths about our situation, “aha” moments–for example, when Larry Larson, the Executive Director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers concluded that water problems will result in the loss of all “hope of sustainable communities.”

It’s easy to point the finger at the Bush administration, Vega suggests, but the root causes go back much further. Paul Freedman, Vice President of the Water Environment Federation, had an earlier “aha” moment himself fifteen years ago. Then, at the largest ever meeting of water agencies, 5,000 attendees agreed that “watershed management was the only answer to take us into the twenty-first century.”

Vega continues on her theme, going back even as far as 1952, when a Presidential Commission mandated by President Truman recommended “one broad and uniform policy.” That might have been another “aha” moment.

But the sentiment at the House meeting seemed to be that such a vision is far from being realized. Vega reports that words used to describe our national water policy included “fractured, ad hoc, isolated, random, haphazard, inconsistent, stovepiped, and mish-mash.”

Sure, our problems today are huge… the faltering economy, global warming, the war in Iraq, one natural disaster after another. Still it seems a missed opportunity that water does not get more attention in this presidential election year.

The search term “national water policy” “barack obama” gets 446 hits on Google, and 414 for the corresponding search for John McCain. Compare this with 2,390,000 and 2,410,000 respectively for the search term “war in iraq” with the politicians’ names.

What kind of disaster needs to happen before our leaders actually take the lead on water policy?

Link
Grist article by Elizabeth Vega

Contamination of groundwater by the poisonous element arsenic is a major health risk for millions of people, particularly in Southeast Asia.

Up until now, identifying high risk areas has required expensive surveys based on sampling and analyzing groundwater directly from suspect areas. Read more…

Most of the news we hear about floods is bad. Witness the recent disaster that wiped out significant portions of the Midwest’s corn and soybean harvest and impacted thousands of lives.

But floods can be a force for good too, especially if technology can help control them. Read more…

Water Advocates is the first US-based nonprofit organization dedicated solely to increasing American support for worldwide access to safe, affordable and sustainable supplies of drinking water and adequate sanitation. Read more…

A grass-roots movement calling for a presidential debate on science has declared water issues to be one of the top questions to be addressed. Read more…

A new campaign launched in the U.K. is promoting tap water as a brand. The idea of “Tap” is to take on the bottled water industry by promoting tap water as a brand.
Read more…

The biggest and longest water fair ever is well underway in Zaragosa, Spain. The three-month-long event on the banks of the river Ebro, features 140 pavilions from more than 100 countries across 60 acres. Facilities include an aquarium and a museum housed in a new river bridge. On June 23, singer Bob Dylan performs in a concert, one of 5,000 shows planned.
Read more…

Scientists are challenging the well known aphorism, “You can’t squeeze water from a stone.”

A team in Holland has shown over the course of a 20-year project that it may be possible to do just that, and in areas that would benefit the most—the world’s deserts. Read more…