Category Archives: Water

National Trust tells of bats in distress and water features drying up in heat

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Charity says extreme conditions a ‘watershed moment’ and it is planning for long-term hot weather

The National Trust has reported significant effects across its estate from the recent extreme heat including bats in distress, heather struggling to flower and historic water features drying up.

At Wallington in Northumberland, bats were found disoriented and dehydrated in the daylight during the hottest days this summer, while in Cambridgeshire, a waterwheel that powers a flour mill has had to stop turning due to low river levels.

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Yet more human remains found as drought shrinks Lake Mead reservoir

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Fourth set of skeletal remains, as yet unidentified, discovered at Swim Beach in Nevada as lake hits lowest level in 80 years

A fourth set of human remains has been found at the shrinking reservoir of Lake Mead as the drought gripping the western US continues to blaze and sends its water levels plunging.

The fourth set of skeletal remains was found on Saturday at Swim Beach in Nevada, and are now being assessed by the local Clark county coroner. The identity of the body is unknown, nor the manner of death.

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Low water levels mean Rhine is days from being shut for cargo

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Businesses along the river say drought means they are on the verge of having to shut production

Germany’s Rhine, one of Europe’s key waterways, is just days away from being closed to commercial traffic because of very low levels caused by drought, authorities and industry have warned.

Crucially, the impending crisis could lead energy companies to cut their output, one of the country’s biggest gas companies has said.

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Blooming Essex garden points to future of horticulture in a heating UK

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RHS Hyde Hall has made a virtue of its position in the driest county in England by embracing adaptable plants

It has not been artificially watered for 22 years, yet this garden, on an exposed slope in Essex, the driest county in the UK, is bursting with bloom.

A dry bed at the Royal Horticultural Society Hyde Hall dominated by cool greys and pale greens, and full of Mediterranean, Australian and African shrubs and flowers, could this be the future British garden?

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Secret dealings: state-owned Queensland water company refuses to outline Adani relationship

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Sunwater says documents confidential after right-to-information request reveals dealings with mining giant

A Queensland government-owned water corporation is holding back 96 documents detailing its business dealings with Adani, refusing to answer questions or release any information about the nature of agreements it says are commercial in confidence.

The source of the billions of litres of water Adani needs every year for its Carmichael coalmine in central Queensland has been shrouded in secrecy since its bid to pipe from the Suttor River was overturned by the federal court.

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More human remains found at Lake Mead as water levels shrink

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Various grim discoveries have been made at the drought-stricken Nevada reservoir, including a body in a barrel

More human remains have been found as the shrinking shore line of Lake Mead recedes in the face of a brutal drought gripping the western United States.

In a statement, the National Park Service said the unidentified remains were spotted at Swim Beach in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area late on Monday afternoon.

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NSW flood plain harvesting rules won’t protect environment, government advisers warn

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Officials raised concerns water level targets would not ensure river health or meet needs of downstream communities, documents show

The Perrottet government has been warned by its own advisers that proposed flood plain harvesting rules will not adequately protect the environment or the needs of downstream communities in the Murray Darling Basin.

Documents obtained through parliament by independent MLC Justin Field show the government received advice that proposed targets meant to ensure river health were too low.

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Northern Italy drought threatens olive oil, risotto rice and passata supplies

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The region’s worst drought in 70 years is expected to hit crop yields significantly, driving up prices by as much as 50%

Supplies of olive oil, risotto rice and passata are under threat as northern Italy suffers its worst drought in 70 years, stirring up the cost of living crisis further.

Specialist importers are preparing for price rises of as much as 50% or more for rice and tomatoes and are considering looking for new sources of supply, after growers in the Po valley, the home of arborio rice used in risotto, warned of a “significant reduction” in crop yields this year.

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Boat owners on UK’s longest canal stuck amid record water shortage

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A lack of recent rainfall forces part of the Leeds-Liverpool canal to shut while 5 million face a hosepipe ban

Boat owners on the UK’s longest canal will not be able to move their boats next week, due to a water shortage, while 5 million people have been warned they may be soon facing a hosepipe ban.

Stretches of the Leeds-Liverpool canal will be closed during periods next week after a lack of rainfall has led to low levels in some Yorkshire and Lancashire reservoirs, leaving canal locks unable to be filled.

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Back from the depths: shrinking Lake Mead reveals second world war-era boat

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The Higgins landing craft, once 185ft below the surface, is now halfway out of the water as drought deepens

A sunken boat dating back to the second world war is the latest object to emerge from a shrinking reservoir that straddles Nevada and Arizona.

The Higgins landing craft that has long been 185ft (56 meters) below the surface is now nearly halfway out of the water at Lake Mead.

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Pearl Harbor’s toxic water caused by shoddy management, navy finds

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US military investigation points to human error after fuel leak that poisoned thousands

A US navy investigation has revealed that shoddy management and human error caused fuel to leak into Pearl Harbor’s tap water last year, poisoning thousands of people and forcing military families to evacuate their homes for hotels.

The investigation, released on Thursday, is the first detailed account of how jet fuel from the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility, a huge second-world-war-era military-run tank farm in the hills above Pearl Harbor, leaked into a well that supplied water to housing and offices in and around the sprawling base.

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Singapore craft beer uses recycled sewage to highlight water scarcity

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Collaboration between national water agency and craft brewer described as ‘highly quaffable’

It is a beer made with only the finest ingredients: premium German barley malts, aromatic Citra and Calypso hops, farmhouse yeast from Norway – and reclaimed sewage.

NewBrew, a collaboration between Singapore’s national water agency and the local craft brewery Brewerkz, has already proved popular and has sold out on tap at the brewery’s restaurants, according to reports.

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Ofwat extends sewage dumping inquiry to include South West Water

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Regulator expands investigation after suggestions water firm was not complying with legal obligations

The regulator Ofwat has expanded its investigation into the dumping of raw sewage to include South West Water after finding “shocking” failures in the way the majority of water companies run their waste treatment works.

Ofwat said on Tuesday it had extended its inquiry after heightened concerns about South West Water’s environmental performance and suggestions it was not complying with its legal obligations.

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California’s largest reservoirs at critically low levels – signaling a dry summer ahead

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Images from Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta compiled by the state show ‘a shocking drop in water levels’ compared to years past

California’s two largest reservoirs are at critically low levels, signaling that the state, like much of the US west, can expect a searing, dry summer ahead.

This week, officials confirmed that Lake Oroville, the state’s second-largest reservoir, was at just 55% of its total capacity when it reached its highest level for the year last month. Meanwhile, Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, was at 40% capacity last month – after the state endured its driest start to a year since the late 19th century.

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Somalia: ‘The worst humanitarian crisis we’ve ever seen’

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Children starving to death ‘before our eyes’ say aid workers as G7 leaders warned only ‘massive’ and urgent funding will avert famine

Only a “massive” and immediate scaling-up of funds and humanitarian relief can save Somalia from famine, a UN spokesperson has warned, as aid workers report children starving to death “before our eyes” amid rapidly escalating levels of malnutrition.

In a message to G7 leaders who are meeting from Sunday in Germany, Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) regional director for east Africa, said governments had to donate urgently and generously if there was to be any hope of avoiding catastrophe in the Horn of Africa country.

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Public service shake-up continues with four new secretaries for government departments – as it happened

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Dominic Perrottet called on to halt Barilaro appointment pending inquiry; at least 63 Covid deaths recorded nationwide. This blog is now closed

NSW teacher strike ‘about politics, not pay’, Kean says

Matt Kean has hit out at plans by public and Catholic school teachers to strike next Friday after receiving a 3% pay rise offer, well below the rate of inflation.

Our 3% pay increase is far more than the Labor government’s 1.5% pay increase for public servants down in Victoria.

So the same unions complaining about our generous pay rise up here in NSW and protesting aren’t marching in the streets down in Victoria.

A senior woman, a senior public servant with knowledge of financial markets and trade particularly with the United States was offered the job, it was rescinded by the New South Wales government.

We don’t know by whom. And then John Barilaro mysteriously was given it just last week.

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What will the new Labor government do for rural and regional Australia?

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With the Nationals now out of power, we examine the Albanese government’s promises and priorities for the bush

Anthony Albanese says his desire as prime minister is to unite Australia, with “no one left behind, no one held back”, but for many living outside the capital cities in Coalition-held seats, being left behind is exactly what they fear.

Chief executive of the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal, Natalie Egleton, says despite the federal election results indicating the Nationals’ base is declining, the party held all their seats, meaning “there’s still a sentiment in the bush about the need to have parties focused on rural communities”.

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Pakistan town blames deadly cholera outbreak on government neglect

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Residents of Pir Koh say poor water provision and a dirty water tank led to 26 deaths, the majority among children under seven

Two weeks ago, Ruqiyya Bibi fell sick. The two-year-old was vomiting constantly; her father, Mohammed Iqbal, took her to a basic health unit in Pir Koh, a impoverished town with a population of 40,000 in the mountains of Balochistan, south-western Pakistan.

Iqbal was told at first that his daughter had malaria but when treatment did not help, he took her to another doctor who said she had a blood condition.

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Hunger crisis grips Horn of Africa – but 80% of Britons unaware, poll shows

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UK government urged to act as worst drought in 40 years threatens region while aid efforts and global attention remain focused on Ukraine war

The UK government has been urged to give the hunger crisis gripping the Horn of Africa “proper attention”, as new polling showed just two in 10 people in Britain are aware that the worst drought in 40 years is even taking place, let alone threatening famine.

As the war in Ukraine rages, the combined effect of three failed rainy seasons has pushed parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia to the brink, killing livestock, forcing people to leave their homes and increasing levels of child malnutrition. The Russian invasion has exacerbated the situation, pushing up the price of staples such as wheat and sunflower oil, as well as fuel.

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Second set of human remains found in receding Lake Mead waters

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The shrinking reservoir in Las Vegas gave up its second discovery just a week after a barrel was found containing a man’s body

Authorities in Nevada have recovered another set of human remains from Lake Mead as a devastating drought has depleted the massive reservoir outside Las Vegas.

Two sisters paddle boarding in the lake on Saturday spotted the bones, which they initially thought were the remains of a bighorn sheep.

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