Many major rivers in danger of drying out

[rodeodance]

Source: Reuters



Many major rivers in danger of drying out

By Douwe Miedema 2 hours, 24 minutes ago

GENEVA (Reuters) - Many major rivers in the world are at risk of drying out because of climate change and dam construction, which could affect fresh water supplies and marine life, the global nature protection body WWF said on Tuesday.


In a report ahead of the March 22 'World Water Day', the Swiss-based group identified 10 rivers, including the Nile, the Rio Grande and the Danube, as some of the worst victims of poor planning and inadequate protection.

"Rivers regularly no longer reach the sea, like the Indus in Pakistan, the Nile in Africa and the Rio Grande ... There are millions of people whose livelihoods are at risk," said Jamie Pittock, director of WWF's global freshwater program.

Rivers are the world's main source of fresh water, and about half of the available supply is already being used up, he said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070320/sc_nm/wwf_rivers_dc_1;_ylt=Asa1PRqVRVXiGOvB5UEpgj6WwvIE

[kestrel91316]

1. "...There are millions of people whose livelihoods are at risk..."

Ahem. Perhaps they should have said livelihoods AND LIVES.

But I guess some people only care about financial impact, and not needless death.

[burrowowl]

2. The Rio Grande is moribund, K&R

[Gloria]

14. Yeah, down here in Las Cruces, the Rio Grande is dry most of the time....

So much for the Rio Grande!!

[vietnam_war_vet]

17. Wow....another Du'er from Las Cruces!

I had rationally speculated that there had to be other folks from LC on DU, but I didn't know how to confirm.

Actually, my wife and I live in Mesilla, but our home has a LC postal address. A few years ago when we tried to vote in a LC city election was when we learned about this odd "circumstance." Anywho....it 'twas nice to see a neighbor on DU. ;-) -- Michael

[orwell]

3. We don't need...

..no stinking rivers!

Let them drink Evian!

[DemoTex]

12. No more floods! No more floods!

:sarcasm:

[texpatriot2004]

4. K & R nm

[sutz12]

5. Add the Colorado....

I don't think that has reached the sea in 50 years or so. :shrug:

[Bobbieo]

6. The Colorado empties into the Sea of Cortez in the Baja

[Art_from_Ark]

7. It *used to* empty into the Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California

but there is so much demand for its water that it barely makes it to Mexico any more, except for occasional controlled releases of water from dams.

[Bobbieo]

8. I know that as I live in Yuma , but what is left goes into the Baja.

How long it will last I'm not sure!!! Not with this drought!!!

[Art_from_Ark]

9. "What is left" isn't much

Even in the '80s (as evidenced by the PBS program Nature), and probably before, the Colorado River delta was drying up. So while it may *technically" flow into the Sea of Cortez, there is actually very little fresh water that makes it to the delta.

[Bobbieo]

11. Who is to argue with someone from Ark when I live on the Colorado!!!

Wish we would have a repeat of the Colorado River flood of 1983.

[Bobbieo]

13. I'm very defensive of My Colorado River. And I wish to hell all of

the snow that fell on the eastern slopes of the Rockies would have moved to the Western slopes. Sure would have helped my River. She is the grand old lady of the West!

[Art_from_Ark]

15. I may have been exaggerating a bit, but

the fact is that the Colorado River delta wetlands have dried up to 1/6 of their historical size, and there is little fresh water that enters the Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California. As University of Arizona professor Robert Glennon puts it:

ROBERT GLENNON: Both countries have divided the water up, and in fact, there's not enough water in the river on an annual basis to satisfy all the legal rights to water in the river. It's stunning but true. And that is because the river was allocated in the 1920s when people thought the flow of the river, was about 22 million acre feet a year. It turns out that studies at the University of Arizona have shown that the average flow over the last 500 years is really only about 14 million acre feet. But there are legal rights to 17.5 million acre feet. So there's a train wreck ahead, because there are more claims, legal claims to water than there is water in the river.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec02/water_8-23.html

[Spider Jerusalem]

22. I'm sure the Glen Canyon Dam has a lot to do with that...

most of that fresh water ends up in Lake Powell, after all (apart from the flow needed for hydroelectric generation)....

[hogwyld]

10. I'll help out

By drinking more beer. :beer:

[saigon68]

20. I'll Join You

[hogwyld]

26. First round is on me

:toast:

[nashville_brook]

16. summary of threats -- rivers and problem

Salween-Nu -- Infrastructure, Dams

Danube -- Infrastructure, Navigation

La Plata -- Infrastructure, Dams and Navigation

Rio Grande-Rio Bravo -- Water Over-extraction

Ganges -- Water Over-extraction

Indus -- Climate Change

Nile-Lake Victoria -- Climate Change

Murray-Darling -- Invasive Species

Mekong-Lancang -- Over-fishing

Yangtze -- Pollution

[TX-RAT]

23. Just curious.

Who pulls the majority of water from the Rio Grande, and where is it pulled?

[cliss]

24. Ok, I'm looking over this list of endangered rivers.

I'm trying to decide: which ones are the most critical?

Most critical = most people living near these waterways.

I'm going to guess
a) Ganges - India
b) Indus - India
Both of these support people in India, so it's going to be critical; there are 1.3 billion in that country.
Also,
c) Yangtze - China
This could very well be the biggest disaster. I've read the pollution of this river is unbelievable. I guess Chinese industrialists just dump in tons of really toxic industrial waste right into the river.

A nightmare.

[humbled_opinion]

18. I guess it doesn't hit home until they can't put the fires out anymore n/t

[YankeyMCC]

19. More at the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6468451.stm

[Earth_First]

21. Golf courses need green fairways and greens in the Southwest!

:sarcasm:

[burrowowl]

28. Like in Santa Fe and PA-KOO

Where water is run off!
I dislike golfers and Alpine skiers (strips the forest).
If they could golf without water consuming lawns, go to it!

[nealmhughes]

25. The Tennessee is low right now, but I don't know if that is TVA controlling the flow or not.

The creeks flowing into the Elk River just before the confluence with the Tennessee proper are so low that the docks are about 50 feet before the water meets the shore right now.
I've never seen it so low.
But, then again, I've seen the spillways open on every dam, trying to send the water to the Ohio during spring floods. You can hear it from a mile away at Wheeler or Wilson Dams! Pretty spectacular sight, but dangerous, muddy water splashing all over the lower points of the bridges as one crosses.
When I lived in Omaha, I used to go to a diner a lot that was frequented by farmers. They loved my accent and wanted to ask about "irrigation in the Tennessee Valley," and I sent them into a lustful envy when I told them that we had ditches and canals to drain water here! And that my county had more bridges than the state of Nebraska!

[heatstreak]

27. nice to see so many still have their heads in the sand about this