IAEA develops "fingerprinting" technique for Third World water sources

[BurtWorm]

We need to send some asshole like John Bolton to the UN to make them stop doing this shit. :sarcasm:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/science/26wate.html?8hpib=&pagewanted=print


Using the tools of isotope hydrology, scientists can discover the age, origins, size, flow and fate of a water source. And that information, in turn, can guide sound water-use policy, letting water engineers better map underground aquifers, conserve supplies and control pollution.

For instance, if the method reveals that the water in a well is young and recently derived from rain, villagers can pump away vigorously. But if it turns out to be very old - what scientists call fossil water - they need to move gingerly, taking care not to exhaust the water supply.

"You take it out once, like oil," Werner Burkart, head of the nuclear science programs of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview.

The United Nations group, best known for fighting the spread of nuclear arms, is leading the hydrology effort. Based in Vienna, it works at developing techniques as well as sharing them with scientists around the world.