Thursday, March 19, 2015

UNITED NATIONS WORLD WATER DAY NEWSLETTER MARCH 22, 2015

OMNI
UN WORLD WATER DAY NEWSLETTER #4, World Climate Justice Month Begins, MARCH 22, 2015.
COMPILED BY Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
(#1 August 9, 2011; #2 March 22, 2012; #3 March 22, 2014).


What’s at stake:  Global Water Inequality and the Coming Chaos.  Karen Piper

Newsletters
Index:

See Food and Water Watch.

Contents:  UN WORLD WATER DAY NEWSLETTER 2015
Google Search, Feb. 28, 2015
Water Crisis 2014
Karen Piper, The Coming Chaos
Davos Forum: Water Crisis
Business Insider, Fresh Water Disappearing
Art Hobson, Great Lakes Shrinking
Resistance, Action
Nigeria and Corporate Accountability
Unitarian Universalist Association and UUFF
US Water Resources Act and University of Arkansas
Barbara Fitzpatrick, What Will Wake Up Our Leaders to Act for the People?


UN WORLD WATER DAY MARCH 22, 2015, Google Search, Feb. 28, 2015
  1. UN-Water: Home
www.unwater.org/
2015 World Water Day website live · The World Water Day ... 19 Dec 2014. UNGeneral Assembly Agrees on Post-2015 Summit and Negotiations Modalities.
You've visited this page 2 times. Last visit: 3/22/12
  1. International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' 2005-2015
www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/
United Nations
2nd season of UN Habitat's 'Global Urban Lectures' out now! ... On 9 February 2015 the UNESCO Institute for Water Education published a booklet ... On the occasion ofWorld Wetlands Day (2 February), the Convention on Biological Diversity ...
  1. World Water Day, 22 March
www.un.org/en/events/waterday/
United Nations
2005 – 2015 · Additional Resources · Past Observances · UN Observances ... "OnWorld Water Day, let us pledge to develop the policies needed to ensure that sustainable water ... Water and energy are closely interlinked and interdependent. ... In 2014, the UN is bringing its attention to the water-energy nexus, particularly ...
  1. World Water Day 2015 - World Water Council - All events
22 March 2015 to 22 March 2015 ... Event's contact e-mail : unwater@un.org ... International World Water Day tries to remind people about the significance of ...
  1. World Water Day: 22 March 2015 | Greening the Blue
www.greeningtheblue.org › Events
World Water Day: 22 March 2015. Date: Sun 22/03/15. Location: Global. Related Organisation/Agency: United Nations Industrial Development (UNIDO). Related ...
  1. World Water Day 2015: Water and Sustainable Development
programme.worldwaterweek.org/.../wo...
World Water Week in Stockholm
At the World Water Week 2014, UN-Water presents the plan for the World Water Day 2015 campaign, which is coordinated by UNDP with the support of WWAP, ...
  1. UN-Water World Water Day | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/UNWorldWaterDay
Official United NationsWorld Water Day Facebook page. World ... Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/unwater to learn more about World Water Day 2015!
  1. International World Water Day 2015: water and sustainable ...
www.dutchwatersector.com › News & Events › Events
Date: 22 March 2015. Location: worldwide. Organiser: United Nations. InternationalWorld Water Day tries to remind people about the significance of fresh water ...
  1. World Water Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Water_Day
Wikipedia
World Water Day has been observed on 22 March since 1993 when the United ... UN-Water presents the plan for the World Water Day 2015 campaign, which is ...
  1. World Water Day - Time and Date
www.timeanddate.com › Calendar › Holidays
Time and Date
The United Nations' (UNWorld Water Day is held on March 22 each year. ... run from 2005 to 2015 and give a high profile to women's participation and the UN's ...


Searches related to UN WORLD WATER DAY 2015




WATER CRISIS

The Price of Thirst
Global Water Inequality and the Coming Chaos
2014
 • 
Author: 
Karen Piper
The Price of Thirst
Imagine a world where water is only for those who can afford it. We’re already there.
Karen Piper leads us through the frightening landscape where thirst is political, drought is a business opportunity, and multinational corporations control our most necessary natural resource. Visiting the hot spots of water scarcity and the hotshots in water finance, Piper shows what happens when global businesses buy up the water supply and turn off the taps of people who cannot pay.

“A wonderful book—full of commitment, deeply moving, with stories of real people affected by corporate water grabs. I highly recommend The Price of Thirst.”
Maude Barlow, chair of the board of Food & Water Watch



DAVOS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM JANUARY 2014
World Water Crisis
780,000,000 people lack clean, safe water
Matt Damon, water.org
www.circleofblue.org/waternews/.../world/world-economic-forum-ranks-...
Jan 15, 2015 - World Economic Forum global risks report 2015 water crises ... The middle canal, under construction in this 2010 photo, opened late in 2014.
www.greenbiz.com/.../ahead-davos-wef-warns-dire-enviro...
GreenBiz.com
Jan 19, 2015 - Editor's note: This article originally appeared at Business Green. Water crises and extreme weather are among the greatest risks the world ...
www.water-challenge.com/.../Addressing-the-global-water-crisis-the-203...
Jan 22, 2015 - The just-published 2015 Global Risk Report of the World Economic ... inDavos were clearly influenced by the results of the new WEF Global Risk Report. ... in2014, with a focus on improving water use efficiency (increasing ...


The Earth's Freshwater Reserves Are Disappearing
Business Insider
NASA Earth Observatory  Nov. 11, 2014
© Provided by Business Insider
Maybe you have heard people call Earth "the water planet." The nickname is well-deserved.
As this mosaic of images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite conveys so well, the majority of Earth's surface is covered by either liquid or frozen water.
The atmosphere is awash with water as well. One satellite-based data set estimates that about 60 percent of Earth's surface is covered by clouds (composed of water and ice droplets) at any given time.
Earth is home to yet another type of water — groundwater — which includes all the fresh water stored underground in soil and porous rock aquifers. Though groundwater is often forgotten because it's not visible, more than two billion people rely on it as their primary water source.
With drought afflicting several parts of the world, and with aggressive use of groundwater in many agricultural regions, this precious water resource is under serious strain, warns NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory hydrologist James Famiglietti.
In a commentary published by Nature Climate Change in October 2014, Famiglietti wrote:
In many parts of the world, in particular in the dry, mid-latitudes, far more water is used than is available on an annual, renewable basis. Precipitation, snowmelt, and streamflow are no longer enough to supply the multiple, competing demands for society's water needs. Because the gap between supply and demand is routinely bridged with non-renewable groundwater, even more so during drought, groundwater supplies in some major aquifers will be depleted in a matter of decades. The myth of limitless water and the free-for-all mentality that has pervaded groundwater use must now come to an end.
© Provided by Business Insider
Most of the major aquifers in the world's arid and semi-arid zones — the parts of the world that rely most heavily on groundwater — are experiencing rapid rates of depletion because of water use by farms. As shown in the chart above — based on data collected by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE) — this includes include the North China Plain, Australia's Canning Basin, the Northwest Sahara Aquifer System, the Guarani Aquifer in South America, the High Plains and Central Valley aquifers of the United States, and the aquifers beneath northwestern India and the Middle East.
The situation is looking particularly grim in California, a state currently suffering from extreme drought. The extent of the drought is visible in the series of GRACE maps of dry season (September-November) water storage anomalies shown below. Red areas show the height of the water in comparison to a 2005-2010 average.
California's Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins have lost roughly 15 cubic kilometers (4 cubic miles) of total water per year since 2011 — more water than all 38 million Californians use for domestic and municipal supplies annually. Over half of the water losses are due to groundwater pumping in the Central Valley, according to Famiglietti.
© Provided by Business Insider
The first step to managing the globe's groundwater problem is to accept that we have one, Famiglietti recommends. And when societies are ready to look for solutions, the first place they'll have to turn is the agricultural sector. "Agriculture accounts for nearly 80 percent of water use globally, and at least half of the irrigation water used is groundwater," he wrote. "Even modest gains in agricultural efficiency will result in tremendous volumes of groundwater saved, or of water available for the environment or other human uses such as municipalities, energy production, industry and economic growth."
Read the full commentary here. You can read news reports about Famiglietti's article from Mashable, the Financial Times, and Discovery News. Read more about observing groundwater from space in "The Gravity of Groundwater."Watch Famiglietti give a TEDx talk about groundwater losses below.



GREAT LAKES DECREASING (RECEIVED 2-7-13)
Although this story has been building for at least ten years, I learned for the first time this morning (via NPR) that the Great Lakes are at all time low levels.  It's causing lots of distress.  It's clearly related to global warming, although there are other causes also such as dredging.  This might be the story that finally wakes America up.  It certainly makes the environmentalists' argument against the Keystone XL pipeline even stronger.  I hope that the coming 350.org demonstration on Feb 17 in D.C. will use this evidence.  There are a gazillion news stories about this.  Here are two: 
Peace – Art



RESISTANCE, ACTION
CORPORATE ACCOUNTABLITY
NIGERIA:  A COUNTRY’s PEOPLE TAKING ACTION, AN NGO HELPING

See Chap. 9, “Blockadia,” in Klein’s This Changes Everything.  --Dick

RALLY IN LAGOS: "OUR WATER, OUR RIGHT"
MARCH 11, 2015     CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONALCHALLENGE CORPORATE CONTROL OF WATER

On Tuesday, with the future of millions of people in Lagos, Nigeria and across the African continent hanging in the balance, we stood with the people of Lagos to defend the human right to water. More than 150 people marched through the streets of Lagos to the very doors of Lagos parliament and the governor's office. Together we sent a clear message: "This is Lagos: Our water, our right. No to privatization!"

Check out some photos from the march below. Read more about the rally here, and take action here. https://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/blog/rally-lagos-our-water-our-right
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UUA: A  RELIGION TAKING ACTION
UN WORLD WATER DAY AND UUA CLIMATE JUSTICE MONTH
Patricia Jones, “Access to Water Is a Human Right.”  UU World (Spring 2015). 
I read this in the magazine but couldn’t find it online.  Here’s something on Jones.  For more google her name and the title of this article.  --Dick

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PATRICIA A. JONES
SENIOR PROGRAM LEADER FOR THE HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER
Patricia A. Jones is a leading voice on the human right to water. Her work to advance that right — in the Americas, Africa, and Asia — includes research, drafting law and policy, supporting civil society organizations in campaigns and litigation, and advocacy with national and international human rights institutions. Jones provides technical assistance in shareholder advocacy efforts that have resulted in the first human-right-to-water policies at major U.S. corporations, including PepsiCo, Intel, Connecticut Water, and Proctor and Gamble.

Jones holds a PhD and master of law degree in international water law from the Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee (Scotland). She earned her law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University (Washington, D.C.), where she worked for the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Jones received her bachelor's degree in international studies from the University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.).


CLIMATE JUSTICE MONTH Commit2Respond
Initiated by Unitarian Universalist Association 2015, March 22 to April 22.

CLIMATE JUSTICE MONTH
March 22–April 22, 2015
From World Water Day to Earth Day, we will embark on a spiritual journey for climate justice.
Commit2Respond has been growing and we’ve been sharing our ideas for how this coalition of people of faith and conscience can best take action to Shift to a low carbon future, Advance human rights, and Grow the movement. Now it’s time for us to make commitments together and stretch ourselves to take action in new ways that will make a real impact.
Sign up for Climate Justice Month using the form below.

March 22:            World Water Day: Climate Justice Sunday
Week 1:               Reveling in connection with the natural world and its gifts
Week 2:               Reckoning with the impacts and injustices of climate change, exploring where our energy comes from
Week 3:               Reconnecting with hope through relationship, exploring who is impacted by our energy sources
Week 4:               Committing to long-term actions to shift energy, advance human rights, and grow the climate justice movement
April 22:               Earth Day: committing to a future of clean, renewable energy

WHAT WILL WE DO?
During Climate Justice Month you will be invited to learn, reflect, and discern what long-term actions you, your family, and/or your congregation or group can take on that will build resistance to climate change. This website will become a hub for sharing and tracking our commitments. Suggested actions will be provided, or you can create your own. 
Rather than simply taking on small actions for a month, we are setting aside a month to delve into our spiritual grounding for this work, deepen our learning, and intentionally decide how we can commit to transform our lives and our world. 
Committed action that springs from principled and spiritual grounding gets us through setbacks and compels us from a place of possibility and creativity. It is a stance of commitment to justice and integrity of all life over the long haul. This theological or principled grounding calls us to evaluate our work and take next steps with more wisdom and impact.
Stay tuned for resources that will help you prepare for Climate Justice Month, a first peek at the suggested Commit2Respond actions, and more!

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? (YOU!)
Congregations and Groups
Can you organize a group within your faith community or local community to make commitments together? Committed groups not only exponentially multiply individual actions, they can also take on more complex and ambitious projects. Working together in groups has other benefits too, like tapping the wisdom of different perspectives.
Congregational teams, including Green Sanctuary teams, environmental justice teams, and social justice teams, are all invited to join Commit2Respond as a group. Whole congregation votes and campaigns can be powerful and are welcome, but they are not essential to advance our collective effort to change the course of climate disruption.
Individuals, Families, and Households
During Climate Justice Month you, your family, and/or your household will be invited to commit to act, and you will inspire others! Your individual actions can positively impact climate disruption and simultaneously grow the movement for climate justice. 
Sign up for daily messages during Climate Justice Month below. You can also follow Commit2Respond on Facebook or Twitter to receive the daily messages that way.
uusc.org/water-resources-for-organizing-your-congregation-or-community  



US WATER RESOURCES ACT
·          
Bottom of Form
USGS and the Arkansas Water Resources Center Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Water Resources Research Act
Vital research on water flows from 1964 law
Friday, July 25, 2014
FAYETTEVILLE -- The U.S. Geological Survey joins the Arkansas Water Resources Center and its many partners in other federal agencies, at universities, and in state and local governments in recognizing the importance of the Water Resources Research Act of 1964.
Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 17, 1964, the act established a national network of water resources research institutes across the United States.
“Water makes life on Earth possible, defines our landscape, and shapes our natural heritage.  It is key to our continued prosperity,” observed Anne Castle, assistant secretary for water and science at the Department of the Interior.  “The keen appreciation of the importance of water resources that was expressed by our nation’s leaders in 1964 appears even more visionary today as we are facing the challenges of population growth, increased demand, and climate change.”
Subsequent amendments to the 1964 act broadened the list of National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) so that, by 1983, there were 54 institutes, one in each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. 
Fifty years later, the Water Resources Research Institutes, in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, continue to fulfill their roles assigned by Congress in 1964. They have produced path-breaking research, developed innovative information and technology transfer programs, and provided training to more than 25,000 students in their 50-year history.
 “The water research partnerships fostered by the Water Resources Research Act are unparalleled,” said Sharon Megdal, Director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center and president-elect of NIWR.  “The network of Water Resources Research Institutes connects within states, across regions, and with USGS and other federal agencies to tackle the most pressing water resource challenges of our nation." 
“The Water Resources Research Act has impacted the lives of many students, molding their skills and education to address the water issues facing our nation. I am one of those students. I was a graduate student paid through the Arkansas Water Resources Center and now I have the privilege of directing the center and serving as president of the National Institutes for Water Resources,” said Dr. Brian Haggard. “Water is critical to our economy, food supply and personal needs, and the institutes look forward to solving these issues over the next fifty years.”
The Arkansas Water Resources Center, located on the University of Arkansas campus, is dedicated to assisting the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Institutes for Water Resources in helping local, state, and federal agencies learn to manage the nation’s water resources. Click here to view the USGS press release in its entirety. 
Contacts:
Tara L. Johnson, Graduate Assistant
Arkansas Water Resources Center
479-575-2840, tljohnso



WHAT WILL WAKE OUR OFFICIALS UP TO THE
POPULATION GROWTH, COMMERCIAL AGRI, WARMING/CLIMATE CHANGE, NUCLEAR POWER CRISIS??  THE WATER CRISIS by Barbara Fitzpatrick.  2014.
Hi Dick - As to the deniers, as I've said before, it's a religion with them.  I'll no more convince them that climate change is real than I will convince them to become Buddhists.  But I can give them many other reasons for taking appropriate action.  (The number one reason is fresh water - they understand droughts even if they won't accept why we're having them - and we simply do not have enough fresh water to run nuclear or fossil fuel power plants AND do commercial agriculture AND actually have water to drink/keep us alive.  That - water - I suspect will be what finally gets things done if anything can.)
Barbara Fitzpatrick  1-6-14


Contact President Obama, your senators and representatives, your state legislators, your county judge, your quorum court, your mayor, your city council. If you don’t have them instantly available on your computer, gather their names and contacts right now, and write them, ask them what they are doing about the crisis, forward these newsletters http://www.omnicenter.org/newsletter-archive/
 , raise hell.


END UN WORLD WATER DAY NEWSLETTER #4, 2015

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