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:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OMNIPeaceDept
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
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.
About - Statistics - Publications - Water in the post-2015
You've visited
this page 2 times. Last visit: 3/22/12
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
https://www.facebook.com/UNWorldWaterDay
Official United
Nations' World Water Day Facebook page. World ... Follow
us on https://www.facebook.com/unwater to learn more about World Water
Day 2015!
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 ...
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 ...
www.timeanddate.com
› Calendar › Holidays
Time and Date
The United
Nations' (UN) World 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
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:
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
Email this page
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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
Home
ABOUT US
OUR WORK
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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
·
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:
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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