The Stream, July 11: New Indian Government’s First Budget Includes Water Projects

Improvements to Delhi’s water supply system, assessments of canals that will link major rivers, solar pumps for irrigation wells, and a proposal to clean up the Ganges River are all included in the first budget from Narendra Modi, India’s newly elected prime minister. Of those initiatives, the Ganges garners the largest piece of the pie, at $US 333 million.

Floods in Canada
After yet another summer deluge in Canada’s prairie provinces, hydrologists are mulling the causes for the flooding.

A report from the University of Saskatchewan suggests that the conversion of wetlands and ponds to farm fields has sapped the land of its capacity to retain water, according to the Globe and Mail. The report’s author called the effect of the land conversion on water flows one of the strongest in the world.

Wastewater Recycling
A facility that cleans up to 500,000 gallons of salty water per day that flows out of oil wells will be operating in Midland, Texas by the end of August, MIT Technology Review reports. Recycling the brine is proving cheaper than injecting the waste thousands of feet underground and buying fresh water.

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Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton