The New York Times. (2022, December 30). In the Pacific, Outcry Over Japan’s Plan to Release Fukushima Wastewater. Retrieved January 29, 2023 from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/30/world/asia/japan-fukushima-wastewater-pacific-radiation.html?searchResultPosition=29

Since the Fukushima disaster, Japan has been storing radioactive water, the article “In the Pacific, Outcry Over Japan’s Plan to Release Fukushima Wastewater” explains. However, there is no longer enough space to store it, meaning that it needs to be released somehow. Japan promises that they will remove the most radioactive particles from the water before they release it into the Pacific, but activists and countries in the Pacific are still nervous about it and ask that Japan defer the release of the water. 

This is one of those situations in which there seems like there are no good options. Although the wastewater does need to go somewhere, I understand why other countries are so worried, especially because they have been negatively affected by radioactivity while being promised they were safe. I think they should do more testing to see if they can get more conclusive results and release the water slowly if necessary.  

The New York Times. (2023, January 14). Cooperation on Climate Is Emerging in the Middle East. Retrieved January 29, 2023 from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/world/middleeast/climate-middle-east-davos.html?searchResultPosition=11

The article “Cooperation on Climate Is Emerging in the Middle East” discusses how Israel and other countries in the Middle East are working together to combat climate change and get enough clean water. The Middle East is an especially dry area, so water is an important issue. In the past, wealthy countries like the Emirates have created clean drinking water by using desalinating techniques. With the new talks, Israel has made desalinated water available to poorer countries like Jordan by trading it for renewable energy plants. 

Especially in recent months there has been lots of tension and violence between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, so it is nice to see cooperation between them, at least on this issue. Although desalination is an energy intensive process, clean water is definitely a necessary resource, so I think it’s fine that they’re using such techniques. Additionally, they are creating solar energy farms that will hopefully offset some of the energy.

The New York Times. (2023, January 22). In a Nation That Nearly Wiped Out Cholera, the Disease Is Surging Back. Retrieved January 29, 2023 from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/22/world/africa/malawi-cholera-outbreak.html?searchResultPosition=6

In the article “In a Nation That Nearly Wiped Out Cholera, the Disease Is Surging Back”, Golden Matonga and John Eligon discuss how cholera cases have been rapidly increasing in the country of Malawi, in southern Africa. Malawi only had two cases of cholera in 2021, but it had more than 900 deaths from the disease in 2022. Cholera spreads with the contamination of drinking water by human waste, and is generally found in countries where large percentages of the population do not have access to clean drinking water. The outbreak was likely caused by a confluence of factors, including few vaccines and healthcare facilities, waning vaccinations, and heavy rains and floods that destroyed bathrooms and hand-washing facilities.

A lot of the time we think that in order to save lives we need to invent new technologies, but most of the time we just need to make existing technologies available to a larger population. Cholera is a preventable disease that people should not continue to die from, and it angers me that people do anyways. Hopefully Malawi and similar countries will be able to restore or implement more water management systems so that further outbreaks of cholera are prevented. 

The Guardian. (2022, August 8). ‘The new normal’: how Europe is being hit by a climate-driven drought crisis. Retrieved January 29, 2023 from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/08/the-new-normal-how-europe-is-being-hit-by-a-climate-driven-drought-crisis

The article “‘The new normal’: how Europe is being hit by a climate-driven drought crisis” discusses how many countries in Europe were affected by a large drought last summer. The article discussed how the farming and food supply industries were particularly affected. For example, “France’s agriculture minister warned the corn harvest is likely to be more than 18% lower than last year, while farmers’ unions say a shortage of cattle fodder as a result of the drought could lead to significant milk shortages in the autumn and winter.” Despite this, water usage may increase in some places as a result of increased tourism and loose restrictions on water. 

This article really highlighted to me how widespread droughts can be. When a drought is localized to a specific area and time period, authorities can get water from other places or use up emergency stores. However, when drought is widespread and pervasive there is not such an easy solution, and the only way to deal with it is for people to use less water in total, so it scares me when countries are unable to implement strict restrictions and the water usage keeps going up.  

The Guardian. (2022, August 14). Drought in England could carry on into new year, experts warn. Retrieved January 29, 2023 from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/14/drought-in-england-could-carry-on-into-new-year-experts-warn

The article “Drought in England could carry on into the new year, experts warn” discusses how southeast England may enter a drought without significant rainfall. The article discusses how it is unlikely that there will be enough rainfall to stop the drought. Although this will affect a lot of people, it would especially affect farmers because less water will be diverted to them. It would also negatively affect the environment because the government prioritizes providing people with water. 

This article was a little surprising to me because I think of England as very wet, so I did not expect them to have a drought. However, climate change is changing the weather in a lot of places, and I hope places that are not used to droughts and hot weather will still be able to deal with them. This article also made me think about how we decide who gets water, especially in places where there is not a long history of water struggles to establish precedent, but instead where it was assumed there would be enough water. 

Elam, S, Kravarik, J. (2022, August 7). Nebraska and Colorado are sparring over water rights. It could be the new norm as rivers dry up. CNN. Retrieved August 28, 2022 from https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/06/us/drought-water-canal-colorado-nebraska-climate/index.html

This month Nebraska announced a plan to build a canal on Colorado land to divert water from the South Platte River. Although a century-old pact between the states allows Nebraska the right to do this, there are still opponents. One such example is Colorado Governor Jared Polis, along with some Colorado farmers, who think the plan is not the best idea. As droughts continue and Colorado’s population grows, Nebraska wants to ensure that it has enough water to water its fields and sustain its population. However, former plans to build canals have failed and the plans could lead to increased tensions between the two states. 

As water levels in rivers and reservoirs continue to decrease, I think it’s likely that we will see more of these water fights in the future. Although this one stayed, and will hopefully continue to stay, pretty civil, I worry about water wars between countries in the future. There have always been wars over water, but increased droughts and population growth will make the problem worse. This article made me think about whether there will be more attempts to divert water from upstream across various borders. 

AP News. (2022, February 22). Haaland: 16 tribal water settlements will get $1.7 billion. Retrieved August 28, 2022 from https://apnews.com/article/environment-and-nature-arizona-water-rights-4cb3ae9b7770f4721809a5cb758744e1

The Biden administration recently announced that $1.7 billion from the federal infrastructure bill will go towards funding tribal rights settlements. In the past, tribes have been blocked from discussions about the division of water rights, despite the fact that the supreme court has declared that they often have senior rights. Now tribes are working to remedy the effects of this by negotiating for settlements. Although tribes have the water rights, settlements give them the money needed to build infrastructure to actually use the water they are owed. AP news lists the following beneficiaries of settlements this year: “Aamodt Litigation Settlement (Pueblos of San Ildefonso, Nambe, Pojoaque, and Tesuque), Blackfeet Nation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Crow Nation, Gila River Indian Community, Navajo-Utah Water Rights Settlement and Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, San Carlos Apache Nation, Tohono O’odham Nation, and White Mountain Apache Tribe.”

Agreements like these are really important in helping to reduce the effects that past wrongs have on the present and on the future. American Indians have almost always been excluded from discussions about resource management, even when it directly impacts them, and as a result often lack basic human rights like clean water. If these settlements do their job, more people will have access to clean water, which is extremely important when you look at a future that has more droughts and less water, a fact that the other articles I read touched upon. Policy and politics such as the things described in this article are an important part of what makes environmental science an interdisciplinary and impactful field of study. 

The Guardian. (2022, August 16). US issues western water cuts as drought leaves Colorado River near ‘tipping point’. Retrieved August 28, 2022 from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/16/drastic-water-cuts-expected-as-megadrought-grips-western-us-states

For years humans have used more and more water from the Colorado River, depleting water levels in its reservoirs. Although the federal government has encouraged Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico to decrease their water usage, only in the last two years have they enforced mandatory cuts on water usage because of threats to water delivery and hydroelectric power generation. Both Lake Mead and Lake Powell, two of the largest reservoirs in the country, have  been at dangerously low levels that, if they got any lower, could stop power generation and water delivery. Although the federal government also imposed cuts last year, the drought has continued, and the cuts on water usage have increased further this year. If the cuts continue not to work as much as needed, deeper cuts or cuts that affect more states, including California, could be enforced. 

I think that it’s necessary for the western United States and Mexico to use less water, and I agree with the government that water cuts are probably a necessary solution. However if the drought continues I worry how deeper cuts could affect the farmers and other people living in these places. The article mentioned that the government has been paying farmers to keep their fields fallow, which seems like a good strategy for compensating farmers in the short term for their financial loss. Hopefully as time goes on we will be able to develop and put into practice strategies that do the least amount of damage to the most vulnerable among us while still reducing water usage.

AP News. (2022, June 22). Nevada Supreme Court ruling shakes up groundwater rights. Retrieved August 28, 2022 from https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-droughts-reno-nevada-bb7c27a9ec000a2424107d1597daa790

Recently the Nevada Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that water management plans in places with depleting groundwater do not have to follow the “priority doctrine” that has traditionally governed water rights laws in the area. The Diamond Valley is an agricultural area that has been depleting its groundwater rapidly, resulting in its designation as a Critical Management Area. While it remains in a critical state, the Nevada government is able to make plans that deviate from the “priority doctrine”, as long as they have been approved by an engineer and most of the water-users within the area. Traditionally, water rights in the western United States have essentially functioned on a first-come, first-serve basis, where those that claim water first have priority over those that come later. Thus, this Nevada ruling is a break from the norm and significantly changes the water rights system in the state. 

This ruling allows the government to prioritize the continued availability of groundwater over traditional systems for water management, which is important as Nevada gets even drier as climate change continues. In places such as the Diamond Valley, the tragedy of the commons has come into effect and water has been severely depleted. I have hope that this ruling will allow Nevada’s government to start to replenish the state’s water supply, although that will be hard as they need to balance farmer’s and consumer’s needs with the need for preservation. In a way, I’m surprised that a ruling like this didn’t happen earlier and that it was still so close. It seems that it’s important for the government to be able to manage water usage regardless of how early a certain company or group claimed the water. However there might be part of this that I’m missing, and I can see how overreach by the government on this issue could result in significant problems. 

AP News. (2022, June 11). Oregon county declares emergency over water contamination. Retrieved August 28, 2022 from https://apnews.com/article/oregon-government-and-politics-climate-environment-water-management-quality-91be0b5b086a483b7810041ddfbd8ace

Last month, Morrow County, Oregon declared a local state of emergency after high levels of nitrate contamination were found in wells and tap water in the area. Drinking water contaminated with nitrate is dangerous because it can cause respiratory infections, thyroid dysfunction, and increased risk of stomach and bladder cancers. Nitrate contamination can be especially dangerous for babies, as it decreases the blood’s ability to carry oxygen, resulting in a blue coloring, called “blue baby syndrome”. Increased nitrate levels are often a result of contamination from fertilizers, and the company Port of Morrow was recently fined $1.3 million for dumping nitrogen-rich wastewater onto the ground and not monitoring nitrate levels. For now, residents have been drinking boiled or bottled water while the government attempts to fix the crisis. 

To me, this article illustrated the harmful effects that companies can have when they don’t prioritize environmental impact. Although the government had fined them earlier this year, they didn’t do it early enough and the general population felt the impacts. However, it’s encouraging that the county has declared a state of emergency, and I hope that this declaration will give them the funding and drive necessary to fix the immediate problem. In the end, it’s much easier to prevent the problem from happening in the first place than having to solve it afterwards, but it seems like they are dealing with the problem as best as they can for now. This article relates to environmental science as it underscores how things that negatively affect the ecosystem, like increased nitrate levels, also affect humans, illustrating how interconnected and interdependent we are, which is one of the key philosophies of environmental science.