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The southern region, encompassing states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, has significantly reduced <keyword id="15300" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="water" source="Orion">water</keyword> storage compared to historical averages at just 17 per cent of reservoir capacity, according to the recent bulletin of the <keyword id="19912241" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Central-Water-Commission" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Central Water Commission" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Central Water Commission">Central Water Commission</keyword>. In the bulletin released by the CWC late Thursday concerning reservoir storage levels across various regions of India, it was reported that 42 reservoirs under CWC monitoring in the southern region have a total live storage capacity of 53.334 BCM (billion cubic meters). As per the latest report, the total live storage available in these reservoirs stands at 8.865 BCM, representing only 17 per cent of their total capacity. This figure is considerably lower compared to the storage levels during the same period last year (29 per cent) and the ten-year average for the corresponding period (23 per cent). The reduced storage levels in the southern region are indicative of worsening <keyword id="15300" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="water" source="Orion">water</keyword> scarcity and potential challenges for irrigation, <keyword id="20333839" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="drinking-water-supply" source="keywords">drinking water supply</keyword> and hydroelectric power generation in these states. In contrast, the eastern region, comprising states like Assam, Odisha and West Bengal, has shown a positive improvement in water storage levels compared to last year and the ten-year average. The bulletin highlighted that in this region, 23 monitored reservoirs with a total live storage capacity of 20.430 BCM currently hold 7.889 BCM of water, representing 39 per cent of their total capacity. This marks an improvement over the storage levels from the same period last year (34 per cent) and the ten-year average (34 per cent). The situation is less optimistic in other regions. The western region, consisting of Gujarat and Maharashtra, reports storage levels of 11.771 BCM, which is 31.7 per cent of the total capacity of 49 monitored reservoirs. This is notably lower compared to the storage levels of the previous year (38 per cent) and the ten-year average (32.1 per cent). Similarly, the northern and central regions also show declines in water storage levels compared to historical averages. The broader analysis provided in the bulletin categorizes reservoir storage across various river basins as "better than normal," "close to normal," "deficient," or "highly deficient". Notably, river basins like Brahmaputra, Narmada and Tapi are marked as having better-than-normal storage levels, whereas basins like Cauvery and east flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Pennar are classified as highly deficient. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/ultraviolette-f77-mach-2-electric-sports-bike-launched-in-india-starting-at-2-99-lakh/slidelist/109615934.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/ultraviolette-f77-mach-2-electric-sports-bike-launched-in-india-starting-at-2-99-lakh/slidelist/109615934.cms" target="_blank">Ultraviolette F77 Mach 2 electric sports bike launched in India starting at ₹2.99 lakh</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/realme-c65-5g-with-5000mah-battery-120hz-display-launched-starting-at-10499/articleshow/109619597.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/realme-c65-5g-with-5000mah-battery-120hz-display-launched-starting-at-10499/articleshow/109619597.cms" target="_blank">Realme C65 5G with 5,000mAh battery, 120Hz display launched starting at ₹10,499</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/jiocinema-introduces-new-ad-free-premium-plans-starting-at-29/articleshow/109581033.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/jiocinema-introduces-new-ad-free-premium-plans-starting-at-29/articleshow/109581033.cms" target="_blank">An Ambani disruption in OTT: At just ₹1 per day, you can now enjoy ad-free content on JioCinema</a>

Southern India faces water crisis as reservoir levels plunge to just 17% capacity: CWC

<ul class="summary-list"><li>California has spent decades battling droughts and water insecurity.</li><li>Startups like Epic Cleantec are innovating with on-site water reuse.</li></ul>Despite enduring droughts for <a target="_blank" href="https://ca.water.usgs.gov/california-drought/california-drought-runoff.html">much of the past 15 years</a>, California continues to lead the nation in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-qa-which-states-use-most-water">water consumption</a>.During these <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-drought-could-impact-agriculture-tourism-wildlife-2021-6">dry periods</a>, some of the state's local governments began to look for ways to <a target="_blank" href="https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2023/in-times-of-scarcity-californias-best-new-source-of-water-reuse/">diversify their water supplies</a> away from lengthy pipelines and expensive, out-of-state sources.In 2012, San Francisco's Public Utilities Commission began developing the Onsite Water Reuse Program to investigate whether water reuse, also known as water recycling, in buildings could be a solution to California's water problem."There weren't any state or national regulations," Paula Kehoe, the director of water resources at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, told Business Insider. Kehoe and her team created a permitting program to streamline the adoption of on-site water-reuse systems developed by private businesses.As the US faces a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/09/25/more-federal-funding-needed-to-improve-drinking-water-epa-study-finds#:~:text=Water%20utilities%20throughout%20the%20United,Environmental%20Protection%20Agency%20(EPA).">$625 billion cost to address the nation's need to repair drinking- and clean-water infrastructure</a>, on-site water reuse is quickly becoming a strong alternative to the historically slow and expensive process of building large water-recycling plants.With droughts predicted to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/california-droughts-gavin-newsom-recycling-c22de8f25b9d6a2bf69277a7185abc0f">reduce California's water supply by 10%</a> over the next 20 years, the success of these systems could lay the foundation for how the state sources its water over several decades.<h2 id="8b14ae19-3316-4bcf-9798-263a2b1e1e25">Silicon Valley is investing in on-site water recycling</h2>In 2015, during the height of California's drought and after three years of development, San Francisco unveiled the Onsite Water Reuse Program requiring all new buildings of 250,000 square feet or more to install an on-site water-treatment system for nonpotable uses, a cap that was lowered to 100,000 square feet in 2021.The city's tech background and proximity to Silicon Valley gave some <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gradiant-water-startup-helps-businesses-recycle-water-2023-7">startups an opportunity</a> to enter the market. In 2019, Epic Cleantec, a maker of on-site water-reuse systems, emerged to meet the necessary demand for new large buildings.Aaron Tartakovsky, Epic Cleantec's cofounder and CEO, developed the company to address the water-reuse needs of large city buildings.He told BI he took inspiration from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-careers-in-demand-workforce-shortage-2024-7">solar industry</a>, which he said had turned to local installation projects after prioritizing large-scale solar-panel farms. "Can we do the same thing for water and wastewater?" Tartakovsky said. "Can this be water's solar moment?"<div type="image" title="Aaron Tartovsky, founder of epic cleantec" height="2268" width="3024" msid="111870886" hostid="261" sizebytes="137524"></div>Epic Cleantec's on-site systems can recycle building gray water for nonpotable uses, including toilet flushing and irrigation, through their filtration and disinfection process. The company's systems also incorporate an energy-saving mechanism to limit the amount of wasted heat."We have big tanks in these buildings that are collecting all this heated wastewater," Tartakovsky said. "Rather than just sending all that heat away, we are using heat exchangers to take all of that energy from the water and then to reuse that energy within the building."Epic Cleantec has six active projects in California, including a recent system in San Francisco's Salesforce Tower that the company says is the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://epiccleantec.com/projects/salesforce">largest on-site water-reuse system in a US commercial high-rise</a>.The company has also entered the hotel sector with a recycling system in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Beverly Hills. Recycled water is being used for on-site irrigation.In a drought-conscious state, Tartakovsky said the on-site recycling systems had become more appealing to tenants looking for ways to contribute to the state's water-conservation mindset.The adoption of on-site water reuse can also be a sensible decision for developers. "They're not working with us just because it's a nice thing to do and it's good for the planet," he said. "They're doing it because it makes business sense — it saves them a lot of money to incorporate technologies like ours into these projects."<h2 id="075e558b-3852-4981-bc08-a5e2095ce6fb">Water reuse to overcome hurdles</h2>While large plants and on-site water systems in major buildings have been California's <a target="_blank" href="https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2023/in-times-of-scarcity-californias-best-new-source-of-water-reuse/">more established methods</a> of water reuse, the state's biggest hurdle is retrofitting systems for existing buildings.As part of San Francisco's water-recycling initiative, the city published a list of 30 vendors that provide on-site systems that can be installed in existing buildings and new constructions to collect different types of water, including rainwater, gray water, and black water.While most of the vendors offer reuse systems and water management for new constructions, some companies, such as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bioclere.co.uk/bioclere.php">Bioclere</a>, Phoenix's <a target="_blank" href="https://dewater.com/markets/aquacell-water-recycling/">Aquacell</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://innovatreat.com/">Innovatreat</a>, make systems designed to be retrofitted into existing buildings and community infrastructure.<div type="image" title="Epic Cleantec One Water system installed" height="2626" width="1751" msid="111870887" hostid="261" sizebytes="125772"></div>Erik Porse, the director and associate cooperative extension specialist at the California Institute for Water Resources, told BI these retrofits are more difficult to install because of the limitations of size and existing water pipes. "If you have a larger facility, like more area, then you can think about on-site treatment of some sort," he said. "But if you're kind of working in an existing building, like a small building, it can be kind of tough to integrate in lots of treatments."California's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-central-valley-farms-groundwater-dought-2023-7">agriculture sector</a> also relies on water-reuse systems for nonpotable water — a key part of crop irrigation. Since the state has the highest agricultural output in the country, recycled water is important for maintaining crops, especially in times of drought. California is the leader in <a target="_blank" href="https://watereuse.org/educate/water-reuse-101/agricultural-reuse/">using reused water for agriculture</a> across the US.However, the extent to which recycled water is used in agriculture depends on a state's guidelines, many of which are underdeveloped. For example, Iowa is one of the highest producers of crops but does not have any regulations for the use of reused water in agriculture. Instead, the state is experimenting with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cals.iastate.edu/inrc/news/2024/new-report-shares-latest-research-potential-ag-drainage-water-recycling">drainage-water recycling</a>, or collecting water from farming, and local infrastructure that captures used drainage and rainfall for reuse in on-site irrigation.Nonpotable water can also help in one of the country's newest sources of water loss: data centers. States like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsweek.com/why-ai-so-thirsty-data-centers-use-massive-amounts-water-1882374">Iowa</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://grist.org/technology/surging-demand-data-guzzling-water-ai/">Virginia</a> have seen massive strains on their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-data-energy-centers-water-energy-land-2023-10">water supplies</a> due to the increased construction of these facilities. "Those data centers use huge amounts of water to cool themselves," Tartakovsky said.Tartakovsky hopes Epic Cleantec's recent expansions to states such as Texas, Florida, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-water-crisis-climate-change/">Hawaii</a> can help in ways beyond water scarcity. "A lot of people think you only need it in the Western states, but in places like the East Coast, a lot of times what they have is wastewater-infrastructure issues," he said. "We have pipes and sewers that were put in place anywhere from 30 to 100 years ago."<h2 id="8d5654cd-d3b7-4f2e-89c8-d5d9a678cdde">Rethinking our relationship with water</h2>To help promote the safety of its recycled water, Epic Cleantec partnered with a brewery near San Francisco, Devil's Canyon Brewing Co., to make a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/half-moon-bay-brewery-california-recycled-wastewater-nasa-astronauts-2023-7">safe-to-drink beer</a> out of its nonpotable water. The beer could not be sold commercially since the state has not cleared nonpotable water for drinking, but Tartakovsky credits the campaign with highlighting the company's purification process.Other states could learn from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/04/14/state-expands-save-our-water-public-awareness-campaign-as-drought-intensifies/">public-awareness campaigns</a> California has promoted for several decades to help residents embrace water reuse. During times of drought, the state has encouraged water conservation and water recycling, such as the use of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2022-06-21/gardening-with-recycled-water">recycled water for plants</a>. "We've seen a pretty big evolution in California cities, especially in Southern California, that folks understand that water reuse is a treatment technology that we use in the state, and it's important, and it provides supply resilience," Porse said.In Texas, a fellow drought-prone state, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://takecareoftexas.org/water">Take Care of Texas </a>campaign similarly encourages community support for water conservation so the state can survive in times of water scarcity.Porse told BI that in California as public support grows, so will government regulations. In 2023, California made progress toward establishing recycled water for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/press_room/press_releases/2023/pr20231219-dpr-regulations-adoption.pdf">direct potable reuse</a> and allowing recycled water to be used in the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-drinking-toilet-water-sewage-waste-drought-climate-crisis-solution-2023-12">state's drinking-water supply</a>.For Kehoe, the key to creating stronger water infrastructure is a partnership between communities that endures beyond times of scarcity."We always talk about water conservation as a way of life," Kehoe said. "It's not just during the drought."

Droughts are threatening California's water supply. The state is racing to save what's left. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Andrew Halter delivers water 1,200 miles by rail to the Navajo Nation from Mississippi.</li><li>Navajo Nation residents struggle with water scarcity, with 30% lacking reliable drinking water.</li></ul>Andrew Halter had been in the railroad business for 25 years, mostly in middle management roles. It was his dream job and all he ever wanted to do.But when the world shut down in 2020, and he got laid off, he needed to figure something else out."It came to me one day like a clap of thunder," Halter, who is based in Pennsylvania, told Business Insider.Halter and his brother had long talked about the possibility of using rail to help alleviate the water crisis in the Navajo Nation. His brother, Chris Halter, runs the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.stbonaventuremission.org">St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School</a>, located on the southeastern edge of the reservation, which spans more than 27,000 square miles across parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.Nearly a third of <a target="_blank" href="https://nndwr.navajo-nsn.gov/">Navajo Nation</a> residents do not have access to reliable, clean drinking water, according to the tribe. The estimated population was over 165,000 in 2020, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://data.census.gov/profile/Navajo_Nation_Reservation_and_Off-Reservation_Trust_Land,_AZ--NM--UT?g=2500000US2430">census data</a>.The mission was already delivering water via trucks to 250 families, a small portion of the Navajo who are water-scarce. The families receive about 40 gallons of water a day, far less than the 300 gallons the average American family uses. The mission has relied on a local well to get the water, but if something happened to it, all those families would be without any water virtually overnight."To be honest, it was always the thing that would wake me up in the middle of the night," Chris Halter told BI. "If that well shuts down for some reason, what would I do next?"Now, Halter's company, <a target="_blank" href="https://jacobswell8.godaddysites.com">Jacob's Well</a>, in partnership with the mission, delivers thousands of gallons of water each month from Mississippi to the Navajo Nation via the BNSF Railway. The water-by-rail served as a lifeline in 2022 when the well had to undergo repairs that lasted months.The operation has grown quickly, and Halter is focused on expanding, both to provide more water to the Navajo Nation but also potentially to other places in the West, where dried up rivers and reservoirs are leaving communities increasingly desperate for solutions.<div type="image" title="Tank car" height="2049" width="3209" msid="110505100" hostid="261"></div><h2 id="a684fd17-93b4-488f-a009-a0f311e3306b">Some thought the water-by-rail idea was crazy</h2>When Halter first started calling railroads about transporting drinkable water, some thought the idea was crazy.He finally got in touch with Eunice Sun at BNSF, who currently serves as the business development manager of emerging markets."We haven't moved potable water prior to this opportunity, really, because the economics don't necessarily pencil out in order to pay for that water and pay for the transport," Sun told BI. But when Halter came to her, she said he did a great job communicating his vision and business plan.Halter said right now they can transport water, depending on fuel prices and other fluctuating costs, for around 38 cents a gallon. Currently, those costs are covered almost entirely by private donations to the mission. However, as the operation scales up and he transports more tank cars of water, those costs could come down.Getting a public utility to sell him hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per month was another story. "A lot of times, they think you're crazy," Halter said. Still, they were able to work out a deal with the water department of Helena, Mississippi, where Jacob's Well collects its water before it travels 1,200 miles by rail to the southwest.Once it arrives, the Navajo families can pick up water from the mission or have it delivered to their homes, just as the well water is.Originally, Halter said he couldn't even find information about how the water would travel, and it took a lot of testing before and after transport to ensure the supply stayed safe to drink."We've kind of had to wing it and make up our own rules as we go along and figure some things out the hard way, which we did," he said.It took around eight months from when Halter first contacted BNSF for the first shipment to go out, and the operation has only grown since. Halter said they currently average around two tank cars a month, which each hold 21,000 gallons of water, but the operation is capable of delivering 200,000 gallons a month if needed.They sent half a million gallons of water total in 2023. He's hoping to reach 2 million this year.<div type="image" title="Water truck" height="400" width="600" msid="110505104" hostid="261"></div><h2 id="b3ba473f-e5dc-4635-868b-ff5aed905355">Emergency water supply and the water crisis</h2>It's unclear at this point how scalable or economically feasible water-by-rail will be in other places, but those involved are hopeful.Chris Halter said he's currently conducting a study that he hopes will show the project has had a sound return on investment so that he can show tribal, local, and state governments that this is a feasible option.Sun said expanding Jacob's Well wouldn't come without growing pains, but that BNSF is happy to help support the project's growth. "It tugs at your heartstrings," she said, adding that it's not often she gets to work on a project that has such a direct positive impact on a local community.Halter sees water-by-rail as something that could fill a serious need in all sorts of situations, from communities whose wells run dry to natural disasters. He's already been in touch with the state of New Mexico and FEMA. He's hopeful that rail will be among the solutions that help alleviate the broader water crisis.After getting a severe case of COVID-19, Halter lost the use of his right hand and was not able to go back to work on the railroad, so he now runs Jacob's Well full time."It's become a driving mission to give these people water," he said. "I want to be able to provide people with water at the lowest cost possible, and I want it to make enough money to support itself, but I don't need to get wealthy on it."For now the operation is run on donations, but they're hoping they can get grant money or other public funds to help support it in the future."Water is a human right," Halter said. "And they should be able to have it."Have a news tip or a story to share? Contact this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:kvlamis@businessinsider.com">kvlamis@businessinsider.com</a>.

A railroad worker figured out how to send thousands of gallons of drinking water by rail from Mississippi to the Navajo Nation to alleviate the water crisis

<ul class="summary-list"><li>California approved a measure allowing it to convert wastewater into drinking water.</li><li>The measure comes as the region has battled<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/satellite-images-show-california-mega-drought-drying-up-lakes-forest-2021-7"> severe drought </a>over the past few years.</li></ul>Californians could soon have sewage waste coming out of their taps — purified, of course.California's State Water Resources Control Board recently approved regulations allowing water systems to convert wastewater, like sewage and toilet water, into purified water that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/orange-county-purest-drinking-water-filtered-sewage-2019-10">Californians can drink</a>.According to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/press_room/press_releases/2023/pr20231219-dpr-regulations-adoption.pdf">board's</a> December 19 press release, the measure would give California the "most advanced standards in the nation" to repurpose wastewater in a way that meets drinking standards. The process, known as direct potable reuse, would allow water systems to add millions of gallons of drinking water to their supplies while reducing the amount of waste that flows into oceans."This is an exciting development in the state's ongoing efforts to find innovative solutions to the challenges of extreme weather driven by climate change," E. Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the Water Resources Control Board, said in a statement."On top of helping us build drought-resilient water supplies, direct potable reuse offers energy savings and environmental benefits," he continued. "And most importantly, these regulations ensure that the water produced is not only safe, but purer than many drinking water sources we now rely on."<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-drought-aerial-photos-dried-lakes-reservoirs-2021-7">California has experienced the driest period in its history</a> over the past few years. While heavy rainfall this year led the US Drought Monitor to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/21/us/california-drought-hilary.html">declare</a> most of the state drought-free in August, the ongoing climate crisis continues to exacerbate water scarcity concerns.And while California's latest regulations are new, drinking converted wastewater isn't. Texas, for example, started employing the method in 2013, a brewery in California's Half Moon Bay <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/half-moon-bay-brewery-california-recycled-wastewater-nasa-astronauts-2023-7">switched to recycled wastewater</a> to combat drought over the summer, and Colorado's water board approved the process last year.California's water board wrote in its press release that once the new regulations are finalized by the Office of Administrative Law next year, water systems in the state can start submitting plans to begin purifying wastewater."We want to just use it as much as we can," Rebecca Kimitch, press office manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, <a target="_blank" href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4362918-california-toilet-to-tap-water-direct-potable-reuse-proposal-what-to-know/">told</a> The Hill. "Using it once and then sending it to the ocean — that's not being as efficient and as sustainable as we can be."

Purified toilet water could soon be flowing through Californians' taps as the state battles drought

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13357801" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="food-scarcity" source="Orion">Food scarcity</keyword> is likely to surge in countries throughout the world due to Russia's war with Ukraine. </li><li>In the past, that's led to <keyword id="13357802" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="riots" source="Orion">riots</keyword> — most recently the <keyword id="13357803" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arab-spring" source="Orion">Arab Spring</keyword> and <keyword id="11894142" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="food" source="Orion">food</keyword> crises in 2007 and 2008. </li></ul>When Vladimir Putin invaded Europe's breadbasket, he may have set off shockwaves that could cause civil unrest worldwide.Together, Ukraine and Russia <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/oil-price-gold-platinum-russia-invades-ukraine-aluminum-nickel-wheat-2022-2">produce</a> nearly a third of the world's wheat, 19% of the world's corn, and 80% of its sunflower oil <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-europe-sunflower/eu-facing-shortfall-in-sunflower-oil-due-to-ukraine-war-producers-idUSKBN2L118T">supply</a>. The crisis in these countries means the world's food supply chain will take a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60653856">major hit</a>, putting more people at risk of starvation throughout the globe. "I would almost say that no country is going to be immune from this kind of trifecta of political risk: pandemic hangover, rising prices, and pressure on living standards," Tina Fordham, a global political analyst, told Insider. Soaring food prices, especially bread, have been a trigger for protests, civil unrest, and revolutions in France, Russia, and the Middle East in the past. With wheat prices up <a href="https://www.axios.com/wheat-prices-surge-russia-ukraine-middle-east-80b49d7d-9227-4786-946d-5012b8d8f373.html">70%</a> in the last month, experts worry that countries with an unstable food supply that rely on Ukraine and Russia are at particular risk. Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Yemen, in particular, get <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/03/06/1083769798/russias-war-on-ukraine-is-dire-for-world-hunger-but-there-are-solutions?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axiospm&amp;stream=top">more than half</a> of their imported calories from the region — they're looking at a possible surge of severe malnutrition and starvation. <h2>Hunger has driven rebellions in very recent history</h2>Two events in recent history renewed scholastic interest in the relationship between food prices and political instability, Slate's Joshua Keating <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2014/04/food-riots-and-revolution-grain-prices-predict-political-instability.html">wrote</a> in 2014. A food crisis in 2007 and 2008 due to <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/225na1_en.pdf">weather shocks and trade restrictions</a> to the food market triggered riots in countries like Haiti, Bangladesh, and Mozambique.Food scarcity also played a large role in the Arab Spring, a series of anti-government protests in the Middle East in the early 2010s after international food prices <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/17/bread-food-arab-spring">shot up</a>, unemployment rose, and frustration with corrupt political systems peaked. One of the driving forces behind the Arab Spring, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/world-july-dec11-food_09-07">experts say</a>, was the high cost of food. Shrinking farmlands, bad weather, and poor water distribution contributed to higher prices and, as a result, anti-government sentiment. "I think that the prices of food mobilized people," Rami Zurayk, an agronomy professor at the American University of Beirut, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/world-july-dec11-food_09-07">told </a>PBS NewsHour about the Arab Spring. In Syria, for instance, drought disrupted food production in the late 2000s. Poverty and food insecurity shot up in the country, and "the social unrest that had been simmering for a while in rural areas erupted into riots," Giulia Soffiantini, a researcher for the Global Food Security Journal, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211912420300547">wrote</a> in 2020. Soffiantini said that these riots largely involved many of those young people who had left their lands because of the drought. "While the riots that swept through Syria in March 2011 are clearly a reaction to a brutal regime far from the needs of the people and a response to the wave of political change that began in Tunisia," she said, "the civil war and the rise of rebel groups exemplifies the potential effects of food insecurity on political instability as a catalyst for social unrest." Civil unrest is one likely outcome of the impending food crisis, Fordham said, in addition to leaders becoming more unpopular, crime, increased health and malnutrition, especially for populations in countries that are at most risk. And she says that this is going to have a powerful impact on how people view their governments and leaders. "This is a problem for every sitting incumbent leader: Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro, Joe Biden, this is the worst combination of factors for elected officials," she said. "Countries having elections in the coming months are at special risk of tensions." <h2>Surging food prices have caused people to revolt in centuries past too </h2>Bread shortages were flashpoints for unrest throughout history, including in the <keyword id="13357805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="french-revolution" source="Orion">French Revolution</keyword> in the late 18th century.Tensions began in the 1700s in France, when the crown deregulated the domestic grain trade — meaning sellers were free to increase prices as they wished. That deregulation, among other factors such as a huge rise in population, contributed to food shortages and high costs. In April and May of 1775, at least 300 riots and expeditions occurred in the span of three weeks, in what was coined the "Flour War." The rioters set the prices of grain, flour, and bread back to lower levels, Cynthia A. Bouton, a women's and gender studies professor specializing in French history, writes in her book, The Flour War. Farmers and merchants had no choice but to accept them, given that the alternative was pillaging. Bouton describes people with families and jobs as being driven to rioting. The "average" person involved was "a middle-aged, married, semi-skilled wage-earning male or female with young children" whose family's survival was threatened by the increasing price of grain. "Food rioting flourished during the 18th century and the Revolutionary period, so much so that historians have often observed that food riots were the most classic form of popular protest during that period," Bouton says.

Russia is disrupting food prices worldwide and it could cause civil unrest — it's happened before

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Google is thirsty.</li><li>Its latest environmental report shows a 20% jump in water consumption in its data centers.</li></ul>Google just published its 2023 environmental report, and one thing is for certain: The company's water use is soaring.<a href="https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/google-2023-environmental-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The internet giant said</a> it consumed 5.6 billion gallons of water in 2022, the equivalent of 37 golf courses. Most of that -- 5.2 billion gallons -- was used for the company's data centers, a 20% increase on <a href="https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/2022-us-data-center-water.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the amount Google reported the year prior</a>.The numbers provide a stark reminder of the environmental cost of running huge data centers, which often require vast amounts of water to stay cool. And as Google and every other tech company in the AI arms race <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/data-centers-ai-artificial-intelligence-farmland-power-2023-7">speed to build new data centers</a>, the amount of water they consume will very likely keep rising.The 20% jump in water consumption is roughly in line with the increase in Google's compute capacity, which has been largely driven by AI, said Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside.However, Ren said he's skeptical that this increase is sustainable in the long term, even with Google's commitment to replenish water to offset its usage. "It just makes their water accounting looks nicer, but the water is still consumed," he told Insider.Google said it has targeted 2030 as a deadline to replenish 120% of the freshwater it consumes across its offices and data centers. Right now it's replenishing just 6%, according to its own report.The majority of the water Google is consuming right now is "potable," clean enough to be used as drinking water.In its latest report, Google said it takes "local water stress" (another way of saying scarcity) into account, and said 82% of its freshwater withdrawals in 2022 came from regions with low water stress.For the remaining 18%, it says it's "exploring new partnerships and opportunities" to improve watershed health, but it may face increased resistance as more places face water shortages.In 2019, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arizona-running-out-of-water-data-centers-blame-microsoft-google-2023-6">Google planned a data center in Mesa, Arizona</a> that got a guarantee of up to 4 million gallons of water a day. But as Insider's Alistair Barr recently pointed out, Arizona is already facing a water shortage <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arizona-limits-development-phoenix-houses-homebuilding-water-shortage-katie-hobbs-2023-6">that could put the brakes on some of these types of deals</a>.Indeed, a Google spokesperson told Insider that, once completed, the Mesa data center will now make use of "air-cooled technology" instead.Google isn't the only one that's thirsty. Meta, which is also building a data center in Arizona, used more than <a href="https://about.meta.com/file/1738907649898873/Meta-2023-Responsible-Business-Practices-Report.pdf/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2.6 million cubic meters</a> (about 697 million gallons) of water in 2022, mostly for data centers. Its latest large language model, Llama 2, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-llama2-ai-uses-almost-twice-water-as-llama-2023-7">took a lot of water to train</a>.

Google's water use is soaring. AI is only going to make it worse.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>New research says bitcoin's water footprint has soared 278% since 2020.</li><li>Mining operations will use 591 billion gallons this year, Alex de Vries wrote for Cells Report Sustainability.</li></ul>Bitcoin's annual water footprint has been soaring as mining the cryptocurrency sucks up hundreds of billions of gallons, according to a researcher.The peer-reviewed journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-sustainability/fulltext/S2949-7906(23)00004-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cells Report Sustainability</a> posted commentary last week from Alex de Vries, a doctoral candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, who estimated that bitcoin's water footprint will hit 591 billion gallons this year, up 278% from 2020."Bitcoin's expanding water footprint must be considered in the context of escalating water scarcity," he wrote, citing growing water issues in the western US and Kazakhstan, two large crypto mining regions.Mining operations rely on computers to solve complex calculations to unlock new bitcoin tokens. As this is energy-intensive, water is used to cool the computer servers that run them as well as air-conditioning systems. Water is also indirectly consumed as it's used to cool power plants that provide electricity for miners.These uses cause water loss through evaporation, while adding pressure on groundwater supplies.To estimate the indirect use, De Vries relied on Cambridge data of the large-scale bitcoin operations in the US, and compared it with the water intensity of electric generation on each specific grid. When adding direct usage, "the total water footprint of US Bitcoin miners could be equivalent to the average annual water consumption of around 300,000 US households, comparable with a city such as Washington, DC," De Vries wrote. To lessen mining's water impact, he suggested that miners center operations in areas that rely on renewable energy sources.However, some uncertainty remains, as the Cambridge data sample represents only 44% of the global total in bitcoin mining.Meanwhile, a <a href="https://inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Bitcoins-Environmental-Footprint-UNU-INWEH-2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UN study from October</a> that relied on different data found that mining resulted in a 255 billion-gallon footprint in 2021, much less than De Vries' estimate of 415 billion for that year.

New research says bitcoin mining is sucking up more and more water, with use increasing 278% since 2020

<ul><li>IT companies in Chennai have asked their employees to work from home for the next 100 days. </li><li>The move will address the existing water scarcity in the city. </li><li>12 companies have asked 5,000 employees to work according to their convenience, from anywhere.</li></ul>Owing to water shortage, IT companies in India are asking their employees to ‘work from home’ for the next 100 days, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/no-water-work-from-home-it-cos-tell-staff/articleshow/69763283.cms?utm_source=whatsapp&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=TOI_whatsbroadcast&amp;utm_content=2019_06_13&amp;from=mdr">according to TOI.</a> Nearly 12 IT companies in Chennai have asked over 5,000 of its employees to work according to their convenience, as long as they meet their targets. This is due to lack of rainfall in the city for over 200 days now. The situation is expected to remain the same for the next three months. “The last time IT companies asked employees to work from home was during a strike called by private tankers, four years back,” TOI reported citing sources. Over half (55%) of the large IT companies in the metro already depend on recycled water sources. However, offices also consume high amount of water for air conditioning. IT firms have been taking various steps to address the water problem. While a few organisations have asked employees to bring their own drinking water, others have put up posters on conservation. The 600 IT and ITeS firms on OMR (Old Mahabalipuram Road) employ nearly 320,000 professionals. The OMR area consumes 30 million litres of water daily — with 20 million litres going straight to the IT park and other companies. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/in-india-flexibility-overpowers-pay-hike-on-job-change/articleshow/67975325.cms">In India, employees are prioritising ‘remote work policy’ while taking up a job — and will even take a pay cut</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/always-on-work-culture-is-affecting-mental-health-of-indians/articleshow/69522649.cms">‘Always On’ work culture is affecting mental health of Indians</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indians-will-prefer-to-learn-a-new-skill-if-they-have-a-four-days-work-week-survey/articleshow/68516702.cms">Indians were asked what they would do in their free time if they could work for four days a week — and their answers are unexpected</a>

You Searched For "water scarcity" and got 8 results

Southern India faces water crisis as reservoir levels plunge to just 17% capacity: CWC

PTI

Droughts are threatening California's water supply. The state is racing to save what's left.

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A railroad worker figured out how to send thousands of gallons of drinking water by rail from Mississippi to the Navajo Nation to alleviate the water crisis

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Russia is disrupting food prices worldwide and it could cause civil unrest — it's happened before

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Google's water use is soaring. AI is only going to make it worse.

Hugh Langley

New research says bitcoin mining is sucking up more and more water, with use increasing 278% since 2020

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5,000 IT employees in Chennai are working from home because offices have run out of water

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