Drought

Protecting Rivers, Reducing Climate Vulnerability

Climate change is bringing more extreme floods and droughts. Floodplains, marshes, dunes, reefs and mangrove forests - often referred to as green infrastructure or bioshields - are vital to making our societies more climate resilient in the face of extreme weather events. Large dams built today not only weaken the climate resilience of riverine ecosystems, but are themselves highly vulnerable to a changing climate.

Interview with Peter Bosshard and Katy Yan on Voice of America

Saturday, June 11, 2011
Voice of America interviews Peter Bosshard and Katy Yan about Three Gorges Dam and the lessons that can be drawn for the Nu River. In Chinese.

Hydrodependency in Africa: Risky Business

Thursday, September 9, 2010
From September 2010 World Rivers Review The world gets about 20% of its electricity from hydropower, but in Sub-Saharan Africa that number is 60% (excluding coal-heavy South Africa) – and many countries get more than 80% of their electricity from dams. Drought-caused blackouts are common, and expected to get worse with climate change. Hundreds more dams are being planned, many of them in already dangerously hydro-dependent regions. This map shows the current status of hydrodependency across the continent, and plots some key proposed dams in these places. Finally, we include some informati

Odds improve (for now) on Las Vegas' water supply

Hoover Dam intake, July 2008
Hoover Dam intake, July 2008 flickr.com/ellindsey000 Back in March I wrote about a study showing a 50% chance that climate change would leave "Lake" Mead dry by 2021. Lake Mead is the huge (or at least formerly huge) reservoir behind Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. The reservoir supplies almost all the water for Las Vegas and much of that used by milllions of people in southern California and Arizona. Turns out that maybe things aren't quite that bad, yet. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a study to be released next year will show odds of less than 5% that the la
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