Analysis: Rapid desalination expansion amid growing water scarcity and a proposal to relocate the U.S. Forest Service headquarters pose intersecting operational and policy challenges.
Read the GPS daily brief for implications and recommended policy options.
3 #African Cities Restore #Nature to Revitalize Their #Rivers
By Eden Takele, Marc Manyifika, Japheth Habinshuti, Adane Kebede, Alemakef Tassew, Amanda Gcanga, Mulalo Mbedzi and Nikara Mahadeo, March 12, 2025
"Africa’s cities, from large metropolises to smaller towns, are increasingly characterized by growing #UrbanSprawl. #Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, is expanding by about 2,000 people and 5 hectares (10 football fields) every day, according to a World Bank estimate. #Kumasi, an intermediary city in #Ghana, is growing more than 5% every year — at least twice as fast as the capital city, Accra.
As cities and surrounding farmlands expand further into their hinterlands, they encroach upon watersheds essential to water supply and climate resilience.
Watersheds are the natural area of land that drain into a common body of water. The consequences of their degradation are threefold. Without tree cover and healthy soils to absorb rainfall, cities may lose a critical source for groundwater recharge, leading to water shortages. Not only does the quantity of water suffer, so does its quality. Without strong roots to protect and anchor the soil, sediment and the chemicals within it are washed into nearby water bodies, often the primary source for a city’s drinking water. That same runoff can turn into floodwater.
How Natural Infrastructure Supports #WaterSecurity.
Many cities that once depended on their watersheds for water now face both increasing scarcity and heightened vulnerability to #extremeWeather. There are, however, #NatureBasedSolutions to help alleviate these problems.
Through a combination of upland foresting and urban greening, watershed restoration efforts are starting to deliver positive results in three African cities..."
Read more:
https://www.wri.org/insights/nature-based-solutions-river-restoration-african-cities
#SolarPunkSunday #DireDawa #Ethiopia #Kigali #Rwanda #NyabarangoRiver #Africa #MoreTrees #RiverRestoration #WaterIsLife #ClimateChange
African cities are sprawling into their forested watersheds, harming their water supplies in the process. That's why Kigali, Rwanda; Dire Dawa, Ethiopia; and Johannesburg, South Africa are re-greening their landscapes.
Repost: “Scientific evidence... a water crisis. We're misusing water, polluting water, and changing the whole global hydrological cycle, through what we're doing to the climate...a triple crisis.”
💥 approx 60% of Canada’s fresh water flows *north*
#BCpoli #Cdnpoli #Canada #WaterSecurity
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2024/11/04/Pressure-Canada-Export-Water-Immense/
Why it matters:
Water systems control public health; flaky cybersecurity could turn contamination or outages into mass harm. New rules plus funding mean local utilities get tools instead of excuses — and lawmakers can’t pretend this is optional.
Mathrubhumi English
💧🌏 Greg Cocks
GPS News
The Times of Central Asia
The Times of Central Asia
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Cindy
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