Why We Walk

Posted on April 24, 2013 by A. Beh

As countries around the world celebrated Earth Day on April 22, 2013, hundreds of people in Washington, D.C., joined together to highlight and recognize one of Earth’s most precious and essential resources: water.

As one walker noted:

“I grew up in Africa and understand firsthand and have experience what it is like to not have tap water. I have walked many times to the river to fetch water and firewood in my early life. It is my hope that someday in the future everyone will have easy access to clean water!”

Organized by the U.S. Department of State, the 3rd Annual 6K Walk for Water was also held to acknowledge the millions of people in the developing world, most often women and girls, who walk an average of six kilometers per day to collect water for their families.

Participants included students, volunteers, workers from local embassies and non-governmental organizations, as well as employees of the State Department.

Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy kicked off the event by delivering remarks outside the Department’s 21st Street entrance near the corner of Virginia Avenue NW in D.C.

Why else did people participate in the walk? Here’s what some of them said:

The human body is mostly water and without water there is know life. We need to preserve life hence water. That is one reason that I’m walking.

I want to show solidarity to the women and children that make huge efforts to survive and to help keep my own daily struggles in perspective.

I was born in Jamaica and I remember as child, My brothers, sister and I had to walk several miles early in the morning to retreive water for our family.

Why do you think it’s important to walk for water?

Leading Today's Environmental Movement

Posted on September 24, 2012 by lathamsa

This post was written by Elana Goldstein and Trey Lewis, both of whom work at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Water.

Leading Today’s Environmental Movement

Rain barrels decorated by District of Columbia (DC) students of the various DC schools that participated in the Be Water Wise DC program this past school year.

As youth, we often hear that we are the leaders of tomorrow. We are told that we are the future of the environmental movement and that someday we will be the ones to finally take the actions to set our planet back on a sustainable path. Living and working in Washington, D.C. for several years, we’ve discovered something important: we are not the leaders of tomorrow’s environmental movement; we are the leaders of today’s environmental movement, and we are helping make the world a more sustainable place to live. The luxury of time that has graced past generations is no longer a luxury we have. Some of the most precious resources on the planet are also some of the most imperiled, and the youth of the world are, whether out of passion or necessity, leading the fight to protect them. One of the places this is most apparent is in our field: water conservation and efficiency.

This past year, we had the opportunity to take part in the Be Water Wise DC program in Washington, D.C. Be Water Wise DC partner organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program provided support to schools so that local elementary through high school students could learn about water conservation and stormwater management through interactive projects and student leadership. The goal was for students to take the lessons learned with their project and help spread the message of water conservation through other actions in their school and community.

Students learned about water conversation by checking for leaky sinks and toilets in school bathrooms, measuring flow rates from faucets and observing rainwater runoff on their school properties. Then they implemented projects to address water savings at their schools. Projects included decorating and installing rain barrels to capture excess rainwater and use that rainwater to water plants, constructing rooftop gardens at their schools, raising American shad (a native fish) and releasing them into a nearby river, and educating their school communities on conserving water through assemblies and signage. At the completion of the school year, the students presented their projects and the results to school and city officials and project partners.

A rain barrels decorated by students of one of the District of Columbia schools that participated in the Be Water Wise DC program this past school year.

Not only did the youth involved get to undertake real, meaningful projects to improve their community while learning about important issues, they also showed a passion and understanding that went beyond the expectations of any of the partners. The students grasped complex situations, developed strategies to find solutions and then executed the activities needed to bring about positive change. They showed that the youth of today are ready to tackle the world’s environmental problems with a “think globally, act locally” approach, and improve upon current initiatives with their own passion and creativity.

We encourage you and other youth to consider implementing these kinds of learning through action projects in your community so that you can become a water conservation winner. You’ll not just be helping the environment in your local community, but also, as Robert F. Kennedy said, building ripples of hopes.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

King Tides

Posted on September 19, 2012 by lathamsa

This post was written by Michael Craghan, a geographer who works on coastal management and climate change adaptation for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

King Tides

I have always loved the ocean, and I am still awed by the natural forces that create the rise and fall of the sea. About a year and a half ago, I learned about “king tides,” the highest normally occurring tide of the year at a coastal location. King tides occur when the orbits and alignment of the Earth, moon and sun combine to produce the greatest tidal effects of the year. King tides often produce minor flooding in low-lying neighborhoods that are near the coast and tidal rivers.

Climate change is raising sea levels around the

world. The normal tidal flooding that happens now just a few times a year at the annual peak will become a daily occurrence in the coming years and decades. In many places, sea level rise will make today’s king tides become the future’s everyday tides.

The idea of photographing the flooding caused by a king tide started in Australia. By taking a photograph of the king tide, others in the community would be able to see and understand the local effects of sea level rise. In January 2009, the world’s first organized king tide photography event was launched in New South Wales, Australia. From Australia, the idea spread to the west coast of North America. In 2010, people were taking photographs in Washington State and the Canadian province of British Columbia. In early 2011, photo contests were held in California, Oregon, and Washington.

Tidal flooding in Manasquan, New Jersey (USA)

I thought that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Ready Estuaries program could promote king tide photography to help raise public awareness about the effects of sea level rise. We began to spread the word about king tides to the National Estuary Program network of coastal watershed organizations that are found around the U.S. coast. In October 2011, 11 of the estuary partnerships on the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico held king tide events with their partners. Some held photo contests with prizes for the best pictures. Some held tide watch parties. It is great to see this idea take hold along the U.S. coast. Last spring, many of the National Estuary Programs held another round of contests. I hope this turns into an annual event. It is a great way to help people make a personal connection to the ocean.

In my work for the Climate Ready Estuaries program, I help coastal communities prepare for climate change impacts. Cities, people, and transportation infrastructure are found at the coast for many good reasons, but they are at risk from sea level rise. King tide photographs are a fantastic way to communicate this threat. Residents and local officials can see what sea level will be like in their own neighborhoods. They do not have to imagine how it will be. King tides provide a glimpse of the future.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Additional links to National Estuary Program King Tide Projects

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cascobayestuary/sets/72157627904882473/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/seacoastkingtidephotos/

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.261114437267650.62018.117541254958303&type=3

http://www.harborestuary.org/aboutestuary-climatechange-tides.htm

http://bbp.ocean.edu/pages/357.asp

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1692657@N23/

http://sarasotabay.org/2011/11/king-high-tides-photo-project/

http://www.tbep.org/climate/king_tides_photo_contest.html

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Wastewater Treatment

Posted on September 14, 2012 by lathamsa

Minister Hatt and Ambassador Brzezinski Highlight New Partnership Under SAGA; Visit Hammarby Wastewater Treatment Plant

Yesterday, Sweden’s Minister for IT and Energy Anna-Karin Hatt and U.S. Ambassador Mark Brzezinski visited the Hammarby wastewater treatment plant in southern Stockholm. The site visit took place under the auspices of the Swedish American Green Alliance (SAGA) and highlighted a new partnership between the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and U.S. water technology company Xylem.

The Institute and Xylem recently unveiled a new research and development (R&D) center at the Hammarby plant that seeks to boost water-related environmental technology exports. The center displays viable water technologies that remove pollutants, reduce greenhouse gas emission and create renewable energy. The overarching goal is to attract actors from bigger markets such as India and China to adopt the cutting edge technologies.

Sweden’s Minister for IT and Energy Anna-Karin Hatt and U.S. Ambassador Mark Brzezinski at the Hammarby wastewater treatment plant in southern Stockholm, Sweden.

The Hammarby wastewater treatment plant was built in the early 1940s and was initially built to serve 500 000 people. Today it serves 750 000 people and handles not just sludge but also organic waste from adjacent restaurants. Apart from purifying water this is a waste-to-energy facility that creates biogas that is being used,

among other things, to propel some of Stockholm’s municipal buses.

Minister Hatt and Ambassador Brzezinski had an op-ed placed in Dagens Industry yesterday, click here to read the article.

Click here for more photos.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

World Oceans Day

Posted on June 8, 2012 by lathamsa

payday loan online

rld Oceans Day” width=”1078″ height=”245″ />World Oceans Day (WOD) is today, June 8th! This year’s theme is Youth: the Next Wave for Change.

For more videos, click here.

World Oceans Day is a chance for people around the world to celebrate the ocean that connects all of us. Since 2002, The Ocean Project and The World Ocean Network have worked to make the day a success.

Interested in participating in an event? Check out this site which allows you to enter in your country and see what people are doing to celebrate. There are lots of things you can do to celebrate World Oceans Day and make a difference in the conservation of our oceans moving forward. You can clean up your local water source, do a fun activity with children to teach them about the ocean, wear blue clothing and share two ocean conservation facts with your friends and family, or even wear a red cap on June 11th to honor ocean conservationist Jacque Yves Cousteau. Just click on any of the links to learn more about different ideas.

How will you celebrate World Oceans Day? Do you do things to celebrate and conserve the oceans on other days?

World Youth Declaration for Water

Posted on May 2, 2012 by lathamsa

March sure was a busy month for all those working on water issues. Between the World Water Forum and the World Water Day, for the first time ever, youth representatives from all over the world met in Marseilles, France to develop a World Youth Declaration for Water. The declaration seeks to focus the views of the youth, in the long term, to meet the challenges associated with water throughout the world. The representatives were divided by water-basins in order to tackle regional challenges and provide solutions accordingly.

As youth, we pledged our commitments to solve the challenges that are threatening the livelihoods of millions of people around the world and made an emphasis on water access, water governance and the efficient use of water. We also concurred with the water-related concerns raised in international accords such as the Dublin Principles, which specifically call for the implementation of water efficiency strategies and universal water access.

Olimar reading the Water Declaration to the Parliament at the World Water Forum in Marseilles, France in March, 2012 (Photo credit: PMJE)

We have recognized the great challenge of North America when referring to its high use of water. The average person in the United States has a water footprint of 2842 m3 per year, the largest in the world. Furthermore, as buyers and consumers, they also affect the water balances by buying clothes made of cotton from places as far as Malaysia and India, utilizing water from countries that may have a scarce supply as a result.

When I attended the Forum in Marseilles, I had the opportunity to participate in discussions related to water efficiency. During these discussions, experts from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Water Footprint, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called for the implementation of measurements such as water footprints and water efficiency standards. Therefore, as part of our regional compromises for the North American region, we would seek to develop strategies to increase awareness about water footprints and the efficient use of water between young people and policy makers.

In other regions such as Central Africa, water access still represents a barrier to human development. Only 30 percent of Central Africans have access to clean water and even fewer to sanitation. Consequently, the youth representatives of the region have committed to work with different actors to build their capacity concerning access to water and the impact they can have in the decision-making process.

At the end of the Forum, the Youth Declaration for Water was recognized as one of the official outcomes of the event. Additionally, the Water Youth Parliament and the World Water Youth Movement were recognized as the main voices for youth and water.

Second step: World Water Day

After the Forum, the next stop for water experts was the World Water Day celebrated on March 22, 2012 with the purpose of calling attention to the existing relation between water and food. According to the United Nations, over 400 events were organized worldwide to celebrate the World Water Day.

Representatives of the World Water Youth Parliament

In Pakistan, youth representatives organized a fair to share information on water pollution. In Nicaragua, the group Jovenes Ambientalistas called attention to the impacts of water pollution in the rural and urban population. Additionally, in Ecuador, a march to call attention to the human right for water was organized.

Other youth representatives sought to use this day to go to their local media and communicate the accomplishments of the Forum and the Water Youth Parliament as a way to increase awareness in their respective countries.

Next steps: What can you do?

Even though the official month for water is over, the task of raising awareness about water issues is just beginning. We need more concrete policies and actions in both national and international levels.

As youth, I am interested in learning more about the importance of incorporating water use measurements within our policies. How can we introduce initiatives for the better use of water through our different economic sectors? How can we incorporate water into international and regional agreements? These are some of the questions that capture my attention. Hopefully, worldwide youth networks can help shed light into some of these issues.

You, in your country, can also help find solutions to these issues. What issue related to water interests you? What can you do to help find solutions? We all share the responsibility of easing the task to solve the severe water challenges that we face.

This post was written by Olimar Maisonet-Guzman is a 2011 Boren Fellow to Brazil and a member of the SustainUS Youth Delegation that will participate in the Rio+20 Earth Summit. Find out why she thinks the Amazon is the most important rainforest in the world and why youth are incredibly important to the environmental movement.

Water Saving Heroes

Posted on March 30, 2012 by lathamsa

The world in a water drop (Photo Credit: River Friends)

Today is the last day of Water Month here on the Global Conversations: Climate blog, and we are finishing up this theme by highlighting the amazing work of some water heroes around the world. These are people that have take action in water conservation, and we hope you will join us in celebrating their work! If you or someone you know is a water hero, let us know in the comments section!

The MY HERO Project “uses media and technology to celebrate the best of humanity and empower people of all ages to realize their own potential to effect positive change in the world.”

One of the featured MY HEROES is Ryan Hreljac, who became a water hero when he was just 6 years old and a teacher told him that many people in Africa do not have access to clean safe water and wells. He spent months doing extra chores to save up the $2,000 needed to drill a well provided by WaterCan, a non-profit organization that provides clean water to poor countries. In 1999, the Canadian Physicians for Aid a

nd Relief drilled a well beside Angolo Primary School in northern Uganda, partially funded by Ryan’s contribution. Fast forward several years and Ryan is currently running Ryan’s Wells, an organization that has raised over $800,000 to provide clean water to people in Africa. Learn more about Ryan and his organization here.

Heroes can be companies, too! Water Heroes of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is a partnership between the Emirates Wildlife Society and the World Wildlife Fund. They have wonderful resources on their site. There is a whole section dedicated to recognizing corporate heroes, a group of 57 organizations that have signed the water conservation pledge. You can sign the pledge to become a water hero of the UAE today!

This Local Water Saving Heroes page highlights the simple steps taken by people in their everyday lives. Things like planting drought-tolerant gardens, using buckets of reclaimed water captured while washing vegetables in the kitchen sink, and never running the dishwasher or washing machine unless they are completely full. Check out the site for more great simple tips for water conservation practiced by these “everyday heroes!”

World Water Partnerships

Posted on March 28, 2012 by lathamsa

On Thursday, March 22, 2012, people around the world celebrated World Water Day. The importance of water is felt in the tiniest towns to the largest governments, a universal issue that both divides and unites people. International coalitions have been formed to address water security, water usage in agriculture, access to clean safe water, and all manner of related issues. Extreme water-related events such as floods, droughts and tsunamis are hitting countries around the world, causing massive destruction. As Secretary Clinton said in her recent World Water Day speech, “No country anywhere, no matter how developed, is immune to the challenges we face.”

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) is an organization whose “vision is for a water secure world. Our mission is to support the sustainable development and management of water resources at all levels. GWP believes that an integrated approach to managing the world’s water resources is the best way to pursue this vision- a vision that encompasses all of life.”

GWP has 5 guiding principles adapted from several international development summits, including RIO and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. They are:

• Freshwater is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment.
• Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels.
• Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water.
• Water is a public good and has a social and economic value in all its competing uses.
• Integrated water resources management is based on the equitable and efficient management and sustainable use of water and recognizes that water is an integral part of the ecosystem, a natural resource, and a social and economic good, whose quantity and quality determine the nature of its utilization.

In her World Water Day speech, Secretary Clinton announced the U.S. Water Partnership, a new public-private partnership that aims to unify the effort and expertise needed to address critical water problems over the coming years. As the Secretary explains:

[The U.S. Water Partnership] brings together a diverse range of partners from the private sector, the philanthropic community, the NGOs, academics, experts, and government. This approach will help catalyze new opportunities for cooperation. For example, if Coca-Cola has the best data on available water supplies, and the Army Corps of Engineers has the capacity to advise on how to build water delivery systems, and the Nature Conservancy knows how to minimize the disruption to the environment, then we want everybody sharing information and delivering clean water in a sustainable way to communities in need.

What’s Happening in Antarctica?

Posted on March 27, 2012 by lathamsa

Last week, Ambassador Huebner of US Embassies New Zealand and Samoa wrote about his amazing trip to Antarctica. Climate change is predicted to have a greater impact in Antarctica than anywhere else on Earth, and these changes will affect all of us.

Polar bear cubs (Photo credit: Wikimedia/Petrusbarbygere)

Polar Regions are often brought up in discussions about climate change because of fears over warming temperatures that will melt polar ice and raise sea levels; this, in turn, could cause flooding and force relocation of millions of people who live on coastlines, from New York to Kiribati. In Antarctica, climate change is projected to affect the weather by making it windier and wetter, which in turn will affect many animal species. For example, seal pups that are extremely vulnerable the first few months of life need to spend their energy on taking in their mother’s milk and growing strong so that one day they will be able to survive on their own; the projected wetter and windier weather could cause they to expend more energy on staying warm, potentially jeopardizing their growth and, ultimately, their survival.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has a page dedicated to information about the effect of climate change on the Polar Regions. In addition to the melting ice caps and the raising sea level, these changes will have significant effects around the world on humans and other species. For example, many migratory bird species depend on the Arctic for their breeding and feeding grounds, and changes in the Arctic wildlife (due to changing temperatures and survival rates), will affect these patterns.

Check out this photo gallery of amazing images of Antarctica.

To learn more about Antarctic climate, including who is studying it and what they have found, check out:

McMurdo Sound from the Air

Posted on March 23, 2012 by lathamsa

This is the final post in our 5-part guest blog series by Ambassador Huebner about his exciting trip to Antarctica! Check out the first, second, third and fourth posts. The blog below was originally posted here.

My visits to the explorers’ huts, the Adélie penguin rookery, and certain other wildlife sites were part of an exhilarating day of barnstorming the shores and ice of McMurdo Sound by helicopter. I have already written about the various stops. Missing from my prior narratives, though, is a sense of the terrain we traversed between landings.

With our pilot Barry, just before starting our adventure du jour.

I wish that I could adequately convey to you a sense of the vast scale and stark beauty of the mountains, sea, and ice that passed beneath, above, and around us as we flew. Words, however, are wholly inadequate. Even photos disappoint.

Mountains and glaciers along the Antarctica mainland, across McMurdo Sound from Ross Island.

None of the hundreds of pictures I took comes even close to capturing the breathtaking enormity, thundering silence, kinetic emptiness, and 360° grandeur of the landscape. Nonetheless, I’d like to share a few of my favorite aerial scenes from that very special day.

A glacier tongue extending far into the Sound. At its tip, the ice rises more than 150 feet (46 m) above the water.

Icebergs in the sea ice in a cove south of Cape Evans.

An ice breaker and NSF research vessels at work in the sea ice.

Approaching the research vessels.

Overflying the ships.

The environs of Cape Evans, site of the Terra Nova Hut.

Approaching the iceberg off Cape Evans.

Ice near the edge of the Antarctica mainland.

Interesting ice formations.

Another large iceberg.

This channel through the sea ice, cleared by the ice breaker, leads from the Ross Sea to McMurdo Station, nestled at the base of Observation Hill, at left. As we flew home toward the Station we saw many dozens of whales and numerous Emperor penguins along the edge of the channel.

Together with the images in my prior posts, I hope that these photos give you some small sense of the glory of the Antarctic landscape.

Although this item is not likely to appear on my blog until I am already back in New Zealand, I’m still here on the Ice as I write this paragraph. I’m going to sign off now, take a long midnight hike up Observation Hill, and then turn to the sad task of packing my bags for tomorrow’s flight out.

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Category Archives: Water

Why We Walk

Leading Today's Environmental Movement

King Tides

Wastewater Treatment

World Oceans Day

World Youth Declaration for Water

Water Saving Heroes

World Water Partnerships

What’s Happening in Antarctica?

McMurdo Sound from the Air