Curtin University embarks upon organising and supporting global challenges - beginning with the UNEP-DHI Eco Challenge 2015. The links connected here should not be seen as endorsements but rather suggested starting points for critical discussions. http://ecochallengeaustralia.com.au
Tempers have flared once again over the long-term plan to return water to the Murray-Darling River and improve its health.
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has released its report into the northern basin (in Queensland and New South Wales). The report finds that the plan, agreed in 2012, has already affected communities. It recommends that less water be returned to the river.
The plan aims to recover 2,750 gigalitres of water from human uses for the environment, but also allows for an extra 450GL to be recovered.
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has signalled that returning the extra 450GL would be extremely difficult – which has outraged South Australian politicians at state and federal level. In response, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promised extra monitoring.
While it may seem like a political bunfight, the current argument sheds light on serious flaws in the management of the river.
Our lesson plans and worksheets have been designed to be accessed by students online or to be downloaded and distributed during class or as homework assignments. The plans and worksheets are linked to the Australian curriculum and are designed for use by teachers of geography, history, science or mathematics. These lesson plans and worksheets are free for download and can be edited or copied as needed.
SDWF is a registered charitable organization. Its primary purpose is to find treatment and preventative solutions to make surface and ground water safe for human consumption.
Kim Flintoff's insight:
Several water health lessons that could be used globally (with some minor modifications)
Aquifers earmarked for drinking water between Geraldton and Busselton could be compromised if companies are allowed to drill for gas through them, the Water Corporation has warned.
The State-owned utility also raised questions about why hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, would be permitted in protected water areas when providing drinking supplies was of "paramount importance".
Kim Flintoff's insight:
Fracking is still a very contentious mining practice and has raised concerns the world over. Now those concerns are are being raised here in Western Australia.
Scientists have found an elusive mineral pointing to the existence of a vast reservoir deep in the Earth's mantle, 400 to 600 kilometres beneath our feet.
Kim Flintoff's insight:
Could this offer some hope in finding a solution to the Global Water Crisis - are we ironically sitting on a vast water supply? The full article is in Nature.
Very good current science to introduce into lessons around water management. Could we possibly crowdsource a solution via citizen science?
NAILSMA delivered five projects under the NAWFA Cultural and Social Program under the guidance and advice of the NAILSMA Indigenous Water Policy Group (IWPG).
Malaysia will expand water rationing in and around its capital Kuala Lumpur, as a drought continues to affect millions.
The hot spell has also contributed to more cases of dengue fever, as it speeds up the life cycle of the aedes mosquito that carries the virus and enhances replication of the pathogen.
Kim Flintoff's insight:
The water crisis is a global concern - EcoChallenge_2.0 game event looks for solutions from schools - curtin.edu.au/ecochallenge
Water overuse is damaging the environment in many major basins. High overuse tends to occur in regions heavily dependent on irrigated agriculture, such as the Indo-Gangetic Plain in south Asia, the North China Plain and the High Plains of North America, and in areas undergoing rapid urbanization and industrial development. An estimated 1.4 billion people now live in river basin areas that are ‘closed’ (in that water use exceeds minimum recharge levels) or near closure. As millions of people in water-stressed areas are discovering, the environment is foreclosing on unsustainable water debts on an extensive scale. For example, farmers near Sana’a in Yemen have deepened their wells by 50 meters over the past 12 years, while the amount of water they can extract has dropped by two-thirds. Some people in water-stressed areas have the economic resources, skills and opportunities to leave their water problem behind. Many millions, such as small farmers, agricultural laborers and pastoralists in poor countries, do not (Human Development Report 2006).
The National Water Commission is responsible for driving national water reform under the National Water Initiative. We provide independent and public advice to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and the Australian Government by assessing, auditing and monitoring water reform progress.
Australia is at the forefront of a global water crisis. Some of the management lessons learned there could help bail out California and other parched regions before they meet the same fate
News about water. Commentary and archival information about water from The New York Times.
Kim Flintoff's insight:
The New York Times documents a global picture of the water crisis. The US is currently facing challenges to water supplies across the country highlighting that this isn't just a problem for the developing world.
Let your students develop their understanding of the situation:
There is an urgent need for clean water, sanitation, and hygiene in schools and communities around the world. Consider these facts:
▪ Every 20 seconds a child dies from lack of access to clean water. ▪ Women and children in many communities spend up to 60 percent of each day walking to collect water. ▪ 4,500 children die each day due to unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation. ▪ Without access to a latrine, many girls stop going to school once they reach puberty.
Teachers can use the Being water wise learning unit that includes student investigations and activities and relevant syllabus links. The survey checklist and safety planner will assist your group in undertaking this investigation with permission and safety.
THE TIPPING POINT CRISIS is based on the research of Professor Tim Lenton at the University of Exeter, who has identified 12 dangerous "Tipping Points".These have the potential to dramatically affect the performance of the climate system and take us from a stable climate system, to an unstable system with unpredictable weather patterns around the globe.A TIPPING POINT is a critical threshold at which a tiny change can dramatically alter the state of development of a system tipping past a point of no return.
The ultimate origin of water in the Earth/'s hydrosphere is in the deep Earth[mdash]the mantle. Theory and experiments have shown that although the water storage capacity of olivine-dominated shallow mantle is limited, the Earth/'s transition zone, at depths between 410 and 660[thinsp]kilometres, could be a major repository for water, owing to the ability of the higher-pressure polymorphs of olivine[mdash]wadsleyite and ringwoodite[mdash]to host enough water to comprise up to around 2.5 per cent of their weight. A hydrous transition zone may have a key role in terrestrial magmatism and plate tectonics, yet despite experimental demonstration of the water-bearing capacity of these phases, geophysical probes such as electrical conductivity have provided conflicting results, and the issue of whether the transition zone contains abundant water remains highly controversial. Here we report X-ray diffraction, Raman and infrared spectroscopic data that provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence for the terrestrial occurrence of any higher-pressure polymorph of olivine: we find ringwoodite included in a diamond from Juina, Brazil. The water-rich nature of this inclusion, indicated by infrared absorption, along with the preservation of the ringwoodite, is direct evidence that, at least locally, the transition zone is hydrous, to about 1 weight per cent. The finding also indicates that some kimberlites must have their primary sources in this deep mantle region.
Climate change and other factors external to water management (such as demography, technology, politics, societal values, governance and law) are demonstrating accelerating trends or disruptions. Yet in spite of these challenges and the increasing complexity of dealing with them, we know less and less about water resources and how they are being used. This creates new risks and uncertainties for water managers and for those who determine the direction of water actions
Kim Flintoff's insight:
Games based explorations of water management scenarios offers opportunities to consider new solutions and new understandings. EcoChallenge 2.0
Our Water Our Country An information manual for Aboriginal people and communities about the water reform process
The Aboriginal Water Initiative program aims to improve Aboriginal involvement and representation in water planning and management within NSW. The program allows the NSW Office of Water to monitor the success of water sharing plans in meeting their statutory requirements for Aboriginal specific performance indicators including:
providing water for Native Title rights
recognising spiritual, social, customary and economic values of water to Aboriginal people
Kim Flintoff's insight:
Indigenous perspectives are very often overlooked in water management strategies - In some cases in Australia Indigenous communities do have pathways to be heard.
Indigenous perspectives are very often overlooked in water management strategies - In some cases in Australia Indigenous communities do have pathways to be heard.
Water is an essential resource for life and good health. A lack of water to meet daily needs is a reality today for one in three people around the world.
Globally, the problem is getting worse as cities and populations grow, and the needs for water increase in agriculture, industry and households.
This fact file highlights the health consequences of water scarcity, its impact on daily life and how it could impede international development. It urges everyone to be part of efforts to conserve and protect the resource.
Kim Flintoff's insight:
Eco Challenge 2.0 offers students a pathway to consider the implications of water scarcity across a range of disciplines.
In this interdisciplinary lesson, we explore ways in which humanity is learning to cope with shortages or threats to water, a vital element of life. We also consider ways in which water enriches our life or helps define our interactions.
Kim Flintoff's insight:
SCIENCE
Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.
Let your students develop their understanding of the situation:
In the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, Australia’s aid program provides support for development outcomes that are captured under three key pillars identified in the WASH Thematic Strategy. These pillars are:
increased access to safe water and basic sanitation
increased knowledge of hygiene practices
creating sustainable services.
Australia works with a range of multilateral organisations, other governments and the private sector to improve access to clean water, basic sanitation and improved hygiene behaviours in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. We also support improved water security through protection of freshwater sources.
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http://ecochallengeaustralia.com - Water and Sustainability game for schools