Free Republic

PATH TO PROGRESS   In a patch of barren land that hasn't yielded crops for centuries, engineers from the Sahara Forest Project say they're designing a sustainable farm that uses solar power to desalinate seawater for crops, then uses the runoff to fend off desertification. AQABA, JORDAN—Hope in Jordan is taking the form of a cucumber in the desert. It is not a mirage. Some say it is the future. In the arid southern desert of Wadi Araba, where scorching temperatures and dust devils leave scant signs of life, a team of environmental engineers is working on a solution for...

A Jewish family finally succeeds in moving into one room of a house owned by Jews but occupied by Arabs in the Silwan Valley. Seven years after a court ruling that supported Jewish ownership, police escorted the family into their room separated by barbed wire and sheets of metal from the rest of the building, the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency reported Monday. The Arab Hamdallah family still is resisting orders to leave the entire house, which was bought by an orthodox Jewish group more than a century ago and was re-sold in 1990 when U.S. philanthropist Irvin Moskowitz bought the...

The Subcommittee on Water and Power held an oversight hearing today to examine the FY 2012 budget request for the Bureau of Reclamation. Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock made the following opening statement at the hearing: Opening Statement Congressman Tom McClintock Chairman House Water and Power Subcommittee With today’s hearing, the Water and Power Sub-Committee will begin the process of restoring abundance as the principal objective of America’s Federal water and power policy. We meet today to receive testimony from the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Service on their plans for the coming year. We do so in conjunction...

Palestinians Right to Water by Ari Bussel A lecture Downtown Los Angeles by a self-declared “Palestinian from Palestine” was titled: Israel’s control of water as a tool of Apartheid and means of ethnic cleansing.” Following the talk, I was asked for my opinion. I replied: Nothing should surprise me any more. According to the speaker, America’s counterpart, Israel, is thirsting the “Palestinians” out of “their own” land. There is much to learn from Israel about water: from reclamation to desalination methods, from agriculture in arid areas to existence in the desert. Israel has perfected over the last century age-old methods,...

The state board that oversees flood control in the Central Valley plans to meet in a closed session Friday to discuss whether it violated an open meetings law. The California Reclamation Board has been criticized for approving a permit for 11,000 luxury homes near Lathrop even though the board's attorney warned that the action was illegal because the project wasn't on the agenda for that April 21 meeting. The Natural Resources Defense Council has asked the board to rescind that vote and reconsider the matter after giving proper public notice. The board says the NRDC petition amounts to "pending litigation"...

Last year - on Sept. 16, to be precise - the state Reclamation Board, a relatively obscure state agency that oversees flood protection levees, approved a potentially far-reaching policy to intercede when local governments and developers propose residential subdivisions behind levees designed to protect farmland. Spurred by the devastation of New Orleans when levees failed during Hurricane Katrina and an appellate court decision declaring the state liable for damages from levee failures in California, the board activated powers that it had long held under state law, but rarely exercised, to review developments behind levees for flood safety. "I believe if...

<p>All versions of the story agree on this: On the morning of June 25, federal water officials told Klamath River valley farmers that they might soon face a cutoff in their water supply. Not as much water was flowing into Klamath Lake upstream as expected, and the federal Endangered Species Act might prevent the feds from lowering the lake further.</p>

May 23, 2003Irrigation District To Release Water Regardless Of Consequences The Associated Press CARLSBAD — A water dispute among southeastern New Mexico farmers, environmentalists and federal agencies is brewing on the Pecos River. Carlsbad Irrigation District Manager Tom Davis plans to release water from Fort Sumner Reservoir next month, regardless of whether it's approved by federal officials. If Davis can't reach a compromise with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the release, he said there could be a standoff at the reservoir gates. He added that he hopes it doesn't come to that....