Berman, Jessica. "WHO: Waterborne Disease is World's Leading Killer." Newsvoa.Com. 17 Mar. 2005. Voice of America. 20 Apr. 2008 <http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-03/2005-03-17-voa34.cfm?CFID=298362659&CFTOKEN=86407075>. 

     

      A news report on World Health Organization projections on deaths caused by water-borne disease, this article explains how impactful water-borne disease really is. It implicitly calls into question the use of wells for water supply, as it explains how contaminated ground water breeds disease. With strong statistics from a strong source, the article provides compelling evidence of the size and the scope of the problem.  

 

 

Thomson, Mike. “Ex-UN chief warns of water wars.”  BBC News.  2 February, 2005.  3 April, 2008.  <http.//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/Africa/4227869.stm>

 

            This BBC News article reported on an interview with the former UN Secretary General about potential conflict over water in Africa.  Both BBC News, and the former Secretary General, Boutros Ghali are reputable and credible sources, and Ghali likely has much familiarity with conflicts and world issues such as this.  In addition, Ghali has particular expertise in this area as a former Egyptian foreign minister.

            The article outlines the conflict over the Nile, a key water source in Northern Africa.  While Egypt uses much of this water source to create lush, fertile crop land, Ethiopia is struggling with droughts that create crop failures and famine.  Ethiopia currently can’t use the Nile as a water source, and is complaining about the lack of international support in enabling them to do so.  Kenya and Tanzania are also demanding more water from the Nile.  Ghali predicts that conflict over this water source is “inevitable.”  The article does not, however, provide much in the way of solutions, other than a need for cooperation between these countries before conflict erupts.

 

  Wyss, David.  “A World of Water Woes; Droughts and rising populations are stressing supplies of the precious liquid.  Could we be nearing the next major natural resource crisis?”  Business Week Online.  Factiva.  17 March 2008.   21 February 2008. 

      This article names several reasons why water shortage could be the next big natural resource crisis.  These reasons include: increasing population, increasing demand for water for things such as irrigation and new forms of energy production, increasing desire for cleaner water, and climate changes such as droughts.  Geographical differences are also notable: the Americas and Europe have more plentiful water than Asia or Africa.  The author states that global warming’s effect on rainfall could be either upwards or downwards but there may be timing and regional differences that disproportionately affect different areas.  The article ends with the author stressing that new infrastructure to improve water treatment, transport water, or desalinate it may be so expensive that it harms economic development, so conserving water and eliminating waste are more practical solutions.

     Business Week is a credible source of business related news and this article contains objective data to support its claims without individual biases.

 

 

Leonnig, Carol D.  “Area Tap Water Has Traces of Medicines; Tests Find 6 Drugs, Caffeine in D.C., Va.”  The Washington Post.  Factiva.  10 March 2008.  17 March 2008.

 

     This Washington Post article exposes traces of pharmaceutical drugs and caffeine in the Washington area drinking water that are typically found in wastewater.  The drugs were found in 24 out of 28 of the U.S. metropolitan areas tested as part of the first federal research on pharmaceuticals in water supplies.  According to the article, the long term health effects are largely unstudied, but there is a growing concern about either removing or neutralizing these pharmaceuticals in the drinking water.

     The Washing Post is the largest and one of the oldest newspapers in Washington, D.C. and is a credible source of news.  The water tests were performed by the U.S. Geological Survey, a well known unbiased, multi-disciplinary science organization, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the governmental department dealing with regulations regarding agriculture, food, and nutrition.

 

 

Barta, Patrick.  “Salt Free: Amid Water Shortage, Australia Looks to the Sea.”  The Wall Street Journal.  Factiva.  11 March 2008.  17 March 2008. 

 

    According  to this Wall Street Journal article, the city of Perth, Australia has a desalination plant that yields 25,000 gallons of drinkable water every minute.  While desalination is commonly criticized as costly and a waste of energy, Perth’s facility relies primarily on renewable energy from a wind farm and has an upgraded system with lower operating costs.

        The article also explains the water shortage crisis, explaining it is due largely to economic growth in China, India, and other countries as well as changing rainfall patterns and climate change.  While a few major desalination projects are being implemented, the World Wildlife Federation want cities to exhaust other options first and to use the Perth facility as a model.

            The Wall Street Journal is a national newspaper primarily serving the business community with U.S. and world news and is a credible source of information.

 

 

Burke, Garance.  “Water shortage: Some farmers in California would rather sell their water than grow something.”  Associated Press Newswires.  Factiva.  25 January 1008. 17 March 2008. 

           

    The Associated Press, the oldest and largest news organization in the world, explains that California farmers, who receive water at subsidized rates, are considering selling their supplies to Los Angeles and southern California. Selling their irrigation water instead of growing crops may affect world food prices, considering that California grows most of the U.S.’s winter vegetables and is the second largest rice producing state.  This is an example of the growing trend towards buying and selling water on the open market, but environmental activists are concerned that this ignores the more long term problems.

 

 

Senzee, Thom.  “Drought May be Over, But Water Crisis Still Very Real; Decades of Inertia, Environmental Concerns Contribute.”  San Fernando Valley Business Journal.  Factiva.  3 March 2008. 17 March 2008.

           

     A San Fernando Valley Business Journal article highlighted the water problems in California.  Three main problems are the changing climate patterns and a growing population, aging and outdated systems for transporting and storing water, and environmentally unsustainable water-management methods.   The article cites this crisis as likely to affect both housing, small businesses, and the entire California economy.  The Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) sponsored a panel discussion to let water agencies and environmentalists lobby for a solution to these issues.  Government in the area needs to take steps and manage these issues. 

     The article also explains how crucial the Delta region is for California’s water supplies: Southern California relies on the Delta for 30 percent of its drinking water, and salt water is increasingly penetrating the Delta region, destroying fresh water reserves.  The article also mentions that any solution will be costly (like $4 billion to $7 billion).  The most likely solution will include new dams and possibly a major new canal.

The San Fernando Valley Business Journal is a credible and well-known source of local business news in California, but may possibly have biases towards articles or issues that would potentially benefit this area while ignoring national or international issues.

 

 

"Clean Water and Africa." Data.Org. Oct. 2006. Data: Debt AIDS Trade Africa. 20 Apr. 2008 <http://www.data.org/issues/development_2006_waterBriefing.html>.

 

     This article, written by a general Africa advocacy non-profit, examines the water shortage in Africa and how it relates to other issues in the continent. It effectively connects water to education, economic productivity and health. It is an extremely useful source of statistics and a wealth of very basic arguments on the interrelatedness of issues in Africa. Surprisingly, this Africa-focused organization even criticizes the international community for over-emphasizing Africa, thus neglecting other parts of the world. This serves to enhance the credibility and objectivity of the article. 

 

"Liberia: Less Cholera with Better Hygiene." AllAfrica.Com. 25 Sept. 2007. United Nations. 07 Apr. 2008 <http://allafrica.com/stories/200709251349.html>. 

The article presents both pros and cons of the use of wells in Liberia. It brings up the controversy of whether wells should be built in the absence of sound sewage systems. Overall, the article does a good job of bringing up issues that otherwise might not be considered. Most importantly, in doing this, the article connects well issues with other serious problems in Africa. All in all, it is useful both in terms of its strong information and its paradigm-broadening. The source, the United Nations, is quite reputable. Possible biases are almost non-existent, and in fact, if anything would run contrary to the pessimism of the article.

 

 

"Private Sector Participation | Water Aid." WaterAid.Org. Water Aid. 20 Apr. 2008 <http://www.wateraid.org/usa/what_we_do/policy_and_research/private_sector_participation/default.asp>.

 The article is part of a series of position papers by Water Aid, an international non-profit dedicated to improving water supply and sanitation in poor countries. In this particular edition of the series, Water Aid argues against the privatization of water supply in poor countries. The organization believes that from experience it has learned that private distribution often is unfair to the extremely poor. This leads the organization to conclude that only local and national government should be involved in distribution. It fails, however, to examine the logistics of often corrupt governments being in charge of water distribution.   

 

"The Millenium Development Goals | Water Aid." WaterAid.Org. Water Aid. 20 Apr. 2008<http://www.wateraid.org/usa/what_we_do/policy_and_research/6253.asp>. 

This article is a position paper by Water Aid, a non-profit dedicated to improving water distribution and sanitation in economically disadvantaged countries. While much has been written about the improbability of achieving the UN's millenium goals, Water Aid takes a more optimistic view. Specifically, that the interrelatedness of the problems of poverty are actually an opportunity to solve many problems by initially solving a few. Relating this to water, Water Aid believes that improving water distribution and sanitation is a prerequisite to reaching other Millenium goals. Overall, the article provides an interesting, though biased, paradigm on the goals. 

 

 

 "Time Use in South Africa." UN.Org. 2000. United Nations. 20 Apr. 2008 <http://www.escwa.un.org/information/meetings/editor/Download.asp

table_name=eventDetails&field_name=id&FileID=663>. 

 

The article is a statistical study on how South Africans spend their time on a day to day basis. One thing that really jumped out was the amount of time spent collecting water, mostly due to a shortage of wells. Many South Africans are more than a kilometer away from a water source and spend over an hour per day collecting water. Though the article doesn't go into the implications of these statistics, a number of graphs show just how large a portion of women's days are taken by gathering water. This serves to provide concrete evidence of the notion that much time is wasted daily because of a lack of wells in South Africa. The article is the foundation of the argument that improved well

efficiency would allow time to solve other problems. 

 

 

Useem, Jerry. "Exxon's African Adventure." Money.Cnn.Com. 15 Apr. 2002. Fortune Magazine. 20 Apr. 2008 <http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2002/04/15/321403/index.htm>. 

 

The article specifically examines Exxon's project of building an oil pipeline through Chad in 2002. It can be seen as a case study in large corporations building in poorer areas, though. The article discusses how increased scrutiny on large multinational companies have forced the companies to do more than just business operations when they move into a new area. In this particular example, Exxon went so far as to compensate villagers for los future earnings from trees that had to be knocked down from the pipeline. More relevant to our project, the oil giant also dug wells along the way to benefit the people of Chad. The article brings up an interesting concept, that CSR in the face of modern media scrutiny is beginning to actually force companies into working with NGOs and local governments to benefit everyone, not just often corrupt decision makers. 

 

 

 

 

"West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI)." Water for the Poor. USAID. 12 Apr. 2008 <http://www.waterforthepoor.org/initiatives/wawi/wawi.htm>.

 

USAID and Hilton have formed an alliance with other organizations including CNHF,CIIFAD, DRI, LCIF,UNICEF, Winrock, World Chlorine Council, and World Vision to help the water crisis in Africa. Their 4 objectives are the following:

·     Safe water and Sanitation

·     Disease Reduction

·     Water Management

·     Effective Partnership

These overall goals are to improve the health and well-being of families and communities in Ghana, Mali and Niger.

 

  

 

"USAID Initiative Brings Clean Water to West Africa." America.Gov Telling America's Story. 12 May 2006. USAID. 12 Apr. 2008 <http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/May/20060512084548AKllennoCcM0.9622418.html>.

 

     West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI) is a partnership between USAID, Hilton, and other organizations to provide clean water and sanitation in West Africa.  This is a $41 million program that provides clean water, sanitation, and hygiene services in Mali, Ghana and Niger.  Working nationally and locally, they have developed 100 alternative water sources, drilled 825 borehole wells and constructed 9,000 latrines.

 

 

 

Wood, Scott. "Water Webster."  WaterWebster. 1 Apr. 2008 <waterwebster.com>.

     This site is a portal to many other links and news stories about what is currently going on in the world concerning water. 

 

 

 

“A Look at Water Resources in Africa”    Apr 18, 2008     May 12, 2003 <http://www.wateryear2003.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=4874&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html>

  

     This website gives some basic facts and information about groundwater usage and other problems in Africa.  It gives statistics on groundwater use, sanitation of water, reasons for food emergencies, and about sources of water for countries in Africa.  For example. It mentions that only 64% of the population in Africa has access to improved water supplies. 

Information for this website is based on the UN World Water Development Report (UN/WWAP), and the Africa Environment Outlook (UNEP), as well as various sources from the United Nations.  This website is a good source for basic data on water usage and other problems in Africa.