Latest news with #waterstorage
BBC News
2 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Free water storage tanks for farmers to help during drought
A water company has given away 150 free mobile water storage units and plans to hand out 700 more to help livestock farmers manage in the dry Trent Water (STW), which covers the West Midlands, said the portable 1,000-litre tanks, known as bowsers, were no longer needed for domestic region is officially in drought, following the driest March in 60 years, the sunniest April on record, and three Rory Lay from Wem, Shropshire, said the bowser he received was helpful in fields with no water supply. Arable farmer Mr Lay, who also has 200 beef cattle, said grass growth this year had been poor, which meant he would not be able to finish, or fatten, as many cows as usual through the winter. The yield on some fields was half as much as usual, he said. "A lot of farmers are using their winter supplies to feed their animals now because there's no grass on the fields," he added. To restore supplies, Mr Lay said he would need "some nice steady rain for a good month probably... ideally four or five millimetres every day"."We seem to get more heavy downpours, but when the ground is dry, the water runs off rather than soaking in." STW said the water bowsers were for farmers to store water and maintain animal welfare as part of a new initiative to help manage water demand. The company's agricultural advisor Mark Biddulph said the next step was to expand the scheme into Staffordshire, Herefordshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The bowsers can be moved around and used where required or to collect rainwater to build resilience in dry spells, he said. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DeSantis celebrates Everglades investment as legal battle brews over detention site
DeSantis cut the ribbon at Hendry County's newly completed C-43 reservoir, a $500 million project capable of storing 55 billion gallons of water.
Arab News
02-07-2025
- Arab News
How ancient engineering helped address Delhi's perennial water shortage
NEW DELHI: Just minutes from New Delhi's commercial hub, Ugrasen ki Baoli is an engineering marvel worth a detour from the usual tourist path, as it bears witness to unique medieval water storage solutions that could still hold relevance today. A baoli, or a stepwell, is a storage system that once helped the Indian capital address its perennial water shortage. With a series of steps leading down to the water level, these structures allowed people to reach the water even when its levels changed with the seasons. Usually built in the hot and arid areas like the northern state of Rajasthan and the western state of Gujarat, they used to be common in the Delhi region too. 'Since Delhi was also semi-arid, there was a large number of these built to provide water to people in small and large villages and settlements,' Sohail Hashmi, oral historian of Delhi and conservationist, told Arab News. 'They were dug especially in areas where the water level was rather low … You dug a well and next to the well, you built a tank, and when both structures were ready, you connected the well through a channel to the stepwell, and the water from the well filled up the stepwell.' Located about a 5-minute walk from Connaught Place, the New Delhi stepwell is approximately 60 meters long and 15 meters wide, descending 108 steps — or about 15 meters below ground. The baoli made water available throughout the year, and people could use it not only to draw drinking water but also to wash and bathe in the tank. 'It was a relief because the water was flowing from the well and the water from the well was always clean. So even if the water in the tank got dirty because people washed their clothes, you could still draw water from the well for drinking,' Hashmi said. 'Over time, these places also became places for social gathering, especially during the summer months … You had a large water body with arches and rooms and spaces, so people could come there and escape the summer heat.' According to local legend, Ugrasen ki Baoli was commissioned by King Agrasen, the legendary ancestor of the prosperous Agrawal community, who, thousands of years ago, ruled over Agroha, an ancient trading city near present-day Delhi. But historians estimate it was built around the 15th century, in the Delhi Sultanate period, which marked numerous cultural and architectural developments in the city. 'Architecturally, if you look at it, it is built with rubble, and the rubble is held together with a plaster of limestone and crushed bricks … These are techniques that were introduced into India in the late 12th and early 13th century,' Hashmi said.'It belongs to the late Sultanate period, so I would roughly place it in the 15th century.' Delhi once had 20 stepwells similar to Ugrasen ki Baoli, but none have survived the test of time. Efforts to revive them may no longer be effective, as the city's groundwater levels have dropped significantly. Groundwater at deeper levels is often not potable due to natural contamination — high levels of minerals like arsenic, fluoride, or heavy metals, and salinity, which in arid regions turns deep groundwater brackish. There is still potential for the stepwells to conserve water and help address Delhi's water problems, although it would take some time. 'At best, what can be done is that in the monsoon (season), you can divert rainwater into these stepwells, so they replenish the subsoil water,' Hashmi said. 'If this is done over decades, maybe the subsoil water level would improve and then much of this water could become potable, but before you do that, building (new) stepwells doesn't make sense now.'
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Water commission members hear the saga behind a water fight in Garfield County
At a meeting of the Utah Water Development Commission earlier this week, commission members tried to dissect the cantankerous issue of water storage in Garfield County at the Tropic Reservoir and its downstream recipient of Otter Creek Reservoir. Amid an ongoing drought in always arid southern Utah, water disputes tend to put people in corners, ready for a fight to the last drop. 'My dad once told me that two people equally informed seldom disagree,' said Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield. 'But it seems like a drought brings out the worst in everybody.' Albrecht described the current dilemma involving a 'napkin agreement' inked in the 1960s. The agreement that sparked the dispute involves how much water the Otter Creek Reservoir Company can legally store in Tropic Reservoir during the winter months. A formal application for the storage in dispute was filed with the state in 1977 and granted in 2005, allowing Otter Creek Reservoir Company to hold onto 3,000 acre-feet of water in Tropic between Oct. 15 and April 15. But that agreement lapsed because 'proof of use' had not been filed with the state within the required timeframe, the state engineer's office said. Even though it had lapsed, Otter Creek continued to hold back the 3,000 acre-feet of water as had been done for years, but now that has changed. It is now less than 600 acre-feet of water available because of a lapsed agreement. That affects Tropic users. State Engineer Teresa Wilhelmsen said absent the agreement or an enforceable change application filed with her office, there exists a legal right to only store 540-acre feet of water in Tropic. The rest must be released. That puts Tropic users in an untenable spot. While that is a tough call to make, a reliance on water rights doctrine puts painful steps in motion. Albrecht said the Sevier River is 106% utilized — meaning there is no water left to give. He noted that a drop of water in the Sevier River drainage is used seven times. It is self-sustaining, but only to a point. 'It is the most efficient river in the United States, maybe the world.' That makes everyone want their share. 'I am not happy about this at all,' said Garfield County Commissioner Leland Pollock. Pollock said in the middle of a drought, Tropic Irrigation was ordered to drain the reservoir — twice. 'Why did we build a dam? It is a mystery to me.' Pollock said Utah is being 'California stupid' when it comes to storing water in an area starving for moisture. Tawn Mangum, president of the Tropic and East Fork Irrigation Company, said the storage limitations are posing severe challenges. 'We are choking down here. We can't store water until June, the snowpack is gone by then. There is no snow to store.' The Sevier River is the longest river that begins and ends in Utah, traveling close to 400 miles. Otter Creek Reservoir is downstream from Tropic Reservoir and receives water from the Sevier River. Pollock insists the state Division of Water Rights asserts the water that is allocated is the legal right for water allocated for Otter Creek, but reality is a different matter. 'The water never makes it to Otter Creek Reservoir,' he said. 'It goes underground and then reappears.' 'That would have to make it magic water.' But water right holders downstream from Tropic Reservoir depend on that water — including Piute Reservoir, Sevier Bridge Reservoir (Yuba) and users in Sevier County. The water is used in the system, but Tropic only has so many rights. In good water years, there is ample water storage. But the last few years have put that to the test. 'At Otter Creek, we are pretty sympathetic to Tropic because we are all in this lifestyle,' of agriculture, said Matt Mills, president and chief executive officer of the Otter Creek Reservoir Company. 'This is not a fight between Otter Creek and Tropic Irrigation. This time of year to try to run water through John's Valley is a joke. It is just not happening.' But Pollock wonders why you let a reservoir drain during the winter during the storage months when you will need that water for irrigation. The quandary comes from Tropic's legal right to store water in that system and an order called the Cox decree that spells out those rights. Commissioner Warren Peterson pointed out the state engineer's office is following its duties and obligations as spelled out in the Cox decree issued by a judge. Anything else would upend water law and appropriation rights, he said. 'We have to make sure we are working within that system,' he said. The saga will continue as the Utah Division of Water Rights comes under increasing pressure to solve the problem, which may have no short-term resolution in sight. Albrecht said he wants the 'onus' put on the division to get the matter settled. When it comes to water rights, that is not an easy task. Wilhelmsen said her office is working with both parties in the dispute to come to a resolution.
Zawya
19-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Jordan's major dams see 26% drop in water storage between 2023 and 2024
AMMAN — Water storage levels in the Kingdom's majordams have dropped by more than a quarter over the past year, according to newly released figures from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. Official data shows that water stored in the Kingdom's dams fell by 26.24 per cent between 2023 and 2024. Total storage reached approximately 118.7 million cubic meters in 2023 but declined to 87.6 million cubic meters in 2024. The ministry's report, cited by the government-owned Al Mamlaka TV, also highlighted an imbalance between water inflow and outflow. In 2024, around 219 million cubic meters of water was discharged from dams, while only 187 million cubic meters flowed in. The Wahda Dam recorded a storage level of 1.33 million cubic meters, used for both drinking and irrigation. The Wadi Al Arab Dam held 5.54 million cubic meters, and the Ziqlab Dam stored 931,000 cubic meters, both allocated for irrigation. In the north, the Kafranjah Dam stored 2.24 million cubic meters for drinking and irrigation, while the King Talal Dam, one of the largest in the country, held 31.1 million cubic meters, used for irrigation and electricity generation. The Karamah Dam had 22.6 million cubic meters. Several dams were also cited for their roles in groundwater recharge. The Wadi Shueib Dam stored 247,000 cubic meters, while the Kafrein Dam held 3.45 million cubic meters, and the Zarqa Ma'in Dam stored 135,000 cubic meters. The Walah Dam contributed 1.69 million cubic meters to groundwater reserves. In central and southern Jordan, the Mujib Dam stored 11.1 million cubic meters for irrigation and drinking purposes. The Tannur Dam held 5.2 million cubic meters, mainly for irrigation and industrial use. Other notable dams included Ibn Hammadwith 300,000 cubic meters, Faydan with 1.2 million, Lajounwith 50,000, Karak with 266,000, and Wadi Rahmeh, which stored 188,000 cubic meters, primarily for flood control and irrigation. The country remains the most water-scarce in the world in the report, with annual per capita water availability at just 60 cubic meters, far below the global average of 500 cubic meters. © Copyright The Jordan Times. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
