Tag: Drought

Biden Administration Allocates $310 Million in Funding for Water Reuse Projects as Drought Grips Much of US

The Biden administration announced on Aug. 18 that nearly $310 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is being allocated to help aid water reuse projects across the country as drought conditions worsen. The announcement comes following Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton’s two-day tour through central and southern California, which included…


China Issues First National Drought Alert of the Year

SHANGHAI—The Chinese regime has issued its first national drought alert of the year. The national “yellow alert,” issued late on Thursday, comes after regions from Sichuan in the southwest to Shanghai in the Yangtze delta have experienced weeks of intense heat. The alert is two notches short of the most serious warning on Beijing’s scale….


Yangtze Tributary Runs Dry as China Faces Another Month of Drought

CHONGQING/SHANGHAI—Residents living near a tributary of the Yangtze river in the southwestern region of Chongqing clambered along the dry riverbed on Thursday amid an unprecedented drought across the region that could last another month. “I am actually pretty worried, because the water has been cut off in my compound,” said Tian Feng, a 27-year old…


UK Water Regulator Will ‘Hold Companies to Account’ Amid Drought

The head of Britain’s water regulator said it will take water companies to task over leaks and prices as the nation faces hosepipe bans. “We set challenging, achievable targets of water companies, leakage being one of them,” David Black, CEO of The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) told BBC Radio 4 on Aug. 16. “We challenged…


Expect Shrunken Vegetables and Less Cheese Amid Drought, Warn British Farmers

Farmers and agricultural experts have told consumers to expect strange-looking shrunken vegetables and less cheese as drought conditions ravish farms in Britain. The National Drought Group, made up of a team of advisers from the Environment Agency (EA), declared a drought in 14 regions of the country including the southwest, parts of southern and central…


The Extraordinary Challenges Texas Ranchers Are Facing

CROSS PLAINS, Texas—Sheila Payne Blackburn always believed that cowgirls were a special breed that never quit when things got tough. Now she knows even the sturdiest of them have their limits. When her father died of COVID-19 in early 2021, Blackburn found herself alone to continue the farm and ranch that had been in her…


Texas Cattle Ranchers Enduring Hardship and Loss As Extreme Drought Bakes the Land

CROSS PLAINS, Texas—Sheila Payne Blackburn always believed that cowgirls were a special breed that never quit when things got tough. Now she knows even the sturdiest of them have their limits. When her father died of COVID-19 in early 2021, Blackburn found herself alone to continue the farm and ranch that had been in her…


National Drought Declared in UK After Driest Start to Year Since 1976

A national drought has been declared in England, after a prolonged period of low rainfall from January to July 2022, the lowest since 1976. The decision followed a meeting on Friday by the National Drought Group—which includes the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), water companies, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)—which was…


Brits Encouraged to Snitch on Neighbours Who Breach Outdoor Water Restrictions

Residents in southern England have been encouraged to report their neighbours to water companies if they find them repeatedly breaching the outdoor water-use restrictions during the ongoing drought. The first hosepipe bans—also known as temporary use bans (TUBs)—were introduced on Aug. 5 in parts of southern England, with further restrictions earmarked for the Southeast of…


California’s Water Crisis Is ‘Man-Made’: Official

A water agency official attributes California’s current water shortage to state laws that limit pumping water for urban and agricultural use, and a lack of water infrastructure. Darcy Burke, the board president of Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, said she is concerned about how water resources are being distributed between human and environmental needs. “A…