boston preps for rising seas, singapore’s water scarcity strategies, and more

In this week’s water-related news we find Boston preparing for rising sea levels, ideas from Singapore on managing water stores that are always 40 percent short, how Indians plan their weddings based on venues with clean, ample water supplies, and an editorial by Chevy Chase on the state of our oceans.

preparing for rising seas

The city planners in Boston are looking ahead to a future where rising ocean levels flood significant portions of the city. While Boston has benefited from the ocean, throughout its history Beantown has added to its footprint with landfill, leaving much of the city just above sea level. City leaders are considering a variety of ideas such as changing the entrances to the underground subway and newly built freeways, moving electrical equipment out of downtown basements and onto the roofs, updating zoning laws to discourage construction in high-risk areas, even building massive gates in the bay. And Boston isn’t the only city beginning to this about rising seas. Venice is building sea gates to hold back the tides already.

singapore: a model for water management

Water expert Dr. Peter Gleick takes readers to Singapore for a look at how this small country with 4.5 million people manages its water. For years Singapore has purchased about 40 percent of the water it needs from Malaysia. While the monetary cost of the water hasn’t been a burden, the political and security situation has been. To address the situation and reduce reliance on imported water, Singapore has been working for the last few years to increase conservation, eliminate waste, increase local fresh water capture, and recycle or desalinate water. The country is a model of efficiency; an average citizen of Singapore uses around 40 gallons each day. For comparison, the average Californian uses 130 gallons per day. On the supply side, they are heavily investing in wastewater treatment and recycling plants which could supply as much as 30 percent of their needs. Clearly, the U.S. and other countries could learn a lot from Singapore’s model.

water-caused wedding woes

Wedding-venue wish lists usually include features such as: has a great view, beautiful gardens, or is eco-friendly. Rarely have our readers had to worry if the hall would have enough clean drinking water for the joyous occasion. But this is just what’s happening in some parts of India where water shortages have become all too common. Families in central India are going halls to villages miles away just to ensure there’s plenty of water. According to the Times of India, the family of the groom will specifically ask for a venue that has ample water. And you thought your family had tough requests.

the ocean needs your attention

This past Tuesday was World Oceans Day. Of course, we’re all pretty darn focused on what’s happening with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, so this year people were actually talking about the state of the oceans already. Chevy and Jayni Chase have been educating themselves and others about the perils facing the oceans for a lot longer than the 50 plus days since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. This week on CNN.com, the Chases wrote an editorial spelling out the issue quite plainly: “Our lack of attention is killing the oceans.” Chevy and Jayni point out that we often don’t consider where our fish come from, what happens when trash makes its way to the open water, or the simple fact that we know more about the moon than we do about the depths of the oceans. They encourage you to take the time and give some of your attention to the oceans. After all, they oceans account for more than 71 percent of the surface of the planet.

Which stories caught your eye this week? Please share them in our comments below.

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