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Mexico Is Experiencing One of The Most Widespread And Intense Droughts In Decades: NASA
According to the space agency, 85% of the territory is facing these conditions, which has affected the drinking water resources for drinking, cultivating, and irrigating. "Dams throughout Mexico are at exceptionally low levels."
As of April 15, 85% of the country was facing these conditions, explained the space agency.
ENTREPRENEUR STAFF
May 11, 2021
This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.
NASA published a statement in which it explains the drought situation in Mexico and ensures that the country is experiencing one of the most widespread and intense in decades.
According to the space agency, 85% of the territory is facing these conditions, which has affected the drinking water resources for drinking, cultivating, and irrigating. "Dams throughout Mexico are at exceptionally low levels."
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In this report, NASA shows images of the levels of the Villa Victoria dam, one of the main water supplies in Mexico City, one taken on March 27, 2020, and another on March 30, 2021, and exposes:
March 27, 2020. Photo via NASA.
March 30, 2021. Photo via NASA.
“The most recent images, although more cloudy, show that the water levels have continued to decrease. Villa Victoria is at approximately a third of its normal capacity ”.
Mexican dams at their lowest levels
According to what was exposed by the space agency, 60 large dams located in the north and center of the Aztec country are below 25% of their capacity. This has caused some government administrators to regulate the flow of the liquid from the reservoirs so that some inhabitants have been left without running water.
On the other hand, in the following map NASA shows the areas in which the vegetation is most stressed due to drought, through data on the Evaporative Stress Index (ESI, for its acronym in English).
Photo via NASA.
The ESI indicates how the evapotranspiration rate, water evaporates from the earth's surface and from plant leaves, is compared to normal conditions. The space agency explains that the negative values are below normal rates, which is why plants are stressed due to inadequate soil moisture.
No rain
From October 1, 2020, to April 18, 2021, the National Meteorological Service of Mexico said that the country had about 20% less rainfall than normal. He also explained that the northeast of the territory has gone from severe drought to an extreme one.
The report also adds that in the wet months of last year, little rainfall was also received due to the La Niña phenomenon, in which cold water from the Pacific Ocean inhibits the formation of rain clouds over Mexico and the southern United States.
“Mexico is approaching one of the worst widespread droughts on record. In 2011, drought conditions covered 95 percent of the country and caused famines in the state of Chihuahua. In 1996, the country experienced the worst drought on record and suffered huge crop losses, ”concludes NASA.
Lead Photo: Image credit: Depositphotos.com
Special Report: How Farming Is Gaining Ground in UAE
The UAE has implemented a range of policies, measures and strategies to ensure constant food supplies from abroad and scaled up agricultural production at home - and this is evident as businesses come forward and share their roles in aligning their strategies to boost food and water security.
Photo Supplied by VeggiTech
8/24/2020 11:00:45 PM
(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The UAE has implemented a range of policies, measures and strategies to ensure constant food supplies from abroad and scaled up agricultural production at home - and this is evident as businesses come forward and share their roles in aligning their strategies to boost food and water security.
On Sunday, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said: "Food and water security are among the priorities of the UAE government for the post-coronavirus period, and the objective is to launch specialist initiatives that will ensure our readiness to confront all types of crises."
The farming sector is aggressively working towards boosting local production of agro produce. Agrotech company VeggiTech, for instance, is addressing the key challenges of traditional farming through its design of protected hydroponics and grow lights-assisted hydroponics.
"We have chosen the challenging conditions of UAE to demonstrate the positive use of agro technology to create sustainable farms aligned to the UAE's vision of food security," said Hemant Julka, co-founder and COO of VeggiTech.
In the last 18 months, the company has built and is operating over 30 hectares of farms with protected hydroponics and is also in the process of going live with 4,500 sqm of indoor vertical farms that employ grow light-assisted hydroponics.
"We produced over 1.6 million kg of produce last year and this year [including the summer months] and we will produce more than 1.9 million kg with over 500 tonnes of organic produce from our farms between August 2020 and July 2021," added Julka.
Similarly, Dake Rechsand's primary focus is enabling desert regions to expand their agriculture and long-term water storage capacities and create food and water security.
"Our strength is being able to achieve this using simple, ordinary and abundantly available sand as a raw material. We are ramping up production and expect our technologies to enable farming and greenery for at least 10,000 acres across the UAE or for half-a-million trees by the first half of 2021," said Chandra Dake, executive chairman and group CEO of Dake Group.
"Within the same period we also expect to be ready with a comprehensive strategy for harvesting and usage of rainwater, which will allow us to enable 10 cubic metres [two million gallons] of water storage from harvested rainwater. In fact, we are ready to take on pilot projects during the upcoming monsoons next month and work with the government bodies to showcase how our products and technology can help harness rainfall and deliver immediate and tangible results for the UAE."
Tech disruption
VeggiTech produce utilises less than 10 percent of the water used in traditional farms and is pesticide-free. In addition, they have deployed technology for complete food transparency through QR codes that give complete visibility of the growing process of the vegetable produce from farms. The firm is in the business of offering "farming as a service", where the firm builds and operates digital smart farms that are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
In the first half of 2020, despite the Covid-19 circumstances, VeggiTech signed contracts for 13,000 sqft of grow area for indoor vertical farms and building protected hydroponic farms of 80,000 sqft.
"We are upbeat on the current pipeline of projects [over 10 million sqft of farms - protected hydroponics; more than 200,000 sqft of indoor vertical farms] to be signed in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 and these would start producing over 25 million kg of produce every year from 2021-22. The optimal use of land assets combined with the reduction in water resources and pesticide free crops are an ideal example of using technology to align with the UAE's food security goals," added Julka.
Desert farming
The Middle East, including the UAE and GCC, is enriched with desert sand. However, most of these desert regions import a bulk of their food commodities. Dake Rechsand has what it calls 'magic sand', a technology enables the sustainable production of organic food in the desert using up to 70 percent less water than conventional methods. At 65 percent of total use, the agriculture sector is the largest consumer of water in the UAE.
"On average, about 11 to 12 litres of water is being used to irrigate one sqm of land per day in the UAE. If we reduce that requirement by 70 percent, we could conserve about 45 percent of the total water consumed in the UAE. More importantly, this can be achieved while increasing the UAE's agricultural production significantly," said Dake.
Dake Rechsand creates breathable surfaces for roads, kerbstones and pavements, etc, which can absorb water, and harvest it.
"Coupled with our decentralised mini-reservoirs made from the same material, we can help harvest rainwater and keep it fresh for up to seven years, without any energy inputs. This can not only result in creating a new, reliable and cost effective water source, adding to the UAE's water reserves, but also one that is much cleaner since rainwater is a better source than desalination," added Dake.
"Our approach towards maximising water retention in sand is what propels desert farming and is both economically as well as organically efficient. That means one can get organic products grown from these regions very easily. Our products are designed scientifically, and they contribute to environmental sustainability."
ICBA committed to boost food and water security
The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) completely supports every effort towards the food and water security of the UAE's vision.
Dr Ismahane Elouafi, director-general of the ICBA, said: "Like national security, food and water security must be a priority for all countries. Thanks to the UAE's wise and visionary leadership, the country has always been at the forefront of ensuring food and water security in the country. During the recent disruption to global food systems, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UAE set an excellent example of its efforts towards food security. It was one of the few countries where the food supply remained uninterrupted. Even though the UAE is short of arable land and freshwater resources, and has harsh climatic conditions, the country harness the benefits of innovation to make agriculture possible and profitable in the country."
The UAE's National Food Security Strategy 2051, which was launched in 2018 with a vision to become a world-leading hub for innovation-driven food security, also prioritizes agricultural research and development. The country rose from 33rd place in 2017 to 21st in 2019 in the Global Food Security Index, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The ICBA has been working on several technologies and innovations to boost agricultural productivity and improve farmers' livelihood, in non-arable lands and harsh ecosystems.
All of the ICBA's research and development programmes are directly beneficial to the region, particularly to the UAE.
"We have introduced what we call climate-smart and resource-efficient crops such as quinoa, pearl millet, sorghum, and Salicornia, among others, in countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. These crops are nutritious and resilient to heat, drought, and salinity, therefore fit for ecosystems such as UAE. Furthermore, our crop development and research trials have been mostly conducted in our experimental farm in Dubai. Hence, all data and results are very relevant to the UAE," added Dr Elouafi.
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Farming In The Desert: Are Vertical Farms The Solution To Saving Water?
"When I told people I was going to grow tomatoes in the desert, they thought I was crazy," Sky Kurtz, founder of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, told DW
With high temperatures and water scarcity, the Emirates might seem an unlikely place for a farm. Yet, as coronavirus and climate change heightens the desire for food security, could vertical farms be the solution?
"When I told people I was going to grow tomatoes in the desert, they thought I was crazy," Sky Kurtz, founder of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, told DW.
With just an average 12 days of rain a year, less than 1% arable land, a desert location, and an 80% import rate for food, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seems an unfavorable place to set up a farm.
Read more: World needs 7 planets to eat like a G20 nation, food report finds
Kurtz is one of several entrepreneurs using high-tech farming techniques to boost crop production in the Emirates. Pure Harvest built the first climate-controlled greenhouse in Abu Dhabi in 2017.
Prompted by arid conditions and a desire for greater food security, the country is investing millions in technologies — such as vertical farming — that could make it an unlikely agricultural pioneer.
Read more: Goodbye to fields: What food production may look like tomorrow
Sky Kurtz says people thought he was crazy when he said he would grow tomatoes in the desert
Vertical farms can grow a rich variety of different crops by stacking them in layers under LED lighting in climate-controlled greenhouses and watering them with mist or drip systems. The process is tailored to each crop's specific needs, resulting in high-yield, year-round harvests.
"It takes 30 to 40 days to grow leafy greens out in the field. We can grow that same crop in 10 to 12 days," says Marc Oshima, co-founder of Aerofarms. The company received funding from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to build the capital's largest indoor vertical farm, with 800 different crops, by 2021.
With vertical farming, crops can flourish year-round, far from traditional regions of production
Water scarcity and fossil-fuel reliance
The technology uses minimal land and up to 95% less water than conventional agriculture.
The hydroponics system places the plants' roots directly into a water-based and nutrient-rich solution instead of soil. This "closed-loop" system captures and recirculates all the water, rather than allowing it to drain away — useful for a country like the UAE suffering from extremely high water stress.
Read more: Blue Gold: The dwindling resource of water
Globally, agriculture accounts for 70% of freshwater withdrawals, and UAE is extracting groundwater faster than it can be replenished, according to the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA).
"Water is very expensive over in the UAE, but energy is cheap as it is subsidized," says Jan Westra, a strategic business developer at Priva, a company providing technology to vertical farms.
The artificially controlled environment is energy-intensive because the air conditioning and LED lights need a constant source of electricity.
This bringing forth of life in the desert could come at a high environmental cost. Most of that energy comes from carbon-emitting fossil fuels, even as the Middle Eastern country feel the effects of climate change.
By 2050 Abu Dhabi's average temperature is predicted to increase by around 2.5°C in a business-as-usual scenario. Over the next 70 years, patterns of rainfall are also expected to change.
Aerofarms has received funding from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to build the capital's largest indoor vertical farm, with 800 different crops, by 2021
Integrating renewable energy
Although Pure Harvest is building a solar-powered farm in neighboring Saudi Arabia, its UAE operations get electricity from the carbon-intensive national grid.
Investing more in renewables "is a goal of ours," Kurtz told DW. He said the company has not set a clean energy target but is working on various green power projects, including a plan to integrate solar power generated in UAE into its operations.
However, Willem van der Schans, a researcher specializing in short supply chains at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, says sustainability and clean energy should be "inherent in the technology and included in plans when starting a vertical farm."
He argues that many vertical farming companies are not sustainable in terms of energy as they still view clean power as an optional "add-on."
Read more: Innovative clean water technologies
Ismahane Elouafi, director-general of the government-funded ICBA in Abu Dhabi, acknowledges that vertical farming has some way to go before achieving "real sustainability," but she believes the innovations are "promising."
Improved battery storage, increasingly efficient LED lights and cheaper solar panels will help, she adds.
Local solutions
By 2050, the UAE government wants to generate almost half its energy from renewable sources.
Fred Ruijgt, a vertical farming specialist at Priva, argues that it's important to factor transport and refrigeration into the energy equation. Vertical farming uses more energy to grow crops than traditional agriculture, but because crops are grown locally, they do not have to be transported by air, sea or truck over long distances.
Vertical farming installations come in all shapes and sizes, meaning food can grow where land and water are scarce
"The energy-saving is difficult to calculate exactly, but the advantages of locally grown crops are huge," he says, adding that those grown in vertical farms not only use less water and pesticides but that they also have a longer shelf life due to minimal transportation time.
Read more: Dubai: Can the city of black gold go green?
Food security and coronavirus
In 2018, the UAE set out its vision to become a hub for high-tech local food production.
Companies and investors have flocked to the region, attracted by the 0% corporate tax rate, low labor costs, and cheap energy. With their help, UAE aims to reduce its reliance on imports and make its food system more resilient to shocks like climate change and pandemics.
Oshima from Aerofarms says the coronavirus pandemic has brought "greater appreciation of how fragile the supply chain is and raised questions about food safety and security."
When the UAE went into lockdown in April, imported supplies of perishable goods like vegetables fell and business boomed for local suppliers.
ICBA's Elouafi said they have helped keep the UAE well-stocked during the pandemic.
"With the help of local food production and adequate imports, there has been absolutely no shortage of food in the UAE," Elouafi told DW.
Climate change, however, poses an altogether more complex threat to the country in the long-term. Given climate change's likely impact on food production, she says vertical farming has shown it is "an economically viable proposition even with harsh climatic conditions."
Coronavirus And The Water Cycle — Here Is What Treatment Professionals Need To Know
As the global health community tracks the spread of this virus, it’s important for water and wastewater professionals to keep updated on potential impacts
Guest Column | March 5, 2020
By Nicole McLellan, David Pernitsky, and Arthur Umble
As the global health community tracks the spread of this virus, it’s important for water and wastewater professionals to keep updated on potential impacts.
It's hard to miss the headlines. The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV or COVID-19) has dominated news cycles in recent weeks. The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling it “public enemy number one.” But what information do we have that is related to coronaviruses in water and wastewater systems? And what can water- and wastewater-system operators do to protect public health?
Modern water and wastewater treatment systems play an important role in public health protection. With the potential for environmental transmission, water and wastewater operators need to know the potential for survival of this type of virus in water and wastewater treatment systems.
Coronaviruses, named for the crown-like spikes on their surface, were first identified in the mid-1960s. Currently, seven coronaviruses are known to infect people and make them ill. Three of these — MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and COVID-19 — emerged in the last 20 years and are examples of how some coronaviruses that infect animals can evolve to infect humans. COVID-19 is a new variety of coronavirus and is an enveloped, single-stranded (positive-sense) RNA virus.
So, what is the fate of coronavirus in sewage and wastewater treatment plants? Or in the aquatic environment? And should we be worried about the efficacy of water treatment filtration and disinfection processes for coronavirus removal and inactivation?
The short answer: No — if we take proper precautions and risk considerations.
The long answer: This is a new virus without an extensive body of literature on the effectiveness of water and wastewater treatment processes. And real-life experiences will vary due to water quality and treatment plant details.
According to a 2008 University of Arizona study, coronaviruses have not been found to be more resistant to water treatment than other microorganisms such as E. coli, phage, or poliovirus — which are commonly used as surrogates for treatment performance evaluations. Results from bench-scale studies suggest that the survival of coronaviruses is temperature-dependent, with greater survival at lower temperatures. Therefore, coronavirus is expected to be reduced in raw wastewater and surface waters in warmer seasons.
How is it transmitted?
Human viruses do not replicate in the environment. For a coronavirus to be transferred via the water cycle, it must have the ability to survive in human waste, retain its infectivity, and come in contact with another person — most likely via aerosols. Findings suggest that COVID-19 can be transmitted through human waste.
Should a major virus pandemic occur, wastewater and drinking water treatment industries would face increased scrutiny. Utilities would need to respond rapidly to minimize occupational and public health risks based on the available evidence. Wastewater effluents would possibly impact recreation, irrigation, and drinking waters. While wastewater treatment does reduce virus levels, infective human viruses are often detected in wastewater treatment plant effluent.
Information for wastewater treatment plant operators
Typically, human waste entering a sewage system is carried through an underground pipe system to a municipal treatment plant. Wastewater treatment plants receiving sewage from hospitals and isolation centers treating coronavirus patients — and domestic sewage from areas of known large contamination — may have elevated concentrations of viruses. Wastewater is treated by a variety of processes to reduce the pollution impacts on nearby receiving waters (lakes, rivers) and disinfected.
Currently, major data gaps exist on the potential role of the water cycle in the spread of enveloped viruses. The lack of detection methods for these strains of viruses is a main reason this type of information is still relatively unknown. Most detection methods are designed and optimized for non-enveloped enteric viruses, and there just isn’t enough information available.
In general, secondary wastewater treatment is credited with removing 1-log (90 percent) of viruses, though broad studies suggest the level of virus removal is highly variable, ranging from insignificant to greater than 2-log removal (99 percent). Because of this variability, the primary process for the inactivation of viruses in wastewater treatment is chemical disinfection (e.g., chlorination) and/or by ultraviolet light.
Drinking water treatment is an effective barrier
Surface-water treatment plants with upstream wastewater impacts are the most susceptible to having coronavirus contamination in the raw water supply during, and after, an outbreak. Viruses are exposed to several potentially inactivating stresses in surface waters, including sunlight, oxidative chemicals, and predation by microorganisms. Generally, enveloped viruses are more susceptible to common drinking water disinfectants than non-enveloped viruses.
Based on published research, water treatment processes that meet virus removal/inactivation regulations are effective for coronavirus control.
For example, drinking water quality guidelines from Health Canada note conventional treatment with free available chlorine can achieve at least 8-log inactivation of viruses in general. Of course, disinfection performance must be continuously monitored (e.g., turbidity, disinfectant dose, residual, pH, temperature, and flow). Optimized conventional filtration can achieve 2-log (99 percent) virus removal and is just one of many processes water treatment facilities incorporate to make our water safe to drink.
Modern drinking water treatment plants are well equipped to remove and disinfect viruses through filtration and disinfection processes.
So now what?
By and large, these viruses are not considered a major threat to the wastewater and water industries due to their low concentrations in municipal wastewater and high susceptibilities to degradation in aqueous environments. According to new OHSA guidance, there is no evidence to suggest that additional, COVID-19-specific protections are needed for employees involved in wastewater treatment operations.
The WHO found that risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) has been integral to the success of response to health emergencies. Action items related to coronavirus include communicating about preparedness measures and establishing a system for listening to public perceptions to prevent misinformation.
Basic recommendations for treatment-plant operators when dealing with a potential virus outbreak
So far, this virus does not appear to survive well in the environment and can be eliminated effectively by water treatment, especially chlorination, and would pose a minimal risk through drinking water. As the outbreak continues, more water-quality experiments are needed before major conclusions can be drawn on their fate within treatment processes. While this will be tricky, especially as viruses continue to replicate and evolve, quantitative risk assessments should be a top priority for enveloped viruses in wastewater, recreational waters, and drinking water.
Treatment-plant operators can download this white paper for more details on the current state of knowledge on coronaviruses as it relates to our practice. For additional reputable and reliable sources of information that are updated frequently with technical guidance, public health information, and the latest research visit the Water Environment Federation’s coronavirus site.
Lead Photo: The spikes on the surface of coronaviruses give this virus family its name — corona, which is Latin for “crown.”
About the authors
Nicole McLellan is an environmental scientist. She has an academic background in environmental microbiology and civil engineering for drinking water treatment performance evaluations.
David Pernitsky is the global practice leader for water treatment. He has more than 25 years of environmental engineering experience, managing many challenging studies.
Arthur Umble is Stantec’s global lead for wastewater practice. He develops strategies and provides solutions for complex wastewater treatment challenges.
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Comments (9)
We must thank the authors for this sensible evaluation of the public health risks from Coronovirus Corvid 19. It would appear they are indicating that there are potential risks from Coronovirus in wastewater for example aerosols from uncovered activated sludge aeration tanks and in discharging untreated sewage into cold (bathing) water through Combined Sewer storm Overflows of which there are 31,000 in the UK alone.
Matthew· 2 weeks ago
Hmm, I have one of these uncovered sludge aeration tanks on the other side of my fence downwind of my garden and house. Seems I'm right to be concerned?
Ben Tangena· 3 weeks ago
Of course, chlorination, UV or Reverse Osmosis in drinking water treatment are effective barriers against all viruses, also coronavirus. But what will happen if such a barrier fails? Then the coronavirus can spread through the distribution system. What is the risk if you drink such contaminated water? In other words: Is the oral intake of coronavirus a significant route for infection?
1 reply · active 3 weeks ago
Vadim Malkov· 3 weeks ago
This is why we need to stick to WQ monitoring - you cannot control what you do not measure!
kondala rao g· 3 weeks ago
Very informative article and quite useful in understanding the impact of controlling corona viruses in water and wastewaters.
Very good article, very focused, especially in this time of exaggeration and disinformation. Based on what the author has stated, I would like to highly recommend the reliable and sustainable online disinfection system (directly on the water stream): BlueSense OXAQUA manufactured in the Netherlands, is a natural generator of Electrochemically Activated Water (ECA Water). This system produces hypochlorous acid (HOCI) naturally in drinking water to disinfect flows of up to 10 m3 / hour, without adding chemicals or precursors such as sodium chloride (the concentration must be greater than 20 ppm of chlorides). OXAQUA also creates a residual oxidant up to the point of use by the end-user. OXAQUA uses chlorides naturally present in water to generate up to 2 ppm of free chlorine in the form of hypochlorous acid. This strong oxidant is known to prevent the spread of bacteria, viruses, algae, and molds in drinking water and hot water systems.
Ray Walton· 2 weeks ago
This info seems to be deliberately 'suppressed' here in the UK.
Is CORONAVIRUS - COVID-19 present in Raw Sewage? …
YES…AND STILL, THE RAW SEWAGE IS BEING DISCHARGED INTO UK RIVERS, STREAMS, CANALS, SEA, ETC. BY UK PRIVATISED WATER AND SEWAGE COMPANIES NATIONWIDE AND AUTHORISED BY GOVT AND THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY… TO PROFITEER AND SAVE MONEY ON PROPER SEWAGE TREATMENT THAT WOULD SOMEWHAT LESSEN THE RISK OF SPREADING THE CONTAMINATION... THE PUBLIC PAY FOR RAW SEWAGE TREATMENT IN THEIR WATER AND SEWAGE BILLS.
Chris· 1 week ago
This comment is disturbing knowing I work with alot of people who work in the sewer still everyday even today.... I am self isolating after coming home out of country
Philip Monro· 3 days ago
Am I over concerned regarding the amount/concentration of "human sewage" if there are conference halls being filled with 2000 beds where the plumbing for that conference hall was never designed for the safe disposal/disinfection of "human sewage". Am I also being alarmist as to the low probability of the conference center's "wastewater supply AND THE MAIN DRAINS THEY ARE CONNECTED TO to being "with minimum / fast/temporary wastewater plumbing coping? FINALLY, if this error leads to massive, wider contamination (or even rupture of the system) just how will this significantly larger network of pipe-work be safely disinfected at ACCEPTABLE intervals and with potential repairs if ruptured? Dr. Philip Monro PhD
U.S. Drinking Water Widely Contaminated With 'Forever Chemicals': Environment Watchdog
The chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Some have been linked to cancers, liver damage, low birth weight and other health problems
Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
The contamination of U.S. drinking water with man-made "forever chemicals" is far worse than previously estimated with some of the highest levels found in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans, said a report on Wednesday by an environmental watchdog group.
The chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Some have been linked to cancers, liver damage, low birth weight and other health problems.
The findings here by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) show the group's previous estimate in 2018, based on unpublished U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, that 110 million Americans may be contaminated with PFAS, could be far too low.
“It's nearly impossible to avoid contaminated drinking water from these chemicals," said David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG and co-author of the report.
The chemicals were used in products like Teflon and Scotchguard and in firefighting foam. Some are used in a variety of other products and industrial processes, and their replacements also pose risks.
Of tap water samples taken by EWG from 44 sites in 31 states and Washington D.C., only one location, Meridian, Mississippi, which relies on 700 foot (215 m) deep wells, had no detectable PFAS. Only Seattle and Tuscaloosa, Alabama had levels below 1 part per trillion (PPT), the limit EWG recommends.
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VIDEO Tap water widely contaminated across U.S. -report
In addition, EWG found that on average six to seven PFAS compounds were found at the tested sites, and the effects on the health of the mixtures are little understood. "Everyone's really exposed to a toxic soup of these PFAS chemicals," Andrews said.
In 34 places where EWG's tests found PFAS, contamination had not been publicly reported by the EPA or state environmental agencies.:
The EPA has known since at least 2001 about the problem of PFAS in drinking water but has so far failed to set an enforceable, nationwide legal limit. The EPA said early last year it would begin the process to set limits on two of the chemicals, PFOA, and PFOS.
The EPA said it has helped states and communities address PFAS and that it is working to put limits on the two main chemicals but did not give a timeline.
In 2018 a draft report from an office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the risk level for exposure to the chemicals should be up to 10 times lower than the 70 PPT threshold the EPA recommends. The White House and the EPA had tried to stop the report from being published.(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Lead Photo: March 4, 2016. REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI/FILE PHOTO - People refill bottles at a water store in Temple City, California, United States
The EPA's Rollback of the Clean Water Act Could Impact Drinking Water For Millions of Americans
"They're effectively sending us back 30 years in our protections of U.S. waters," says Peter Gleick, co-founder of the Pacific Institute and a MacArthur "genius" Fellowship winner for his work as a climate and water scientist
It exposes small streams and wetlands nationwide to pollution
By Ula Chrobak
September 13, 2019
The Trump Administration just announced yet another blow to the country's environmental protections. On Thursday, officials from the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers repealed an Obama administration update to the 1972 Clean Water Act, which had expanded protection to wetlands and streams that are disconnected from navigable rivers. "They're effectively sending us back 30 years in our protections of U.S. waters," says Peter Gleick, co-founder of the Pacific Institute and a MacArthur "genius" Fellowship winner for his work as a climate and water scientist.
The 2015 rule has broadened the definition of "waters of the United States," which allowed the EPA to regulate pollutants in a much greater proportion of waterways than before. Dry washes and streams may only flow intermittently, but according to an EPA report, they make up about 59 percent of streams in the U.S. and 81 percent of those in the Southwest. Another EPA report, which supported the 2015 rule, reviewed more than 1,200 studies on small streams and wetlands and found that they're critical to the health of downstream rivers: "There is ample evidence that many wetlands and open waters located outside of riparian areas and floodplains, even when lacking surface water connections, provide physical, chemical, and biological functions that could affect the integrity of downstream waters." And yet, many of these waters now have no protection under federal law.
The original definition of "waters of the United States" mainly covered large rivers, their tributaries, and adjacent wetlands. The Clean Water Act requires industrial and municipal polluters discharging to these rivers to obtain permits from the EPA and the 2015 update expanded those regulations to include smaller streams and wetlands. Thursday's repeal will soon be followed by a rule change, and the replacement text would basically revert to the '70s-level protections. Officials have stated that the change would remove a current "regulatory patchwork"—the 2015 update only applies to 22 states, Washington D.C. and U.S. territories because other states have challenged the rule in court. In a press release, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said redefining "water of the United States" would "provide greater regulatory certainty for farmers, landowners, home builders, and developers nationwide."
But despite whatever uncertainty there may have been, the 2015 update was enacted for a reason: the streams and wetlands that aren't flowing into or right next to major rivers are still crucial for wildlife and humans. Drinking water for one in three people in the lower 48 comes from same waters that just lost their federal protections in the repeal, as PopSci has reported previously. "The weakening that we're seeing today is really serious—It's really cutting protection for drinking water for a lot of Americans," says Gleick. "A lot of our groundwater resources and a lot of our surface water resources are now going to be vulnerable to far more pollution."
The 2015 rule also regulated pesticides and nutrients leaching from many farmers’ fields—a diffuse but cumulatively significant source of pollution. In the Mississippi basin, for example, the pollutants from numerous farms that trickle into small streams and wetlands eventually flow into the river and then into the Gulf of Mexico says, Gleick. This impacts water quality and leads to the growth of massive algal blooms and fish die-offs. “Some farmers would have had to get permits to discharge pollutants into the streams and wetlands,” says Gleick. But now that requirement has been lifted, and our waters will suffer for it.
Lead Photo: Small streams could be in danger / Joao Branco/Unsplash
India: No Drips, No Drops: A City Of 10 Million Is Running Out Of Water
In India's sixth-largest city, lines for water snake around city blocks, restaurants are turning away customers and a man was killed in a brawl over water. Chennai, with a population of almost 10 million, is nearly out of water
June 25, 2019
SUSHMITA PATHAK
These satellite images from June 15, 2018, (left) and June 15, 2019, show the diminishing size of the Puzhal Lake reservoir in Chennai, India.
Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP
In India's sixth-largest city, lines for water snake around city blocks, restaurants are turning away customers and a man was killed in a brawl over water. Chennai, with a population of almost 10 million, is nearly out of water.
In much of India, municipal water, drawn from reservoirs or groundwater, typically runs for only a couple of hours each day. That's the norm year-round. The affluent fill tanks on their roofs; the poor fill jerrycans and buckets.
But in Chennai this summer, the water is barely flowing at all. The government has dispatched water tankers to residential areas to fill the void. Still, some people in especially hard-hit areas have vacated their homes and moved in with relatives or friends.
Satellite images of the city's largest reservoir, Puzhal Lake, taken one year apart, reveal a chilling picture. Since June 2018, the lake has shrunk significantly. Puzhal is one of the four rain-fed reservoirs that supply water to most parts of Chennai.
#ChennaiWaterScarcity Scenes of the dried up Thiruneermalai, Chembarambakkam, Perumbakkam and Korattur lake in Chennai.
All major reservoirs supplying water to Chennai dry up, read: http://bit.ly/2WLKzwZ #தவிக்கும்தமிழ்நாடு
Another picture shows the parched bed of Chembarambakkam Lake, another major reservoir. Its cracked surface is covered with dead fish.
"It's shocking but not surprising," says Tarun Gopalakrishnan, a climate change expert at the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment. He says the crisis in Chennai is the result of "a toxic mix of bad governance and climate change."
Rains have become more erratic because of climate change. That, coupled with a delayed arrival of the seasonal monsoon, which usually comes in June, has all but dried up the city's water supply. Government data show that the storage level in the four lakes combined is less than one-hundredth of what it was at this time last year. A severe heat wave gripping most of India, including Chennai, has aggravated conditions.
What's happening in Chennai could easily happen anywhere across India, Gopalakrishnan says.
A 2018 government think tank report projected that 21 major Indian cities, including the capital, New Delhi, and India's IT hub, Bengaluru, will "run out of groundwater as soon as 2020." Approximately 100 million people would be affected, the report predicts.
In Chennai, residents are scrambling to conserve water.
"We stopped using showers for bathing. We use buckets so that we can ration the amount of water," says 33-year-old university professor Nivash Shanmugkam. His family also avoids using a washing machine for its laundry and washes clothes by hand as much as possible.
Public institutions are suffering. Hospitals and nursing homes are charging more for services to cover the increased cost of water, according to the local press. There are also reports that toilets at schools are dirty due to a lack of water.
Indian workers carry the last bit of water from a small pond in the dried-out Puzhal reservoir on the outskirts of Chennai. | . Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images
A scuffle over water turned deadly for a 33-year-old man when he tried to stop another man and his sons from siphoning large amounts of water from a public tank this month.
Businesses and offices have been affected too. Amit Agarwal, a 28-year-old IT professional in Chennai, has been working from home for the past few days because there is no water in the bathrooms in his office. Many tech companies have been advising employees to do the same.
In Chennai's shopping malls, restrooms are operational only on some floors.
The rich can buy additional deliveries of water from private tankers, sometimes at exorbitant rates. Poor people living in slums simply can't afford to pay.
The response of the government of Tamil Nadu, the state whose capital is Chennai, has ranged from downplaying the extent of the crisis to praying to the rain gods.
"There has been a water shortage in several areas due to monsoon deficit. The government is taking several steps," Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami told reporters on Friday.
Those steps include a special train that will soon begin transporting 10 million liters of water per day – that's about 2.6 million gallons — to Chennai from another part of the state. After initially turning down donations, Tamil Nadu has accepted an offer of aid of 2 million liters of drinking water from a neighboring state, Kerala.
Opposition politicians in Tamil Nadu are staging protests. Dozens of women carrying colorful plastic water pots with slogans written on them gathered in Chennai this week to criticize the government for its handling of the water crisis.
One thing that could have possibly averted this acute water shortage? Rainwater harvesting.
In 2002, the government of Tamil Nadu passed legislation that mandated rainwater-harvesting structures on all buildings, including private homes, in the city. The goal: to capture rainwater and store it for later use. It was a revolutionary idea. When the city got hit with heavy monsoon rains a few years later, rainwater harvesting raised the water table enough to last the city until 2016, says Sekhar Raghavan, director of the Chennai-based nonprofit The Rain Centre.
But the government failed to monitor the rainwater-harvesting structures, which meant a lot of them didn't work properly.
"This is a wake-up call for the government and citizens," he says.
Raghavan says he's now getting calls from people asking about how they can properly harvest every drop of rainwater.
Anticipating inadequate rainfall and planning for acute water shortages are further complicated by climate change.
"The fear associated with climate change is not the fear of knowing that everything is going to be worse," says Gopalakrishnan. "It's the fear of not knowing."
While they may not necessarily light ceremonial fires for rain like their elected leaders, Chennai residents will nevertheless be praying for a downpour soon.
NPR correspondent Lauren Frayer contributed to this report from New Delhi.
Tags: water shortage water india chennai
Dutch Aquifers Bank Rainwater to Help Farmers Avoid Going Bust
Climate change is increasing the risk of water shortages across Europe, but researchers in the Netherlands are hoping to ease pressure by generating a steady supply of clean water and heat from deep underground reservoirs known as aquifers
Greenhouses in the Westland Region, NL. Credit: European Science Communication Institute
Greenhouses in the Westland Region, NL. Credit: European Science Communication Institute
MAY 17, 2019
by European Science Communication Institute
Climate change is increasing the risk of water shortages across Europe, but researchers in the Netherlands are hoping to ease pressure by generating a steady supply of clean water and heat from deep underground reservoirs known as aquifers.
In the west of the Netherlands, there is a sea of greenhouses covering 4,500 hectares. Known as the Westland, this indoor farming hub is home to 670 horticulture companies growing a wide variety of flowers and crops, from aubergines and tomatoes to cucumbers. Water is crucial to growing these plants inside, but despite being in a country famous for rivers and canals the region still faces shortages.
"We had a very dry summer," said Klaasjan Raat, a water resource management expert at KWR, a Dutch sustainable water institute. "We had a lack of fresh groundwater which not only poses a risk to farmers, but also damages nature."
Westland pioneers a lot of sustainable water technology and researchers will now trial a new concept known as water banking, which deposits precipitation collected over the area during wetter periods and stores it in aquifers for a not-so-rainy day. The project is led by Raat who says this approach could help Westland balance demand in a climate change future where less rainfall is expected.
"If pumping is balanced over time, and over an area, you maintain the quality and amount of water in that aquifer," he said, but points out that Westland is currently "over-drafting," meaning it withdraws more water from ground reserves than what is put back in. This is a long-term liability for the greenhouse farmers, warns Raat, but water banking could help them break-even; or even make a profit.
"Rainwater that falls on the greenhouses [periodically] is not sufficient, but on average in the whole area [of Westland] over the year it is," he said.
Raat will recruit a group of horticulturists over 100 hectares and incentivize them to pump their excess rainwater into the ground reserve. Together with other local stakeholders, like the regional water authority, he is developing a pricing mechanism that will financially reward the farmers who deposit water into the aquifer and charge those who withdraw too much. He hopes it will be a self-containing system that finances itself.
Aquifers are helping farmers elsewhere in Westland too, but this time in supplying a cleaner source of heat. Industry at the nearby port of Rotterdam produces waste heat that is used to warm water in large pipes before it is pumped into even deeper underground reservoirs where it is stored as thermal energy, ready to be tapped into when the demand is there.
Geothermal energy and 'heat roundabouts'
Martin Bloemendal, a geothermal energy expert at Delft University of Technology and KWR, is developing a way to help optimise the performance of the 'heat roundabout' for Westland, which he says is crucial for the greenhouses because they also need higher temperatures to grow their crops.
"We have different sources of heat that are readily available during the warmer periods, like waste, geothermal and solar heat," he said. "But in winter, there is not enough, so they [greenhouses] need additional heating."
If the greenhouses don't have a renewable source, burning fossil fuels often fills the gap, but storing excess heat during summer diminishes this need because it gives access to thermal energy throughout the year.
The heat storage project for Westland and the water banking pilot will soon act as demonstration sites to inform other European countries about making the most of their water resources.
India’s Water Crisis Is Real: What Will Happen by 2020?
The index prepared by the NITI Aayog claims that, by 2020, as many as 21 major cities of India will run out of the water and face ‘day zero’
The index prepared by the NITI Aayog claims that, by 2020, as many as 21 major cities of India will run out of the water and face ‘day zero’—a term that got popular after the major water crisis in Cape Town in South Africa.July 20, 2018
July 28, 2018
The index prepared by the NITI Aayog claims that, by 2020, as many as 21 major cities of India will run out of the water and face ‘day zero’—a term that got popular after the major water crisis in Cape Town in South Africa.
India is a diverse country. It harbours different religions, ethnicities and species, and until now more or less our natural resources have supported this diversification. However, now, the burden of the activities of the mankind has exceeded the tolerance power of nature and, therefore, India—which has been blessed with water resources—might soon turn into a water-scarce country. Recently, a number of events have shaken up the high-profile political circles of Delhi. The flood situation in Mumbai, severe water scarcity in Shimla and Bengaluru, and the release of the Composite Water Management Index by the NITI Aayog have all put ‘water’ on the front page of many newspaper and websites.
The index prepared by the NITI Aayog claims that, by 2020, as many as 21 major cities of India will run out of the water and face ‘day zero’—a term that got popular after the major water crisis in Cape Town in South Africa. The NITI Aayog has, generously enough, talked about only 21 major cities, but if we go according to the projections of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), more than 60 tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3 cities are on the verge of water scarcity. The stage of development of groundwater in these cities is near 100%. The ‘Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India’, a report published by the CGWB, defines the stage of development of groundwater as the percentage of utilisation of groundwater with respect to recharge.
The stage of development of groundwater in India, as on March 31, 2013, is 62%. But it varies from region to region. The CGWB has divided the whole country into 6,584 assessment units, and of which 16% comes under the category of ‘overexploited’. This means that in 16% of the total assessment units, the annual groundwater extraction exceeds the net annual groundwater availability, which leads to long-term decline in groundwater tables of the regions. In addition, 4% and 10% units come under the category of critical (stage of development of groundwater more than 90% but less than 100%) and semi-critical (stage of development of groundwater more than 70% but less than 100%), respectively.
The maximum number of overexploited units fall in three regions of the country: the north-western part which includes cities in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh; the western part which includes cities in Rajasthan and Gujarat; and the southern part which includes cities in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. Of the 21 major cities that are going to run out of water by 2020, as reported by the NITI Aayog, Hyderabad has the worst condition, where the stage of development of groundwater is more than 400%. Chennai, which has been recording frequent floods during the monsoon season, has a 185% stage of development of groundwater. The capital city of India, Delhi’s stage of groundwater development is 127%, but some regions in Delhi, such as Hauz Khas, Kalkaji and Vasant Vihar, have more than 250% stage of development of groundwater.
Apart from these 21 major cities, many other cities in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are at an alarming stage of development of groundwater. The situation will become worse when the population growth rate of these cities is taken into account. The main reasons behind over-extraction of groundwater in these cities are over-reliance of citizens on groundwater due to lack of storage capacity of water, poorly defined legal framework of groundwater that rests the ownership of groundwater with the landowners, and lower pricing of urban water. The per-capita water storage capacity of India is near 225 cubic metres, which is far below than our neighbour China, which has a storage capacity of 1,111 cubic metres per-capita. Most cities in India have seen unplanned growth, whereas master plans are being superimposed without future resource considerations.
There are no provisions for rainwater harvesting and water conservation structures in these plans, which led to the overemphasis on groundwater in these cities. Moreover, the rights of groundwater extraction with the landowners and lower prices of water have resulted in groundwater mining in Indian cities. In order to redress the current situation, Indian policy-makers have to take some tough decisions. These include proper pricing of water, introducing a central groundwater Bill that gives the ownership of groundwater to a particular government agency, and undertaking construction of water-related infrastructure that can increase the storage capacity in India.
Besides this, there is a need to generate awareness among the common masses about the current condition of water scarcity in the country. The common man holds lot of power and, in many cases, it has been seen that people have taken up the matter in their own hands and changed the overall scenario without any external help from any agency. The Jakhani village of Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh can serve as the role model for the people, institutions and policy-makers, where without any help from the state or central government, villagers defeated the drought and became self-sufficient in water. To solve the problem of water scarcity in India, we need an integrated approach that involves the efforts of every stakeholder. We have to overcome the diversification in our own motives and stand up as a united front.
Avinash Mishra & Namrata Singh Panwar
City Of Newburgh Announces A Federal Lawsuit Against The US Air Force, NYS, Airport Operators, & Manufacturers For Contaminating Washington Lake With PFAS
The City of Newburgh, New York (“City”) filed suit late yesterday afternoon in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, seeking to halt on-going contamination of the City’s water supply by per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (“PFAS”) originating at Stewart Air National Guard Base (“Base”) and Stewart International Airport (“Airport”).
City of Newburgh Mayor Torrance Harvey said, “The City is asking the court to hear and respond to our citizens’ exposure to toxic contaminants. We are standing up for our citizen’s rights to clean and healthy water, and demanding damages so we can provide our citizens rebates for the contaminated water they received.”
The City seeks to require 23 Defendants that have manufactured and sold PFAS, or owned and/or operated the ANG Base and Airport to clean up the PFAS contamination in the City watershed and pay for the City’s continued supply of clean water until the cleanup is completed. The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants’ manufacture, sale and use of aqueous film forming foam (“AFFF”) containing PFAS resulted in widespread contamination of Washington Lake, the City’s primary water supply for more than 27,000 consumers, and the watershed for the City’s drinking water supply reservoirs. PFAS are extremely mobile and persistent in the environment, and may cause human health risks.
The City has been purchasing PFAS free water from the Catskill Aqueduct since May of 2016 with the help of the State of New York (“State”), but this clean water source from the Catskill Aqueduct is scheduled to be shut down for 10 weeks starting in the fall of 2018 by New York City for maintenance. The City plans to provide PFAS free water from Brown’s Pond during the periods that water from the Catskill Aqueduct is unavailable.
The use of AFFF made by the manufacturer Defendants and used by New York State Air National Guard, the United States Air Force, Federal Express, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, among others, on land owned by the State has caused extensive PFAS contamination of soil, water, and fish. The suit charges that the Defendants are liable under federal environmental laws, and state laws for negligence, public nuisance, defective designs, and inadequate warnings.
Information obtained by the City indicates that the owner/operator Defendants have used AFFF at the Base and Airport since at least 1980. The manufacturers have known about the health risks of PFAS since at least the early 1970s and failed to warn users of their risks if not properly handled. The owner/operator Defendants have known about the risks since at least 1987 but have not properly handled the AFFF, resulting in widespread contamination in the City watershed.
The City is asking the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to find the Defendants liable for the extensive contamination and require the cleanup of the City watershed.
The City also wants the Defendants to provide residents with clean water until contamination is abated, assist in the development of a comprehensive watershed management program, reimburse the City for costs that it has incurred from the contamination, and pay the City so it can provide City water users rebates for contaminated water they purchased. Further, the suit asks the court to award the City punitive damages against the manufacturers.
No less than twelve (12) different types of PFAS have been detected in Washington Lake, including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (“PFOS”), perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”), the most well-known, long-chain PFAS, and ten other short-chain PFAS. PFAS accumulate in blood and other tissues, and will persist indefinitely, threatening the environment and human health. PFOS and PFOA have been detected in Washington Lake and Silver Stream at levels above the May 2016 EPA Health Advisory of 70 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFOA combined.
The ten other short-chained PFAS identified in Washington Lake were recently determined to have toxicological and adverse health effects by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (“ATSDR”), the Public Health Service and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The City has spent more than two years asking owners and operators of the Base and Airport to stop using PFAS and to prevent the ongoing discharge of contaminated water, originating from the Base, from flowing into the streams that feeds Washington Lake. While the United States Air Force, New York Air National Guard, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey may have stopped using AFFF containing PFOS sometime in 2017 after the State listed two long-chained PFAS, namely PFOS and PFOA, as hazardous substances, they continue to use AFFF containing short-chained PFAS at the Base and Airport. The City has now asked for the Court to intervene.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation installed a temporary measure in the form of a granulated activated carbon (“GAC”) filtration system for future treatment of Washington Lake water. But testing performed by the State on Washington Lake water using a similar carbon filtration system revealed that the carbon was less effective for short-chained PFAS. The State has committed to filtering PFAS from Washington Lake water to “non-detect” levels, but documents provided to the City do not yet reflect that commitment. The City is concerned that the operation of the GAC is only designed to treat PFOS and PFOA, and does not include a treatment plan for short-chain PFAS.
The City continues to ask the State to develop treatment standards for PFOS, PFOA, and the short-chain PFAS detected in Washington Lake. As of today, the State has not developed standards for PFAS, and the EPA’s current recommended treatment levels are less protective of human health than the drastically lower standards proposed by the ATSDR. Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Vermont have each issued standards or guidance levels for PFAS lower than the level recommended by EPA in 2016 of 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS combined.
The City has been accessing clean water from the Catskill Aqueduct since May 2, 2016 with the help of the State, but that source is about to be shut down. The Catskill Aqueduct, which provides clean water to the City of New York and surrounding Hudson Valley communities, is planned to be shut down for 10 weeks beginning on October 2, 2018.
“The City cannot and will not use Washington Lake water during the shutdown of the Catskill Aqueduct because of the ongoing contamination of the drinking watershed, inadequate treatment, and lack of standards,” said City Manager Michael Ciaravino.
The City has been forced to use taxpayer dollars to engineer solutions to ensure it has an adequate supply of clean water from its secondary water supply, Brown’s Pond. However, that backup supply will run short if the neighboring Town of New Windsor also utilizes Brown’s Pond during the shutdown period of 10 weeks.
The City is being represented in this lawsuit by Alan J. Knauf, Esq. and Meaghan A. Colligan, Esq. of Knauf Shaw LLP, George Rodenhausen, Esq. of Rodenhausen Chale LLP, and John Walsh, Esq., of Hodges, Walsh, Messemer & Burke LLP.
Water Security Mapped Out
Water security will become an increasingly big geopolitical issue over the next 100 years or so. This map highlights the areas most at risk.
Water Security Mapped Out
Regions Most At Risk
Click to Enlarge
Water security will become an increasingly big geopolitical issue over the next 100 years or so. This map highlights the areas most at risk.
These risks range from effects such as inadequate water supplies to the dangers of flooding.