U.S. California - Governor declares drought in California

California's water crisis intensified Wednesday as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared the first statewide drought in 17 years - setting the stage for drastic cutbacks and for diverting supplies from the relatively water-rich to the water-poor

Iran drought forces power cuts

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran is facing a summer of power cuts after a severe drought slashed output from its hydroelectric power plants, the energy minister warned, according to press reports on Thursday.

GrainCorp "drought proofs" its business to guarantee future

U.S., Drought and low grain harvests have prompted the company GrainCorp to look at drought proofing its business.  The changes involve buying companies that import grain from elsewhere, leasing trains to carry stock when required, and reviewing money spent on marketing bulk wheat.

RPT-FEATURE-High food prices, drought threaten Ethiopia again

KOREM, Ethiopia, June 1 (Reuters) - Clutching an intricate bronze cross he used to dig graves during Ethiopia's 1984-1985 famine, priest Alemayu Gede prays drought and high food prices will not make him use it as a shovel again.

Analysis: North Africa drought season brings global issues to the fore

North Africa, At present, Morocco is well prepared to face what appears to be a more permanent state of drought but is it the case longer term? Should the country's leaders worry about what can happen in a decade or more? Analysts fear that the situation can worsen if the proper measures are not taken.

Government admission of drought triggers compensation for farmers

Israel, The Beit She'an Valley and a large portion of the Negev, from Moshav Ahuzam in the north to the Nirim-Mishmar Hanegev area in the south, are beset by drought, Finance Minister Roni Bar-On and Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon said Sunday. The official statement makes it possible for farmers in drought-afflicted areas who planted wheat - the product mainly affected by the dryness - or crops such as barley, chickpeas and safflower to request government compensation for their losses.

National Integrated Drought Information System NIDIS

U.S.,

Bore water supplied to central highlands

Australia, BORE water from a farm is being used to supplement the plunging water supply in the Victorian goldfields town of Maryborough.  With the town's main reservoir down to 5% of capacity, the State Government has resorted to buying bore water from a farmer at Moorlort, east of Maryborough.

Ethiopia and Kenya are drying.

World, So are The Great Lakes, on the other side of the world. And global warming is causing the increasingly warm water vapors within our stratosphere to escape into outer space, never to be reclaimed as fresh drinking water [NASA/JPL]. Drying is dying.

More data points to dry spell in the state

California, Two parched years - punctuated by the driest spring in at least 150 years - may force districts across California to ration water this summer, as policymakers and scientists grow increasingly concerned the state verges on a long-term drought.

Drought is spurring resource wars

Ethiopia, violence breaks out as water turns to sand and climate change takes

hold. It may be a warning to the rest of the world.

Villages Abandoned As Drought Bakes Puntland
Somalia: Squatting in the scorching sun, Adan Hassan Mahamud pointed to the parched landscape around Hamure village, 280km east of Bosasso in the self-declared autonomous Somali republic of Puntland.  "I have seen droughts but nothing like this in 12 years," Mahamud, 80, said. "Many in the community have lost a large number of livestock - their only means of livelihood."

Durham considers water conservation campaign
DURHAM, U.S.:  City leaders are looking at hiring a consultant for a year-long public relations campaign that would encourage residents to continue conserving water.

Food prices to remain high, more riots feared
New Delhi, India: The rising income level of people in developing economies like China and India is an important factor in increasing the food demand. The supply of foodgrains has been affected by drought in Australia and Kazakhstan, flood in India and Bangladesh, cold temperature in China due to climate change.

Normal snowpack won't compensate for dry Plains
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. U.S.; The mountain snowpack is slightly above normal, but the Army Corps of Engineers is forecasting only 80 percent of normal runoff into the Missouri River system this year. "The snowpack normally peaks in mid-April. The low forecast is due to the relative lack of snow on the plains and the continued dry soil conditions as a result of the extended drought in the upper basin," said Larry Cieslik, chief of the corps' water management office in Omaha, Neb.

Barcelona to import water for drought
Barcelona: Local officials say Barcelona will combat drought by importing water from other parts of Spain and neighboring France from next month.

U.S. droughts endanger Canada's water: study
OTTAWA: Increasing droughts in the United States and American unhappiness over NAFTA mean Canada could one day be forced to allow bulk shipments of water to its giant neighbor, a left-leaning think tank said on Thursday.

In Beijing and the surrounding area, the worst drought in 57 years
Beijing China: The scarcity of rain is making the "normal" lack of water dramatic. 19.4 million hectares of crops are at risk, in the true "breadbasket" of the country. For the Olympics, Beijing wants to bring water from Hebei, which now does not even have enough for its own residents.

HOPES FADE FOR TURKISH WATER AS A STRATEGIC ASSET

Turkey: The latest figures suggest that as the result of a combination of population increase, poor resource management and decreased rainfall, Turkey is far from being a water-rich country but is now in danger of becoming a water-poor one, with barely enough water to meet its own needs.

Water on the Brain
Cyprus: It is in the throes of poor rainfall fallout. Shortages resulting from drought conditions and idle waste have already brought about cuts in water supply around the country.

'Global warming may wreak havoc with monsoons, bring droughts'
MUMBAI: India’s 140-years old Monsoon Magic seems to be fading, or that’s what the leading meteorologists believe. Within next 60-70 years there will be persistent droughts. Changes in weather pattern due to global warming could end India’s 140-year honeymoon with the rains, cautioned Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology director BN Goswami while talking to newspersons here.

California's coming drought
California: "We all know California will have severe droughts in the next 20 to 40 years and that will affect water supply," said Gary Geernaert, director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Los Alamos National Lab. "This will help us make educated guesses about what the pressures will be on the public and private infrastructure and help build that into the design."

Australian Drought Leads to First "Water Rage" Murder
Australia: (NaturalNews) In Australia's first known case of murder due to "water rage," a dispute over a suburban man's water usage led to him being beaten to death in front of his home.

As drought nears, Southern landscape browns
Israel: The lack of water, which has hit agriculture in the south of the country particularly hard, is stinging farmers' profits and is liable to force up prices of fresh produce.

Lucknow, Inda:  April 6: The state government has booked nearly 2,000 farmers in drought-stricken Bundelkhand on a rare charge — that of stealing water.

A southern Tennessee town has become a recent symbol of the drought in the southeast
Orme Tennessee, US: has had to literally ration its water use, by collecting water for a few hours every day–—an everyday experience in most developing countries, but unusual for the U.S.