water matters37
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Vote for the Earth Institute in the eBay Fundraising Tournament for the Environment
Do you share our belief that the world has the know-how and resources to solve our environmental challenges in a sustainable manner? Do you support efforts by the scientific community to help understand the effects of climate change, reduce environmental degradation, and advance renewable energy technologies? Then please vote for the Columbia Water Center’s parent…
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Environmental Regeneration in Haiti: the Water Problem
Columbia Water Center research scientist Lior Asaf is working in Haiti to understand the existing environmental conditions, and look for ways to improve people’s lives for the long term. One part of the project focuses on the Port Piment watershed basin on the southwestern end of the island.
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The True Cost of Water: NYC Event May 6
The Green Policy and Environmental Policy Discussion Group of the The New York Academy of Science and the Columbia Water Center are sponsoring a panel discussion on The True Cost of Water on May 6. The focus of this panel discussion is the importance of economic optimization of water usage in the present and in…
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Gulf Oil Spill
Last week, in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon, an oil drilling rig for BP, exploded and sank. This has led to what potentially could be one of the worst oil spills in US history. Currently, oil is leaking at 42,000 gallons per day from a well 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana,…
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Sustainable water systems in rural Brazil
One of Columbia Water Center’s major programs, funded by the PepsiCo Foundation, is to develop water infrastructure in rural Brazil, in areas that have had no public water service. CWC’s local Director, Francisco de Assis de Souza Filho, was recently in New York, and on April 23 gave a talk about ‘Designing Sustainable Water Systems:…
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The Desert Margins – vulnerable to desertification, but not hopeless
Most people are aware that vegetative cover, such as trees or other shade producing plants, helps to keep moisture in the soil, especially in the driest climates. Not all plants have the same effect, though.
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The Bottled Water Risk: ‘Tapped’ Awareness Event (photos)
On April 21, the Tapped Truck visited the Columbia University campus, as part of an event organized by Teacher’s College Program in Social Studies and the Go Green Committee. The truck pulled up on 120th Street and began exchanging plastic water bottles for Klean Kanteen eco-friendly aluminum ones. The line formed quickly, and the first…
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Reflections on Haiti
Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to travel to Haiti to install a weather monitoring station, as well as conduct streamflow measurements and water quality assessments with Water Center employee Lior Asaf. Traveling to Haiti gave me my first exposure to how water and climate issues are affecting poor and developing countries, as well…
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T. Boone Pickens vs. Texas Water Conservation Board
T Boone Pickens, well known for his strong opinions on renewable energy, is hoping that selling water to thirsty cities will be as commercially profitable as he’s found oil to be, and has been investing heavily in purchasing water rights. He opposes a public groundwater management plan that interferes with that.