PLANET IN PERIL

CBC News Deal launches 'fresh new chapter' in life of research station near Kenora in northwestern Ontario.  Details here.   Dear Larry, I’m delighted to share some good news with you! It was  announced yesterday  that a final agreement  was made to transfer operation of the Experimental  Lakes Area (ELA) to the International Institute for  Sustainable Development (IISD). We applaud the  IISD and the Governments of Ontario and Manitoba  for creating a new home for the ELA.

Following is THE Secretary-General's message for World Water Day March 22ND: A Manitoba lake. PLT photo. Water is at the core of sustainable development.  This year’s observance of World Water Day focuses on the links between water and energy.  Both are critical for eradicating poverty.  And they interact with each other in ways that can help — or hinder — our efforts to build stable societies and lives of dignity for all. Climate change driven in great part by the unsustainable use of energy will exacerbate water stress and scarcity in many regions.  Efforts to provide universal access to water and energy will be undermined if the current warming trend continues. The many strong links between water and energy demand coherent, integrated policies and innovative strategies.  Water must be used — and electricity must be generated and distributed — equitably and efficiently, so all users get a fair share. These are the goals of the ongoing work of UN-Water and of the

The Independent The future's bright – but only if we rise to the challenges which threaten environmental catastrophe, a major new report warns this week. Details here.

The Denver Post Sandhill Cranes Over Manitoba, Canada. PLT photo. Colorado's effort to replenish its aquifers by cracking down on pumping groundwater threatens to leave the thousands of sandhill cranes that arrive here each February without the water they need. Details here.

Council of Canadians The Council of Canadians applauds the Tsilhqot’in Nation and celebrates the federal decision to reject the contentious Taseko Mines Limited New Prosperity Mine. Details here. Fish Lk. Environment CA

New York Times A United States-Canadian agency called on Wednesday for swift and sweeping limits on the use of fertilizer around Lake Erie to reduce the amount of phosphorus entering the water and creating a vast blanket of algae each summer, threatening fisheries, tourism and even drinking water. Details here.  A duck family labours through an algae-clogged river in Manitoba, CA. PLT photo.

Eco Watch - by David Suzuki It would be difficult to live without oil and gas. But it would be impossible to live without water. Yet, in our mad rush to extract and sell every drop of gas and oil as quickly as possible, we’re trading precious water for fossil fuels. Details here. A Canadian waterfall. Quantity? For now .  Quality? Not so much! PLT photo.

INTER PRESS SERVICE The Jangwani slum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,  was flooded during recent heavy rain . Credit: Muhidin Issa Michuzi/IPS When the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reach their deadline in 2015, there will still be a critical setback: millions of people in the developing world without full access to safe drinking water, proper sanitation and electricity in their homes. Details here.

International Institute for Sustainable Development OTTAWA—The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) welcomes today’s announcement of proposed new regulations that would allow the important scientific research at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) to continue.  One of a countless number of freshwater lakes in Manitoba, Canada. PLT photo. The proposed regulations are published in the  Canada Gazette  and are entitled “ Experimental Lakes Area Research Activities Regulations ” and “ Regulations Establishing Conditions for Making Regulations under Subsection 36(5.2) of the  Fisheries Act . ” This step, together with the Ontario government’s  regulation proposal notice  last month, is of critical importance to allow the operation of ELA by a third party. IISD seeks to ensure that the long-term scientific work to understand Canada’s changing freshwater management challenges continues.  “IISD continues to negotiate with both Ontario and the federal go

Winnipeg Free Press Opponents outraged as St. Clement's lagoon OK'd. Details here. Related:  The Rural Municipality of Shell River, Manitoba, Scraps Plans for a New Sewage Lagoon at a Controversial Location "Born of the Stump"

Preamble by  by Larry Powell This article sprouts from the fertile mind of John Fefchak, a writer from Virden, Manitoba and a regular contributor to this blog. (It's a refinement of a piece he did, which appeared here some time ago.) I believe you'll find it both funny and provocative. In it, he speaks of modern-day policy-makers forsaking their God-given duty to care for planet Earth. Instead, they have turned their backs on ancient biblical teachings and  abandoned their sacred duty as stewards of our water resources, from which all life springs. "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jessie,  and a branch shall grow out of his roots." Isaiah 11:1-10  by John Fefchak  INTRODUCTION….THE AGREEMENT. Before there was anything, there was GOD, a few angels and huge swirling globs of rocks and water with no place to go.  The angels asked GOD: "Why don't you clean up this mess"? So GOD collected rocks from the huge swirling

Canada.com More than $100 million in cuts are underway at the federal department in charge of protecting Canada’s water and oceans, despite recommendations from top bureaucrats that it needs to increase spending for both environmental and economic reasons. Full story here.

by Larry Powell Why is the Government of Manitoba clinging to its monumentally callous practise of releasing arsenic into the environment? After all, the deadly nature of the poison is hardly a deep, dark secret. Have Premier Selinger and his Minister responsible for the environment, Gord Mackintosh, never heard of the Borgias? They're the infamous Italian family who rose to power in the Church, using arsenic to murder people for their money and property. And that was way back in the middle ages.  Known even then as "The King of Poisons," a single dose the size of a pea was said to dispatch a victim with "violent abdominal cramping, diarrhea, vomiting and shock."  Has no one with our provincial government ever read the classic, groundbreaking book, "Silent Spring?" It was written back in the 60s, but has well stood the test of time. In it, its highly-respected author, Rachel Carson reminded the world that arsenic found in chim

Winnipeg Free Press  A Canadian expert on lake sturgeon poured cold water Wednesday on Manitoba Hydro’s plans to re-stock the Nelson River with the prehistoric fish after the Keeyask generating station is built. Full story here.

OnEarth Parched for more than half a century, California’s San Joaquin -- and its salmon -- are coming back. Details here.

Dear Editor; What will it take to convince the Manitoba government that  it  should never allow arsenic to be released into our surface  waters? I consider this action reprehensible, yet that is exactly what  the province has permitted (the Town of) Virden to do, with arsenic that  has been removed from the water source at the town's treatment plant. The following is my response to Premier Selinger and Minister Mackintosh in regard to their letter. It informs me that they’ll continue to allow the arsenic that’s recovered from the Virden water treatment plant to be released elsewhere. My concern is that this will, over time, only add to surface water contamination and pollute the environment. This will create unknown consequences for future generations. Many other substances that are considered toxic in other jurisdictions are obviously not of concern here. It seems this government has no problem with putting lives at risk.

Science Daily Oct. 10, 2013 — Thirty-eight U.S. national parks are experiencing "accidental fertilization" at or above a critical threshold for ecological damage, according to a study published in… Details here.

Winnipeg Free Press SANTIAGO, Chile - Just how to define a glacier is at the heart of a Chilean congressional battle that could determine the future of mining in the world's largest copper-producing country. Details here.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Beaverlodge Lake, a 57 square kilometer water body, and three other watersheds in northern Saskatchewan are seriously contaminated with uranium and selenium. Details here. Related: Uranium City - a Legacy of Cancer.