Drought

When finished the new scheme will reduce flood risk to approximately 3,000 homes and businesses throughout the city.

The Environment Agency and its partners, Devon County Council and Exeter City Council, will also be holding a series of public exhibitions to seek people’s views about the designs for phase two of the scheme between 11 July and 19 July at various locations around Exeter.

Since 1970, average rainfall in the south-west of Western Australia has decreased by nearly a fifth, and the sciencesuggests that this is linked to human-caused climate change.

Across Australia, CSIRO predicts rainfall will probably decrease in southern Australia, and the predictions for the south-west are especially grave where the recent drying has left empty dams and greater reliance on groundwater.

So, what can south west Western Australia tell us about managing water – particularly groundwater – in a drying climate?

China's scarce water supply is being wasted as crops grown in water-stressed provinces are exported to wet, rainfall-rich areas, a study reports.

Farming accounts for about 65% of water use in China and the limited resource is coming under pressure from rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.

Officials have called the nation's water shortage a "grave situation" and called for strict water controls.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Water worries

California's drought conditions have worsened over the past week with the percentage of the state suffering from the highest category increasing, the National Weather Service said Thursday. 

"Exceptional" drought conditions have spread in Central California since a week ago, weather officials said. Areas in Northern California have also moved into this category since last week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Almost 33% of the state faces exceptional conditions. About 25% of the state faced those conditions last week.

A dangerous drought continues impacting California, but a new study shows that watermanagers and agricultural users haven’t done the state’s supply any favors. 

It also explains why it’s not to late.

Some drought-stricken rivers and streams in Northern California's coastal forests are being polluted and sucked dry by water-guzzling medical marijuana farms, wildlife officials say -- an issue that has spurred at least one county to try to outlaw personal grows.

State fish and wildlife officials say much of the marijuana being grown in northern counties under the state's medical pot law is not being used for legal, personal use, but for sale both in California and states where pot is still illegal.

The World Bank has approved a $73.1m grant from the International Development Association to Congo's Inga 3 Basse Chute (BC) and Mid-Size Hydropower Development Technical Assistance Project.

The funding, together with $33.4m approved by the African Development Bank last year, will support Congo's efforts to develop its large hydropower potential. The project will finance environmental and social assessments to shape the development of Inga 3 BC, including a cumulative impact assessment.

The drought that has plagued California and other areas of the western U.S. has not left Las Vegas unscathed, and now the city's primary water resource is in jeopardy.

The water levels in Lake Mead, which supplies 90 percent of the city's water, have been steadily decreasing over the past 14 years primarily due to the ongoing drought conditions on the Colorado River.