Divergent views emerged on how the city is going to solve an impending water crisis at the Bangalore World Water Summit’s concluding day on Friday. “Bangalore is on its way to a very large water crisis if action is not taken immediately. On the health front, too, it is heading toward an epidemic outbreak due to poor sanitation,” said Prof Seetharam Kallidaikurichi, director; Institute of Water Policy.

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This paper details progress in creating a national eco-compensation ordinance in the People's Republic of China and discusses the ongoing institutional challenges in its effective development.

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The 6thWorld Water Forum in Marseille is the largest international meeting dealing with water issues; every three years, and it brings together more than 10,000 participants from every country in the world. The ministerial conference scheduled for 13 March 2012 is one of the Forum's key events and is being organized by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

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http://www.wam.ae

Rural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa live under risky conditions. Many grow low-value cereal crops that depend on a short rainy season, a practice that traps them in poverty and hunger.

But reliable access to water could change the farmers' perilous situation. Stanford scientists are calling for investments in small-scale irrigation projects and hydrologic mapping to help buffer the growers from the erratic weather and poor crop yields that are expected to worsen with climate change in the region.

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http://westernfarmpress.com

The Mekong ministers responsible for southeast Asia's "Mother River" are expected to pass judgment on Thursday on the most controversial dam ever proposed for the vast waterway.

Laos hopes to built a 1,285 MW hydroelectric plant at Xayaburi that would supply Thailand with electricity and open the door to a host of other proposed dams on the Mekong. But until now its plans have been fiercely opposed by Cambodia and Vietnam, which fear the blockage would sharply reduce the water needed for downstream fisheries and irrigation.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk

A new S$120 million research centre at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will harness the powers of micro-organisms for environmental and water sustainability.

The Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), will look at innovative ways to process waste water efficiently and trapping greenhouse gases.

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com

The Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) has called for increased funding for its strategic interventions. Speaking at the 9th meeting of sectoral council of ministers in Kisumu at the weekend, the LVBC Secretary Canisius Kanangire said interventions stay unfunded "We need to mobilise funds for these strategic interventions to make significant contribution to socio-economic development of the Lake Basin and improve lives of its 40 million inhabitants," added Kanangire.

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http://allafrica.com

Report released by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Water Management Institute, discussing a needed "radical overhaul" in agriculture for ecosystem protection.

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http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org

The Nature Conservancy, FEMSA Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bankand the Global Environment Facility launch $27 million dollar partnership to create Water Funds that will protect critical watersheds.

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In Kenya, conservation and sustainable utilization of the environment and natural resources form an integral part of national planning and poverty reduction efforts. However, weak environmental management practices are a major impediment to agricultural productivity growth. This study was motivated by the paucity of literature on the poverty-environment nexus in Kenya, since poverty, agricultural stagnation and environmental degradation are issues of policy interest in the country’s development strategy. The paper builds on the few existing studies from Kenya and explores the impact of household, farm and village characteristics as well as the development domain dimensions on household welfare and investment in soil and water conservation. The results show that strengthening the tenure security improves household welfare. Further, soil quality, topography and investments in soil and water conservation affect household welfare. Agroecological potential, which is related to environmental conservation, is also a key correlate of poverty. Results for investment in water and soil conservation confirm the importance of tenure security in determining adoption and also the intensity of SWC investments. We also find that household assets, farm characteristics, presence of village institutions and development domain dimensions are important determinants of adoption and intensity of soil and water conservation investments. The results for both poverty and investment in soil and water conservation suggest the existence of a strong poverty-environment link in our sample. The results also suggest that rural poverty can be alleviated by policies that improve environmental conservation and strengthen land tenure security. The study also underscores the importance of village institutions in both investment adoption of soil and water conservation and in improving household welfare.

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