After the faint promise of rain failed to materialize this week, even further restrictions are going into place all over Central Virginia to attempt to conserve water. Charlottesville schools are turning off the sinks in bathrooms and raising the building temperature. Albemarle restrictions have moved into phase two, shutting down car washes, watering of athletic fields, increasing the cost of water and putting harsher fines into place. The Albemarle Service Authority may meet again as early as Tuesday to discuss phase three restrictions. Orange, who already has the strictest regulations in the area (three-minute shower limits, no A/C in schools, paper plates in restaurants) is making swift progress on repairing their water-intake site. Peter Savodnik has a story in the Progress detailing the penalties in Albemarle and Charlottesville for violating water-usage regulations, the harshest being Charlottesville’s one-year jail sentence for three-time violators. In an oddly schizophrenic pair of lead editorials, The Cavalier Daily declares that UVa’s water restrictions have no teeth, because they won’t “hit [students] where it counts: the wallet,” and then laments that the new water pricing is really going to hit students in the wallet. In an e-mail to all UVa faculty, staff and students on Thursday, UVa’s Vice President for Management and Budget indicates that the university will work to conserve energy via “serious steps” in order to cut down on the UVa power plant’s water usage. Water levels in the reservoirs are at 56.4%, and continue to drop by 0.6% every day. 09/20 Update: Also, The Hook reports that The Moormans River has ceased to exist.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
four six and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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It is easy to take the simple necessities that Americans have access to for granted. There is plenty of fresh water on earth, but it requires energy and materials to collect and distribute that water as we see fit.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) reports that 31 countries, accounting for 8% of the world’s population, currently face chronic water shortages. Even more alarming is the projection that by 2025, 48 countries will face similar shortages, affecting more than 2.8 billion people, 35% of the world’s population.
Our planet has more than enough fresh water for every living person, it is often just in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is the same amount of fresh water on earth as there was when the dinosaurs were drinking it.
As with most natural resources, water supply distribution is uneven. Distribution problems are aggravated by global population growth and excessive water consumption by affluent nations. As population grows, the average amount of renewable freshwater available to each person declines.
Middle Eastern countries live with the dangerous results of water shortage. Serious tensions between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq have surfaced as a result of disagreements over water rights to the Euphrates River which is seen as a lifeline in this arid region and a primary source of water for millions of people. Turkey’s rapidly growing population and the proposed dam project of the Turkish government have spurned threats of MILITARY ACTION from Syria and Iraq. What is the reigon with the HIGHEST population growth rates? You guessed it, the middle east. Egypt’s population’s doubling rate is currently 24 years. They used to get their water with a bucket on the end of a stick!
22 countries around the world depend on water coming from other countries. This is a recipe for conflict, as illustrated by the volatile relationships between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, where diminishing groundwater supplies loom over the threat of nuclear attack by any of the three countries at any time.
As the old saying goes, water tends to flow up hill if there is enough money to pump it.
Over a century ago Benjamin Franklin wrote, "When the well is dry, we know the worth of water." Those words have been prophetic. With world population already over the 6 billion mark and with current water consumption rates rising twice as fast as the world’s population, our water supply is FAR from limitless.
WINA has a brief note on the measures the UVa Athletics Department is taking. I want to know how they plan to encourage folks to use the portapotties during games; having them available as an “alternative” isn’t much help.
I am glad to see they’ve closed the pool, however; that’s something students might actually notice.
you say the city schools are doing stuff to cut down on water usage. I go to CHS, and the sinks still work, and the only temperature difference is it isn’t freezing in algebra class anymore. However, people are writing "Conserve water, don’t flush" on bathroom walls. Not a bad idea…