Getting serious with Waterblogged.info: Privatization

Posted on February 18, 2008 by Jared Simpson

Executive summary

Today we proudly launch Getting serious with Waterblogged.info: Water Privatization, a page of web resources related to the question of whether small groups of people should be permitted to own and control the elixir of life and disseminate it to the rest of the globe for their personal gain. Obviously, we don’t think so, but we feel compelled—like the wimpy-assed, fair-minded liberals we are—to present resources supporting both sides of the argument.

Non-executive summary

An urgent call
The editorial staff just got a call from some nervous Nelly on our advisory board who is concerned that the title for today’s entry suggests that we are generally not serious, and gives the impression that this posting is a departure from a general fare of lighthearted shenanigans. Well, first of all, Mr. Advisory Board Member, Who asked you? With what part of the term advisory board are you unfamiliar? Your job is to be on a list and keep quiet.

Serious as a shark attack
But, for the record, we are serious. Dead serious. Serious as a heart attack. Serious as a shark attack. Water is serious business. Or, for folks like entrepreneur/bunco artist Jeff Siegal, it’s just plain old business, and big business at that. The world is rapidly running out of fresh water, and for optimists like Siegal, whose glass is always half-full with a commodity that everyone must have to live, that’s not such a bad thing. Because it will make him, and anyone savvy enough to get his free newsletter, rich. (Waterblogged.info’s incisive and withering response to Siegal here.)

Many posts ago, we made a sincere commitment to initiate and build a series of Getting serious with Waterblogged.info pages, each dedicated to a specific and crucial water-related topic. We’re happy to report that we nailed the initiation part of this thing, and to date we’ve posted a grand total of one such pages, the future award-winning Getting serious with Waterblogged.info: Desalination. It won’t make you rich, but it will put you at the epicenter of conversation at the next social gathering when the topic of desalination comes up, as it inevitably does.

Pride and prejudice
Now, it is with diffident, humble (and other self-effacing adjectives) pride that we announce Getting serious with Waterblogged.info: Water Privatization, the second in our not-so-fast growing series of links to useful water-related web resources.

If you’re looking for the obligatory long-winded anti-privatization screed, you won’t find it on this post. Don’t get us started, because this will never get posted. Here’s a succinct statement of our editorial opinion: Privatization of water resources and management=sucks. Find out why in the many links on our new page.

Attention libertarians: Rest assured that your strange economic point of view is well represented. We’re fair and unbiased. We let the facts speak for themselves. Waterblogged.info: we post, you decide.

Filed under: Privatization of water, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Burnout, shmurnout: Waterblogged.info is back in the house!

Posted on February 17, 2008 by Jared Simpson

Rather than delete this entire blog in a fit of existential despair during the darkest moments of our burnout, we decided to take our therapist’s advice and “take a little break, you know, kinda like a getaway,” to get our minds off of droughts, global desertification, and water wars, and more water wars. We took off for umbrella.jpgthe coast for a couple of weeks (see photo), but we have to point out that it really wasn’t all that helpful.

What brought us back from the brink? A few simple, kind words from waterblogger extraordinaire, Abigail, who maintains the fantastic Water for the Ages. (She left us this comment: Oh no, burnout…Well, just know, I appreciate your water blog very much!)

Oh yes, and Despair.com—the one-stop shop for validating and accesorizing all of your crippling neuroses and fears—was also instrumental in our recovery.

In our final session, our smug little therapist, sipping from his frigging bottle of Evian (Do you know that it’s just goddamn H2O in a pretty environmentally toxic package, you idiot??) and glancing surreptitiously—he thought—at the clock, advised us to consider a medication such as “you know, thioridazine, haloperidol, or something” that would help us realize that our editorial team is “you know, kinda like a delusion” and that our mission—to save the world from the impending water crisis—is “like, kinda grandiose.” He pointed out that a side benefit from “getting, you know, real” would relieve us of writing in the second-person plural and make posting that much easier, and maybe even make our blog “like, you know, kinda more reader-friendly.”

None of us had the slightest idea what the inarticulate young man—foisted on us by our inadequate health insurance—was going on about. We looked pointedly at our watches and said, “Well, looks like our time is just about up.”

Filed under: bottled water, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

A great new water news source

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Jared Simpson
logo.gif
Alternet.org‘s new section on water links to scores of up-to-date articles on all of your favorite local, domestic, and global water controversies and calamities–desalination, drought, dams, bottled water, water wars, groundwater depletion and fish extinction in and around the Mediterranean, and China’s efforts to surpass its economic rivals in polluting the environment, just to name a few! Don’t miss it! As not seen on TV!

Filed under: bottled water, dams, drought, Uncategorized | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Almost quit my blog (but didn’t, thanks to despair.com)

Posted on January 20, 2008 by Jared Simpson

images.jpg

Almost quit my blog.
It happens almost every day.
It was getting kind of old,
I could say that no one reads it anyway.

But I didn’t, and I wonder why
I feel like letting my geek flag fly.
And I feel like I owe it to someone.

We, the entire editorial staff of Waterblogged.info–including our creative and ambitious copy editor who submitted the moving (but strangely familiar) lines above–admit to being burned out. Our exhaustive research bears this out; we have all of the classic signs and symptoms, including feelings of:

✓Powerlessnessburnout.jpg
✓ Hopelessness
✓ Emotional exhaustion
✓ Detachment
✓ Isolation
✓ Irritability
✓ Frustration
✓ Being trapped
✓ Failure
✓ Despair
✓ Cynicism
✓ Apathy

“Dude, you’re thinking about the water crisis every day,” said our youngish and annoying therapist, as he sipped from his goddamn bottle of Evian, destroying what little credibility he had. “Dude, that’s asking for burnout!”

060224_bottled_water_big.jpgOur thoughts meandered as we impatiently listened to the smarmy whelp. Do you know how stupid it is to be drinking bottled water, you idiot? Do you know that it’s no more, and maybe less, healthy than tap water? Do you know that it’s often just tap water in a pretty package, anyway? Do you know it costs like, 10,000 times more than tap water? Do you ever read? Do you know that this is readily available information that you read or hear in reputable news outlets every goddamn day? Do you know what those bottles are doing to the planet? And we’re looking to you for advice? And stop saying dude. What’s the use? There’s nothing we can do about it. It all sucks. Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

But, we’re feeling better now. Not just because of the emotionally cathartic release of that heart-felt, drawn-out argh, but because our burnout research led us to Despair.com, which should be the homepage of every victim of burnout. Their line of Demotivator products (such as the Burnout poster above) which increase success by lowering expectations, gives us, paradoxically, reason to carry on.

Filed under: bottled water, Uncategorized | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

Water goes mainstream: two water-related items from the Onion

Posted on January 15, 2008 by Jared Simpson

Onion Radio News’s anchor, Doyle Redland, reports that the beverage redland.pngindustry was “rocked by a new poll” showing that “disease-free water tops the list of world’s favorite beverages.” The astute journalist muses that “many of these people might want potable water for the purpose of adding flavored powders.”

This recent Onion infographic lists the approaches taken by eightgfx_waterman.gif American cities to obtain or conserve water. Waterblogged.info strongly endorses Atlanta’s move to impose legislation mandating that people be composed of only 45 percent water, but nonetheless recommends that the law be revisited after the drought is over. (The graphic at left shows the current legally-required 75 percent; Atlanta’s mandate would put the water level at mid-pelvis.)

Filed under: Atlanta drought, Southeast drought, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Water: a privatized affair?

Posted on December 28, 2007 by Jared Simpson

The Earth’s Most Precious Resource May Be the 21st Century’s Most Lucrative Investment!
Here’s How To Profit from the Coming Fresh Water Shortage!

What really ticks off the admittedly self-righteous and sometimes easily-provoked Waterblogged.info editorial staff? People 250px-juggernaut_-_project_gutenberg_ebook_11921.jpglike Jeff Siegal, managing editor of the Green Chip Review newsletter, and author of the giddy opening sentences.

Siegal’s newsletter–absolutely FREE (Siegal’s caps, not ours)–will give the lucky subscriber (who is, thanks to Siegal’s largesse, under absolutely no obligation, ever!) “the foresight and vision to exploit the investment opportunities of a post-oil economy.”

Railing against the privatization of water resources at this juncture is pointless. We’re talking juggernaut here, in every sense of the word (Well, except this one. Oh yeah, and this one). Although the belief that privatizing water management is a panacea for our water woes is completely unfounded and absurd, it is too firmly entrenched to be effectively resisted.

Here’s a list of some FREE tidbits–no doubt information that insiders don’t want you to know–from Siegal’s digital gateway to huge profits and great wealth:

  • How worldwide demand for water is already severely outpacing supply…
  • The only 2 ways to capitalize on the water-supply market, including the little-known “Reverse Osmosis” Model…
  • Why the water industry closely resembles the oil industry in its infancy, and how Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi began securing his nation’s water supply back in 1991 by funneling water away from Sudan, Chad, and Egypt.

None of this is insider stuff, of course, and Waterblogged.info will reveal all of it FREE in the next posting. We just want to point out that citing the little-known “reverse osmosis” (RO) model is what really exposes Siegal as a huckster: he’s referring to one of the two most widely-known and widely-used desalination methods. It requires no special expertise or insider information to know that investments in the businesses that successfully implement large-scale desal will pay off handsomely and that RO looks like the most promising technology. But that’s a risky business, indeed. For background on desal, RO and other technologies, as well as pros and cons, we graciously invite you to view our compendium of web-based desalination resources: Getting serious with Waterblogged.info: Desalination. Need we point out that it’s FREE?

Filed under: desalination, Privatization of water, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

A Waterblogged.info holiday special: ten top waterblogs!

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Jared Simpson

waterbloggedinfo-xmas.jpg

(Update: The blog Atlanta Water Shortage seems to have closed its doors. The url is now occupied by the web host and domain name sleazebags at Godaddy.com)

Welcome to Waterblogged.info’s gala holiday special, the really special thing being that we posted at all. Let’s just call our editorial team’s failure to post anything for over a week an intentional and carefully planned holiday hiatus and leave it at that.

And speaking of intention, let’s also point out that we mindfully wrote ten top waterblogs rather than top ten waterblogs, because we decided–with a humility uncharacteristic of other blognescenti–who the hell are we to decide what the top ten waterblogs are, anyway?

Atlanta Water Shortage
We’re sure that the Georgian responsible for AWS would love for nature to visit a gentle death blow to his straightforward chronicle of the Southeast drought, but his post today about the grim long-terms prospects for precipitation in the Southeast suggests that AWS won’t be closing its door for at least another year.

WaterCrunch
Also focused on the Southeast, WaterCrunch is described by its purveyor as a “not too detailed” look at water issues in the Southeastern United States and beyond. He also notes that it is more shake and bake than gloom and doom, which sounds funny but doesn’t make any sense upon close examination.

Aquafornia
Absolutely essential for following the water ways of another water-challenged region, Southern California.

Coyote Gulch’s Colorado Water
An obvious focus on yet another water-anxious area, but it has a humongous list of geeky water resources.

WaterWired
Hydrologist Michael Campana’s blog, subheaded All things fresh water. A service of the Institute for Water and Watersheds at Oregon State University. Michael is a self-described water wonk, a real humanitarian, and, he notes either wryly or ruefully or both, a “frustrated writer and musician.” Aren’t we all, notes Waterblogged.info, with a healthy dose of wry and rue.

jfleck at inkstain
Though he doesn’t write exclusively or even mostly about water, journalist John Fleck is a self-defined waterblogger, and that’s good enough for us. Besides, he’s totally cool, and we owe him if only for linking to Joe Mathlete’s Marmaduke Explained. And, hey, we can put anyone we want on this list, because it’s our list.

Water for the Ages
It seems that most waterbloggers are nicer and more positive than the acerbic and pessimistic bunch over here at Waterblogged.info, where the glass of contaminated water is always half-empty. A case in point is Abigail, the creator of Water for the Ages, a fabulous, compassionate, and comprehensive site about global water issues.

Hydro-Logic
Earth scientist Matthew Garcia’s blog is subtitled hydrology and water resources in the news and science media. Essential for the water-obsessed nerds out there.

Shaun McKinnon
Arizona Republic reporter McKinnon’s timely and well-written entries on current water issues. He calls his site Waterblogged, but so does this guy, for some reason not immediately apparent.

Great Lakes Water Wars
A well-researched site that warns us that if it can happen to the Aral Sea, it can happen to the Fab Five. (See our entry on the Aral Lake tragedy here and here.) This is not Peter Annin‘s site, by the way, but that of a concerned but kind of confused Michigan resident. He is, he states, “opposed to pop culture solutions forced on us by the selfish-best-interest political power of the proponents on either side of the debate.” We’re scratching our heads over that one here at Waterblogged.info, where we’re definitely on one side of the issue but aren’t at all familiar with any pop culture solutions, whatever that means.

Filed under: Atlanta drought, California water, desalination, Georgia drought, Great Lakes, Uncategorized, Water wars | Tagged: , , | 6 Comments »

Paul Krugman drinks bottled water! (Oh, and he also explains the current economic crisis)

Posted on December 22, 2007 by Jared Simpson

In the video embedded below, Paul Krugman discusses the housing bubble and the resulting financial crisis, which has yet to play itself out and could have a devastating effect on the U.S, and global economy. It is, as Krugman says, scary stuff.

WTF, the observant reader might ask, does this have to do with the mission of Waterblogged.info? Simply put, his bottled water plays a major supporting role in the video. Krugman is an engaging but oddly nervous speaker, and throughout his talk he maintains what our psychological consultants consider an unhealthy attachment with the bottle. He holds on to it like someone might try and take it from him, screws the cap off and and off about ….um, 50 times, and otherwise fiddles with it, caresses it, and occasionally even takes a drink from it.

To put it more simply, the video has no connection with Waterblogged.info’s mission. But if by posting it we manage to educate, terrify, and outrage a few people over the holiday season, then we’ve done our part.

Filed under: bottled water, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Lake Lanier dead pool: a media hoax?

Posted on December 11, 2007 by Jared Simpson

(Update: The blog Atlanta Water Shortage seems to have closed its doors. The url is now occupied by the web host and domain name sleazebags at Godaddy.com)

Due to time constraints imposed by our annoying day gig, we have to keep this brief. The usually reliable and thoughtful Atlanta Water Shortage folks report that Atlanta may have way more usable water than previously thought. AWS–citing a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)–says it may be possible that if and when Lake Lanier drops to dead pool level–the zone below 1035 feet–it will be no big deal.

It’s instructive to read the post’s increasingly contradictory and acrimonious comments, if only to grasp how confusing the situation is and how desperate people are for real information. Maybe AWS’s most puzzling statement–also based on the USACE–is that Atlantans are already drinking water from the lake’s bottom (and it’s pretty good!) and that Lake Lanier really doesn’t have a dead pool, anyway.

AWS’s responses to comments indicate that they believe that the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta’s major daily, is sensationalizing to sell more papers, and that their reporter is a clueless idiot (full disclosure: the clueless part is our addition to AWS’s more measured statement):

The AJC reporter has trouble grasping even simple concepts: The use of barges and pumps only applies to people who get their water FROM THE LAKE ABOVE THE DAM such as Cumming, Gainesville and Gwinnett. The AJC is saying/implying that the river will run dry at the dead pool 1035 ASL and that they will need barges and pumps to supply water to Atlanta. This is totally false.

Waterblogged.info’s hit: Sorry, AWS, but after talking to the USACE, you have no more reliable information then you had before. Especially when the source is an official spokesperson who knows nothing about water quality and has no stake in disseminating information that Atlantans might find disturbing.

Also, while we are not experts on all matters lacustrine, we don’t immediately accept the idea that Lake Lanier is somehow exempt from the natural laws that create dead zones below a certain level in large bodies of water. Hard to ummm…swallow.

Filed under: Atlanta drought, Southeast drought, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Cool news about Georgia’s drought!

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Jared Simpson

(Update: The blog Atlanta Water Shortage seems to have closed its doors. The url is now occupied by the web host and domain name sleazebags at Godaddy.com)

The Waterblogged.info team was heartened to learn that Georgia state officials, who at_river.jpghave done such a great job planning in the past, are confident that Atlanta will not run out of water!

Per the Atlanta Journal Constitution, via Atlanta Water Shortage, there are no plans to deal with a long-term drought in Atlanta. Even though there will mostly likely be a long-term drought in Atlanta.

This gem of a quote, highlighted by AWS and which pretty much encapsulates the incisive analysis that Georgia’s leaders bring to the table–is from Buzz Weiss, a spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said:

“I don’t really think there’s a sense we’ll be at a point where there is no water.“

Errr. . . right, Buzz. Waterblogged.info suggests that we only take the first four words of that statement seriously, and otherwise ignore Buzz and his ilk and go to AWS for honest information about Georgia’s water situation.

There seems to be some confusion about the source of Atlanta’s water, which is the Hooch, as Georgians call the Chattahoochee River (see list of Georgia’s water sources) (and here), which graciously feeds Lake Lanier (We initially wrote “fills Lake Lanier,” but these days that would be a bit of an exaggeration.) before heading down to Atlanta to be overused and polluted, after which it heads down to Florida for a much deserved vacation. (This 2004 piece from Dead in the Water contains accurate information on Atlanta’s disintegrating water infrastructure, and the failure of a recent privatization effort.)

The Atlanta Journal Constitution article cited above states that 60 percent of Atlanta’s water comes out of Lake Lanier. We’ve also heard that it is the main source (mid-story). We’ve heard watersupply.gifthat it was the only source. We’ve heard that it was a secondary source. Come on, Georgia, which is it? Get your story straight!

The befuddlement is probably due to reporters who–like Atlantans–think Atlanta and northern Georgia are one and the same. In a sense, they are, because it’s all the same urban sprawl.

The map from the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, the water planning entity for the 16-county metro-Atlanta region, clarifies the situation: Lanier, fed by the Hooch, provides 72 percent of the entire region’s water; four other river basins provide the remainder. How much water the city of Atlanta proper takes directly from the Chattahoochee is as yet unclear to the Waterblogged.info researchers.

Filed under: drought, Georgia drought, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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