Water for Humans will work with two third year law students at Seattle University to help us obtain our 501(c)3 status. This will be a project for the students’ Nonprofit Legal Clinic course. Judy Andrews, a practicing attorney and the professor of the course, will make sure that everything is done properly and after the course ends will represent us if the IRS has any issues with the application. The students will be given the assignment on Thursday, 2/3/11, and will set up an interview with Water for Humans shortly thereafter. The course ends in April. You will be able to follow the progress in this blog.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Mexican Farms Need a Water Revolution - IPS ipsnews.net
Mexican Farms Need a Water Revolution - IPS ipsnews.net
Mexican Farms Need a Water Revolution
By Emilio Godoy*
MEXICO CITY, Nov 17, 2010 (Tierramérica) - Without financing, many Mexican farmers cannot improve their ageing irrigation systems, which are essential if Mexico is to withstand the effects of climate change and reduce its emissions of greenhouse-effect gases.
Pressurised and drip irrigation are two leading-edge options that also make relatively efficient use of water and electricity, reducing power fossil fuel burning and greenhouse gases emissions.
These new systems are expensive, but "they would allow us to grow crops year-round and have more jobs and better incomes," farmer Oseas Espino told Tierramérica. He grows sorghum on about 30 hectares in the Yecapixtla municipality in the southwestern state of Morelos.
Espino is one example of the thousands of small and medium farmers who are unable to modernise their irrigation systems.
The most widely-used system is based on gravity, with electrical pumping equipment. But it "generates inefficiency in the use of water and electricity," Nemecio Castillo, an advisor with the National Institute of Forestry and Agricultural Research, told Tierramérica.
Seventy-seven percent of Mexico's piped water goes to agricultural use. There are some 118,000 wells for farming, but the authorities have rehabilitated just 6,000 of them.
Annually, operation of an inefficient well consumes about 200,000 cubic metres of water and generates 350 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the main greenhouse gases.
A well operated using modern technologies requires half the water and reduces greenhouse emissions to 98 tonnes of CO2, according to calculations by the non-governmental organisations El Barzón and Oxfam Mexico, which are promoting a plan to update the country's farm irrigation systems.
According to these organisations, inefficient water use in agriculture means that more than 80 percent of Mexico's 180 largest aquifers are overexploited and it is already difficult to sustain the total irrigated area.
The total farmed area in Mexico is more than 20 million hectares, with irrigation for 5.3 to 5.5 million hectares, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography. The most abundant crops are maize, beans and sorghum, which require a great deal of water to grow.
Maize -- used to make the tortilla, a staple in the Mexican diet -- requires 1,700 cubic metres of water per tonne produced, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. One tonne of sorghum needs 1,200 cubic metres of water per tonne.
Of the 630,000 registered farms in Mexico, just 16 percent have irrigation and 12 percent utilise unconventional techniques, report El Barzón and Oxfam.
There are 85 irrigation districts that cover 3.5 million hectares in hands of 583,000 users, particularly in central and northern Mexico, states the National Water Commission.
Those districts demand 30 billion cubic metres of water per year, 90 percent of which comes from reservoirs and 10 percent from underground sources.
From 2000 to 2009, agricultural electrical consumption jumped 17 percent. Government subsidies for energy purchases for farming -- about 50 cents on the dollar per kilowatt -- have cost 640 million dollars in public funds this year.
A traditional gravity-based system "irrigates one hectare in 24 hours, while a drip system does it in three or four hours," irrigation engineer José de Santos told Tierramérica.
According to Oxfam and El Barzón, the combination of an efficient well and modernised irrigation would be the equivalent of reducing CO2 emissions by 36 percent, energy consumption 40 percent and water use 50 percent.
Mexico emits 715.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year, six percent originating from agriculture.
Drip irrigation, which directs the water to the plant roots through soaker hoses, and pressurised irrigation, which uses closed pipes and sprinklers to create a directed precipitation, are the main alternatives to irrigation channels.
But their costs are quite prohibitive for small and medium farmers: 2,250 to 2,500 dollars to set up a system, according to figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
An additional obstacle is the government's slow action on the problem. The Ministry of Agriculture launched the Strategic Project for Irrigation Modernisation, with a budget of 52 million dollars for this year and the goal to update 22,000 hectares, benefitting 1,500 farmers. But the farmers have to put up another four million dollars to obtain the equipment.
"The cost is very high. The problem is that many farmers rent their land, and the owners aren't interested in adding the technology," said irrigation expert De Santos.
Since 2006, the National Water Commission has modernised irrigation on 599,000 hectares, with financing of 240 million dollars. The goal for 2012 is to reach 1.2 million hectares with irrigation.
In addition, "we have to move towards crops that require less water," like garbanzo beans, vegetables, fruits and oil crops. "The farmers need to be aware that water is a finite resource," said farming advisor Castillo.
In any case, there is no alternative to modernisation: one hectare yields 27.3 tonnes if it is irrigated, compared to just 7.8 tonnes without irrigation. And climate change will only intensify the droughts that are already taking a toll on Mexican farming, warns the National Institute of Ecology.
* This IPS story is part of a series supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network http://www.cdkn.org (END)
Mexican Farms Need a Water Revolution
By Emilio Godoy*
MEXICO CITY, Nov 17, 2010 (Tierramérica) - Without financing, many Mexican farmers cannot improve their ageing irrigation systems, which are essential if Mexico is to withstand the effects of climate change and reduce its emissions of greenhouse-effect gases.
Pressurised and drip irrigation are two leading-edge options that also make relatively efficient use of water and electricity, reducing power fossil fuel burning and greenhouse gases emissions.
These new systems are expensive, but "they would allow us to grow crops year-round and have more jobs and better incomes," farmer Oseas Espino told Tierramérica. He grows sorghum on about 30 hectares in the Yecapixtla municipality in the southwestern state of Morelos.
Espino is one example of the thousands of small and medium farmers who are unable to modernise their irrigation systems.
The most widely-used system is based on gravity, with electrical pumping equipment. But it "generates inefficiency in the use of water and electricity," Nemecio Castillo, an advisor with the National Institute of Forestry and Agricultural Research, told Tierramérica.
Seventy-seven percent of Mexico's piped water goes to agricultural use. There are some 118,000 wells for farming, but the authorities have rehabilitated just 6,000 of them.
Annually, operation of an inefficient well consumes about 200,000 cubic metres of water and generates 350 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the main greenhouse gases.
A well operated using modern technologies requires half the water and reduces greenhouse emissions to 98 tonnes of CO2, according to calculations by the non-governmental organisations El Barzón and Oxfam Mexico, which are promoting a plan to update the country's farm irrigation systems.
According to these organisations, inefficient water use in agriculture means that more than 80 percent of Mexico's 180 largest aquifers are overexploited and it is already difficult to sustain the total irrigated area.
The total farmed area in Mexico is more than 20 million hectares, with irrigation for 5.3 to 5.5 million hectares, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography. The most abundant crops are maize, beans and sorghum, which require a great deal of water to grow.
Maize -- used to make the tortilla, a staple in the Mexican diet -- requires 1,700 cubic metres of water per tonne produced, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. One tonne of sorghum needs 1,200 cubic metres of water per tonne.
Of the 630,000 registered farms in Mexico, just 16 percent have irrigation and 12 percent utilise unconventional techniques, report El Barzón and Oxfam.
There are 85 irrigation districts that cover 3.5 million hectares in hands of 583,000 users, particularly in central and northern Mexico, states the National Water Commission.
Those districts demand 30 billion cubic metres of water per year, 90 percent of which comes from reservoirs and 10 percent from underground sources.
From 2000 to 2009, agricultural electrical consumption jumped 17 percent. Government subsidies for energy purchases for farming -- about 50 cents on the dollar per kilowatt -- have cost 640 million dollars in public funds this year.
A traditional gravity-based system "irrigates one hectare in 24 hours, while a drip system does it in three or four hours," irrigation engineer José de Santos told Tierramérica.
According to Oxfam and El Barzón, the combination of an efficient well and modernised irrigation would be the equivalent of reducing CO2 emissions by 36 percent, energy consumption 40 percent and water use 50 percent.
Mexico emits 715.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year, six percent originating from agriculture.
Drip irrigation, which directs the water to the plant roots through soaker hoses, and pressurised irrigation, which uses closed pipes and sprinklers to create a directed precipitation, are the main alternatives to irrigation channels.
But their costs are quite prohibitive for small and medium farmers: 2,250 to 2,500 dollars to set up a system, according to figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
An additional obstacle is the government's slow action on the problem. The Ministry of Agriculture launched the Strategic Project for Irrigation Modernisation, with a budget of 52 million dollars for this year and the goal to update 22,000 hectares, benefitting 1,500 farmers. But the farmers have to put up another four million dollars to obtain the equipment.
"The cost is very high. The problem is that many farmers rent their land, and the owners aren't interested in adding the technology," said irrigation expert De Santos.
Since 2006, the National Water Commission has modernised irrigation on 599,000 hectares, with financing of 240 million dollars. The goal for 2012 is to reach 1.2 million hectares with irrigation.
In addition, "we have to move towards crops that require less water," like garbanzo beans, vegetables, fruits and oil crops. "The farmers need to be aware that water is a finite resource," said farming advisor Castillo.
In any case, there is no alternative to modernisation: one hectare yields 27.3 tonnes if it is irrigated, compared to just 7.8 tonnes without irrigation. And climate change will only intensify the droughts that are already taking a toll on Mexican farming, warns the National Institute of Ecology.
* This IPS story is part of a series supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network http://www.cdkn.org (END)
Friday, October 29, 2010
Another reason to attend the Global Washington Annual Conference: Dean Karlan, Yale University Economics Professor,
Global Washington
Conference 2010
November 15 & 16
Microsoft Campus, Redmond
Check out the conference agenda, submission and selection criteria for the Video Showcase, and register here!
CLICK HERE to access the social networking site connecting members of the development community! (If you'd like to join, but haven't received an invitation, email megan@glboalwa.org)
We are pleased to welcome Yale Professor of Economics Dean Karlan as a guest speaker at our upcoming conference!
In 2007, The New York Times listed Karlan as one of 13 young “Economists to Watch” for his work in microfinance. Times blogger Steven D. Levitt described Karlan as an economist who “has been doing important and innovative work, often using field experiments to answer questions related to financial decisions in developing countries.” Karlan is an expert in economic issues relating to charitable giving and global development methodologies—especially microfinance. He is President of Innovations for Poverty Action; serves on the Board of Directors of the M.I.T. Jameel Poverty Action Lab; and is Founder and President of stickK.com. He also received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2007.
At the conference, Dr. Karlan will share his thoughts on the challenges and successes in evaluation and impact assessment for global development work. He will provide an economist’s perspective on these solutions, particularly:
1) Evaluation matters. Wins and losses are not always where you expect them.
2) Methodology matters: Studying impact means answering a simple but elusive question: how have lives changed compared to how lives would have changed had the program not existed?
3) Design matters. The way products and processes are offered can have big effects on decisions people make.
4) The impact of mobile technology on development, highlighting examples and successful partnerships.
Sources:
Steven J. Levitt, “Congratulations to Dean Karlan”, December 5, 2007, http://freakonomics.blogs.
“Economists to Watch,” The New York Times, January 10, 2007, available from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Mexican farmers battle erosion and drought -- PRI the world
On PRI's show the World today (Wed Oct 20th). Our partner NGO in Oaxaca founder Juan Jose gave an interview about the work his team is doing at their pedregal (permaculture) site in Oaxaca Mexico. The story is here this link includes down-loadable MP3 and other information about the great work INSO is doing can be found here
Friday, October 8, 2010
Co-founder Rick McKenney to speak at the upcoming Global WA Conference Nov 15-16
Global WA is hosting its second major conference here at the Microsoft Campus
Redmond, WA on November 15-16.
Rick McKenney has been invited to join a distinguished group of experts to discuss:
Ensuring Environmental Sustainability: Stories of Successful
partnerships November 15, 2010
Other panelists for this session include:
To register please see this link Global WA Conference
Redmond, WA on November 15-16.
Rick McKenney has been invited to join a distinguished group of experts to discuss:
Ensuring Environmental Sustainability: Stories of Successful
partnerships November 15, 2010
Other panelists for this session include:
- Kari Vigerstol (kvigerstol@tnc.org). Kari can talk about the 'water funds' they've set up in Latin America to fund conservation of watershed lands - also an example of public/private partnership also.
- Marla Smith-Nilson, Executive Director , Water 1st International sustainability issues, specifically as they relate to water and sanitation projects MarlaSmith@water1st.org
To register please see this link Global WA Conference
Global Washington Conference--Bridges to Breakthroughs: How partnerships and innovation are changing the world November 15-16
Bridges to Breakthroughs: How partnerships and innovation are changing the world
Click here to register
November 15-16, 2010
Microsoft Campus
Redmond, WA
Microsoft Campus
Redmond, WA
Following 2009’s Blueprint for Action, Global Washington brings together innovators and thought leaders in Washington State’s global development community to set actionable goals towards establishing effective partnerships. By fostering these partnerships, we build bridges that lead to breakthroughs.
Keynote Speaker: Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.
President Barack Obama appointed Melanne Verveer as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. The President’s decision to create a position of Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues is unprecedented, and reflects the elevated importance of these issues to the President and his entire Administration.
Click here to read Ambassador Verveer’s Bio.
Register today!
Sponsorship packages are available; if you are interested in being a sponsor, please contact Bookda Gheisar at 206.547.9332 or bookda@globalwa.org.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Widespread Corruption in Oaxaca State Government Threatens Well Being of People There
Shameful Acts of Neglect and Incompetence by Oaxaca State Government Helped to Bring About Sept. 28 Catastrophic Mudslide
Scores of lives have been horribly affected in Oaxaca, with scores of people having their homes flooded and countless people left homeless due to the Sept. 28 disastrous mudslide in Oaxaca. As has been recently reported, eleven people are reported missing, with no confirmed deaths so far. However, rescue crews have still not reached six communities in Tlahuitoltepec. Electricity and phone service are down in the majority of the municipality, and many roads are covered with debris or have washed away.
As the gut-wrenching and poignant photos above illustrate, real people's lives have been devastated. Ironically, in an area where people are desperate for access to clean, safe drinking water, it is dirty water that is now jeopardizing and endangering their lives. The 2010 hurricane season has caused record rainfall in southern Mexico, leading to flooding, mudslides, and deaths in several states, including Oaxaca.
Water for Humans continues to work closely with NGOs, local government officials, water experts, and universities to construct a state-of-the-art constructed wetland, that, when finished, will bring potable water to scores of people in the Oaxaca Valley who are battling dreadful sanitation conditions. We have established robust relationships that will bring much needed fresh, clean water to the people of Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla in the Oaxaca Valley.
It is very unfortunate that Water for Humans has not been able to work with the Oaxaca State Government during the process of preparing for construction of our wetland. To be sure, Climate Change--with the inexplicable weather phenomena that it has brought about in recent years, is partly to blame for this horrible mudslide, as is deforestation.
But the State Government carries much blame on its shoulders for this disaster. The current Oaxaca Governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, seems oblivious and ignorant of the conditions that were widely publicized by experts, who warned about the potential for mudslides like this most recent one. Gov. Ruiz decided to act only when Tlahuitoltepec officials apparently grossly exaggerated the Sept. 28 mudslide. Local officials warned the state government that mudslides could provoke a humanitarian disaster since August, when they complained that 50% of the highways in their region were damaged.
Water for Humans is grateful to our partners whom we are collaborating with on this constructed wetland project. And we look forward to the positive results of our work beginning in 2011. We also are very hopeful that Gabino Cue Monteagudo, the incoming Oaxaca Governor, who takes office this December, will prove to be a worthy and helpful partner in our wetland endeavor.
Better times are ahead for the people of Oaxaca, and the new state government should work extremely hard to restore lawful behavior and competent leadership. The people of Oaxaca deserve no less!
Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, Governor of the State of Oaxaca
Note: Gov. Ortiz has been accused by some of murder and rigging the 2004 election, which brought him to power.
Your Comments Invited -- Water for Humans would like to hear from you about the impact you believe lawlessness and corruption in the Oaxaca State Government has had on the people in Oaxaca. What do you think the new Oaxaca Governor should do to help improve the well being of the people of Oaxaca?
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