by frog
Dame Margaret Bazley and the rest of the soon to be appointed Canterbury Regional Junta, please take note:
The drying up of the Aral Sea is one of the planet’s most shocking environmental disasters, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said as he urged Central Asian leaders to step up efforts to solve the problem.
Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, the sea has shrunk by 90 percent since the rivers that feed it were largely diverted in a Soviet project to boost cotton production in the arid region.
The shrunken sea has ruined the once-robust fishing economy and left fishing trawlers stranded in sandy wastelands, leaning over as if they dropped from the air. The sea’s evaporation has left layers of highly salted sand, which winds can carry as far away as Scandinavia and Japan, and which plague local people with health troubles.
Ban toured the sea by helicopter as part of a visit to the five countries of former Soviet Central Asia. His trip included a touchdown in Muynak, Uzbekistan, a town once on the shore where a pier stretches eerily over gray desert and camels stand near the hulks of stranded ships.
“On the pier, I wasn’t seeing anything, I could see only a graveyard of ships,” Ban told reporters after arriving in Nukus, the nearest sizable city and capital of the autonomous Karakalpak region.
“It is clearly one of the worst disasters, environmental disasters of the world. I was so shocked,” he said.
However, cooperation is hampered by disagreements over who has rights to scarce water and how it should be used.
…
Competition for water could become increasingly heated as global warming and rising populations further reduce the amount of water available per capita.
You wouldn’t want to be responsible for the Ellesmere Desert, would you, prospective junta members Commissioners?
Published in Environment & Resource Management by frog on Mon, April 5th, 2010
Tags: Aral Sea, ECan commissioners, ECan dictatorship, Environment Canterbury, Lake Ellesmere, Russel Norman, salinification, water management
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
The big problem in the Aral sea is each nation uses it and blames the others for the problems, ideas have been floated around since the collapse of the Soviet Empire to restore the sea – Primarily based around refilling it with big oil style pipelines from Iran. The problem has become cost, maintenance- ie who owns the pipelines since they would run from Iran to Turmenistan to Uzbekistan with Kazakhstan reaping the benefits and the Krgh and Tajak republics each getting additional resources for free. There is of course also the problem of refilling the lake with salt water not simialr to the style of the lake so that it could and would kill off alot of the remaining aquatic life there. the North Aral lakes that make up around 10-12% of the total body have been restored to some extent but that has solely been due to Kazakhstan’s constant efforts over the last 4 1/2 years , Uzbekistan simply cannot keep the rest of the lake surviving on its own considering it’s economy.
right, anyone else adding ?
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Fast forward 50 years from now and who will take responsibility for attempting to restore ecological sustainability in Canterbury if the unelected soon to be appointed Commissioners permit unsustainable water takes. Local, regional and Central Government (in whatever form they will exist in the future) will all claim it was not their fault and they shouldn’t have to pay to fix it.
Same problem as the Aral Sea, just different scale.
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it’s noting isn’t it that rather than do anything Mr Moon just went and had a look
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That is a very good question Stephan what is Mr. Moon going to do about it?
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Junta members… LOL…
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What would you expect Moon to do? And who says he isn’t doing anything right now? Some people on this blog are so ready to point the finger at anyone who draws attention to a significant problem. How about doing something yourselves about the situation in Canterbury.
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Rates strikes need numbers and it must be set up in a way that shows the ‘junta’ that no one is happy and in a way that does not punish the rate payers.
Something like a letter to the authorities – 3 strikes and you’re out. e.g. 1st week past rates due = no payment. 2nd week past rates due = no payment. 3rd week past rates due = no payment. 4th week past rates due = pay. ‘You’re out’ refers to the government and the mayors that influenced what happened and now look to grab what they can like vultures, Bob Parker for one. These people should not be allowed to gain from what they have taken from New Zealanders – their democratic right to decide what happens with elected councillors, like the ones with conflict of interest over water consents – via a legal and democratic by-election.
The amount lost in interest to the council will be huge if no one pays. But it must be big numbers of disaffected voters. And these people must pay their rates or they will end up with punitive action taken against them.
If a warning to the ‘junta’, the government and the mayors of what will happen at rates time should they use their undemocratic control to damage the ECan region, is not heeded, then they will deserve what happens to them at election time because they did not listen to the people of New Zealand.
This can be used countrywide. Auckland councils should be the first to start the ball rolling there if they really mean what they say about citizens losing their democratic rights.
We should also be supporting Andrew Williams who is being attacked by Rodney Hide because of Williams’ highlighting problems with supercity.
Rodney Hide (who is also in back of the ECan process) is a vindictive, greedy man. We must stop him before New Zealand has nothing left to call its own. John Key supports him in this as well as the supercity thuggery.
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@toad
Actually…alot of us in Cantab are a bit ambivalent – we kinda don’t care at the moment, it’s more of a wait and see – thats only amongst the people I talked to though
@philip
refer above
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Indeed. Most Cantabrians had little but hate for eCan and in particular the people of eCan, so the undemocratising of eCan is actually seen by many as a damned fine thing to do.
Of course, we’ll have to see how the new lot do.
When I was a schoolboy, I got mandated to write an essay: “Democracy is good but not perfect; Dictatorship is bad but not hopeless” – Seems kind of appropriate to the eCan situation…
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But, dbuckley, the Dictatorship and the Democracy described in your essay topic were supposed to be seperate issues, not one occuring within the parameters of the other. Dictatorship as part of Democracy is a contradiction in terms.
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THE PUBLIC NEED TO KNOW
Philip!!!!For your information I did write a letter to my local MP among letters and submissions to parliament so please don’t assume that we are all apathetic just because we question heads of state!!!I was merely asking Stephen a question. Is that pointing a finger?
Toad: Very good Question, I just recieved an e-mail from a good friend who has written to all the MP’s stating that due to this dis- enfranchisement, ratepayers are entitled to a rebate on E-can’s rates.
I forwarded it widely.
So the word is getting around!!
If that is not honoured by National then it’s another nail in it’s election coffin!!
PM. Very good point the ‘gang of four’ deliberately ignored Kerry Burks (then Chairman)ruling on conflicts of interest and turned up to the meetings. Frog even blogged on this. They even ignored a ruling of the Auditor General!!
I suggested to Rik Tindall (Green, Ecan councillor ex?)to collaberate with colleagues and get a book written of the day to day events of Ecan.
The public need to Know
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The decision of government to pursue those responsible for damaging public property sets an interesting precedent for all those appointed to positions of resposibility for management of public assets deemed to have economic value.
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