01-04 River Flows - John Bulloch

River flows are impacted by human activity and climate change. Tough to measure which is which. But river systems are critical for fresh water, transportation, agriculture and tourism. The big story is Israel sending desalinated water into the Sea of Galilee to improve the river flow of the Jordan River.

Interesting living on Lake Simcoe in Ontario and fishing at the mouth of one of the 35 streams and rivers that feed the lake. Clouds of nutrients that are sent into the lake after a heavy rain. Communities along the river systems drawing water for both fresh water and agriculture. Lucky this is an area not impacted by shrinking river systems.
Not the same story in the United States and the Colorado and Mississippi rivers. In fact, in portions of the Mississippi, dredging is required so that lower river levels do not hamper shipping.
Israel is the big story. A region with the most serious shrinking of lakes and rivers linked to climate change, but a nation with more water than it can use. It is sending desalinated water into the Sea of Galilee, which sends water down the Jordan River to the Dead Sea. This enables farms to continue to draw water from the river for agriculture.
The Nile River is one of those rivers that provides water to over a dozen nations. The photo shows how much the river has shrunk from climate change.
In fact, all the river systems that feed into the Mediterranean Sea are shrinking. It is the opposite problem in Northern Europe, where the river systems are experiencing flooding from higher rainfall levels.
One of the most difficult issue is man-made initiatives like the Ethiopia Dam which will provide needed water for nations suffering from critical water shortages.
The result, of course, is a decline in Nile river flows downstream past Egypt. The only solution for Egypt is desalination. The massive draws of fresh water from the Nile are being permanently restricted.
The interesting issue trying to determine the impact of climate change on river systems is that the same issue is impacting great river systems everywhere. The Yangtze in China, the Nile in Africa, the Mississippi and Colorado in the USA, the Amazon in Brazil. Rich and poor, developed and underdeveloped, it doesn’t matter. It looks like the future will be water and river diplomacy.