The India-owned Adani Group mining company has admitted that coal-contaminated water again overflowed from their Abbot Point Operations in Queensland, Australia during heavy rainfall February 7, and that it had not applied for an emergency permit to dump more polluted water into the Caley Valley Wetlands.

This is the second such breach in two years and Queensland has initiated an investigation. Adani is currently being prosecuted by the Queensland government for a previous pollution breach, when it spilt more than 800 percent of the allowable level of coal-laden water into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society. (AMCS)

Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have developed a device that can accurately measure fluoride concentrations using only a few drops of water. The importance of the device is that it is portable, less expensive that current methods and can be deployed on-site by virtually anyone.

The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais will file a civil class action against iron ore mining giant Vale SA as the numbers of deaths caused by the Brumadinho dam disaster rose to 165 this week, with 155 still unaccounted for. An internal October 2018 document from Vale which projected how much a dam collapse in Brumadinho would cost, how many people could die and what would be its causes will be cited, according to the Minas Gerais State Attorney office. The report stated that nine other dams were also at risk of collapsing.

India, which is in the midst of its development journey, may face a grave water crisis in the future.

Dr Mark Fletcher, Director and Global Water Leader for Arup, an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists, speaks with David Duncan, Publisher, OOSKAnews in this (LINK) OOSKAnewscast audio interview.

Arup is a global, UK headquartered independent firm, owned in trust for its members, which is committed to undertaking work where the company can make a real difference in the world, and achieve socially valuable outcomes.

Fletcher describes Arup’s vision and mission, shares insights on the importance of adaptation to water stresses in the face of global climate change, the importance of international recognition of and response to water stress and climate change, and pioneering water approaches in cities around the world.

This interview was conducted February 7 in Glasgow, Scotland, on the occasion of an event hosted by the Scottish Government initiative “Hydro Nation Water Innovation Service” (HNWIS) which aims to foster water innovation in Scotland. Arup acts as the Network Integrator of this initiative on behalf of the Scottish Government. In the latter half of this interview, Fletcher reflects on the “Scotland, Hydro Nation” program, with particular reference to the objective of HNWIS to support Scottish water technology innovators along the path to commercialization.

Readers are referred to previous OOSKAnews reportage on a 2018 Arup-produced paper “Cities Alive: Water for People”, and on Arup more generally.

Further information about Scotland's Hydro Nation Water Innovation Service is linked here.

New research by UK think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) describes mainstream political and policy debates as having failed to recognize that human impacts on the environment have reached a critical stage, potentially eroding the conditions upon which socioeconomic stability is possible.

Water security is a global issue that all countries must get ahead of, Dubai’s Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer warned on Monday, as he laid out Dubai’

Israeli forces raided the water pump rooms in the village of at-Tiwani and conducted search operations for the water pipelines in an apparent prelude to cut off water supply to residents.

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has set out to fully clean up Russia’s most polluted cities by 2024 within the framework of the state’s national project known as "Ecology"