Water

Ecosocialist Bookshelf March

Climate & Capitalism editor Ian Angus presents five new books for reds and greens.

Wounded Country book cover

Wounded Country is a provocative record of voices from the frontline of the land and water grab of the past two centuries, writes Tracey Carpenter.

Almond plantations are guzzling so much water from the Murray Darling Basin that even the Almond Board of Australia wants new orchards to be put on hold until the water supply can be assured. Daniel Pedersen reports.

Turkey’s system of huge dams is not just about irrigation and generating hydro-electric power, writes Sarah Glynn. It is a source of political power over the whole region.

David Lowe looks at the dangers of, and struggle against, the unconventional gas industry in Australia.

While the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's right-wing government continues to attack the liberated region of north and east Syria, writes Peter Boyle

Water activists rallied outside WaterNSW offices in Parramatta on March 13 to demand an end to water trading, reports Zebedee Parkes.

Police closed off Wilcannia Bridge, where the Barrier Highway crosses the Darling (Baaka) River, on March 13 following calls by local activists to blockade it in protest at water theft, cultural oppression and ecocide, reports Rachel Evans.

Water activists will blockade the Barrier Highway at Wilcannia Bridge and other bridges throughout the Darling Basin on March 13 to draw attention to corporate water theft, cultural oppression and ecocide, reports Tracey Carpenter.

Despite recent rains, the water crisis of inland northern New South Wales communities is far from dissipating, report Tracey Carpenter and Elena Garcia.

First Nations people's knowledge and rights have been overlooked as the largest privatisation of water on the planet has been underway. Tracey Carpenter examines how the privatisation of this most precious resource — water — has enriched a few at the expense of many.

“It seems that towns in western New South Wales are being shut down and nobody is listening,” local resident Mark Merritt told Green Left Weekly on the banks of a non-existent river.

“The problem is mismanagement of the Barwon-Darling rivers” activist Fleur Thompson told the Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree Festival bus tour, as it passed through the western New South Wales town of Bourke on September 30.

“The federal and state governments could step in anytime and fix it, but they don’t and won’t. To do that the governments would have to admit fault.”

More than 200 people are set to tour north-western New South Wales to bear witness to some of the state’s driest rivers and bring back solutions for the water crisis affecting local communities. The tour has been organised by Muruwari and Budjiti man Bruce Shillingsworth who spoke to Green Left Weekly’s Rachel Evans about its purpose and aims.

In spite of Adani Australia CEO Lucas Dow’s claim last year that the corporate energy giant did not require a cent, the company looks set to sign off on a secret royalty deal with the Queensland government.

Adani will receive a $900-million-seven-year low interest royalty capital subsidy on September 30. This will mean Queensland will not receive a royalty return from Adani’s mine for years.

A global day of action on September 14 drew attention to the Turkish government’s controversial Ilisu dam project on the Tigris River in Turkish Kurdistan. The dam is already being filled and if completed would flood the 12,000-year-old town of Hasankeyf, 199 villages and 136km of the Tigris River valley.

Pages

Subscribe to Water