Facing an unprecedented water crisis, Israel is speeding up plans to desalinate even larger amounts of seawater than it had already planned. The National Infrastructure and Finance Ministries say in early January they will issue a build-operate-transfer tender for the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in the world, to be built 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. In an effort to speed up the construction of other badly needed plants, the Israeli government has also decided to exempt state utility Mekorot Water from the usual tender process for its planned 100 mcm desalination plant at Ashdod. The government has also

Shifting the emphasis of flood risk reduction work from structural, to non-structural efforts, such as better risk communications and improved evacuation planning, is a key recommendation the National Committee on Levee Safety will make in a report to Congress on Jan. 15. Photo: Tom Sawyer/ENR Emphasis would shift from work like this slurry wall construction to bolster levees in Sacramento to improved risk communications and evacuation planning. The levee failures in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina sounded a national alarm on the unreliability of levees for flood protection, the committee concludes. It will recommend greater use of evacuations during periods

A major water main serving the Washington, D.C., metro area broke on the morning of Dec. 23, disrupting service and stranding motorists along a busy suburban artery for several hours. A 66-in pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe burst along a section that neighbors State Route 190 in the D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Md., at 8 a.m. Several commuters were traveling the four-lane highway during the morning rush hour when the pipe burst. Photo: AP/Wideworld Motorist stranded by water main break in Washington, D.C., suburbs Dec. 23. The pipe, which carries 135-million gallons of water per minute, sent torrents rushing down a

Before the end of the year, the first in-stream hydrokinetic turbine to produce commercial power will be installed in the upper Mississippi River — just days after receiving the a first of its kind approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the device. Hydro Green Energy LLC of Houston will place its 12-feet in diameter turbine about 50 feet downriver from the Army Corp of Engineers Mississippi Lock and Dam No. 2 in Hastings, Minn. A second turbine will be installed in the spring. At an expected river flow of 2 meters per second, the turbines are expected to

After two days of public hearings and debate, the South Florida Water Management District’s governing board still hesitated to approve an agreement to purchase 180,000 acres of land in the Everglades Agricultural Area from the United States Sugar Corp. for $1.34 billion. As it stood, the board feared, the agreement could expose the district to penalties for conditions over which it had no control. Finally, the board approved a modified agreement with a 4-3 vote, knowing that the Clewiston, Fla., agribusiness might refuse to accept the amendment. But late on Dec. 16, after the water district’s vote, U.S. Sugar issued

President-elect Barack Obama's choice to lead the Dept. of Transportation, 14-year Republican congressman Ray LaHood (Ill.), took construction industry officials by surprise. LaHood's name didn't appear on rumor-mill lists of possible candidates to lead the Dept. of Transportation. Obama formally announced LaHood as his pick to be DOT Secretary on Dec. 19. Ray LaHood He hasn't been a leading legislator on transportation matters, though he served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for his first six years in the House. Nevertheless, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), the Transportation committee's current chairman, says he believes LaHood will be "an excellent—superb infact—secretary of

President-Elect Barack Obama has tapped Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) for the top post at the Interior Dept. The nomination, announced Dec. 17, has been well received by both industry and environmental groups, who describe the candidate as a centrist consensus builder. “He’s a good pick,” says Steve Hall, vice president of government affairs for the American Council of Engineering Companies. “He’s built a good reputation in the Senate as a consensus builder who listens to both sides…We can work with him.” he says. Ralph Grossi, the immediate past president of the American Farmland Trust, says Salazar did “yeoman’s work” in

A federal appeals court’s decision has taken a step toward lifting a state ban on out-of-state water sales, opening a way for a proposed $3-billion project to pipe water from Oklahoma to Texas. The appeals court accepted a north Texas water district’s argument that Oklahoma’s ban could constitute illegal restraint of interstate commerce. Photo: Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau Fast-growing Dallas-Fort Worth area wants water from Oklahoma watersheds. (Click to Enlarge Image) Growing Dallas-Fort Worth area wants to bolster supply with Oklahoma water. The Tarrant Regional Water District, a Fort Worth-based utility serving 1.6 million people in 11 counties, is

After nearly five months of negotiations, the board of the South Florida Water Management District on Dec. 16 voted to approve the purchase of 181,000 acres of land in the Everglades Agricultural Area for $1.34 billion. The board of United States Sugar Corp., the landowner, approved the sale agreement on Dec. 8. The water district ammended the offer, limiting its lability, before voting. But U.S. Sugar may insist that the district approve the deal without change and refuse to accept the counteroffer. Gov. Charlie Crist’s (R) June 24 announcement that Clewiston, Fla.-based U.S. Sugar had agreed to sell the state

Federal and congressional transportation proponents said on Dec. 15 they seek expressions of interest from firms to finance, design, build and operate high-speed passenger rail projects in 11 federally designated U.S. corridors. The solicitation is part of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, signed into law on Oct. 16. Respondents have until September 2009 to submit proposals. A planned Northeast Corridor between New York City and Washington, set to cost up to $30 billion, would be first, with officials saying all routes could operate as early as 2012.