Tragedy five years ago that claimed the lives of a father and his four children on the Oneida Nation of the Thames in Ontario has the community insistent that the federal government work with them to meet their water needs. On Dec. 15, the First Nation declared a state of emergency and ordered community members to start conserving water. The water alert was issued after a member reported his tap water was coming out brown, consistent with a high iron content. An investigation indicated that the level of the aquifer from the Thames River that feeds into the Oneida water tower is low. The tower services 546 homes and 22 community buildings.
Damage assessments begin in flooded remote Alaska villages
Authorities in Alaska were making contact Monday with some of the most remote villages in the United States to determine their food and water needs, as well as assess the damage after a massive storm flooded communities on the state's vast western coast this weekend. No one was reported injured or killed during the massive storm — the remnants of Typhoon Merbok — as it traveled north through the Bering Strait over the weekend. However, damage to homes, roads and other infrastructure is only starting to be revealed as floodwaters recede.
Drought leaves Indian city of 4.65 million people without water
It is becoming an increasingly common story - Another city is running out of drinking water. Chennai, India, the country's sixth-largest metropolis with 4.65 million people, is facing a dire water shortage. The coastal metropolis is the world's first major city to be facing a severe water shortage, but several large cities around the world may soon face a similar crisis. The four reservoirs supplying the region have dried up, leaving small potholes filled with muddy stagnant puddles of dirty water.
Iqaluit says it needs to keep pumping water from Apex River
The City of Iqaluit says it needs to keep pumping water from the Apex River to maintain the city's water supply. "Right now we sort of live in a bit of uncertainty about our water source," said Romeyn Stevenson, deputy mayor of Iqaluit. Lake Geraldine supplies the city with fresh drinking water; snow and rain refills the lake. Last summer was the first time the city refilled Lake Geraldine with water pumped from the Apex River.