Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation Mar- Apr 2015 Vol.10 No.2

NEWS in brief during the drought, primarily through reduced outdoor water use. Since data collection began in July, more than 134 billion gallons of water have been saved compared with last year – enough to supply 1.8 million California residents for a year. For December, nearly all of the state’s hydrologic regions exhibited the best water conservation numbers since data reporting began. Global Highlights compost producers in a country where access to sanitation is now widespread but challenges of managing waste remain. Farmers tend their cabbage crops in Manikganj district. Bangladesh has benefited from major improvements in rural sanitation with the spread of pit toilets – holes dug in the ground. As part of its efforts to build on conservation gains statewide, State Water Board members held a water conservation workshop in Los Angeles in December to consider additional conservation ideas and get input from water districts, environmentalists, and water policy experts. At its next board meeting on Feb. 17, the Board will hear presentations by staff on what ideas were suggested and what actions could be implemented by the State Water Board to sustain and possibly improve statewide water conservation efforts during 2015. Study links Calif. drought to rising temperatures Higher temperatures played a role in triggering the California drought and significantly increase the likelihood of future droughts, says a study published recently. Lower amounts of rain and snowfall have occurred intermittently in the state over the past 120 years. So have higher-than-average temperatures, said climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh, who led the research for Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment. But the pattern has changed over the past two decades, he said. During that period, 80 percent of the time, temperatures exceeded the average for that 120-year period. That’s come as global warming unfolds, he said. Droughts also have increased. Photo / Neil Palmer/IWMI These bypass the problem of installing sewerage infrastructure in densely populated rural areas, but the challenge is what to do with the waste when the pits are full. If treated carefully, this waste could provide a local source of organic matter and plant nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Source: WASHplus Zambia Securing Zambia’s Energy Future “When we look at conditions that have created drought ... over California’s history, we find that it’s really the combination of low precipitation and high temperature that creates much greater probability of drought conditions,” Diffenbaugh said. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, comes as the Golden State is potentially entering its fourth year of historic drought. Source: ca.gov & EnergyWire How Bangladesh turns toilet waste into high-value compost – in pictures Scientists in Bangladesh are working on ways to treat toilet waste in rural areas and use it to develop safe, nutritious compost for food crops. Led by the school of civil engineering at Leeds University, the Value at the End of the Sanitation Value-Chain (VESV) project aims to help reduce reliance on imported inorganic fertilizers and provide potential business opportunities for waste transporters and Kariba Dam The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a US$75 million IDA* Credit and US$25 million grant from the Government of Sweden to Zambia for the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project. The project aims to assist the Zambezi River Authority in securing the long-term safety and reliability of the Kariba Dam Hydro-Electric Scheme. Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2015 11

Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation Mar- Apr 2015 Vol.10 No.2 | Page 11