Six students from Rice University have spent the past month in Morocco figuring out how best to capture drops of water in the foggy Atlas Mountains so that nearby villagers have better access to safe drinking water.

Working in Sidi Ifni, Morocco, with the Dar Si Hmad Foundation--which was founded by 1998 Rice graduate Jamila Bargach--the students used structures resembling volleyball nets with ... read more >>

This paper assesses the hydrological response to scenarios of climate change in the Okavango River catchment in Southern Africa. Climate scenarios are constructed representing different changes in global mean temperature from an ensemble of 7 climate models assessed in the IPCC AR4. The results show a substantial change in mean flow associated with a global warming of 2 °C. However, there is cons ... read more >>

Cholera has killed more than 200 Nigerians in the last month as poor sanitation facilities are overwhelmed by rains.

Nigeria's cholera outbreak spreads as far south as Cross Rivers and Ogun States and is even effecting the capital, Abuja. But most of the cases so far are concentrated in the northeast states of Borno, Bauchi, and Adamawa.

Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chuku says more th ... read more >>

After three years of scorching drought that brought severe hunger, people in Ukambani in eastern Kenya have finally learned how to cope with tough climatic conditions.

Five months ago, Mwende Kisilu had to walk for more than 10 kilometres to dry riverbeds where she would sink a shallow well in search of water for household use.

Her children would go to school without bathing. Washing clothe ... read more >>

Professor Gabriel Eckstein of the International Water Law Project at Texas Tech has posted his take on the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework. It's a two-part post; you can access Part II from Part I.

It's always a good day when nations come to terms over shared fresh water resources, especially in the more parched regions of the world. Hence, it was a wonderful turn of events when various ... read more >>

A dispute between Egypt and upstream African nations has brought to the fore a long-standing controversy over who has rights to the waters of the Nile. The outcome could have profound consequences for the ecological health of the river and for one of the world’s largest tropical wetlands. ... read more >>

Water ministers from five Nile basin countries could not settle their differences on the language of a new river treaty when meeting last weekend, but said they will uphold a one-year deadline for other basin members to enter the agreement. Government officials from Egypt and Sudan have said they will only sign an agreement if it protects their current use. ... read more >>

An overview of the ongoing debate over who has the right use the water from the Nile. Nine countries must work it out or face escalating conflict. ... read more >>