Business Green: The Chinese government has reportedly pledged to increase its hydroelectric power capacity 50 per cent by 2015 as it continues to accelerate efforts to boost its low-carbon energy supplies. According to local reports, officials said they were aiming to increase hydropower capacity from 200 million kilowatts currently to 300 million kW by 2015. The announcement came as China's largest hydropower station, the Xiaowan dam in Yunnan province, came online. State-backed news ...

Independent: A genetically modified salmon which grows twice as fast as normal is completely safe for human consumption and poses little risk to the environment according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The regulatory body's verdict paves the way for GM animals to be produced commercially for food for the first time. The creature, dubbed "Frankenfish" by critics, looks likely to be approved for human consumption later this month. Its developers, a Boston-based company called ...

Reuters: Increasingly erratic rainfall patterns related to climate change pose a major threat to food security and economic growth, water experts said on Monday, arguing for greater investment in water storage. In a report by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), experts said Africa and Asia were likely to be hardest hit by unpredictable rainfall, and urged policymakers and farmers to try to find ways of diversifying sources of water. The IWMI research estimates that up ...

The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) says any review of the state's south-east water retailers' books should be undertaken by an independent economic body.

Goulburn-Murray Water is warning rural landholders in northern Victoria to treat all water sourced from channels and rivers.

Recent heavy rain has seen Bundaberg and Burnett dam levels reach a 10-year high.