The "Flamingo Revolution”

Demonstrators held signs saying, “Albania is not for sale” and “Ivanka Go Home” and many carried cut-outs of pink flamingos, protected migratory birds threatened by the projects. There are two proposed developments. One is near Zvërnec in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape, a wildlife reserve on the coast with pristine wetlands, pine forests, and sand dunes. The other is on Sazan Island, an uninhabited former communist-era military base about five miles from the mainland.

A letter from 41 environmental groups sent to the Albanian government in January demanded a halt to the Vjosa-Narta project, which they say poses serious risks to the biodiversity and to critical habitats for some of the world’s most endangered marine and bird species, including the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), Dalmatian pelicans, as well as loggerhead sea turtle nesting sites.

Outrage ignited after videos and images, including some from the environmental group Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), showed bulldozers on the beach and heavy equipment clearing land. Adding fuel to the fire were images of a man being assaulted by security guards—and worse—a video of Ivanka Trump gushing about how she and Jared “discovered” Sazan Island and their plans to develop it.

Despite lacking official approvals, roads have been built in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area and pine forests clear cut. | Credit: Photo provided to H2O Radio by the Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) organization.

Sazan Island has no fresh water, so drinking water would have to come from the mainland, and so far, neither project has undergone environmental impact assessments or allowed public comment.

Albania’s socialist prime minister, Edi Rama, amended the country’s Law on Protected Areas to permit hotels in the conservation areas. He also granted “Strategic Investor Status” to Kushner’s group, allowing them to get quicker government approvals and bypass environmental oversight. 

Rama has defended the developments as necessary for the country’s economy, adding that projects will be carried out in an environmentally responsible manner. Protestors aren’t having it—and now, neither is the state anti-corruption agency, which opened an investigation and froze the bank accounts of a landholding company tied to the Vjosa-Narta project last Tuesday. 

The situation puts Rama in a pickle as he won his recent election promising to get Albania EU membership by 2030. However, as DW reports, the developments are in an area proposed for the Emerald Network, areas of special conservation interest that would need to be protected if Albania joins the European Union. 

Another way the projects might “blow up” is literally. According to Balkan Insight, Sazan Island and its surrounding azure waters contain tonnes of unexploded WWII munitions and land mines as well as anti-submarine artillery, some of which have yet to be identified.

The snowpack last winter was much worse than predicted, according to experts from the University of Colorado, Arizona State University, Utah State University, and the University of New Mexico. Even if next winter is wetter with more snowfall, there would not be enough water to pull the basin out of a massive drought caused by climate change. A better, wetter year, like 2023, would provide only about two years of relief before the basin is in the same situation it’s in now, according to these experts. But there is no guarantee that will occur.

The authors of the report say that while the federal government is attempting to avoid major risks to hydropower operations at Glen Canyon Dam, the basic problem remains—there’s more demand for water than the river can supply.

The report implies that water users in the basin are not focusing on that imbalance but, rather, looking solely at the legal arguments over what users are entitled to on paper. Their conclusion is that consumptive uses across the Colorado River Basin must be reduced by municipalities, industry—and chiefly by agriculture, which uses the most. The authors appear critical of efforts by individual states in the basin—Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California—and individual water users for not prioritizing the prevention of collapse of the entire system over their individual interests.

As that report was released, the federal government and some agencies in California, Arizona, and Nevada, reached a pioneering understanding to explore water sharing across state borders. The San Diego County Water Authority will discuss selling some of its allocation from the Colorado River to suppliers in Arizona and Nevada and make up the difference using surpluses from its ten-year-old desalination plant.  

The memorandum of understanding was signed by the Bureau of Reclamation, San Diego County Water Authority, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Central Arizona Project, and Salt River Project.

Now, for the first time, residents of a city have voted to ban data centers permanently. Last week, voters in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, weighed in on whether to stop a planned center to protect air quality, drinking water, and public health, as well as to prevent impacts to electricity and water rates. They voted overwhelmingly to approve the ban, and it was not even close—86 percent said they didn’t want the facilities.

Resistance to the development came after an Australian firm had pushed to build a 250,000-square-foot project—in a residential area—that would have included a new electrical substation and about two dozen diesel generators to guard against power interruptions. 

According to SFGate, a local group organized residents to resist the plans and won a city council vote to place a moratorium on the centers after dozens lined up at an hours-long council meeting to express their concerns. The council unanimously decided to put the issue on the ballot.

Project proponents said it would be an economic engine and accused resistance organizers of “rage-baiting an uninformed mob.” It turns out that “mob” was successful in arguing that the center would create noise pollution, use a lot of electricity, and lower property values, all of which would outweigh the benefit of a few permanent jobs.