The resource shortage we should REALLY be worrying about

[Selkie]

Peak Water, Wired Magazine

"Water has been a serious issue in the developing world for so long that dire reports of shortages in Cairo or Karachi barely register. But the scarcity of freshwater is no longer a problem restricted to poor countries. Shortages are reaching crisis proportions in even the most highly developed regions, and they''re quickly becoming commonplace in our own backyard, from the bleached-white bathtub ring around the Southwest''s half-empty Lake Mead to the parched state of Georgia, where the governor prays for rain. Crops are collapsing, groundwater is disappearing, rivers are failing to reach the sea. Call it peak water, the point at which the renewable supply is forever outstripped by unquenchable demand."

"Freshwater is the ultimate renewable resource, but humanity is extracting and polluting it faster than it can be replenished. Rampant economic growth — more homes, more businesses, more water-intensive products and processes, a rising standard of living — has simply outstripped the ready supply, especially in historically dry regions. Compounding the problem, the hydrologic cycle is growing less predictable as climate change alters established temperature patterns around the globe."

 

[FrekeChild]

Yeah. The Rio Grande has been getting lower and lower. When I was a little kid I remember it was almost a rushing river-now, on good days the islands in the middle of it are half covered instead of totally out in the open.

 

[miraclesrule]

All intellectual studies point to water supply as the issue that will be the one that drives all war in the future, not oil, not money, but the one resource most necessary for human survival....water.

 

[strmrdr]

In the US there are more gallons of fresh water per person than in Europe and they get along fine.
The problem is that some areas have outgrown the water supply with large cities.
Any given area has enough water to support X number of people if X+2 live there then you have problems which is what we are running into but its more like X*2.
Throughout history people have had to relocate to areas of greater water supply. (which led to wars over water)
Anyone saying that modern man wont have to is arrogance.
Right now the problem for a lot of this country isn''t too little water but too much water and no place to store it.

 

[ksinger]

Date: 6/17/2008 11:50:47 PM
Author:Selkie

Peak Water, Wired Magazine

''Water has been a serious issue in the developing world for so long that dire reports of shortages in Cairo or Karachi barely register. But the scarcity of freshwater is no longer a problem restricted to poor countries. Shortages are reaching crisis proportions in even the most highly developed regions, and they''re quickly becoming commonplace in our own backyard, from the bleached-white bathtub ring around the Southwest''s half-empty Lake Mead to the parched state of Georgia, where the governor prays for rain. Crops are collapsing, groundwater is disappearing, rivers are failing to reach the sea. Call it peak water, the point at which the renewable supply is forever outstripped by unquenchable demand.''

''Freshwater is the ultimate renewable resource, but humanity is extracting and polluting it faster than it can be replenished. Rampant economic growth — more homes, more businesses, more water-intensive products and processes, a rising standard of living — has simply outstripped the ready supply, especially in historically dry regions. Compounding the problem, the hydrologic cycle is growing less predictable as climate change alters established temperature patterns around the globe.''

And you can bet your sweep bippy someone is out to get rich rationing that water to you and me. I saw a thing on this some years back - 20/20 or 60 Minutes or whatever, but I didn''t forget it. And here it is again!! T. Boone Pickens!! A fellow Okie!! Gonna have us all coming to him hat in hand...so to speak.

http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/08_25/b4089040017753.htm

 

[miraclesrule]

Wow...that''s about all I can say after reading that article. Craaaaaazyyy!!

 

[ksinger]

Date: 6/19/2008 1:04:32 AM
Author: miraclesrule
Wow...that''s about all I can say after reading that article. Craaaaaazyyy!!

Yeah, how''s that for "pucker factor"? One man in control of that much water.

Sometimes I wish I had the burning desire to be UNinformed....sigh.

 

[miraclesrule]

Date: 6/19/2008 8:34:41 AM
Author: ksinger

Date: 6/19/2008 1:04:32 AM
Author: miraclesrule
Wow...that''s about all I can say after reading that article. Craaaaaazyyy!!

Yeah, how''s that for ''pucker factor''? One man in control of that much water.

Sometimes I wish I had the burning desire to be UNinformed....sigh.

Yeah, that''s a good description of how I felt. Along with a seriously poor taste in my mouth that had me rethinking whether I even wanted water to wash it down.

I agree that "Ignorance is Bliss" sometimes. But at some point, I''d like to think that we will reach a critical tipping point where we collectively hit our knees and get our head out of the sand. When that time comes, I want to be one of the Informed individuals. They will be needed. Thanks for the great article, even if it did scare the bejezzus out of me. It definately made it much more REAL.

 

[Selkie]

There''s also an EXCELLENT documentary on this topic called "Running Dry." I saw it at the Long Beach Aquarium, followed by a panel of the filmmakers and water resource manaers, including Las Vegas'' "Water Czar" Pat Mulroy. Las Vegas actually has a fairly effective water recycling system in place on the Strip, and strict conservation rules. It still faces the same challenges of growth and development, however.

 

[Selkie]

Date: 6/19/2008 9:58:48 PM
Author: miraclesrule


I agree that ''Ignorance is Bliss'' sometimes. But at some point, I''d like to think that we will reach a critical tipping point where we collectively hit our knees and get our head out of the sand. When that time comes, I want to be one of the Informed individuals. They will be needed. Thanks for the great article, even if it did scare the bejezzus out of me. It definately made it much more REAL.

It scares the hell out of me everytime I think about how fragile Southern California''s water supply system is. It worries me a lot more than the rising price of gas, to be perfectly honest.

 

[tanuki]

Unless planet earth is leaking water into space all the water we have is cycling somewhere on the planet. We aren''t burning it like oil.
The problem is that water isn''t where the humans want it to be. There is too much in some places to suit us and not enough in others.

I watched a documentary bemoaning the declining water supply in the American southwest but when I went there as a tourist they told me the beautiful rock formations were due to the entire area once being the bottom of the ocean millions of years ago.

Even though humans can build entire countries below sea level (such as Holland) and re route rivers at times to suit our needs I think if the economics of the situation demand it the humans are just going to have to relocate in response to where the water is.

 

[Selkie]

Tanuki, you''re absolutely right that the total amount of water on earth never changes, but the amount of safe, drinkable water in any given region is extremely variable, particularly if the region is arid. And if the arid regions also happen to be the fastest growing, as in California, Phoenix, and Las Vegas, the pressure is even higher. Simply moving the population to an area with more water isn''t really a solution, what about the people already living in that area? That''s how territory wars start.

 

[tanuki]

The late comic Sam Kinison used to get huge laughs over his take on famine victims in Ethiopia -

"Move to where the food is! . . . . You''re living in a F***in Desert! . . . . M-o-o-o-o-ve!"

 

[VegasAngel]

Date: 6/21/2008 3:42:27 AM
Author: Selkie
There's also an EXCELLENT documentary on this topic called 'Running Dry.' I saw it at the Long Beach Aquarium, followed by a panel of the filmmakers and water resource manaers, including Las Vegas' 'Water Czar' Pat Mulroy. Las Vegas actually has a fairly effective water recycling system in place on the Strip, and strict conservation rules. It still faces the same challenges of growth and development, however.

As a Las Vegas resident I am very worried about our water supply. It is another reason on my list of why I want to get out of here. I cannot believe how low the water level is & we dont even use as much water here as other states that also use our supply. They say LM could be dry by 2021. Unless we have some serious weather changes coming I bet it doesnt last that long.


With all the problems going on around the world in general, I have a feeling not so good times are ahead.

 

[Icy Melona]

thanks for bringing this to light. There is growing tension in Asia (in particular the Mekong delta) as China builds dam after dams to redirect the flow of yangtze river causing shortages and change of water flow throughout the SEAsia affecting local villages's access to clean water, fisheries and agriculture. I realise China wants to build and progress in development, clean hydroenergy plants, and redirect some of its water resources to the north where water is scarce but the effect it is having on Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand (to name but a few) is fast becoming a regional crisis.