Future Global Water Shortage.

[52ndStreet]

Is America and the rest of the world doing enough to prepare for the Future water shortage?. There are prolonged droughts in the American Southwest, and in East Africa.

The situation is expected to get a whole lot worse for the forseable future.
Clean drinking water is already becoming a valuble commodity, and is at a limited supply.

What is the United States, and the United Nations planing to do to address this future
water crisis.?

 

[Oddball]

The drought in the central Rockies seems to be ending.

Tide goes out somewhere, tide comes in somewhere else.

 

[ScottBernard]

Relax, the watersheds are fine. Not to mention the tremendous aquifers deep in the ground.
Mother nature can take care of herself.
My biggest concern is industry and everyday living screwing things up. Make sure the EPA is staffed with some hard-nosed hard-asses and enforce those environmental regs.

 

[eagleseven]

70% of the planet's surface is water

+

Desalination

=

Abundance

 

[Charles Stucker]

70% of the planet's surface is water

+

Desalination

=

Abundance

Desalination is an energy intensive process for obtaining water. Globally, the amount of fresh water is not going to radically increase in the foreseeable future. As human population climbs so does the demand for water. Not just to drink, but also sanitation, agriculture and industry require water.
Some areas have more water than others, so that inequality may shape future demographics. Those nations which are water poor may find their standards of living declining precipitately, while those with ample water will continue standard human behavior and consume as they please.

 

[Diuretic]

Welcome to the future, except for us in Australia it's very much the present. On the most arid inhabited continent on Earth we have major water problems. Water is the number one political issue where I am and closely allied to that is concern about the environment and about population sustainabiity.

We're building desal plants but they have their drawbacks as has been pointed out. But in a way we're lucky because most of our population lives on the coast and there aren't too many large population centres in the regional areas and in the extremely arid/desert areas in the centre. So at least desal plants, despite their drawbacks, will be of some use. How is that going to work in Kansas Toto?

Be nice to Canada, she has your future water stores.

Oh and before someone comes along and tells me that the US will simply take it, making the usual jokes about how Canada can't defend herself because the US does it for her - forget it, that sort of suggestion will be treated with the contempt it deserves.

 

[uscitizen]

Not a water shortage, it is a people surplus.

 

[xotoxi]

The earth has nearly the same amount of water that is has had for the past billion years.

Water doesn't go anywhere...it just moves around.

 

[uscitizen]

Actually at this pooint it is not a people surplus but a people distribution issue.

 

[eagleseven]

Be nice to Canada, she has your future water stores.

Where?

Oh and before someone comes along and tells me that the US will simply take it, making the usual jokes about how Canada can't defend herself because the US does it for her - forget it, that sort of suggestion will be treated with the contempt it deserves.

Why would we need to take anything? We have the Great Lakes! 22% of the world's freshwater in one convenient location!

 

[uscitizen]

Relax, the watersheds are fine. Not to mention the tremendous aquifers deep in the ground.
Mother nature can take care of herself.
My biggest concern is industry and everyday living screwing things up. Make sure the EPA is staffed with some hard-nosed hard-asses and enforce those environmental regs.

do a search on the Agualla (sp?) aquifer. It's level is ocntinuing to drop and they think it was filled at the end of the last ice age.

 

[uscitizen]

Yeah the great lakes. Will we pipe that to other areas? Who will pay for that?

As I said it is not a shortage of water but a people distribution problem.

The Colorado river is being sucked dry.

 

[Diuretic]

Be nice to Canada, she has your future water stores.

Where?

Oh and before someone comes along and tells me that the US will simply take it, making the usual jokes about how Canada can't defend herself because the US does it for her - forget it, that sort of suggestion will be treated with the contempt it deserves.

Why would we need to take anything? We have the Great Lakes! 22% of the world's freshwater in one convenient location!

Of course you don't need to take anything, you'll come to an agreement with Canada about the water in the Lakes I'm sure. But Canada has a lot of fresh water apart from the Lakes. Sask comes to mind immediately.

 

[Screaming Eagle]

There's always a solution. Incinerator toilets and brown water filtration/reuse would reduce almost all household water use. Excepting drinking and yard watering, of course. It's actually quite doable, I don't know what it would cost to build a house with such a design, but probably around $3-5,000 with an annual filter cost of a few hundred dollars.

 

[manu1959]

There's always a solution. Incinerator toilets and brown water filtration/reuse would reduce almost all household water use. Excepting drinking and yard watering, of course. It's actually quite doable, I don't know what it would cost to build a house with such a design, but probably around $3-5,000 with an annual filter cost of a few hundred dollars.

yep ... problem is the building codes and the union plumbers and electricians influence on the code....

as someone that design homes off the grid....you still need to pipe water and electrice in and out of the home even if the home doesn't need it....

so it costs you double....

 

[Screaming Eagle]

There's always a solution. Incinerator toilets and brown water filtration/reuse would reduce almost all household water use. Excepting drinking and yard watering, of course. It's actually quite doable, I don't know what it would cost to build a house with such a design, but probably around $3-5,000 with an annual filter cost of a few hundred dollars.

yep ... problem is the building codes and the union plumbers and electricians influence on the code....

as someone that design homes off the grid....you still need to pipe water and electrice in and out of the home even if the home doesn't need it....

so it costs you double....

It's not that crazy everywhere. Of course they could already be reusing the brown water, I just don't think most places do.

 

[Old Rocks]

Relax, the watersheds are fine. Not to mention the tremendous aquifers deep in the ground.
Mother nature can take care of herself.
My biggest concern is industry and everyday living screwing things up. Make sure the EPA is staffed with some hard-nosed hard-asses and enforce those environmental regs.

Our watersheds are not fine. Many are getting less water than the did in prior years. Most are contaminated by pesticides. And the aquifers of this nation are almost all being pumped at a much faster rate than they are being replenished.

Ogallala Aquifer

The Ogallala Aquifer (shaded area) is in a state of overdraft owing to the current rate of water use. If withdrawals continue unabated, the aquifer could be depleted in only a few decades.
between the mountains and the existing western boundary of the Ogallala, so there is no longer water recharge being received from the Rockies.

Read more: Ogallala Aquifer

 

[eagleseven]

Of course you don't need to take anything, you'll come to an agreement with Canada about the water in the Lakes I'm sure. But Canada has a lot of fresh water apart from the Lakes. Sask comes to mind immediately.

We already have. It's called the Great Lake Basin Compact, and was ratified about 3 years ago.

The Great Lakes Basin Compact

In short, the water of the Great Lakes is to be used by the people of the Great Lakes Region only. We've already rejected proposals to build pipelines from the Great Lakes to the arid southwest...if companies/residents want cheap water, they can move to the Great Lakes Region.

 

[Old Rocks]

Of course you don't need to take anything, you'll come to an agreement with Canada about the water in the Lakes I'm sure. But Canada has a lot of fresh water apart from the Lakes. Sask comes to mind immediately.

We already have. It's called the Great Lake Basin Compact, and was ratified about 3 years ago.

The Great Lakes Basin Compact

In short, the water of the Great Lakes is to be used by the people of the Great Lakes Region only. We've already rejected proposals to build pipelines from the Great Lakes to the arid southwest...if companies/residents want cheap water, they can move to the Great Lakes Region.

Same thing here in the West. California wanted to tap the waters of the Colombia. That was a non-starter.

Water is going to be a real factor in the livibility of any region. As some areas get more, and others less, there will be some real problems, especially internationally.

 

[Diuretic]

Of course you don't need to take anything, you'll come to an agreement with Canada about the water in the Lakes I'm sure. But Canada has a lot of fresh water apart from the Lakes. Sask comes to mind immediately.

We already have. It's called the Great Lake Basin Compact, and was ratified about 3 years ago.

The Great Lakes Basin Compact

In short, the water of the Great Lakes is to be used by the people of the Great Lakes Region only. We've already rejected proposals to build pipelines from the Great Lakes to the arid southwest...if companies/residents want cheap water, they can move to the Great Lakes Region.

That's some interesting foresight. And people will move indeed where there is water.