Future Global Water Shortage.

[uscitizen]

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.

Hmm that will prove to be really great for the states economies where there is not enough water.

 

[Old Rocks]

Part of the problem is that subsidies to agriculture have kept the price of water to farmers artificially low for a couple of generations. There has been no incentative for efficient use of what water there is.

Now we are in a period of climate change that will change precipitation patterns on all continents. Going to be an interesting ride, folks.

 

[Diuretic]

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.

Hmm that will prove to be really great for the states economies where there is not enough water.

They'll collapse, that's all there is to it.

 

[waltky]

So. Africa faces severe water rationing...

In less than 3 months, a major international city will likely run out of water
Wed January 24, 2018 - In Cape Town, South Africa, they're calling it "Day Zero" -- the day when the taps run dry.

A few days ago, city officials had said that day will come on April 22. This week, they moved up the date to April 12. Cape Town is South Africa's second-largest city and a top international tourist draw. Now, residents play a new and delicate game of water math each day. They're recycling bath water to help flush toilets. They're being told to limit showers to 90 seconds. And hand sanitizer, once somewhat of an afterthought, is now a big seller. "Unwashed hair is now a sign of social responsibility," resident Darryn Ten told CNN.

The genesis of the crisis

So how did this happen? How does a major city in the developed world just run dry?
It's been a slow-motion crisis, exacerbated by three factors conspiring together:

* The worst drought in over a century, which has pushed Cape Town's water scarcity into a potentially deadly horizon
* Its population, which is 4 million and growing quickly
* A rapidly changing climate

Even with the predicament they find themselves in, residents haven't dropped their water use significantly, said Patricia De Lille, Cape Town's mayor. The city has lowered the water pressure in their mains to help stretch the water supply. But usage is still 86 million liters above its target goal. "It is quite unbelievable that a majority of people do not seem to care and are sending all of us headlong towards Day Zero," a statement from the mayor's office said. "We can no longer ask people to stop wasting water. We must force them." Starting February 1, residents will only be allowed to use 50 liters, or a little over 13 gallons, of water per person, per day.

Coping with the shortage

The shortage is forcing some residents to get creative. Alistair Coy, who's vacationing in Cape Town from the United Kingdom, strains the water that's left over from boiling potatoes into a bucket for things like washing clothes. Anne Verbist recycles her tap water to tend to her plants. "We catch all water from the tap to wash hands and dishes and use it for the plants," she said. But creativity is also creating problems. "People [are] buying anything that can hold water," said resident Richard Stubbs. "No buckets, no [gas cans] or drums [are] in stock. So people [are] buying bins, vases and large storage boxes."
Then, some of them are filling them up with water from the city supplies -- further feeding the water crisis.

Worries about drinking water

Verbist, and several other residents, said that while they use tap water for household needs, they are reluctant to drink it. "They claim it is fine to drink, but the kids were having tummy issues," she said. So now, she and her family trek to the Newlands Spring to get their allotted liters of water twice a month. They tried to replenish their drinking water reserves Monday, but the line was just too long. They went back to the next day.
Resident Lincoln Mzwakali says his tap water "tastes funny" as well. So he relies on the spring. "Many neighboring communities have started depending on it," he said. CNN asked the city of Cape Town about the water quality concerns some residents reported, but has not yet received a response.

Long lines and bare essentials

 

[westwall]

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.?

Three quarters of the planet is water. The only issue is making sure it is clean. The biggest hindrance to that is corrupt governments that won't allow their people to have access to clean water.

 

[Old Rocks]

At present desalinization is very expensive for drinking water. And incredibly expensive for irrigation water. Governments won't allow people to have access to clean water? How about some links as to where this is the case?

 

[westwall]

At present desalinization is very expensive for drinking water. And incredibly expensive for irrigation water. Governments won't allow people to have access to clean water? How about some links as to where this is the case?

Yes, desalinization is expensive, however, that is one of the best uses for non grid powered solar usage. As far as the political corruption go's, anyone who has ever traveled in Africa knows that that is the primary problem. The leaders use water as a weapon. Keep the people confined to their areas and they are far easier to control. Give them access to clean water and the leaders lose that control. It's an age old problem that could be addressed if real science was used and not the wealth redistribution horse poo that the global warming fools insist on following. Below are just a very, very small sampling of links dealing with the problem.

I spent years working in Africa and corruption is ENDEMIC. It is pervasive, it was an actual line item in my company's business plan as you must pay off someone, to do anything.
Some of the best people i have ever known live in those shithole countries, and i feel for them to this day, but until they rise up and get rid of the scumbags who abuse them, there will never be change. That has nothing to do with global warming, or capitalism or any of your other pet issues, it has to do with official corruption that has always been part and parcel of life in Africa.





In Africa, corruption dirties the water
In Africa, corruption dirties the water


Water Corruption Prevents Progress

Photo courtesy Carol Von Canon via Flickr

Irrigation systems are often corrupted by large users. In Mexico, 20 percent of farmers receive 70 percent of the irrigation subsidies.Africa's largest water transfer effort, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, plans to supply water to the industrial heartland of South Africa and to generate energy for impoverished Lesotho. The multi-billion dollar investment offers economic growth and greater water security for underserved communities in the region.
The project also presents water officials with countless opportunities to become rich on the side. In 2002, Lesotho courts sentenced the project's chief executive to prison for accepting bribes from 18 multinational companies that were vying for construction contracts.

The Lesotho case is a rare example of justice. Across the globe, the water sector is particularly prone to corruption, and the world's poor are usually the ones who suffer the costs.

Water Corruption Prevents Progress | Worldwatch Institute

Abstract
Africa is endowed with abundant natural resources and it has attracted development aid from the rich nations of the world. Despite these, the continent remains undeveloped. Different reasons have been attributed to the African development crisis among the modernist school and the dependency school. This study was undertaken to unravel the cause of the African underdevelopment. The paper pinpoints that corruption is the core reason behind African underdevelopment and it laid emphasis on corruption and underdevelopment interface in Nigeria. For Africa to break the impasse of underdevelopment, the paper calls for good governance and the establishment of special agencies to monitor all development projects undertaking by African countries.

CORRUPTION AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: A DISCOURSE APPROACH (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/public...DERDEVELOPMENT_IN_AFRICA_A_DISCOURSE_APPROACH [accessed Jan 25 2018].


"Other signs of leadership crisis are alarming and persuasive. There is a widespread loss of faith in our major institutions such as the judiciary and law enforcement agencies generally. There is an alarming breakdown of traditional values and discipline; corruption is more or less institutionalized and no serious attempts are being made to fight it. There is total disregard for environmental sanitation. Indiscipline is the order of the day. Africans do not seem to have the confidence to lift themselves out of their misery and are looking to foreigners to solve their problems for them. Our pride as a people capable of playing our role on the international scene has been totally eroded.

Factors Hindering Africa's Development

http://www.swedishwaterhouse.se/wp-content/uploads/20060906171639CorruptionPB_low.pdf

 

[task0778]

I do think this fresh water shortage is a much more immediate and serious problem than the AGW issue is. Israel has a desalination installation going that provides that country with most of it's water, and I do think there are a number of companies and universities working on solutions. In general when problems get worse, humanity finds ways to cope so we'll see how it goes.

 

[sealybobo]

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.?

Unkotare says we are not overpopulated