WHY ISN'T EVERYONE WORRIED ABOUT WATER SCARCITY?

 

 

By Frosty Wooldridge
April 4, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

[Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article are solely those of Frosty Wolldridge and not necessary the opinion of NWV, its staff or other writers.]

Today in America, we fill our gas tanks with gasoline that costs from $3.51 per gallon here in Denver, Colorado to as high as $4.69 per gallon in West Covina, California. In future months, gasoline prices will continue to rise to $5.00 and ultimately $10.00 per gallon and beyond.

But we face another rise in a resource more important that gasoline! That resource? You guessed it! Water! At some point, we cannot maintain water supplies for our growing cities.

“I truly believe we’re moving into an era of water scarcity throughout the United States,” said Peter Gleick, science advisor to Circle of Blue and president of the Pacific Institute, a think tank specializing in water issues based in Oakland, California.

Phoenix, Arizona relies on one and only one resource for their water: the Colorado River. Without it, Phoenix would die a horrible and quick death. Add to Arizona such states as Texas, Georgia and Florida. What happens when they override their ability to supply water to their citizens, farms and cities? Anybody thinking about that? Answer: no!

“Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and Sedona grow their cities in the desert. Arizona was never meant to have monster cities. There are millions of people there, and they all have one water supply, only one, the Colorado,” said Mr. Tim Barnett, a research marine geophysicist at Scripps and co-author of the study.

WATER SCARICTY TO GROW MORE URGENT

“You’ve got a river now that is stretched totally thin, and all the water is being used,” said Barnett. “There is no excess water. You’re getting less and less water over the decades, so it’s going to be a continuing, festering thing that will get worse. The whole picture is not pretty, and I don’t think that anyone has looked at the subject with the point of view of what’s sustainable. We don’t have anybody thinking long range, at the big picture that would put the clamps on large-scale development.”

While I have hammered on the immigration for over 30 years as the number one cause of America’s demise, I am sick of trying to educate Americans. Nothing has changed! Not one bit of legislation has changed our course. Therefore, I will turn my sights to what we face as a nation as we add the next 72 million immigrants within 24 years by 2035. I hope you chew on what your children face because Americans have done nothing to change course.

When I talk with groups about water, here are some factoids that usually surprise:

• By 2020, California will face a shortfall of fresh water as great as the amount that all of its cities and towns together are consuming today.
• By 2025, 1.8 billion people will live in conditions of absolute?water scarcity, and 65 percent of the world’s population will be water stressed.
• To grow a ton of wheat uses 1,000 tons of water. The US is the largest exporter of wheat to the world. When we export a ton of our wheat, we are effectively including 1,000 tons of water in the bargain.
• In the US, 21 percent of irrigation is achieved by pumping groundwater at rates that exceed the water supplies ability to recharge.
• There are 66 golf courses in Palm Springs. On average, they each consume over a million gallons of water per day.
• Lake Meade (the source of 95% of water for Las Vegas) will be dry in the next 4 to 10 years.

In the US, we are now seeing headlines about droughts in places like Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Texas, Arizona and Colorado.

Highlights of what our kids face:

• The Ogalala aquifer stretches across 8 states and accounts for 40 percent of water used in Texas.
• The Ogallala’s volume will fall a staggering 52 percent between 2010 and 2060.
• The use of big pivot irrigation — the lifeblood of the Panhandle could be cut back severely in 10 to 20 years.
• Texans are probably pumping the Ogallala at about six times the rate of recharge.
• Water conservation and regulation policy is difficult to implement because Texas views groundwater as essentially a property right.
• T. Boone Pickens business Mesa Water and other companies are buying up water rights, and looking to market water to cities like Dallas. This is creating a variety of court challenges in the struggle to define the line between public and private water rights.

POLLUTION OF WATER WITHIN THE USA

“Pollution, from industry, agriculture and not least, human waste, adds another fierce pressure,” said Michael McCarthy, investigative journalist. “About two million tons of waste are dumped every day into rivers, lakes and streams, with one liter of waste water sufficient to pollute about eight liters of fresh water.

One look at a river like the Mississippi shows a 10,000 square mile dead zone at the mouth as it leads into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi spews billions of gallons of toxic water into the Gulf 24/7 from farms, factories and waste plants. That means most advanced marine life cannot live in that much pollution. With the big oil spill covering much of the bottom of the Gulf, those creatures don’t stand a chance.

Do you think any of our Congress-critters thinks about the longer term ramifications of mass immigration? Answer: not a chance. But I do because I’ve seen what’s coming as to what we face. And folks, it ain’t pretty!

And yet, we import 3.1 million immigrants every year on our way to adding 72 million within 24 years. How stupid are we as a country and how stupid are our leaders:

Answer: really, pathetically, amazingly, mind-numbingly stupid!

Solutions:

• Moratorium on all immigration for 10 years
• Maximum of 100,000 immigrants annually after moratorium
• National effort at water conservation
• Moratorium on chemicals used on crops
• Grow organic foods instead of chemicalized foods
• Educational programs in schools that deal with conservation
• Help all citizens understand that our Republic is not a spectator sport type of governance. Roll up your sleeves and become a part of the solution.

Listen to Frosty Wooldridge on Wednesdays as he interviews top national leaders on his radio show "Connecting the Dots" at www.themicroeffect.com at 6:00 PM Mountain Time. Adjust tuning in to your time zone.

� 2011 Frosty Wooldridge - All Rights Reserved