Water use rising faster than population

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2011/October/todaysfeatures_October58.xml§ion=todaysfeatures

(Reuters)

29 October 2011, 9:27 AM

Like oil in the 20th century, water could well be the essential commodity on which the 21st century will turn.

Human beings have depended on access to water since the earliest days of civilization, but with 7 billion people on the planet as of Oct. 31, exponentially expanding urbanization and development are driving demand like never before.

Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, said Kirsty Jenkinson of the World Resources Institute, a Washington think tank.

Hot spots of water risk, as reported in the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct online atlas here , include:


· Australia’s Murray-Darling basin;

· the Colorado River basin in the U.S. Southwest;

· the Orange-Senqu basin, covering parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia and all of Lesotho;

· and the Yangtze and Yellow river basins in China.

[trotsky]

1. And that's why privatization of water supplies is the "next big thing."

When oil is long gone, we will still need water - and the best part for the water companies will be, your customers HAVE to buy it!

[WinkyDink]

4. And communities will sell access, for a few short-term dollars.

[Rabblevox]

2. I am freaking terrified of the SW getting a few more drought years.

I've never been to the other places mentioned, but I know Texas, New Mexico, and California to have vivid nightmares about what even a few more Colorado Basin drought years in a row would do.

And then there's the Oglalla Aquifer drying out.

Then everyone is trying to move to western Oregon and Washington, where we are lucky on water, but there's already no jobs and housing is insane and we don't WANT more people.

(I just got a very vivid picture of the future, and I don't like it)

[WinkyDink]

3. The human species can survive without oil; that is why it is no comparison to WATER.

[JCMach1]

5. This will cause even more instability in the Middle-East

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the most water scarce region in the world, it is predicted that per capita water availability will fall by half by 2050. And scarcity is only one of the water-related challenges that MENA countries are currently facing--altered rainfall patterns due to climate change, shifting demand structures, and rising industrial and urban pollution all complicate efforts to efficiently manage water resources. However, a recent report by the World Bank argues that water scarcity need not constrain economic and social progress in the region if a multi-sectoral approach to water sector reform is adopted... http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/171



Just take a look at the outlook for Yemen:

...The West frets that al Qaeda will exploit instability in Yemen to prepare new attacks like the failed December 25 bombing of a U.S. airliner, but this impoverished Arabian peninsula country faces a catastrophe that poses a far deadlier long-term threat.

Nature cannot recharge ground water to keep pace with demand from a population of 23 million expected to double in 20 years.

More water is consumed than produced from most of Yemen's 21 aquifers, especially in the highlands, home to big cities like Sanaa, with a fast-growing population of two million, and Taiz.

"If we continue like this, Sanaa will be a ghost city in 20 years," said Anwer Sahooly, a water expert at German development agency GTZ, which runs several water projects in Yemen.

Some wells in Sanaa are now 800 to 1,000 meters deep -- requiring oil-drilling equipment -- while many are no longer usable because of the sinking water table, he said.

Millions of thirsty Yemenis may eventually have to abandon Sanaa and other mountain cities for the coastal plain. "Water refugees" may try to migrate to nearby Gulf states or Europe... http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/17/us-yemen-water-idUSTRE61G21P20100217

[buddysmellgood]

6. solar powered desalination will save the day.