The politics of water

Fish 7380 dr. e. irwin

Mark Twain

"whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over."

Closed system

Water equation Rain and evaporation

We should always have enough water But will it be potable?

Per capita consumption is doubling every 20 years—households only account for 10%

Who is using it?

20-25% industry 65-75% agriculture (only 50% makes it to crops)

Industrial farming with subsidies; no need to conserve

Massive pollution of surface waters Deforestation, wetland destruction, pesticides. Fertilizer,

global warming

BY 2025 2.6 billion more people on earth 2/3 will be living in conditions of shortage; 1/3 in scarcity Demand will exceed availability by 56%

What about Agriculture….

65% globally80-90% SW USA

Little conservation b/c water is cheap Central Valley Project

• Subsidized water-20% of the CO river flows• Sold back to CA (rights, after all)• COST = CO River delta, Sacramento River Salmon

This has changed somewhat after a six year drought (late 1980s)

• Increased from 3$ to 30$ acre/foot

Aquifer Overpumping

High plains - US: 20% of all US irrigated lands depletion rate = 12 billion cubic meters/yr irrigated area in TX high plains dropped 26% 1979-1989

California - depleting groundwater by 1.6 billion m3/yr (15% net gw use)

Arizona - water tables have dropped >120 meters; overpumping = 1.2 b m3/yr

Mexico City and Valley of MX - pumping exceeds recharge by 50-80%

Saudi Arabia - 75% of all water used is from nonrenewable groundwater

India - gw supplies half of irrigation water- aggregate deficit of 100 billion m3/yr

N. China - overpumping 30 bcm/yr Israel and Gaza - pumping exceeds recharge by about 60%

Water Scarcity

Poverty and Disease

6,000 children die daily from water related illness

80% illnesses in 3rd world related to WQWater is cheap for the wealthy.

American Rivers

Environmental Quality Incentives Program Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program Wetlands Reserve Program Environmental Management Program Army Corps Environmental Restoration Programs Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project Low Impact Hydropower Certification Program Northwest Coastal Estuary Program Land and Water Conservation Fund Partners for Fish and Wildlife Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program Wild and Scenic Rivers Total Maximum Daily Loads Chesapeake Bay Program Hydropower Relicensing Project Impact Irrigation Mitigation and Restoration Program

Bottled water…

Beverage Gallons Per Person Carbonated soft drinks 54.0 Beer 22.6 Milk 22.6 Coffee 21.9 Bottled water 21.1

Growing 10%/year; single serve growing 27%/year

Desalinization

Also for the rich Saudi Arabia Turning oil to water

7,500 plants producing several billion gallons of water per day. 57% are in the Middle East and 12% in Americas (Caribbean and Florida)

Caution + growth possible

The future

“Water and Power”Conservation

Irrigation Xeric landscapes Water saving devices $$$$-pay more

Water as a basic human right Water Wars escalate

http://www.mgm.com/title_title.do?title_star=TANKGIRL

Wind and the Willows - Kenneth Grahme

So-this-is-a-River""THE River," corrected the Rat."And you really live by the river? What a jolly life!""By it and with it and on it and in it," said the Rat. "It's brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, and food and drink, and (naturally) washing. It's my world, and I don't want any other. What it hasn't got is not worth having, and what it doesn't know is not worth knowing. Lord! the times we've had together..."