For starters, why not get rid of 3/4 of the f***ing golf courses. They pose
water-squandering dangers far beyond the economic what they've done to Japan
(according to the recent article on this list).
aaron hoffer wrote:
> Hi crashlist members, I usually just lurk, but I thought this may be of
> interest. I'm grateful there is a list like this one - Aaron.
>
> The following is an article from the globeandmail.com Web Centre.
> >
> >Saturday, August 05, 2000
> >Oil of the future?
> >
> >By Alanna Mitchell
> >The Globe and Mail
> >
> >
> >Toronto � Scientists predict Canada could be a water superpower within 25
> >years when it becomes one of the few countries in the world with enough
> >fresh water.
> >
> > Evidence collected at leading international research institutes shows
> >that the world's store of fresh water could run dry faster than expected.
> >
> > Because of that, and because Canada is home to roughly 40 per cent of the
> >Earth's store of fresh water, experts say that Canada could become the
> >Saudi Arabia of water.
> >
> > "Water could become an export commodity like oil," said Kevin Hall, the
> >scientific director of the Centre for Water and the Environment at Queen's
> >University in Kingston, Ont.
> >
> > "There's no doubt people are going to be short of water and they're going
> >to be looking at us," he added.
> >
> > John Briscoe, senior water adviser at the World Bank, is blunt when he
> >describes the looming water shortage: Unless people learn to use water more
> >efficiently, there won't be enough fresh water to sustain the Earth's
> >population.
> >
> > "If nothing happens, the situation is really quite terrifying," he said
> >in an interview from Washington. "Without innovation, you're dead."
> >
> > But Mr. Briscoe also believes that solutions exist, if society takes the
> >problem seriously.
> >
> > The coming water crisis is partly driven by population growth. But even
> >more, it stems from a spirited overuse of the Earth's fresh water for
> >agriculture, industry and all sorts of uses that turn good water bad.
> >
> > It is not even about having safe water to drink, but about having enough
> >to go around.
> >
> > Numbers abound about how dire the shortage will be. The Sri Lanka-based
> >International Water Management Institute projected earlier this year that
> >by 2025, only about a quarter of the world's population, including Canada,
> >with its rivers, lakes and aquifers, will have enough fresh water.
> >
> > Roughly a third of the world's population will have too little water to
> >meet their needs. That includes people in Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Israel,
> >South Africa and half of India and China. This figure even takes into
> >account that these countries will learn to use water more efficiently over
> >time.
> >
> > As well, about 40 per cent of the world's people will experience serious
> >financial and development problems in their quest to find the increased
> >amounts of water required. Among those countries are Brazil, Mexico,
> >Australia, Nigeria and Turkey, as well as large parts of India and China.
> >
> > In fact, even those frightening projections may underestimate the
> >problem, said Jim Bruce, the vice-chairman of the Winnipeg-based
> >International Institute for Sustainable Development and a world expert on
> >water.
> >
> > Most scenarios don't take into account the effects of global warming on
> >the amount of fresh water the Earth holds, he said. When that's taken into
> >account, even such water-rich countries as the United States and Canada may
> >be in for some trouble.
> >
> > "I think we're going to have to do some fast footwork on the prairies if
> >the models are correct," Mr. Bruce said.
> >
> > From the point of view of the World Bank's Dr. Briscoe, a big part of the
> >solution is to make the cost of water reflect its value. Now, people use it
> >virtually for free.
> >
> > "It's really not managed in any vaguely scientific way because it's so
> >cheap," he said. "People just pour it on."
> >
> > He added that water is also bound to become more expensive.
> >
> > "Once you get market forces operating, efficiency will come," Dr. Briscoe
> >said.
> >
> > Canadians, for example, are among the most nonchalant users of water in
> >the world. The average Canadian household uses about 500,000 litres a year,
> >but almost half is wasted in washing cars or leaving taps to drip, Dr. Hall
> >said.
> >
> > The average daily domestic use in Canada is 326 litres per person. In
> >France, by contrast, it's less than half of that at 150 litres.
> >
> > Mr. Bruce, the Canadian water expert, noted that most parts of Canada
> >don't even put meters on domestic water use.
> >
> > "There are all sorts of signals in the marketplace that water is not
> >important," he said. "So we use it very profligately."
> >
> > Governments are just as unthinking about fresh-water supplies. The report
> >last week from Ontario's Environmental Commissioner on the state of
> >Ontario's groundwater was damning.
> >
> > Canada's most populous province has no strategy to protect groundwater,
> >no publicly accessible inventory of it and no long-term method of
> >determining the effects of groundwater use on the health of the ecosystem.
> >
> > The experts agree that these attitudes toward water must change. In fact,
> >they can already see signs that people are recognizing the value of water.
> >
> > Consider, for a moment, that a 500-millilitre bottle of spring water
> >sells at a corner store these days for about three times that of the same
> >amount of gasoline at the pump down the street.
> >
> > "If and when fresh water becomes a price commodity, then it immediately
> >becomes a security issue," said Rob Huebert, a political scientist at the
> >University of Calgary and an expert in military issues. "Look at the
> >security we have to have over pipelines for oil and gas."
> >
> > One scenario that he has been mulling over is what would happen if
> >critical areas of the United States grew massively short of fresh water.
> >Say, the croplands of California, or the City of Los Angeles.
> >
> > What would a U.S. president, say an Al Gore or a George Bush, do if
> >Americans started panicking about fresh water and Canada had an abundance
> >of it? In Dr. Huebert's view, there could be trouble.
> >
> > "It won't be a Richard Rohmer scenario of Americans invading Canada," he
> >said. "But maybe they would go to NAFTA [North American Free Trade
> >Agreement]."
> >
> > All of these possibilities are so new that it's not yet clear whether
> >Canada would play hardball and opt to sell its water for profit or portion
> >it out for free as a humanitarian gesture, Dr. Hall said.
> >
> > In either case, however, water, or the lack of it, is likely to prove a
> >catalyst for conflict. And Canada, sitting with its vast supplies just
> >north of the current world power, will be at the centre of the storm.
> >
> > "People have to have water," Dr. Hall said. "It's not like gas. You don't
> >need gas to live."
> >
> > Still, Dr. Briscoe is not convinced that Canada will become a water
> >exporter to the world. Nor is Mr. Bruce, the Canadian water expert,
> >although he can see that parts of the United States might clamour for
> >Canada's water.
> >
> > "I think the idea of carrying water around in tankers borders on the
> >ridiculous," Mr. Bruce said.
> >
> > He pins his hopes on farmers beginning to use irrigation more
> >strategically. He foresees some irrigated farms achieving an
> >industrial-style efficiency rather than the haphazard methods now used in
> >many places.
> >
> > As well, Dr. Briscoe believes that genetically modified plants, bred to
> >require fewer pesticides and dramatically less water, may well be one of
> >the solutions.
> >
> > He would rather see a less expensive solution for water-poor countries
> >such as investment in technology to take the salt out of ocean water.
> >
> > Then again, there may be other solutions just over the horizon that
> >haven't occurred to anyone yet.
> >
> > "You can quite reasonably say that we've only just started scratching the
> >surface of what we can do in terms of innovation with water," Dr. Briscoe
> >said.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Copyright 2000 | The Globe and Mail
> >
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