WATER

Resource Links

http://www.world.water-forum3.com/  Water related links and topics — looks like the original html is gone but the links seem helpful

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Water_wars

Water wars is a phrase used to describe increased competition for water resources, due to drought, climate change, or increasing populations; controversies over and reduced access due to privatization of water services; or the role of these tensions in leading to physical conflicts, within or among nations.

Predictions:

“By 2025, 1800 million people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions”; “Water withdrawals are predicted to increase by 50 percent by 2025 in developing countries, and 18 per cent in developed countries”; and “Water use has been growing at more than the rate twice of population increase in the last century.” — UN Water^[1]

• “By 2015 nearly half the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — will live in countries that are ‘water-stressed’ — have less than 1,700 cubic meters of water per capita per year — mostly in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and northern China,” predicted a CIA report from 2000. ^]

 

This book is also available for the Kindle.

California Water Wars — during the Reagan regime massive canals were built to move water from Northern California to the Southern DESERT California. This was done with little discussion — Northern Californians were very unhappy because we knew that this theft of water would cause problems in the future. Our predictions have came to pass. California also tried to steal water from the Columbia River during the Reagan Presidential reign. This did not happen — I was by then living in the Northwest and remember that water war as well.

Wikipedia entry — California Water Wars:

The California Water Wars were a series of conflicts between the city of Los Angeles, farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley of Eastern California, and environmentalists. As Los Angeles grew in the late 1800s, it started to outgrow its water supply. Fred Eaton, mayor of Los Angeles, realized that water could flow from Owens Valley to Los Angeles via an aqueduct. The aqueduct construction was overseen by William Mulholland and was finished in 1913. The water rights were acquired through political fighting and, as described by one author, “chicanery, subterfuge … and a strategy of lies”.^[1]:62Farmers in the Owens Valley may not have received fair value for their water rights.^{[verification needed]}

By the 1920s, so much water was diverted from the Owens Valley that agriculture became difficult. This led to the farmers trying to destroy the aqueduct. Los Angeles prevailed and kept the water flowing. By 1926, Owens Lake at the bottom of Owens Valley was completely dry due to water diversion.

The water needs of Los Angeles kept growing. In 1941, Los Angeles diverted water that previously fed Mono Lake into the aqueduct. Mono Lake, north of Owens Valley, is an important ecosystem for migrating birds. The lake level dropped after the water was diverted, which threatened the migrating birds. Environmentalists, led by David Gaines and the Mono Lake Committee engaged in a series of litigation with Los Angeles between 1979 and 1994. The litigation forced Los Angeles to stop diverting water from around Mono Lake, which has started to rise back to a level that can support its ecosystem.