Comments on: Water wars http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/30/water-wars/ The Official Weblog of The Long Now Foundation and Friends Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:43:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: David Cinnamon http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/30/water-wars/comment-page-1/#comment-18690 David Cinnamon Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:00:42 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=1130#comment-18690 NO NO NO! There is NOT going to be water wars. Again and again, the experts on National Public Radio have discredited this doom & gloom scaremongering that gets trotted out every once in a while to sell news magazines. There's plenty of water; it's not destroyed when consumed. It's the location and availability that makes it expensive in certain areas. Many oil-rich mideast countries like Saudi Arabia are investing in desalination plants to make seawater drinkable, but desalination takes lots of energy. Making water clean, and having a network of pipes to deliver requires energy. More likely, we'll just keep fighting wars over energy. Let's remember that personal use makes up only 1/5 of our water consumption. Some of it is industrial, while nearly 4/5 of the water is used in agriculture. In a capitalist economy with a spot price for water or water futures, farmers can find all kinds if market-based solutions to scarcity: * Switch to crops that need less water. * Invest in efficient irrigation techniques, like underground seeping pipes that deliver water straight to the roots. 50% water sprayed on crops is lost to evaporation, so the savings can be huge. * Irrigate crops with treated sewage instead of drinkable water so water treatment plants don't have to work as hard and can give more clean water to the towns. * Enforce property rights of water sources. This prevents tragedy of the commons, and discourages us from running the wells dry. Anybody who damages the supply can be held accountable to the owner. That doesn't happen when nobody owns the aquifer. * If all else fails, stop farming and use all the water supply for the people. Import food from some place else where water is not so scarce. Hopefully, the trends of globalization and economic liberalism will continue forever to make international food trade ever more viable. I think it will. Never underestimate the ability of free markets to deal with scarcity. Look at that story listed under 3: Some Arab "experts" say Israel is going to invade Lebanon and Egypt and take their water. Bullshit. Typical anti-Zionist hatemongering. Those are the kinds of people who want war. Yes, the Jordan River is shrinking. In spite of the scarcity and all the hatred between them, Jordan and Israel are still getting along peacefully. Bless you King Abdullah II. btw, that urban highrise farming in that above link isn't going to happen either. Use that valuable city space for people, and put farms outdoors where they don't need artificial light. Duh. There are better ways to get more food from less land. Got 18 minutes to spare? Why not come see some ingenious water management from India? http://www.ted.com/talks/anupam_mishra_the_ancient_ingenuity_of_water_harvesting.html We can be incredibly resourceful when we have to. NO NO NO! There is NOT going to be water wars. Again and again, the experts on National Public Radio have discredited this doom & gloom scaremongering that gets trotted out every once in a while to sell news magazines. There’s plenty of water; it’s not destroyed when consumed. It’s the location and availability that makes it expensive in certain areas. Many oil-rich mideast countries like Saudi Arabia are investing in desalination plants to make seawater drinkable, but desalination takes lots of energy. Making water clean, and having a network of pipes to deliver requires energy. More likely, we’ll just keep fighting wars over energy.

Let’s remember that personal use makes up only 1/5 of our water consumption. Some of it is industrial, while nearly 4/5 of the water is used in agriculture. In a capitalist economy with a spot price for water or water futures, farmers can find all kinds if market-based solutions to scarcity:

* Switch to crops that need less water.
* Invest in efficient irrigation techniques, like underground seeping pipes that deliver water straight to the roots. 50% water sprayed on crops is lost to evaporation, so the savings can be huge.
* Irrigate crops with treated sewage instead of drinkable water so water treatment plants don’t have to work as hard and can give more clean water to the towns.
* Enforce property rights of water sources. This prevents tragedy of the commons, and discourages us from running the wells dry. Anybody who damages the supply can be held accountable to the owner. That doesn’t happen when nobody owns the aquifer.
* If all else fails, stop farming and use all the water supply for the people. Import food from some place else where water is not so scarce. Hopefully, the trends of globalization and economic liberalism will continue forever to make international food trade ever more viable. I think it will. Never underestimate the ability of free markets to deal with scarcity.

Look at that story listed under 3: Some Arab “experts” say Israel is going to invade Lebanon and Egypt and take their water. Bullshit. Typical anti-Zionist hatemongering. Those are the kinds of people who want war. Yes, the Jordan River is shrinking. In spite of the scarcity and all the hatred between them, Jordan and Israel are still getting along peacefully. Bless you King Abdullah II.

btw, that urban highrise farming in that above link isn’t going to happen either. Use that valuable city space for people, and put farms outdoors where they don’t need artificial light. Duh. There are better ways to get more food from less land.

Got 18 minutes to spare? Why not come see some ingenious water management from India?
http://www.ted.com/talks/anupam_mishra_the_ancient_ingenuity_of_water_harvesting.html

We can be incredibly resourceful when we have to.

]]> By: Mujtahidul Haque http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/30/water-wars/comment-page-1/#comment-18549 Mujtahidul Haque Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:04:02 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=1130#comment-18549 Over time, water sanitation systems will get better and better. Running water in a typical city in Bangladesh today is cleaner than running water in an American city during the Great Depression. Over time, water sanitation systems will get better and better. Running water in a typical city in Bangladesh today is cleaner than running water in an American city during the Great Depression.

]]> By: Kevin http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/30/water-wars/comment-page-1/#comment-8774 Kevin Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:08:38 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=1130#comment-8774 Water wars is a scary prospect. Even in an affluent and technologically advanced society there often isn't adequate supply to meet current use patterns without damaging the watershed. The system of complex agreements and conflicting rights can make it really difficult to move forward to a better system. See http://www.green21.org/blog/politics/water-wars-on-the-russian-river/ Water wars is a scary prospect. Even in an affluent and technologically advanced society there often isn’t adequate supply to meet current use patterns without damaging the watershed.

The system of complex agreements and conflicting rights can make it really difficult to move forward to a better system.

See http://www.green21.org/blog/politics/water-wars-on-the-russian-river/

]]> By: mamoru http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/30/water-wars/comment-page-1/#comment-8764 mamoru Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:29:09 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=1130#comment-8764 Will there be a pillaging of the moon? The answer is probably yes. Will there be a pillaging of the moon?
The answer is probably yes.

]]>