On First Day Of Summer, Water Worries Pervade EU Governments - AFP

[hatrack]

Paris - Summer has still to make its official start in Europe, yet many countries are sweating - and it has less to do with the immediate temperature than out of worry for their water supplies. If the sun god Apollo decides to put on a show similar to the heat wave that held western Europe in a molten grip in 2003, half a dozen countries are on course for water shortages that will be socially disruptive and economically costly, experts and officials say.

Southern Spain, south-eastern England and western and southern France are viewed as chronically vulnerable, while eyes are anxiously following water availability in parts of Portugal, Italy and Greece, incompletely recovered from the scorcher of three years ago.

EDIT

In France, the authorities have for months been building public awareness that the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions face big problems of water scarcity. On June 7, agriculture minister Dominique Bussereau revived a national drought committee to monitor water availability for farms. Water restrictions have already begun in rural areas of the Charente-Maritimes and Deux-Sevres department in the west, and in the Tarn department, in the south-west.


In Italy, most of the country has still to recover from the 2003 drought, a smaller version of which hit northern regions again in 2005. The country is officially classified along with Cyprus, Italy and Spain as "water-stressed," meaning that withdrawal of water is 20% more than totally available supplies. In Portugal, 2005 brought the worst drought in 60 years, prompting the government to propose a programme of dam construction and improved water management.

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http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1951216,00.html

[Pooka Fey]

1. Some people say there's a drought in the Southwest U.S.

But it must not be true, because no one in the (AZ) state government is talking about it, much less asking residents to moderate their water usage.

Wouldn't be something to live under a system of government where the elected officials didn't treat the voting public like a bunch of spoiled children? Well, on second thought, maybe there's a reason for that. But then again maybe they're underestimating us. But we'll never know which it is, because apparently the plan is to let residents in on the secret that water is a finite resource EVERYWHERE (but especially here) is to quietly wait for the day that we turn on our faucets and watch nothing but dust pour out. And then to say, "We had absolutely NO IDEA that there would come a day when the water supply in theis state would RUN OUT". Plausible deniability, my ass.