Peak Water

[ramapo]

I'm most of the way through Fred Pearce's book "When the Rivers Run Dry". I had just read his latest, "With Speed and Violence". That was a sobering look at what might await us in coming years but this book is even more disturbing.

Despite being quite familiar with the Aral Sea disaster, the many, far-reaching problems with dams, the loss of the Rio Grande, the folly of building in the desert, and the ongoing droughts throughout the world, I have still found this to be an enlightening, although very depressing, review of the world water crisis.

The scope of environmental damage caused by the worldwide assault on virtually every major river system is astounding. The implications for our future are at least as ominous as that of peak oil and rising CO2.

The book starts off with a quick review of how much water we use to get through our day. Per capita water use in the US is about the highest in the world, no surprise there. What I found shocking was the amount of water used by proxy to feed and clothe us. I won't giveaway the answer but suffice to say it dwarfs what we use flushing our toilets too many times a day or even watering the lawn.

For the most part, water gets even less attention than oil. The general public thinks that our water supplies are constantly replenished by rainfall. With the widespread dependence on fossil water from our aquifers, nothing could be farther from the truth.

While peak oil might or might not have been reached, peak water occurred decades ago.

If you're tired of worrying about the decline in the Arctic ice cap, the rise in greenhouse gases, peak oil, or George W. Bush, then pick up this book. It'll give you something new to fret about.

[redqueen]

1. the folly of building in the desert

Folly is such a kind word for it.

[donsu]

2. kick

nt

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Mostly, it was *farming* in the desert -- cotton no less. nt

(re Aral Sea, oops)

[NMDemDist2]

4. when I married my husband 14 years ago

I browbeat him about letting the water run while brushing teeth and shaving

I've been watching this for decades :scared:

[Kolesar]

5. Ok, I can top that

I wash my hair in the sink before I turn on the shower. Then I wash my toes. Then I turn on the shower tap. :Nerd bragging rights:

[NMDemDist2]

6. yeah, but how long?? Water has been on my radar over 20+ years

it gets worse every year too......

:spank:

[Kolesar]

13. We live by a freshwater lake that is 200 miles long

But the two of us still use so little water that we usually get just the minimum quarterly charge every billing cycle.

[GliderGuider]

7. We have a low-flow shower head with a shutoff for taking "Navy showers"

Get the water to the right temperature, wet yourself all over, flick off the water flow, soap and scrub, flick the water back on to rinse and you're done. With a low-flow head it probably takes less than two gallons of water for a shower.

Try and get a teenage girl to shower like that, though...

[MLFerrell]

9. Just quite bathing. You'll save even more!

[pscot]

18. Great idea

now if I can just find a teen-age girl to shower with, we can save twice the water.

[ramapo]

21. Nice but....

Individual conservation is laudable (how Cheney-esque of me) but our individual waste is barely significant when compared to the drain from agriculture and, to a lesser degree, textiles and manufacturing.

[depakid]

14. Have you seen this, by chance?

I saw Lancaster's presentation at VBC 7, and I gotta say, it was damned impressive.

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

[tom_paine]

8. We should use that Arctic Ice while it's still there, flying giant ice cubes south

just like in "Futurama".

"Thus solving the problem forever."

"But..."

"I said THUS SOLVING THE PROBLEM FOREVER!"

[Recursion]

10. I think water gets less attention because it's a short-term thing

I mean, if we use up all our water and all dehydrate, the water finds its way back into the hydrocycle as it leaks out of our bodies and our stuff (for instance a hydrocarbon fire, counterintuitively, dumps a whole lot of water into the atmosphere). If we have a massive CO2-based die-off, however, the CO2 is still there waiting to kill those who survive.

[Gregorian]

11. The same amount of water that has always been on earth is still here.

It's not a water shortage. It's a population excess.

I'm not proposing anything. I'm just pointing out the truth. But let's be truthful about things. As long as we fail to address the actual problem, we will only be trying to solve symptoms. And that may very well be all we can solve right now. But...

[amandabeech]

12. It's also population excess where the water isn't, and failure to clean up

water after use.

Examples of the former: southern California, Phoenix.

Example of the latter: China.


I agree with you on population. It's a world-wide problem to me, and that includes the U.S.

[Gregorian]

15. We're in the minority.

Every time I post something on the issue, I cringe when I see I have a reply.

But the reality is that it's too late. I'm sorry to say that. But the new generation of cars are already being mass produced for the remainder of the world that is up and coming. And from the stories in one of my biking forums, the number of bikes on the road in China is dramatically reduced from even a decade ago. Oh well. It was fun.

[amandabeech]

16. I know what you mean.

Population control isn't a subject that anyone really wants to discuss. It is unfortunate, and I think that the U.S. has population problems, too. We add people and then cut down forests and pave over first-class farmland in areas with plenty of rain in order to house them. With climate change, we will have great difficulty feeding ourselves if we continue on the same path. Even now, we import a huge amount of fruits and veggies.

I loved gas-guzzling muscle cars and land yachts in the '60s. I like trucks and SUVs, too, but I don't own one.

I'm one who thinks that oil will peak sooner rather than later, which will end up limiting personal autos everywhere, but won't do anything to get families in India to limit themselves to two kids of any gender.

The world failed to stabilize its population when contraception became reliable and easily manufactured, and everyone will suffer for it in the end.

[Gregorian]

17. What a trip.

That sounds so much like me talking. 51 and unmarried. Happily, I should add. But having seen dairy farms in the SF Bay Area. And I was so into turbo this and racing that. I had a girlfriend from Tehran, in 1976, and I showed her my sports car one time. All she had to say was, "You Californians are car crazy". I actually did not understand what she meant at the time. But very shortly after, I did.

To make things worse, I'm struggling to even find a piece of land way far away from the city. I'm scrounging for the last specks of crumbs. And I consider myself lucky at that.

Argh. Commiseration.

[amandabeech]

19. Well, 52 and unmarried!

I'm fortunate in that I have roots and family in the rural midwest. There's still a farm in the family (barely), and a few acres really aren't that expensive. I plan to retire out there or, if I'm really lucky, be able to work from home at least part of the time. The cruddy winter weather and relative isolation keeps the population down.

I lived in the Bay Area in the summer of 1979 for a summer job. With out-of-state plates, I could line up for gas any day of the week, but I played fair and only lined up on my plate number days. After not being able to find gas on a Sunday in '73-74 so that I could drive home after finals, I got the message.

Right now, I live close to the D.C. metro and do not own a car. I plan on getting one for weekend use, but I expect that I'll do 5,000 miles a year in a fuel-efficient car.

[ramapo]

20. Population very much at the heart of the problem

We're about the same age so I'm sure you remember when US population was less than 200 million and world population was around 3 billion. Back in the '70s, the fear was that it wouldn't be possible to feed the growing population. Well for the most part, famine isn't the problem that was once feared but feeding 6 billion+ people has certainly contributed to the growing water problem.

It is generally thought that more people are required to grow our economies. There is great consternation in those countries where the birth rate has dropped below replacement level. I think they should be celebrating rather than having "make baby" days.

It goes beyond common sense to think that population and economies can continue to grow without limit. Yet that is the common belief.