Some parts of the United States have begun to run low on water. The water problem is worse than most people realize, particularly in several large cities which are occasionally low on water now and almost certainly face shortfalls in a few years. Full Story »
Posted by Dwight Rousu - via Tobie Openshaw (f)
A thorough report on a looming crisis the cities in USA are to face. It's not a crisis in USA but in the entire world. 24/7 Wall St. examined the crisis through geographic lens, and the areas that have already been plagued by drought. But there are other reasons why the humans are in this crisis that Charles B. Stockdale, Michael B. Sauter, Douglas A. McIntyre didn't explore.
This contains very specific, to the point, local data, yet, from cities distant enough from each other to reveal the broader point that this problem is widespread and demands national attention.
In addition to drought and overdevelopment drawing heavily on available sources of water, this article does not consider additional cities, such as New York, where there are risks to the safety of the water supply, ranging from overdevelopment in the watershed to plans for hydraulic fracturing for gas extraction.
The article serves as an introduction to those who have never considered the importance of our water supply. The authors Stockdale, Sauter, and McIntyre present the information in a format that is easy to understand. They have drawn from two different reports one by an environmental research and sustainability group and a comprehensive report from the natural resources Defense Council. They couple this with their own analysis of water supply and consumption in America's largest cities it is from this analysis that they derive their list of the 10 largest at risk cities. The article is concise and makes its points quickly and clearly making it an informative and easy read.
T-bone Pickens the legendary oilman is now all about water, he has even declared that water will be the oil of this century. Some may remember the Georgia drought in 2007 and 2008 this was a time where the city of Atlanta was actually measuring its water supply in weeks. The situation became that dire that access to the water was contested by the state of Florida. Court proceedings were held to settle the dispute. There is no doubt as our water system is privatized there will be ... More »
Severe droughts that could affect large cities are first a human problem. The competition for water could make life in some of America’s largest cities nearly ... More »
The story lays out an imminent crisis as water supplies become insufficient in the crossfire between population growth and drought caused by global climate change. This story should connect to even the willfully ignorant in the 10 cities mentioned, and is an easy read.
...and my friend from Daytona adds a comment: What the article fails to state, and they probably didn't talk to anyone outside of government when researching this, is that 50% of all our water is wasted irrigating lawns, that the average daily water consumption per individual is 176 gpd as opposed to the worldwide average of 55 gpd and the European average of 37 gpd., so there's a lot of crap floating around that needs to be cleaned up with a strong dose of the truth. We have ... More »
The other important trouble that very low water supplies creates is that cities have sold bonds based on their needs for infrastructure to move, clean and supply water. ... More »
Albert Barlett said it all. "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function" so here it is in simple terms. GDP growth rate 2%, doubling time 35 years. GDP growth rate 4.4% (reported to be necessary to lower unemployment), doubling time 16 years and one thing that increases in lock step with GDP is water use. The conclusion is pretty obvious and pretty stark.
There is quite a lot of specific information in this article, you can learn which big cities are in the most trouble, however it does not take the next step and address why our cities are in this kind of trouble. It would be interesting to delve into what the causes might be. Is it the changing climate? Or maybe it is our failure to limit population growth or perhaps we simply built our cities in the wrong places and manage them badly. There seems fodder here for a truly interesting article here.
The author supports his claim by giving specific evidence from The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC.) Although, the writer attempts to illustrate potential problems from the 10 biggest cities in America I would have liked to read more details on the consequences of running out of water on both the national and local level. For example, the author writes, “[a] number of industries rely on regular access to water. Some people would be out of work if these industries had poor prospects for continued operation.” Which industries and how so?
Living in one of the most powerful countries in the world, we almost never get to feel what the rest of the world feels. Water shortage is a serous issue. Something has to be done. These are some of the countries most beautiful cities, a water shortage is an awful issue that needs to be dealt with.
This is great journalism. This topic is something the average person wouldn't know about, but yet something they need to. This topic to me seems to be very real considering the fact that the year in which the expected water shortages are coming soon. For most of those that live in the southern and the western part of the US have to be even more worried because all the 10 cites mentioned in this article are from either the south or the west. If they're going to be experiencing these water shortages then there's is no reason to believe that some of the midwestern and east coast states will.
I thought the journalist covered the story well, but I think the story had one too many bbi paragraphs. I think some information should have been left out and could have been covered from a different view. Though, this information was helpful to know. I was suprised to see states that are surrounded by water to have made the list.
wow, this story came as a complete shock to me, i was fascinated with what i was reading, it was well written and i was truly interested in how it is going to effect all the large cities like LA, and atlanta
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