~ W-ITBOCI-DNJL?-THQINHMCPSWTS-B-WKOEIPFTWDS ~ Where – In The Balance Of Competing Interests – Does Natural Justice Lie? – The Human Question Is Not How Many Can Possibly Survive Within The System – But – What Kind Of Existence Is Possible For Those Who Do Survive

~ THPIB-B-WDIITAF ~ The Human Population Is Burgeoning – But – Water Demand Is Increasing Twice As Fast

~ ‘TWOTT-FCWBFOW’ ~ “The Wars Of The Twenty-First Century Will Be Fought Over Water”

~ EYL-TASTTWSIIP ~ Everywhere You Look – There Are Signs That The Water Supply Is In Peril

~ ANWLT-1000CMPPPY-I-WS ~ Any Nation With Less Than – 1000 Cubic Metres Per Person Per Year – Is – Water Scarce

~ PCAO-G-P-W-IGDIADADC ~ Per Capita Availability Of – Good – Potable – Water – Is Going Down In All Developed And Developing Countries

~ MOT-‘E’-SFWHABE-A-MOTWIIPIIN ~ Most Of The – “Easy” – Sources For Water Have Already Been Exploited – And – Much Of The Water Is In Places It Isn’t Needed

~ TBEATMEG-IT-TAS-1.4BCKOWOEILAFF-IT-O/L/S/G/G-FS-AO-2.5%-OTT ~ The Best Estimate Among The Many Educated Guesses – Is That – There Are Some – 1.4 Billion Cubic Kilometres Of Water On Earth In Liquid And Frozen Form – In The – Oceans / Lakes / Streams / Glaciers / Groundwater – Freshwater Stocks – Are Only – 2.5 Percent – Of The Total

~ WD-WITWTCF? ~ Water Demand – Where Is This Water To Come From?

~ WMMTNI-HB-NLI-S-H-OE-Y ~ We Must Measure Time Now In – Human Beings – No Longer In – Seconds – Hours – Or Even – Years

~ GD-I-OOTGUBLCFOP-WATIF-FFS-HM-F-C-W ~ Groundwater Depletion – Is – One Of The Great Unseen But Looming Crises Facing Our Planet – With All The Implications For – Falling Food Supplies – Human Misery – Famine – Conflict – War

~ TPOTMWOFAATNRTIIC-‘GO’-IIAMP-DO-RPACE ~ The Process Of Taking More Water Out From An Aquifer Than Naturally Returns To It Is Called – “Groundwater Overdrafting” – It Is A Modern Phenomenon – Depending On – Reliable Pumps And Cheap Energy

~ TWOTMWICACSWTI-RTAPFHU ~ The Withdrawal Of Too Much Water In Coastal Aquifers Causes Sea Water To Intrude – Ruining The Aquifer Permanently For Human Use

~ EASUTRACS-A-TIHAMOECWSLOP ~ Europeans Are Still Using Their Rivers As Convenient Sewers – And – There Is Hardly A Metre Of European Coastline Without Some Level Of Pollution

~ DAG ~ Deserts Are Growing

~ HHA-D-D-A-R-H-A-M-W ~ Humans Have Always – Discovered – Diverted – Accumulated – Regulated – Hoarded – And – Misused – Water

~ M-IC-PTTVS-EUTETROWTSWB ~ Many – Irrigating Cultures – Perished Through Their Very Success – Expanding Until They Exhausted The Resources On Which Their Success Was Based

~ ADOTE ~ Anthropogenic Degradation Of The Environment

~ PG-TEOAIRD ~ Population Growth – The Engine Of All Increased Resource Demands

~ DI-ANP-F-IC-I-APC-TOHAACOD ~ Drought Is – A Natural Phenomenon – Famine – In Contrast – Is – A Political Catastrophe – That Occasionally Happens As A Consequence Of Drought

~ WWHWBTIITW ~ Who Was Hiding What By Throwing It Into The Water

~ B-A-A-B-M-MEW-CBMCATPUTFC ~ Bio-Accumulation – And – Bio-Magnification – Make Everything Worse – Chemicals Become More Concentrated As They Pass Up The Food Chain

~ ESHCLBCOBDACG ~ Epidemiological Studies Have Confirmed Links Between Cancer Or Birth Defects And Contaminated Groundwater

~ TP-HBAT-EWW-SN ~ The Public – Having Been Assured That – Everything Was Well – Stopped Noticing

~ OABPHNATCDW-A-MT2.9BHNATSS ~ Over A Billion People Have No Access To Clean Drinking Water – And – More Than 2.9 Billion Have No Access To Sanitation Services

~ PLTD ~ Pollution Leads To Disease

~ WIBASAAS:ICDVLOTEIWIIF-TMGSVTP ~ Water Is Both A Solvent And A Sponge: Its Composition Depends Very Largely On The Environment In Which It Is Found – That Makes Groundwater So Vulnerable To Pollution

~ TCTHHWANT-TCOGIBMOAGS ~ The Changes That Humans Have Wrought Are Not Trivial – The Chemistry Of Groundwater Is Being Modified On A Global Scale

~ TNCOFWIRSBMAMFAUN-BFATAHLOIAUW ~ The Nitrate Content Of Fresh Water Is Rising Steadily Because More And More Farmers Are Using Nitrogen-Based Fertilizers And There Are Higher Levels Of Industrial And Urban Wastes

~ ‘D’-W-ILTWMSPP ~ “Dirty” – Water – Is Likely The World’s Most Serious Pollution Problem

~ DAHBFTPMPHTIA ~ Diversified Agriculture – Has Been Found To Produce More Per Hectare Than – Irrigated Agriculture

~ ATCAF-D-AAS-TBLIR ~ A True Cost Accounting For – Dams – Almost Always Shows – The Bottom Line In Red

~ NOINMLBBUIBAGDOILIBTOOP ~ Not Only Is No More Land Being Brought Under Irrigation But A Good Deal Of Irrigated Land Is Being Taken Out Of Production

~ SOTS-TADTIH-ISATRO-MT1MHAY ~ Salination Of The Soil – To A Degree That Inhibits Farming – Is Spreading At The Rate Of – More Than 1 Million Hectares A Year

~ TPISTS-TDDTF:WGCASM-IAIC-W-L-D-A-POTWS-A-RSITS-LU-TPCEKTSA ~ The Problem Is Simple To State – Though Devastatingly Difficult To Fix: Without Great Care And Skilful Management – Irrigation Almost Inevitably Causes – Water-Logging – Depletion – And – Pollution Of The Water Supply – And – Rising Salinity In The Soil – Left Unchecked – These Problems Can Eventually Kill The Soil Altogether

~ AAWA-A-60%-OTWIFINGTTC ~ As A Working Average – Almost – 60 Percent – Of The Water Intended For Irrigation Never Gets To The Croplands

~ ‘W-S-M’ ~ “Water-Stress-Management”

~ SA ~ Shrinking Aquifers

~ WW-T-D-W-T-W-RO? ~ What Will – They – Do – When – Their – Water – Runs Out?

~ IYTARIAS-YC-TIBIARA ~ If You Turn A River Into A Sewer – You Can – Turn It Back Into A River Again

~ F-TEWS-AOWP ~ Fish – The Early Warning System – A Measure Of Water Purity

~ T-ME-HABTPW-WW-AMP ~ The – Middle East – Has Always Been The Place Where – Water Wars – Are Most Probable

~ WSTIIP-B-AAIIWAC-IIN-S-SWSEHOPOFU ~ We Say That It Is Priceless – But – Act As If It Were Absurdly Cheap – It Is Not – Surely – Something We Should Either Hoard Or Prevent Others From Using

~ T-GR-DNOO-MPSG-B-O-I-AP-BHROTS-MTP-TINMWTBH-IIITAOSS-A-PHPAUAOWLIL-A-TIGOPINNWFGTASTBM ~ The – Green Revolution – Depended Not Only On – More Productive Seed Grains – But – On – Irrigation – And – Pesticides – Both Have Run Out Their String – Maximized Their Potential – There Is No More Water To Be Had – Irrigation Is Increasing The Amount Of Saline Soil – And – Pesticides Have Poisoned An Unsettling Amount Of What Land Is Left – And – The Inexorable Grind Of Population Is Now Negating What Few Gains There Are Still To Be Made

~ BINSYWIYDW ~ Benzene Is Not Something That You Want In Your Drinking Water

~ D-TPE-DW-TMUTEOAD-SR-WCBOD ~ Desalination – To Produce Enough – Desal Water – To Make Up The Equivalent Of A Decent-Sized River – Would Cost Billions Of Dollars

~ IYCGMW-WT-ULOI ~ If You Can’t Get More Water – Well Then – Use Less Of It

~ DC ~ Dew Collectors

~ F-DI ~ Fog-Drip Irrigation

~ W-WRICBIF ~ Waste-Water Reuse Is Coming Back Into Favour

~ LFAATT ~ Learn From And Adapt Traditional Techniques

~ IIITS-WV-A-TPISTWH ~ It Is Important To Signal – Water’s Value – And – To Price It So That Waste Hurts

~ PPAAFSOGP ~ Population Projections Are A Familiar Source Of Gloomy Prognostications

~ WS-MNLTW-B-TMCLT-FS-IP-A-TTSOD-TMPP-TITMOP-FSTMMOTDW-SOLD-SUAVI ~ Water Shortages – May Not Lead To War – But – They Most Certainly Lead To – Food Shortages – Increased Poverty – And – To The Spread Of Disease – They Make People Poorer – They Increase The Migrations Of Peoples – Further Straining The Massive Megaslums Of The Developing World – Standards Of Living Deteriorate – Social Unrest And Violence Increase