Which would you prefer?

It seems like a no-brainer to me. Jack up the price of water and use the excess to get more water supplies.

In southern California, we’re right next to a giant ocean full of water. Spend the money to desalinate.

Don’t like that? Every river and creek in San Diego County that drains into the ocean is a water waster. When it rains (and it sometimes does), those little creeks are torrents, pouring fresh water into the ocean. Why not sequester it? It’s a lot easier to clean than salt water.

Mega-projects. Back when our country had the focus to do great things, we made Hoover dam. Build a water pipeline from the mouth of giant rivers to the north and grab JUST A PORTION of what gets dumped into the ocean.

There’s no end of solutions. Sadly, the only solutions being forwarded are how best to control people’s lives. Imagine the power of the future water lords, who dictate 2 gallons of water per person per day. Don’t like it? Tough! There’s a fish in the Sacramento delta that’s worth more than you and your families.

Sorry if the line offends you…my apologies, I use it in a bombastic way to reference someone that talks….a lot…like myself, so no harm intended. I would like to address your comment however if I could. You said “I happen to live in Japan, which has almost no natural resources but a wealthy economy.” Can I mention Tom, that you are surrounded by water? Not only that, but Japan is building the world’s largest desalinization plant ever! So when you say resource poor, I can’t exactly agree when it comes to well…water. I also assume you are going to drink this water, considering there isn’t much farmland to speak of, so that is how Japan is going to address their water needs going forward.

I also think water IS priced closely to the marginal costs of acquisition. That’s not the issue, it’s getting water to places that people need it because it is not produced locally, right? I mean in some respect, it’s no different than producing food or clothes, if it is labeled “not made here” its gotta come from somewhere.

In other words, I have no trouble getting water locally in Philadelphia, nor do you have real issues getting it in Japan, getting it in Las Vegas, India, the Middle East, and Africa is a real issue that needs to be addressed. Problem is, we are not making more of this stuff, and it is going to take a back seat in people’s consciousness as long as the U.S. is struggling with a tanking economy, $5 a gallon gas, a housing market that has collapsed, and a financial sector that is reminiscent of the Japanese banking sector of the 80’s.

Guys like David need to talk a lot, in fact they need to talk a lot more. Why? Because small changes creates big ones. Like the butterfly whose flight stirs up the winds that create a hurricane 2000 miles away, it takes small steps first.

I ripped into the story because of my ignorance to the issue in that it isn’t anywhere close on my radar screen. I have much bigger things to worry about that are real, right now, looking me right in the eye. Am I right? Of course not, but you can only fix one worldwide crisis at a time.

It is very simple: 1-2% population growth, every year, year after year, has caused the human population of the planet to skyrocket from 600m in 1700 to 6.7b only 308 years later.

There is *no way* to secure a “sustainable” water supply (or any other type of resource) for a population that is growing exponentially without limit.

“I think trying to live in place that provides none of THE key element of life is silly and to force that issue on good ol’ Mother Nature….well, you deserve what you get!”

I happen to live in Japan, which has almost no natural resources but a wealthy economy. Why? Because they use markets to buy what they need from others who want to sell and to produce sophisticated products that others want to buy. David is obviously correct that the real problem with water in the US is that there are only rudimentary markets in it, and that we can improve our living standards and cut down on political disputes over resources like water by (1) clarifying property rights, (2) allowing those who own water rights to sell them to people who value them more than they do, and (3) getting the goverment out of the water infrastructure and disrtibution businesses – or at least to price water more closely to the marginal costs of acquisition.

Don’t disagree with you on the mismanagement issue. I think trying to live in place that provides none of THE key element of life is silly and to force that issue on good ol’ Mother Nature….well, you deserve what you get! As far as the econ stuff, I’m a dumb marketing guy os I leave that to the people that got all the gray matter.

It’s all about education…and pain threshold. Meaning, as long as I walk into my kitchen and water comes out, I am good. But let there be a day that I turn on the faucet and nothing happens, all of a sudden water is a big deal.

I read in an interview with Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi, that she felt guilty every time she ran a bath, considering her and her brothers had to walk six miles each day as children to bring water home. Let that happen here and I am falling on the ground crying while I slowly turn into jerky.

Nice story, both of you!

Robert