Peak Water

“We’ll never know the worth of water until the well goes dry.” – Scottish proverb.

In November 2007 Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue prayed for rain to alleviate the state’s worst drought in history. Before this last-ditch effort, he had sued the Army Corps of Engineers to cut off Florida’s water supply. Georgia legislator even made an attempt to move their border a mile into Tennessee to claim a critical part of the Tennessee River. The state is still suffering, with water levels at Buford dam droping 15.46 feet between March 2007 and February 2008.

Lake Lanier Oct 2007 Photo by Magician pug

Thankfully, in America we have a fantastic system of governance that allows our states to resolve these conflicts of natural resources in a peaceful, legislative manner. A scarcity of water and other resources has led to conflicts in Africa, including genocide in Darfur.

Africa’s Disappearing Lake Chad Photos courtesy of NASA

In Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea has dwindled down to two smaller bodies of water, both of which could be gone in 15 years. Efforts are underway to save what has now become the northern sea, by damming up water feeding the southern sea, ensuring its doom.

Aral Sea 1989 – 2003 Photo courtesy NASA

Abandoned Ship Where the Aral Sea Once Was Photo courtesy Staecker

In America, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which supply 22 million people with water in the Southwest, has a 50/50 chance of running dry by 2021, and water levels there have dropped 118 feet. Unless Las Vegas can manage to grow and conserve water and electricity, it soon won’t have either.

Animation of Lake Mead’s Water Levels from 2000 – 2004 Courtesy of NASA

Australia, Great Britain, South America, Southern California and other regions are all experiencing water deficits for numerous reasons from over-consumption to climate change. This is both local to the areas affected and global for the human migrations currently happening and might happen in the near future, which will destabilize other communities with influxes of water-refugees.

Something to keep a wary eye on.