Remember the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by the english poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge?

“Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink”

Well, it may become more than just a rime from a story we read in a literature class. If we don’t begin to change how we use water this will be a fact of life.

I don’t watch much TV but last night I watched a documentary called Water Wars on the Documentary Channel. It reminded me of the book The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman (http://www.thebigthirst.com) — a good read, if you have any interest in water or the environment you should read it. Although not a scientist Mr. Fishman gets most of the facts right and makes a compelling argument with some interesting well-written examples why we need to be more concerned about how we use water.

An important fact that Mr. Fishman gets right is that we have all the water that ever was and ever will be, the problem is the location and quality of the water. As climate patterns change areas once receiving plenty of precipitation will experience longer more severe droughts and other areas will experience more precipitation. The result is that where the water resources exist will change. As the polar ice caps melt the water will enter the oceans and be too salty for direct human use. Most major population areas were created in their current locations because of the availability of good quality water. The best agricultural areas are those with the right climate, right soil conditions and easily obtainable water. As the climate changes and water resources move to other areas current agriculture will have to adapt and move or find more efficient ways to obtain water. Yep probably another symptom of climate change, population growth and the increasing complexity of human society.

I admit am a big time geek and get giddy over the latest gadget and very much enjoy all the conveniences of twenty-first century society. But there is a cost for all of our toys and convenient way of life. We need to start thinking about the water resource and quality cost of all of the trappings of our way of life. I don’t propose that we revert to a low technology life style. I propose that we consider the environmental costs of all of our actions and include resource protection in the plans. Will it cost more? Yep it probably will; but with careful planning it does not have to be so expensive that we can’t afford it and it certainly will insure the sustainability of our current standard of living.

Most people think water quality and availability are problems for other places; certainly not in the United States. Unfortunately, we are facing an approaching water crisis in this country. Don’t believe me just ask the people in Texas, Atlanta, Los Vegas and the many small towns that ran out of water during recent droughts in the U. S. How close is the crisis? The World Water Council has stated that by 2025 about 50% of the world’s population will live in countries experiencing water stress (http://goo.gl/77pb6).

My fear is we will respond in the typical reactionary fashion and wait until this problem reaches a crisis. If we are proactive not only can we minimize the effects but in many cases we may actually realize benefits that would be positive even if we were not facing a water crisis. We do have the ability to more effectively use our water resources and we can easily treat that water to provide safe water for potable uses. It will take time and money but if we start early we can make these changes in a less stressful and expensive manor. I know; your thinking here he goes again trying to scare everyone. Actually like many human endeavors this is just another challenge we face. If we face this challenge proactively we can avert a crisis and maybe even improve our quality of life.