With all the day to day talk of the price of gas, and oil in general, one of the most understated issues threatening the US goes largely unnoticed. Today, water in the form of clean fresh drinking water, is becoming a greater and greater concern for almost all nations of the world. Many don't realize that this even effects the US, and is becoming a bigger problem all the time. Here in Southern Illinois the thought of a systemic long term water shortage seems like an alien concept, however, according to the following map Illinois is a rarity in terms of water supply and that doesn't necessarily apply to the whole state,as large metropolitan areas such as Chicago, could run into problems as well.
This problem is not an immediately solved one either as fresh water, is not something you can substitute with anything else. There is no synthetic form of fresh water and every living thing relies upon it. We've driven a large amount of agriculture in the US by tapping ground water or sucking off lakes. This water while vast in reserves, is not immediately replaceable and takes time to replenish. The facts are that we have been taking ground water out faster than it is replenished, leading to an eventual depletion. In the SouthWest it is predicted that within 13 years Lake Mead and Lake Powell along the Colorado River, the two largest reservoirs in the southwest United States, could become mud holes, providing little if any significant water supplies. Also the population in the US is still growing, so any current water shortage should only get worse unless corrective action is taken, and to top it off is the unknown factor of the effects of Global Warming will have on rainfall distribution.
The situation is only made worse by the metropolitan nature of US demographics. While cities do offer many advantages unless they are located next to a major water supply they eventually suck the reserves dry, then they must take on extremely expensive measures to source new water, this is not a sustainable path. Many major cities are already experiencing the reality of systemic water shortages, and many more are on a fast track to facing the problem.
The overall conclusion is most areas that currently suffer from water shortages will only find those shortages growing in the coming decades, barring some revolutionary technology, or a sudden move to environmentally sound usage(not watering your lawn with drinking water for example), and planning seems to be mostly non-existent.
A great resource for water news is www.circleofblue.org.
