at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsBhi0vfVCHr-E0eSckT5ZnADWxwD8SH50DO0

Many States Seen Facing Water Shortages

By BRIAN SKOLOFF – 16 hours ago

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn't have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York's reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year. Across America, the picture is critically clear — the nation's freshwater supplies can no longer quench its thirst.

The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.

<snip>

The price tag for ensuring a reliable water supply could be staggering. Experts estimate that just upgrading pipes to handle new supplies could cost the nation $300 billion over 30 years.

"Unfortunately, there's just not going to be any more cheap water," said Randy Brown, Pompano Beach's utilities director.

<snip>

rights early on in the admin. Wonder why natural gas has increased? Look who the co. are buying the rights from to use that "mineral"... It all flows to the crooks in the white house.

And just because you own land, doesn't mean you own what's underneath your land. Bush Co. is buying it all up. They will own you even when they are done.

Looking for the states that are NOT in danger of running out of water, but it does not say. Anyone know which states they might be?

The Lakes have a relatively small watershed in the U.S. Much of it is the State of Michigan. Minnesota, Ohio and New York have a reasonable amount, but Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania have very little of it. In fact, there is a dispute in Wisconsin about whether Milwaukee suburbs situated in the Mississippi drainage basin should get a diversion of Lake Michigan water that it will not have to return to the Lake in a cleaned-up form. The watershed is that narrow around Milwaukee. The same situation exists around Chicago, but Chicago got a diversion a long, long time ago, and it probably won't be eliminated.

Recent drought around Lake Superior and the northern parts of Lakes Michigan and Huron has contributed much to the current low levels. If you check the link below,



you'll see an animation of the drought maps from the last 2-3 months. Notice how dry it has been around Lake Superior and in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula between Lakes Michigan and Huron. Hot, dry air means lots of evaporation and not much inflow.

Superior's level is somewhat held up by the locks and dams at Sault Ste. Marie at its eastern end (just east of the Whitefish Bay of "Edmund Fitzgerald" fame for you Gordon Lightfoot fans). No such constructions hold up Michigan and Huron, both of which drain into Erie through a river flowing south from Huron past Detroit. That river has been dredged deep by the Army Corps of Engineers for commercial shipping. Recently, I've seen articles suggesting that the last time the Corps dredged, it dredged too deep. Deep dredging leads to more water exiting from Huron, lowering the levels of both Huron and Michigan. Erie is held up by Niagara Falls, and Ontario by another lock and dam system.

IMHO, there should be a similar construction holding up Michigan and Huron to help keep commercial shipping viable around the Lakes. Many of the Lake ports are relatively shallow, and may become unusable in the hot and dry future without some help. Shipping by water, including barges that are Lake worthy, uses much less liquid fuel than trucks and less than rail. Ships are powered now sometimes by lower grades of petroleum fuel or coal, both of which may be available in the future (despite CO2 problems) when lighter fuels are in short supply and that may be more difficult to use in rail or truck engines. It is also possible that ships could once again be outfitted with some kind of sail, perhaps a kite-like device, that would lessen the modest carbon fuel use. Before good quality roads were constructed, there was a tremendous amount of commercial shipping on the Lakes, and it was not just bulk carriers, but small freighters. It wouldn't surprise me if those days were to return.

It is a topic dear to my heart, since I grew up 10 miles from Lake Michigan in the State of Michigan.

It is beautiful country, and I hope to retire there eventually.

I'm glad that you found my paragraphs helpful.

I grew up 20 miles from the shore of Lake Superior. Born here, Live here, and will be buried here.

We vacationed there often. Lake Superior had some really beautiful, unspoiled spots.

Are you in MI, WI, MN or ON?

Just a 8 mile hop to the Hurley border for cheap cigarettes!

I think it's the same article.
States with a solid black line around them are in danger.
I don't see a link to the actual USGS/GAO report.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21494919/

This should be fun to watch.

The renewable energy industry in California - which is primarily a hydro industry with everything else as an afterthough - will collapse at precisely the time they need water.

What will California do?

They will try to burn more dangerous natural gas - if they can get it.

And they'll call for another brazillion solar roofs - as usual. Probably in 2015 they'll pass another "by 2030" bill.

For a long time the largest desalination plant in the state was Morro Bay's, run off electricity from Diablo Canyon. The second largest desalination plant was Diablo Canyon itself.

I believe that Santa Barbara is now a larger plant, but I don't know if it runs.

We'll add saline coasts to the list of environmental problems California faces. Inland, of course, it faces saline land, but that should stop with the river water.

http://starbulletin.com/2003/07/11/news/story3.html

Friday, July 11, 2003

Federal report warns of isle water shortage
Local managers say supplies will meet demand for 20 years
Recycled-water irrigation tested

By Diana Leone

Hawaii water managers say they expect drinking water supplies to meet growing needs for 20 years in most areas of the state despite a federal report that lists Hawaii among several states that will experience shortages over the next decade.

The report, released yesterday by the U.S. General Accounting Office, predicts a majority of states will face freshwater shortages in the next 10 years, even without drought.

<snip>

As a result, water managers in 36 states surveyed by the GAO said they anticipate water shortages in the next 10 years under "average water conditions."

<snip>