[Armageddon]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071026/D8SH34A04.html

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.

[Twilight]

Have you guys tried hosepipe bans? You know, banning the watering of lawns and washing of cars? Imagine how much water is wasted on that.

[roccman]

Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (1976)

[Armageddon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Twilight', 'H')ave you guys tried hosepipe bans? You know, banning the watering of lawns and washing of cars? Imagine how much water is wasted on that.

[Twilight]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Armageddon', 'D')idn't you know that having a green lawn is more important than drinking water ? And could you imagine if they didn't water the golf courses ? What would we all do ?

[Ludi]

If a community still has lawns (as does Los Angeles, San Antonio, and other cities which pretend to care about their water supply) they aren't actually taking the water situation seriously. So why should we care if they don't?


I only care if SA tries to steal my water.

[Plantagenet]

No drought problems yet here in Alaska.

[Armageddon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'N')o drought problems yet here in Alaska.

[Gigashadow]

Expect the USA to take Canada's fresh water, by corporate proxy (as is being done for oil in Alberta), or eventually by force if necessary.

[gg3]

The first thing you have to do is to get city counsels to pass zoning ordinances that override Home Owners' Association rules that require lawns. The new ordinances should legalize all forms of non-irrigation landscaping throughout city limits. This also needs to be done on the state level as well. Many people will convert because they prefer something other than a lawn for their own practical or aesthetic reasons.

Second thing to do is introduce quantity-based pricing for water usage. Set up the various tiers in the price schedule to make it increasingly expensive to have a lawn. This will induce even more voluntary conversions as a matter of saving money.

Third thing to do is further alter zoning to forbid new lawns and forbid the sale of homes with irrigation-based landscaping until they have been changed to non-irrigation landscaping. This is difficult but it will become easier as the number of lawns dwindles due to voluntary measures.

And the fourth thing to do is shoot popes and mullahs until they stop advocating reckless population growth, because nothing we can do to conserve will make a damn bit of difference if we keep multiplying like little mice.

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However the largest waste of water is inefficient methods of agricultural irrigation. And in this department you have to make friends with the farmers and support measures that will enable them to convert to efficient methods of crop production. This also means you have to study the various crops that can be produced in your area, study the economics of producing them, study the economics of the various means of irrigation, and come up with means of meeting the realities of farming as business in order to convert the irrigation methods and in some cases the crops.

Same comment about shooting popes & mullahs, this time for reasons of food supply.