"Jean B." wrote:
>
> Pete C. wrote:
> > "Jean B." wrote:
> >> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> >>> On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:57:10 -0700, Cindy Fuller
> >>> > wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> In article >,
> >>>> "modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Today is World Water Day. Details he http://www.worldwaterday.org/
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On a related note: virtual water. From this site:
> >>>>> http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/ind...onfocus%3D%252
> >>>>>
> >>>>> "Virtual water is the amount of water that is embedded in food or
> >>>>> other products needed for its production. For example, to produce one
> >>>>> kilogram of wheat we need about 1,000 litres of water, i.e. the
> >>>>> virtual water of this kilogram of wheat is 1,000 litres. For meat, we
> >>>>> need about five to ten times more."
> >>>>>
> >>>>> See also: http://www.gdrc.org/uem/footprints/water-footprint.html
> >>>>>
> >>>>> "For example, the virtual water content (in m3/ton) for potatoes is
> >>>>> 160. Others examples - maize=450; milk=900; wheat=1200; soybean=2300;
> >>>>> rice=2700; poultry=2800; eggs=4700; cheese=5300; pork=5900; and
> >>>>> beef=16000."
> >>>> The high school kids in my congregation have done several projects to
> >>>> increase awareness that not everyone has ready access to adequate water
> >>>> for their needs. They did a fund raiser to purchase water hippos,
> >>>> wheelable water jugs that increase the volume that a person can carry
> >>> >from a well in a given trip. Two weeks ago they also had a "waterless
> >>>> car wash". Unfortunately, it rained that day. (This is Seattle.)
> >>>>
> >>>> To those who would argue that water awareness is just a liberal PC
> >>>> concern, let's talk about those Republican farmers in California, Texas,
> >>>> or Georgia who are in the midst of a long drought. They have to get
> >>>> water to irrigate their crops from somewhere. Desalination requires
> >>>> energy, then the water has to get pumped from the coast to the farms
> >>>> using energy. Currently the farmers lobby their legislators to divert
> >>>> water from rivers, reservoirs, and lakes for their needs. You may
> >>>> remember the video footage of lakes in Georgia that were nearly sucked
> >>>> dry due to droughts in the last two years.
> >>>>
> >>>> Cindy
> >>> Here's a chart of reservoirs in the North Texas area:
> >>> http://www.town-mall.net/community/texas_lakes.html
> >>>
> >>> We got almost 5 inches of rain a week and a half ago here in Cow Hill
> >>> and surrounding areas. We're in the Chapman Lake watershed (everybody
> >>> calls it Cooper Lake, though). Chapman Lake is 6 feet below normal
> >>> even after all that rain. Mostly this is because the DFW Metroplex
> >>> pumps between 3 and 5 million gallons of water out of it every day for
> >>> lawns and pools and car washes and assorted toilets. It's not
> >>> uncommon for the lake to be surounded by hundreds of feet of mudflats
> >>> at the end of summer.
> >>>
> >>> Note that some lakes on that list are 8, 9, even 10 feet below optimum
> >>> pool elevation. And it's spring -- the wet season around here. Come
> >>> August, things are going to get ugly.
> >>>
> >>> And now the thirsty cities to our west -- Dallas, Fort Worth,
> >>> Arlington, and the suburbs -- are working every angle in Austin and
> >>> D.C. to dam more streams and flood more farmland around where I live
> >>> so they can continue to waste water on golf courses. Their imperial
> >>> attitude towards stewardship of the land and water will royally ruin a
> >>> lot of this part of the world because they want more water.
> >>>
> >>> This is not some feel-good kumbaya thing. I'm talking about people
> >>> who raise our food potentially losing out to a bunch of suburban lawns
> >>> in a raw political power struggle with well connected big shots.
> >>>
> >>> Let them eat grass.
> >> I agree. This is a very serious issue, in this country and around
> >> the world. If there is a shortage of water in a region, the
> >> priority should be sustaining life--and that includes
> >> growing/otherwise producing food.
> >>
> >
> > If there is a shortage water in a region then the priority should be on
> > developing the proper infrastructure to bring in more water, not whining
> > about having to make due with the existing outgrown infrastructure. This
> > is what governments are supposed to be for, building and managing common
> > infrastructure. Water pipelines are no different than highways and
> > sewers.
>
> Water is a finite resource. When you bring in more water, you
> obviously deplete it from elsewhere.

Technically finite, in practicality infinite since the planet is 80%
covered in water. Water is also recyclable, and indeed they do this on
the space station.