The coming Water Wars

“If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water.” World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin

As the source of all life enters the global marketplace and political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments vie for control of our dwindling supply, prompting protests, lawsuits, and revolutions from citizens fighting for the right to survive. Past civilizations have collapsed from poor water management. Will ours too?

Based on the groundbreaking book ‘Blue Gold: The Fight To Stop The Corporate Theft Of The World’s Water’ by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke.

The producer decided to release this free online to download

great documentary!

Intesting clip. Too bad I can't afford to buy the video it sounds like it'd be interesting to watch.

And the sad part is Canada will be caught dead center in that war.

We have the largest natural reserve of fresh water, and the Americans are already at our throats to start selling it to them under the FTA.

Which is ridiculous, because of that little clause that says if you start, you can't stop, even if it comes at the cost of your own country not having any water.

~Keeper

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
And the sad part is Canada will be caught dead center in that war.

We have the largest natural reserve of fresh water, and the Americans are already at our throats to start selling it to them under the FTA.

Which is ridiculous, because of that little clause that says if you start, you can't stop, even if it comes at the cost of your own country not having any water.

~Keeper

Geez....... tothetenth, for Christ's sake don't tell 'em.

Actually, most of the fresh water in the world is contained within the Great Lakes, and 90% of that is in the US, is it not?

[edit on 9-5-2009 by Albertarocks]

reply to post by Albertarocks


Water rolls down hill in most places. Except in South America i think!!lol Your streams and rivers fill the Great Lakes, so it starts out yours then becomes ours! Didn't you folks get into a big water war with Quebec over the power dams they built a long time ago? I remember reading about some of the language in the legislation back then. It looks like old laws will come back to haunt us all in the end!

Zindo

All the more reason america needs to kick out the millions of illegals and put a stop to legal immigration. We have too damn many people already and i don't care if millionaires have to do their own gardening and scrub their own bathrooms.

Think of all the water that most of us could collect from our downspouts when it rains. A good, sustained rain of three hours will fill our 1100 gallon cistern. Of course, that doesn't apply if you live in Colorado: www.abovetopsecret.com... I remember hearing about this legislation in Colorado, having to do with the State claiming rights to the watershed and aquifer.

We have a fresh water well, which we use for watering the garden and plants. It's potable, and we've drank in before, just not as tasty as good ol' fresh rainwater. Filtration system is necessary, and I favor the Big Berkey www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com...

Of course, a person's roof is a big consideration if deciding to harvest your roof runoff. I myself wouldn't want to drink from an asphalt shingle roof. There are noticible oils from doing so, and while they tend to float on the surface of the water, and most times water from a cistern is drawn from near the bottom, I think there is a certain amount of mixing, and I don't choose to drink it. Our roof is a metal roof, and I've coated it with an elastomeric paint, which I think is about the most intert surface I can make.

I realize we're talking about wars over vast amounts of freshwater -- for farming, for commericial, industrial and home purposes, but if TSHTF with water needs, it seems prudent to be prepared to harvest your own. Other considerations: The impurities and filth in the air can be translated to the rainwater.

We've created a system with no moving parts that wastes what amounts to the first 1/8" of rain on the surface of our roof, and collects the rest. Anyone wanting details can U2U me, and I'll be happy to email the simple PVC-based plans.

Speaking of waste, many regulations and laws concerning waste water, really DO waste a lot of water. For example, in most places it is illegal to route your gray water on the surface to water your plants. I think many people might not realize also, how much water they waste, and as long as water is a cheap commodity, that probably won't change soon.

I didn't understand the inherent value of ice, until after Hurricane Paloma smacked us last year. I get it now. We've just ordered a 12-volt mini-freezer/fridge. It's not much bigger than a large ice chest. We're simplifying all the time. I mean, how much fridge/freezer space does a person REALLY need? You have to really utilize that space to your best advantage, and watch your food wasting decrease also. That's our hope, anyway. It will run off our small solar array -- three 60-watt panels and 8 batteries/charge controller/5000 watt inverter, etc.

Water filtration/purification, and something that folks sometimes forget: Several portable containers. I'd rather have a dozen 2 1/2 gallon containers than six 5-gallon containers, because no matter how burly a person is, the repitition of filling, carrying and emptying is taxing, especially in a Sit X situation. Collapsible containers, and a good, old-fashioned canteen or two, or camelback.

There was an island-wide roadside clean-up today. Do you know how many people showed up with their own water? By my loose count, about a dozen people brought their own fluids, out of perhaps 200. I heard people say, "I had no idea we'd be out here ALL morning..... they told us they were providing water." Well, they DID provide water -- bottled water -- but people decided that it was too cumbersome to carry. Point is, we have to be responsible for our own water demand.

Thanks for the space. Good thread. Important.

[edit on 9-5-2009 by argentus]

reply to post by Make Speed Limit 45


Ahhh, a man of principle. Yup take care of who and what we have now and when things get back to normal ( we hope), we can again consider LEGAL immigration for people that have something to contribute to our country and want to become citizens not leeches!
Your signature is spot on Amigo!!

Zindo

Canada over 3000000 lakes

crazyness

water from the ocean will be the answer ... okay, it is too much expensive ... ok, so lets just #ING DIE ...because it is expensive ...

I JUST cannot stand this argument

ok, it is expensive...so, everybody will die because it is expensive ...

well...money is not worth if everybody is dead ... so, # the money, # THE SYSTEM

Anyone seen the classic 'Ice Pirates'?
'Got any.... water?'

reply to post by Make Speed Limit 45


Sounds like someone has been watching a little too much FOX NEWS. Anyone born on the planet earth has the right to live wherever hey like.

reply to post by WonkoTheSane


?? So anyone that doesn't have a legal right to live within the borders of a country has the inherent right to do so? I'm pretty certain I must be misunderstanding you. I thought 45's statement made sense: When a country's resources become extremely dear, those resources need to go towards their legal citizens, IMO. If you would clarify, I'd surely appreciate it. This isn't a smarmy challenge, I'm just talking to you conversationally, as I would anyone.

Cheers

p.s. Op...... consider how the value of water might change on a personal level in the future. Can you imagine trading goods, food, tools, booze, etc. for water? I wonder sometimes at what point our global demands for resources became unsustainable. I'd guess around late 1800's.

as long as we have rain we will have water..

water goes up in the cloud,water comes down from clouds..Mean wile many,many and I'll say it again many will turn the faucet and the water pump will kick on to there well on there property....This issue way,way off..And de salinization of the oceans,it happens every day allready..

I had a vision, this planet's citizens will have a war over water on a planet compiled of 75% water, it will be quite ironic to our alien visitors at the time.

reply to post by argentus



You must not have seen this.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

It seems in a lot of places the rain does not belong to you and your collecting it is theft.

Wonder how long before we get jailed for breathing.

Can any one P2P me a good plan for creating a cistern or water retention system? Also my roof is made normal style--I'm thinking asphalt based but I dont' know enough about roofing. This leads me to believe that collecting it will not be good? Where's the ACLU on the case in colorado? Of course you can collect your own water. Those guys are Nazis.

reply to post by NightSkyeB4Dawn


I did see it. It's a new story, but not new to Colorado, particularly around t he Green River range. From what I've been able to tell from friends who live in Colorado, the legislation lacks the enforcement body to go around and fine all the citizenry, and there are rumors I've heard (unsubstantiated) that the State expects folks to turn in their neighbors.
reply to post by amazing


Amazing, I'll U2U you a few ideas. Sometimes, an above-ground prefabricated plastic cistern is much cheaper than the concrete ones..... depends upon your needs, including perhaps one's need for stealth. Even if you have an asphalt roof, there are coatings that can be put over that to minimize the leeching of hydrocarbons into your water. It's fairly common down here to roll on elastomeric paint over rolled roofing or asphalt shingles. I'll make a note and shoot you a U2U in the morning.

cheers

reply to post by amazing


do you have gutters?..I have seen people use the blue 55 gallon drums under there gutters to use on gardens...

The solution to dwindling water supplies would be to mine our solar system for it, since we know it's out there in abundance. Alot of it just happened to land HERE [doesn't mean we have all of it.]

The military always has technology years beyond what the public knows about, but with a public cover story like NASA, sitting on the same shuttle propulsion technology since the 60s [seriously, give me a break!] it seems to us like it would take far too many years to ever obtain it, and the public would probably buy into some water-war garbage, since they can't think for themselves.

I've heard the argument elsewhere too, that there is ICE in the outer solar system not water, which is crap, in case you are one of those. the only reason it isn't all ice here is because of our distance from the sun. sure not all of it is H20, but damnit! we have chemistry on our side.

With water being a corporate commodity now, the other solution would be that once they used everything here, there would be a corporate space race to see who could break light speed travel first, and the ONLY thing positive anyone can ever say about corporations, is that they can definitely organize quickly and make extreme technological breakthroughs if there's a buck to be made.