This article is baloney. We've already seen water wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Because of saltwater intrusion from the sea into the aquifer, and recirculation and evaporation losses of pumped groundwater, the quality of the water is deteriorating faster than fresh rainwater can desalinate it. This means that Gaza residents must acquire water from beyond their borders, which are closed at present; build a large desalination plant; or eliminate agriculture within the next two decades, said the two researchers, Assistant Professor Charles Harvey and Dr. Annette Huber-Lee of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
When the water from the aquifers in Gaza became too salty and contaminated, Israel withdrew from Gaza.
The "security barrier" follows no above-ground border or political boundary. It looks completely random. However, if you plot the underground "mountain aquifer" then the security barrier matches the boundaries of the aquifer.
We in the US bullied the Canadians into signing a water-rights treaty that enforces US water-rights laws. Our water-rights laws state effectively that once you turn a pipe on, you can never turn it off. In exchange, CA banned export of water to the US.
On a similar note, I live in Colorado. In both CO and UT, it is illegal to collect the rainwater that falls on your property, because state laws and court rulings hold that that rainwater belongs to someone else. The fancy technical word is "senior water rights."
Any "water shortage" is really an energy shortage, considering that oceans exist and so does desalination. Purifying arbitrarily polluted water is feasible given nuclear power. (Nuke subs do not carry supplies of drinking water, for example.)
Interesting. Power in France costs ~$.03/kWh. So to boil a kilogram (i.e., a liter) of water (ignoring the heat of fusion) takes 100 J = .03 kWh which costs about $.001. Looks good to me. (I mean, those little water bottles sell for like $5/liter.)
could it be that everyone fears withholding of such a basic resource (in trade) because they know they will instantly face anger and disbelief from the entire international community?
oil is psychologically different from water.
What a snooze-fest and illogical article. Because countries have solved such disputes in the past therefore the idea that these disputes could turn into shooting wars is a myth? Really? That's the logic they want to use. The author even states that such conflicts have led to serious tensions.This just seems like a slow news day for someone.
Because of saltwater intrusion from the sea into the aquifer, and recirculation and evaporation losses of pumped groundwater, the quality of the water is deteriorating faster than fresh rainwater can desalinate it. This means that Gaza residents must acquire water from beyond their borders, which are closed at present; build a large desalination plant; or eliminate agriculture within the next two decades, said the two researchers, Assistant Professor Charles Harvey and Dr. Annette Huber-Lee of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
When the water from the aquifers in Gaza became too salty and contaminated, Israel withdrew from Gaza.
The "security barrier" follows no above-ground border or political boundary. It looks completely random. However, if you plot the underground "mountain aquifer" then the security barrier matches the boundaries of the aquifer.
http://anthropik.com/2006/08/israels-water-wars/
We in the US bullied the Canadians into signing a water-rights treaty that enforces US water-rights laws. Our water-rights laws state effectively that once you turn a pipe on, you can never turn it off. In exchange, CA banned export of water to the US.
On a similar note, I live in Colorado. In both CO and UT, it is illegal to collect the rainwater that falls on your property, because state laws and court rulings hold that that rainwater belongs to someone else. The fancy technical word is "senior water rights."