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Problem Home PageIn this section, we examine the reasons why water is an issue and explore the obstacles which need to be overcome if Western North America is to have secure water supplies for the next hundred years. The lack of reliable water supplies is one of the most serious crises facing us. Urgent action is needed in the near future to prevent an exponential growth of the problem. This is not a localized issue. It is affecting people globally. By understanding how to reduce the problems in North America, with its diverse environments and uses of water, we can gain powerful insight into how to solve the world wide water problem. Some of the issues, such as the rapid population growth in water scarce areas and the depletion of groundwater reserves, are more easily identified and quantified; but we also investigate less tangible aspects and look toward the future. For example, climate change will have an increasing effect on water supplies over the next hundred years, but the exact effect is more difficult to predict because of the diverse range of possible outcomes. Other issues, such as international agreements are highly controversial. However, all these problems are important and require serious consideration. We have investigated the following issues in depth: |
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