Water - our uncoordinated mess...

"I know I had addressed this before. But things in Puerto Rico are getting serious. We have unlimited water in the oceans surrounding us. We need to fix this water issue and do it soon. Anything mentioned during this campaign season about this most vexing problem? Not yet. The problem is real and the solutions are fleeting."

Who is having water problems these days? How about Europe? How about Puerto Rico? How about the desert southwest in the USA? What are we doing about it? Not much. Ground water is shrinking, reservoirs are drying up, and farmers are struggling. But water? Who needs it? Especially potable water - they kind we drink to stay alive. Here is the rub - humans can go anywhere from a half a week to a full week without water. Then if no water is consumed - we die. Simple fact. First comes air, then comes water to stay alive. Food - further down the scale.

I have told this story before. I went through a real drought when I was stationed in Okinawa. It got so bad, water was only available once every three days. Then if you wanted a drink of that water, it needed to be boiled. One-minute showers were available once every three days. To say it sucked in 90-degree weather, would be an understatement. Why bring this up? On my off days, I would sit on a hill and look out at the East China Sea. Water, water everywhere. And yet - no water for the island. When I rotated duty stations in July of that year, and got home on leave, I drank water like there was no tomorrow.

I really can't believe that our water issue is not an issue. We need to come up with a Plan "B", Plan "C", and so forth. But instead of working on different ideas and strategies to bring in more fresh and potable water, what are we focusing on? Data centers. BTW - data centers, the way we are building them now, drink lots of water. And many of these data centers are being built in the arid desert. Call me stupid, but does this make any sense? Any sense what-so-ever?

I don't want to sound like a panic merchant, but we need a Manhattan Project for more water. The bad news is many of our aquifers are starting to run out of water. Rivers (like the Colorado) are running low. Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell) and Hoover Dam (Lake Meade) are close to "dead pool" status. Guess what? There is no alternate source of water for the millions of folks living down there. If the faucets run dry - then what?

I know I had addressed this before. But things in Puerto Rico are getting serious. We have unlimited water in the oceans surrounding us. We need to fix this water issue and do it soon. Anything mentioned during this campaign season about this most vexing problem? Not yet. The problem is real and the solutions are fleeting.