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> The priority should be sustainable development. We have enough water, just not great usage. We may have enough water for now but we're using it faster than i
by alwillis 3y ago
> The priority should be sustainable development. We have enough water, just not great usage.
We may have enough water for now but we're using it faster than it can be replenished; our reserves in aquifers is starting to run out.
I watched the documentary Day Zero [1] last year about the global water crisis. I highly recommend anyone interested in what's going on with water to watch it. It was one of those oh shit movies where on one hand, you're glad you learned something important and on the other hand, you kinda wish you could have stayed blissfully ignorant because of how scary the situation actually is.
For example, the Ogallala Aquifer [2] covers approximately 174,000 square miles across 8 states—South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. It's one of the largest aquifers in the world.
Of all the water that's extracted from it, only 10% gets replenished. That's obviously not sustainable, especially with climate change, increasing municipal and farming use.
We're not going to desalinate our way out of this all over the world.
[1]: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13323462 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13323462
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer