reviewed by Chris Buhr
Petroleum-related costs are rising due to scarcity. Global temperatures are rising. The declining supply of potable water in the United States gets much less media attention than oil cost or rising temperatures. Yet, it has the potential to be more calamitous than either of these issues. In the book “Not a Drop to Drink,” Ken Midkiff ominously addresses the present and future state of potable water in the U.S. Midkiff, a former director of the Sierra Club in Missouri and former director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Water Campaign, notes that the entire country faces a water shortage because it has interfered with nature’s hydrologic cycle by over consuming water.
This over consumption will more adversely affect areas of the U.S. that get less average annual rain and have fewer lakes or rivers. The author predicts that water scarcity could result in an exodus from the Plains, Sun Belt, and West Coast states. Many cities in these areas are already conducting “water wars” --conflicts with other cities over water. Some cities in these areas and elsewhere use the privatization of water supply as an answer, but the fault with privatization is that it denies citizens a right to water and only guarantees them a privilege to it.
The Ogallala Aquifer, which lies under parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, supplies nearly one third of the water used for agriculture in the U.S. Present practices are depleting this aquifer at a unsustainable pace, more water is taken from it than is replenished. In a few generations the water could be gone unless something is done.
Water problems pervade throughout the U.S. While no additional supply of water exists, each resident of the U.S. now uses an average 50 gallons of water per day. The water problem transcends simple supply and demand. Misguided agricultural policies are also to blame, according to the author. More than 70 percent of the water used in the U.S.is used for agriculture. The author faults misguided agricultural practices for much of the water over consumption. Unfortunate examples exist of farmers in the Central Valley of California raising cattle, poultry, and growing rice in areas unsuitable for such water dependent livestock and crops. Thus farmers end up depending on unsustainable irrigation rates. These agricultural practices are in part driven by by government subsidies, and they are decisions made primarily by those in charge of agribusinesses. The author faults these subsidies and misuses.
The author clearly demonstrates a broad knowledge of many complex topics affecting water supply, and he succinctly illustrates it through his analysis in the book.
For the environmentally conscious, Midkiff encourages citizen involvement to prevent increasingly prevalent “water wars”. Impassioned citizens can fight inefficient water use through individual conservation of energy and water and by consuming more locally grown food or food that is further down the food chain, and thus likely to be less water dependent. Citizens can also monitor the practices of their local water supplier and that of agribusinesses. They can organize, and lobby their local and national legislators to ensure a sufficient water supply for the planet’s current and future needs.