Water scarce in the west

This article in the Washington Post is about how global warming will exacerbate water shortages the world over. But frankly, I think you need to read this article and see how bad it already is in the western states. It's mostly not even because of global warming; Las Vegas and Los Angeles are both water hogs that have been taking away water from farmers for decades. But now water is becoming so difficult to obtain that it's beginning to impact agriculture in the west.

A few miles south of Fresno, Steve Arthur is looking the other way for water. His company is working around the clock drilling wells to irrigate fields in California's 400-mile-long Central Valley, one of the most productive food-growing areas in the world.

"People are really starting to panic for water," said Arthur, whose father started drilling wells in 1959. They must drill ever deeper to tap the sinking water table. "Eventually, the water will be so deep the farmers won't be able to afford to pump it," he said. "There's only so much water to go around."

There's no point in me rehashing the dire predictions made in this article that this water shortage is causing. The article is sufficient and should be sufficiently scary to prompt both an immediate response to global warming and change our water consumption habits. Do yourself a favor and read it.