It would take a great imagination to project thirty some years in advance. I have heard of water shortages for years and years. The world was supposed to be out of water by 1975 according to some reports in the sixties.
My suggestion would be to educate everyone. Find out if it is true. The probability of such is remote. Find out who made these claims and what is in it for them.
I once was acquainted with the city of Warsaw, IN's politics. They had a big threat of running out of water. Turns out that, that particular city sits on one of the world's largest underground rivers. It was all hype. Of course, Indiana had to pass laws regarding water usage. One of them, it seems, was to install those economy flush toilets. Now, everywhere you go in that state, you have to flush three times instead of once.
Quotes by H.L. Mencken, famous columnist: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed ― and hence clamorous to be led to safety ― by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." And, "The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false face for the urge to rule it."
If, in case, you had a real problem, then there will be an honest solution, but there are just too many variables which would make it impractical to lay out an exact course. It would have to be a case by case problem.
The problem already exists along the Rio Grande. Elephant Butte reservoir is effectively empty. The "solutions" include buying up water rights from farmers, drilling for deep water that needs to be desalinated (still a very expensive proposition and a deal-killer for new subdivisions) and mutual lawsuits between New Mexico and Texas over who gets to use what's left. Upstream in Colorado you don't even have the right to use rainwater that falls on your own property. I live on the west side of the continental divide in the Zuni river watershed where the water rights lawsuit is about to retire its second generation of lawyers. New Mexico law does let me catch and use rainwater, which is sufficient for my needs as long as the summer monsoon doesn't fail. Local ranchers, though, have had to severely cull their herds, the animal rescue folks are overwhelmed with starving and abandoned horses. The short-term solution is to pray for the drought to break. We'll need a decade of above-average rainfall just to catch up. The only longer-term solution with any hope for cities in NM seems to be building the necessary infrastructure for sewage recycling.
I would organise the building of a large pyramid - with steps to the top. On the top would be an altar where virgins could be sacrificed to the great god Gaia. (Not my children of course.)
I would ban the use of all motor vehicles. (Except mine, of course, I am the chairman of the steering committee and I need to be mobile.)
I would limit the size of people's houses to reduce waste. (Not mine of course, I am the chairman of the steering committee and need somewhere nice to meet other important chairpersons.)
I would recommend restricted land use. Excess land would be confiscated by the Committee and be controlled centrally. (Not mine of course, mine is not used wastefully - I am the chairman of the steering committee.)
I would set up a huge bureaucracy to regulate the use of water and to help locate new sources. I would be in charge and the taxpayer would pay all the bills. My salary would naturally reflect the importance of my job.
If it did, perchance, rain I would proclaim a great victory and take all the credit. If it never rained I would reoaganize my bureaucracy and tell them to do better in the future.
I do hope my cynicism is not showing ...
It's actually possible as the city in which I live gets its water from a glacier fed river.
I would check what cities in deserts do to cope with the amount of water they have. Cities in Arizona and Saudi Arabia would be good places to check. My suspicion is that there would be little water available for watering lawns or washing cars.
That would depend on my city, where it is located, whats it's climate.
There are many new technologies for desalination (if the city was near the sea) or purification and recycling grey water.
My first suggestion would be to eliminate waste, many water systems have leaks, proper maintenance could improve supply, then to investigate alternative sources.
Our City's water comes from the River, which is fed from the natural spring waters from the Mountains. We're good for a few thousand years
If the prediction was based on a legitimate infrastructure concern then I would be concerned, if the prediction was from a climate scientist I would say wow another quack prediction that will not come true, yawn.
He seems to forget the water cycle and the 70% water Earth has.
only real answer is the ocean, build a desalination plant and pump it to where its needed. Undepleteable supply!
Fire the Predictor . What you are saying the Water cycle has stopped and that will never happen till the Sun turns to a red giant in a billion years .
As a concerned citizen you volunteer to serve as chairperson of the steering committee to develop solutions for this problem. What are your suggestions to the committee?
Move
