[Alvin]

Could Lake Mead dry up? Shocking pictures reveal how Hoover Dam reservoir is shrinking so fast it could threaten Las Vegas water supply

When it was created in 1935 by the building of the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead was the largest artificial lake in the world.
But the glorious Nevada lake, which has provided decades of water sports and boating, has lost 4 trillion gallons of water in the past 14 years.
Satellite photos that chart the effect of a drought that began in 2000 and is starting to threaten the Las Vegas water supply reveal the dramatic extent to which the reservoir has dried up.

The lake provides water to 20 million people in southern Nevada, California and Arizona, with Las Vegas channeling 90 per cent of its supplies from Mead.
It is a popular tourist destination, where families flock to its shores to swim, go boating, and fish for the 40lb striped bass that live there.
But the reservoir, which is capable of holding 9.2 trillion gallons, is running low, and experts say it is expected to drop a further 20ft in the coming year.

More...

'This was all underwater. I mean boats were everywhere. There was a whole marina here,' Pat Mulroy, of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, told CBS News.
'It's a pretty critical point. The rate at which our weather patterns are changing is so dramatic that our ability to adapt to it is really crippled,' she added.
The deep white 'bathtub' ring that is already clearly visible along the rocky edges of the reservoir is expected to become wider this year.
If it does, Nevada and Arizona will be subject to automatic water supply cuts. The water level is dropping so low that one of the pipes that takes water to Las Vegas could soon be visible.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...er-supply.html

[Alvin]

Dry Town, Dry Future
By Zach WiseThu, Mar 6, 2008 (2 a.m.)For 60 years, the town of St. Thomas lay beneath the waters of Lake Mead. In 2002, St. Thomas re-emerged from the shrinking lake ...

Video http://youtu.be/HozlOKcVhsU

[ho428]

Back in '08-'09 Lake Hartwell, which has 1000 miles of shoreline, and the entire Savannah river basin were at historic lows. Hartwell was down over 20' at one point, which is a lot considering the lake isn't real deep.
Experts predicted 5+ years of continued drought, but just a couple years later all is back to normal, so even if the west gets another bad year this year usually the cycle breaks eventually.

Climate change? Dunno, but I do know it's happening a lot more often than it used to. Been going to Hartwell for 50 years, never been able to walk across our cove, but have several times though in the last decade and we've had more drought years in row than ever. But, we're back into a nice wet cycle now.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by ho428

Back in '08-'09 Lake Hartwell, which has 1000 miles of shoreline, and the entire Savannah river basin were at historic lows. Hartwell was down over 20' at one point, which is a lot considering the lake isn't real deep.
Experts predicted 5+ years of continued drought, but just a couple years later all is back to normal, so even if the west gets another bad year this year usually the cycle breaks eventually.

Climate change? Dunno, but I do know it's happening a lot more often than it used to. Been going to Hartwell for 50 years, never been able to walk across our cove, but have several times though in the last decade and we've had more drought years in row than ever. But, we're back into a nice wet cycle now.

The "experts" seem to forget one thing. The records they base their prediction on only go back around 150yrs. In the case of Lake Mead, population growth and water usage has outstripped the ability to replenish the water. According to the geological record, the Southwest suffers one of these prolonged droughts every few centuries. I guess NO ONE ever thought of doing some research BEFORE allowing unfettered growth in a DESERT. Atlanta suffers the same uncertainty since they depend on Lake Lanier/ Chattahoochee River for the majority of their water supply.

[ho428]

Atlanta is now trying to get their hands on Hartwells water.

I read an article that Atlanta was the perfect study for urban sprawl, since it has no natural borders it can and has spread in any and all directions.

[Alvin]

Atlanta 2007 and 2012 droughts...

Georgia officials give drought the silent treatment
The governor declines to declare that one exists. Critics say it's all about business.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — In this southern suburb of Atlanta, the lawns skirting the million-dollar homes are lush, and the swimming pools full.

But farther south, the Flint River has thinned into mud flats at a time of year when surges of white water would normally be crashing over boulders in the riverbed.

Depending on whom you ask, Georgia is doing fine, or it's suffering from historic drought.

Georgians have gotten a swift education: Since 1999, the state has spent more years in drought than in normal conditions. Federal maps show that more than half of Georgia is now in extreme or exceptional drought, at a time when 70% of the country is experiencing abnormal aridity.

But the state's relentless experience with drought has created ambivalence among residents and policymakers about how to cope with it, hinting at problems other states may have to face if their droughts drag on or recur with troubling regularity.

Environmentalists, scientists and farmers point to places like the Flint, as well as reservoir levels and stream and rainfall data as proof of drought. Republican Gov. Nathan Deal and much of the business community contend that there is no drought. Unlike his predecessor, Deal has yet to declare one.

The state's resistance to more drastic measures stems from its desire to protect its business-friendly image, critics say. "Atlanta is the brightest symbol of the 'New South,' and the Southern miracle depends on the use of natural resources," said Gordon Rogers, executive director of Flint Riverkeeper, an environmental group. "And the key resource is water."

Large parts of Georgia this year have gotten about half to two-thirds of the rain they normally get. Some of the state's biggest lakes and reservoirs are 9 feet or more below their typical summer levels.

Georgia's political and economic priorities are mostly set by the greater Atlanta area in the north, home to about 4.2 million people, making it hard for the needs of smaller communities in the southern part of the state to be addressed. The last drought, in 2007-08, hit metro Atlanta harder than this one. So, the state took dire steps to ensure adequate water supplies.

Then-Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, rallied folks to pray for rain. But Georgians say what mattered most was that Perdue talked up the drought. People tweaked their daily lives to conserve water, like taking shorter showers or turning off the tap when brushing their teeth.

[b]More controversially, Perdue made an official drought declaration and imposed strict restrictions on how much and when people could water their lawns. Along with the recession, the watering ban pummeled one of the state's largest industries, so-called urban agriculture, which includes turf grass and landscaping, leading to layoffs and bankruptcies.

This time, the $8-billion-a-year industry was spared what Georgia Agribusiness Council President Bryan Tolar calls the "knee-jerk reaction" of the watering ban.[/b_

Continues: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep...ought-20120916

[GT182]

Two more to go with the the St. Thomas video......

B-29 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAqQyIeaQw

PBY - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-wPNyYPUKc

[Alvin]

Reposted here from Cali thread for the related post after following this one for continued theme discussion:

Originally Posted by klunker
everytime I've traveled to So. Cali. I'm amazed at how much water is wasted. I walk out of the hotel for a walk early in the morning and the sprinklers are all going full blast to grow grass. When I look across the street at the natural landscape the hillsides are as dry as a popcorn fart. I'm convinced that the vast majority of people that live out there don't have a clue that they live in at best semi-arid climate.
they water lawns, have swimming pools and waste water like there is no end to it.
Amazing to me. And the "leaders" don't do a thing.

IIRC - Around 1976/77 when I lived there, there was a drought in the greater LA / San Diego areas of SoCal. It was bad enough that there was a lawn watering and car washing ban for the civilian population mandate with penalties and stiff fines for water use violators.

The obscene thing that occurred at the same time was at all of the Military bases in the area continued with their daily law sprinklers soaking the grounds; not in a normal manner, but with so much water used (wasted) that it literally flooded the grounds & grass and tens of thousands (millions?) of gallons of water poured into and down the streetside drains. So bad that broken sprinkler heads spewed fountains of water into the air with the command ignoring the waste of usage for months.

Makes one wonder where else mismanagement and waste occurs this very day. The water shortage scenerio in Cali is old news that has been predicted, studied, and discussed for decades. In fact you've probably viewed a movie or two about the very subject:

Chinatown (1974 film)

Chinatown is a 1974 American neo-noir film, directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne, and starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston. The film was inspired by the California Water Wars, a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century by which Los Angeles interests secured water rights in the Owens Valley. The Robert Evans production, a Paramount Pictures release, was the director's last film in the United States, and features many elements of film noir, particularly a multi-layered story that is part mystery and part psychological drama.

Plot
A woman identifying herself as Evelyn Mulwray (Ladd) hires private investigator J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Nicholson) to perform surveillance on her husband Hollis I. Mulwray (Zwerling), the chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Gittes tails him, hears him publicly oppose the creation of a new reservoir, and shoots photographs of him with a young woman (Palmer) that are published on the front page of the following day's paper. Upon his return to his office, Gittes is confronted by a beautiful woman who, after establishing that the two of them have never met, irately informs him she is Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway) and that he can expect a lawsuit.

Realizing he was set up, Gittes figures whoever did it wants to get Mulwray, but, before he can question the husband, Lieutenant Lou Escobar (Lopez) fishes Mulwray, drowned, from a freshwater reservoir. Suspicious of murder, Gittes investigates and notices that, although huge quantities of water are released from the reservoir every night, the land is almost completely dry. He is confronted by Water Department Security Chief Claude Mulvihill (Jenson) with a henchman (Polanski) who slashes Gittes's nose. Back at his office, Gittes receives a call from Ida Sessions, an actress whom he recognizes as the bogus Mrs. Mulwray. She is afraid to identify her employer, but provides a clue: the name of one of "those people" is in that day's obituaries.

Gittes learns that Mrs. Mulwray's husband was once the business partner of her father, Noah Cross (Huston), so he meets Cross for lunch at his personal club. Cross offers to double Gittes' fee to search for Mulwray's missing girlfriend, plus a bonus if he succeeds. Gittes visits the hall of records where he discovers that many large orange groves have recently changed ownership in the northwest San Fernando Valley. He goes there but is caught and beaten by angry landowners, who believe he is one of the water department agents who have been demolishing their water tanks and poisoning their wells to force them out.
Gittes's review of the obituaries uncovers a former resident of the Mar Vista Inn, a retirement home, who is one of the new landowners in the Valley. He infers that Mulwray was murdered when he learned that the new reservoir would be used to irrigate the newly purchased properties. Evelyn and Gittes bluff their way into Mar Vista and confirm that the real estate deals are done in the name of its residents without their knowledge. After fleeing from Mulvihill and his thugs, they hide at Evelyn's house, where they nurse each other's wounds and end up in bed together.

Early morning, Evelyn has to leave suddenly, but she warns him that her father is dangerous and crazy. Gittes manages to follow her car to a house where he observes her with Mulwray's girlfriend. He confronts Evelyn, who finally confesses that the woman is her sister.
The next day, an anonymous call draws Gittes to Ida Sessions' apartment; he finds her murdered, with Escobar waiting for his arrival. Escobar pressures him because the coroner's report found salt water in Mulwray's lungs, indicating that the body was moved after death. Escobar suspects Evelyn of the murder, and insists Gittes produce her quickly or he'll face charges of his own.

Gittes returns to Evelyn's mansion. There he discovers a pair of bifocals in her salt water garden pond and finds her servants packing her bags. His suspicions aroused, he confronts Evelyn about her "sister", whom she then claims is her daughter Katherine. Gittes slaps her repeatedly until she cries out "She's my sister and my daughter!", then tearfully asks Gittes if it is "too hard" for him to understand what happened with her father. She points out that the eyeglasses are not her husband's, as he did not wear bifocals.

Gittes makes plans for the two women to flee to Mexico. He instructs Evelyn to meet him at her butler's home in Chinatown. Gittes summons Cross to the Mulwray home to settle their deal for the girl. Cross admits he intends to incorporate the Northwest Valley into the City of Los Angeles, then irrigate and develop it. Gittes produces the bifocals—they belong to Cross and link him to Mulwray's murder. Mulvihill appears, confiscates the glasses, and forces Jake to take them to the women.

When the three reach the hiding place in Chinatown, the police are already there and arrest Gittes. Evelyn will not allow Cross to approach Katherine, and when he is undeterred she shoots him in the arm and drives away with Katherine. As the car speeds off, the police open fire, killing Evelyn. Cross clutches Katherine and leads her away, while Escobar orders Gittes released, along with his associates. One of them urges, "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

[Alvin]

Nevada and the Colorado River continual water rights fight:

"What, you ask, does Nevada and Las Vegas have to do with California water? Well, water wars aren’t just fought within states. They are also fought between states. Southern Nevada gets almost 90% of its water from the Colorado River. Southern California also gets substantial water from the Colorado, most of which goes to agriculture in the Imperial Valley. The Colorado River has the unenviable status of being the most litigated river in the world. The problem for Nevada is that it agreed to a small apportionment of Colorado River water back when their population was tiny. Southern Nevada gets 0.3 Million Acre Feet a Year (MAFY) while California gets a princely 4.4 MAFY.

But then gambling came to Las Vegas in a big way. The population soared. They now have persistent water problems, made worse by a decade of drought. Thus, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is on a mission to find water anywhere it can.

Nevada’s crown jewel is the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River at Lake Mead. They get one-third of the power generated by it. But water levels at Lake Mead have dropped so precipitously that a “third straw” is needed to insure that water will be available. It will cost $800 million and no one is quite sure where the money will come from. In addition, SNWA has floated plans to build pipelines from northern Nevada and Utah, something which has met with vociferous opposition. They’ve also discussed building desalination plants in California or Mexico and swapping that for more water from the Colorado River.

Under The Law of The River which governs the Colorado, California, Nevada, and Arizona are allowed to use any Colorado River water not used by another state. But given the drought and growing populations, all three states are using their full allotments. This means no excess water for the other states.

SNWA is not currently a direct competitor with California for water due to the ancient agreement apportioning Colorado River water. Should that agreement ever change – and everyone know it is archaic – then SNWA could directly compete for more Colorado River water. However, SNWA is relentless in seeking more water and through swaps, desalination, and other agreements and is always looking to get more water from the Colorado. If they get more, someone else gets less. That is the real Law of The River."

http://ivn.us/2012/04/23/california-...t-grab-enough/

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by ho428

Atlanta is now trying to get their hands on Hartwells water.

I read an article that Atlanta was the perfect study for urban sprawl, since it has no natural borders it can and has spread in any and all directions.

Worse than that, there is currently litigation to realign the GA/TN border so Nickajack Lake (TN River outside Chattanooga) is partially in GA so Atlanta has access to that water source.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by GT182

Two more to go with the the St. Thomas video......

B-29 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAqQyIeaQw

PBY - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-wPNyYPUKc

Pretty cool to go wreck diving. Most of mine has been in saltwater @ Kwajalein and Truck Lagoons - ship and aircraft wrecks.

[The Boss]

The Colorado has failed to reach the sea since 1998.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/op...-dry.html?_r=0

[Alvin]

Check this out:
Our Water Is Being Stolen From Us!
The Rich Are Buying Up The Rights For Our Water, To $ell It Back To Us
NewsFocus - 120410

"Unbeknown to most Americans, their most precious natural resource, as in life-giving drinking water, is being stolen, literally right out from under them. If they ever want a drink, they'll have to buy it back, at a considerable price.

A recent episode of the hit TruTV investigative program, "Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura," has literally tapped into a water scandal that most of the US public has no idea about. Multi-national corporations and unscrupulous wealthy individuals are buying up water rights for some of the largest aquifers in the US and the world. With water predicted to become a scarcity within 20 years, it would appear that some of the elite wealthy are trying to corner the market on the earth's most precious life-giving resource, water.

American oil-tycoon T. Boone Pickens was one of the first to rush to capitalize on the impending water shortage, investing a meager $100-million in a scheme that he readily admits will make him an easy billion dollars, if not far more.

In the Texas panhandle, Roberts County sits over the largest underground aquifer in the US, the Ogallala Aquifer, containing a quadrillion gallons of water. This vast underground reservoir reaches as far north as South Dakota. Roberts county is roughly 924 square miles, yet has only a meager 900 residents. Some people would say they were "ripe for the picking." Perhaps that statement should read, "ripe for Pickens."

Mr. Pickens has purchased 68,000 acres, as well as the right to drain up to 50% of the Ogallala aquifer to sell for his own personal profit. Needless to say, that isn't exactly going over too well for many Texas residents.



T. Boone Pickens 68,000 acres that sit over the Ogallala aquifer.

The fact that something like this is even allowed tells you that government doesn't always work in our best interests, especially when big money is there to buy off the legislators, something Pickens knows a thing or two about.

Money Buys (Bribes) Legislation

Thanks to many state legislators whose campaigns he helped finance, Pickens has been bestowed with a tremendous power generally reserved for state and local governments, the power of "eminent domain." He did this by creating a Fresh Water Supply District—a government entity that is allowed that kind of power.

Pickens accomplished this feat after legislators passed a bill that made it all the easier to create a water district. Previously, a district's five elected supervisors needed to be registered voters living within the boundaries of the district. Now, they only had to own land in the district; they could live and vote wherever. The bill was allegedly a "coincidental" bill put forth by two legislators from Houston. If you can believe the Pickens camp, they say that Mesa had nothing to do with influencing the bills passing. That seems improbable to many, considering the stakes.

What Pickens did do was to create an eight-acre town and a local government, one where two of his employees are the only eligible voters. Once he had organized that, he held an election in which both of his employee voters cast their exclusive votes to make their tiny municipality into a powerful Fresh-Water Supply District. As a direct result of this scheming, Pickens is now able to issue tax-free bonds on his own, giving him the lucrative benefit of borrowing at a tremendous discount.

The only problem now for Picket was that he was far away from any municipalities that might have a potential need to buy water. So Picket has proposed a massive pipeline that would be built in a 250-foot-wide corridor, all the way to Dallas. To get the pipeline, Pickett needed the Texas legislature to give him a joint energy and water transmission lines right-of-way.

After spending $1.2-billion to help elect Texas legislators in 2006, Pickens was able to get the law changed. He did so with the invaluable help from former state Senator J.E. Buster Brown, now one of the most influential and powerful lobbyists in Texas. Brown accomplished this through an amendment to a major piece of state water legislation. The amendment, added after the bill had already been reviewed in the Texas House, allowed a water-supply district to transmit alternative energy and transport water in a single corridor, or right-of-way.

Brown represents Pickens' company, Mesa Water. He says, "My job is primarily defensive. I'm watching to make sure there is no legislation passed that creates obstacles to Pickens doing what he wants to do. I'm supposed to make sure nothing bad happens."

An Unfair Power

For Pickens, he can now use the power of eminent domain to force landholders to sell to him, or else he now has the legal right to simply take their land from them if they refuse his offer, all allegedly “for the common good” of Texans.

Pickens weaseled for this exclusive power of eminent domain because he needs it to force his plan upon Texas landowners, all so that he can build his huge pipeline to Dallas. Many Texans find this to be about as underhanded as you can get to steal someone's land. In Texas, "them's fightin' words," but then again, who can possibly stand up to the billionaire bully Pickens? Through his newfound power of eminent domain, Pickens has seized land across 11 counties so far.

According to an article in Business Week, Pickens owns more water than any other person in the country through his water rights in the Ogallala aquifer.


The Ogallala aquifer runs from Texas to South Dakota.



Pickens has already sent 1,100 letters out to landowners living on the 250-mile corridor that he plans to build on. Pickens intends to essentially steal this land for only $30 million, more than likely less than full market value.

Pickens isn't content with his local new found Texas power. He has now gone so far as to petition congress and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to expand the power of eminent domain and right-of-way, so that he can operate across state lines as well.

Pickens has added to the project by now proposing a vast $12-billion wind farm, to sit on the same land he is taking for his pipeline. The cost of the water pipeline is estimated at $1.5-billion.

According to Texas State Rep Warren Chisum (R) “The wind is meant to sweeten the deal. The big money for Pickens is in the water.”

You can literally bank on that. Especially when water becomes extremely scarce and Pickens jacks the price up on survival.

“All I’m doing is selling surplus water,” Pickens told Business Week

Considering that water is predicted to be in short supply soon, Pickens definition of surplus may be a tad bit conservative for the billionaire tycoon.

It should be noted that State Representative Chisum is also a wealthy Roberts County rancher who owns 12,000 acres next to Pickens and is also involved in selling off the people's water from the aquifer.

In Roberts County, residents cling to the hope that controls can be put in place to regulate and control pumping from the Ogallala aquifer.

In 1998, as entrepreneurs and local water utilities began buying up water rights, the groundwater conservation district decided to place restrictions on the rule of capture that it calls the 50-50 rule. A permit will only allow the aquifer to be drawn down by a maximum of 50%

Pickens says he will stand by the 50-50 rule. "I don't have any concerns about depleting the aquifer. All I'm doing is selling surplus water," he says. "I'm not about to drain all the water out of Roberts County. I have my ranch there. But I could sure take it down 50% and not hurt anybody. And it could make a lot of people a lot of money."

Especially T. Boone Pickens.

Stealing Foreign Water

Not to be outdone by Pickens is another Texas family who may have taken their cue from their fellow Texan. The Bush family has purchased nearly 100,000 acres of land in Paraguay. What's in Paraguay you say? A little town called Paso de Patria which is near the Triple Frontier (Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay), but is also very near Bolivian gas reserves and the Guarani indigenous water region, within the Triple Border.

The news so far isn't sitting well with county residents because the land that George W. Bush purchased in 2008 just so happens to sit on one of, if not the largest underground aquifers in the world, the Guarani aquifer.

The Bush family appears to be positioning themselves to takeover one of the world's largest aquifers.

Many are asking why the 43rd president needs a 98,840-acre ranch in Paraguay? Did I mention it is protected by its own U.S. military base? Mariscal Estigarribia air base, is run by US soldiers who have been exempted from war-crimes prosecution by the Paraguayan government. An interesting arrangement.

Manned in July 2005 with five hundred U.S. troops, equipped with planes, weapons and ammunition, Paraguay's Mariscal Estigarribia air base is a huge facility with an airfield that can accommodate B-52 bombers and Galaxy C-5 cargo planes. The base is actually larger than the international airport in the capital city of Asuncion. It has a large radar system, huge hangers, and can comfortably house up to 16,000 troops.

Yeah, well, nice to have a little firepower present when you're contemplating raiding another country's water and gas supply.

Reportedly, Jenna Bush paved the way with a secret diplomatic visit to Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte and also U.S. Ambassador James Cason. The meetings were held in private.

America's ambassador to Paraguay, James Cason is an interesting person. Bush first stationed Cason in Havana, Cuba in 2002, but later transferred him to Paraguay in 2007. Cason is a former "political adviser" to the U.S. Atlantic Command and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. He has served stints in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama, essentially anywhere the U.S. has conducted its Central American wars over the past 30 years.

Argentina´s undersecretary for Land for Social Habitat, Luis D'Elia, says the issue brings regional concern because it directly threatens the local natural resources. Water and gas are key.

Mr D'Elia is correct. Whether it is in the United States or a third world foreign nation, no individuals or multi-national corporations have the right to steal a natural resource that belongs to the people of the region, especially when it is a vital and necessary resource for life.

According to a source from the Physical Planning Department, most of the Chaco region belongs to private companies now. That can't be a good thing for the locals whose very existence depends on the availability of their local drinking water.

A strong argument could be made to support the notion that we do not go to third world countries to help them get clean drinking water, but instead to privatize it for the immoral multi-national corporations, like Perrier, Aquafina or even Coca Cola.

A Multi-National Effort

A few companies have gone even bolder yet, such as Perrier, a subsidiary of the multi-national Nestle corporation. They have invested heavily in Michigan and the Great Lakes. Locked behind two sets of chain link fence, huge siphoning pumps are deliberately hidden from view in the forest. They are pumping the Great Lakes dry and shipping the water overseas. Much of the Great Lakes water is headed for China, filled in massive cargo bags which are pulled across the ocean by a large supertanker. You might think that draining lakes that hold six quad-zillion gallons of fresh water would be impossible, but sadly enough, there is already a distinctive drop in the great lakes, quite noticeable to any who have seen it.

So with fresh water running out, it is supposed to become more precious than oil. According to the CIA, future wars will be fought over it.

It is now quite obvious that some ruthless entrepreneurs are trying to corner the market on this most precious of natural resources. These people clearly have no moral conscience if they can justify stealing water that does not belong to them. Just because you can reach a portion of an aquifer under your land that stretches across fives states does not give you the right to drain off everyone else's water.

With a world water shortage on the way, it would undeniably be more beneficial to mankind if these ultra-rich water barons would invest instead in coastal based desalinization plants, rather than stealing the public's drinking water. Not only would they get the benefit of a vast water supply to exploit for sale, but there is also the leftover sea salt which could be sold for profit. Desalination is a proven working technology that is capable of bringing as much or more water to society than existing underground aquifers.

Take Action

It's time for the people to rise up and fight for a natural resource that belongs to all of us. Regional aquifers traverse vast amounts of land, covering many states, so for anyone to stake a claim to water that clearly is not exclusive to their land is nothing more than criminal activity from immoral individuals.

Tell your neighbors. Tell your friends. If we don't stand up to the water barons now, we will all pay dearly for the right to survive when water becomes scarce.

Call your Congressional representatives and demand that our water be protected under public domain for all of society, not just the private profit of soulless multi-national corporations and the morally challenged wealthy elite.

Aside from the air that we breathe, water is the most fundamental basic essential ingredient for life on this planet. It is no one's right to deny any human being or animal their God-given inalienable right to fresh air and clean water.

Start the fight now before it's too late.

This author has a well dug over 300 feet on my property, reaching deep down into the Jordan Aquifer which stretches from Iowa through Minnesota and Wisconsin. I suppose now that Pickens has set a legal precedent that transcends beyond multiple state boundaries, what is to stop me from staking my claim to the Jordan Aquifer?

Truth be told, the government has already GPS'd my well years ago, as they have every other private well in the United States. That's right, the US government is locating every single privately owned well and is marking them through GPS coordinates. Some believe that meters will one day be applied, limiting the amount of water that can be accessed from your own personal well. If that is the case, will Pickens' well and those of other water entrepreneurs be capped as well?

Of course not! They're filthy rich. They can bribe all the favorable treatment they need or want.

What is clear is that a double-standard is emerging regarding wells and regional aquifers. If you're rich, you can suck the water right out from under your neighbors property, across many states even, but if you're just the average John Q. Public, you very well might one day be limited in taking water from your own private well for your own personal use. This is a criminal injustice in the making. It's time to organize and put up a fight for our inalienable water rights.

We have a right to survive. We have a right to water.

It's time we fight to keep those rights, or risk loosing them completely."

More here http://www.newsfocus.org/water_grab.htm

[Alvin]

T. Boone Pickens: Why I got out of the water business
Thursday, August 16, 2012

At last Friday's quarterly meeting of the Texas Lyceum, I interviewed the energy magnate about his exit from the water business, the status of the Pickens Plan...

Triblive: A Conversation with T. Boone Pickens http://youtu.be/7fRsd00Hop8

[Alvin]

Aquifer Map

[hurryinhoosier62]

Alvin,

The Great Lakes are constantly raising and lowering. What is the author's PROOF the water is being "stolen"? BTW...I used to live on Lake Michigan.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

Alvin,

The Great Lakes are constantly raising and lowering. What is the author's PROOF the water is being "stolen"? BTW...I used to live on Lake Michigan.

Good question, why don't you ask the author? Better yet, watch the complete Pickens interview for an overall related discussion.

And, I used to ICE SKATE on the Hudson River @ Upstate NY - Stuyvesant on the Hudson - in the winter. We would open our jackets and use them as wind sails...imperative to pay attention to sound of the ice.

Hudson River - It would drop up to 6 feet at a time due to the Hudson River Tide!

[hurryinhoosier62]

The Great Lakes water level varies with season and rain fall/snow melt off. They are shallower in winter than they are in summer, assuming you're NOT in a drought. There are many wells surrounding the lakes. Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Toledo and Cleveland are but a few of the cities and municipalities that use the Great lakes Aquifer for their water supply. Could increased water usage in this aquifer account for the drop in water levels?

[klunker]

one reason for water drop in lake michigan and huron is the dredging in the st. clair river. man made drop.
last summer/fall the gates on the dam on the st. mary's river were open to hopefully raise michigan and huron. St. mary's is the river flowing from lake superior into huron.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by klunker

one reason for water drop in lake michigan and huron is the dredging in the st. clair river. man made drop.
last summer/fall the gates on the dam on the st. mary's river were open to hopefully raise michigan and huron. St. mary's is the river flowing from lake superior into huron.

There is a lot that I disagree with Pickens about, but as you can see for your self looking at the world globe, the point he makes above is there is no water shortage.

The majority of the worlds supply of water - 95% - is saltwater...it boils down to $$$ for desalination and when that becomes competitive in the free markets.

Originally Posted by Alvin

T. Boone Pickens: Why I got out of the water business
Thursday, August 16, 2012

At last Friday's quarterly meeting of the Texas Lyceum, I interviewed the energy magnate about his exit from the water business, the status of the Pickens Plan...

Triblive: A Conversation with T. Boone Pickens http://youtu.be/7fRsd00Hop8