Water Shortage Imminent: Scientists Terrified-- US Fresh Water Supplies Drying Up

by Monica Davis

California, Florida and Texas lead the nation in water usage. And those freshwater supplies are drying up at alarming rates. Between droughts, agriculture-irrigation and fracking, the nation is depletings its water supply at dangerously alarming rates. As water supplies get tighter, we will face skyrocketing water prices and water wars between states.

 In 2000, long before fracking and ethanol production began consuming monstrous amounts of water, the nation used  148 trillion gallons of water.  In 12 years, that use has multiplied exponentially.

According to the US Geological Service (USGS) we are using more water than ever. All told, the nation consumes more than half a million gallons of water per capita. That’s water that is used, treated in water filtration plants, and then dumped back into the environment.  Sometimes it’s dumped back into rivers, where it can be used by downriver communities. Oft times it is dumped into the oceans, never to be recovered.

The US is using more water than ever before, in an era where global warming, drought, and energy production create a deadly synergy of shortage and depletion.  While we worry about the “energy shortage”, an even deadlier catastrophe is looming. And we create an even greater problem by poor water management and political grandstanding.