Water Costs Will Rise as Availability Diminishes - limited quantities of fresh water could cause political problems - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), April, 2000

Consumers can expect to pay more for water as the availability of high-quality freshwater becomes a serious issue in the coming decades. "Water will become increasingly precious, and it will become more expensive," predicts Amy Ward, professor of biological sciences and director of the Center for Freshwater Studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.

"Twenty years from now, we will no longer have the luxury of taking water for granted. Decisions we make now will determine if we have to invest more in devices to clean water for drinking and recreation, and whether we have to restrict and severely regulate water use. Actions we take now to deal with the ecological, legal, political, and economic issues surrounding water will determine the availability of freshwater for drinking as well as for household, agricultural, and industrial use in the future."

There is a finite supply of freshwater in the world, she points out. Unless Americans and others around the world take steps now to maintain supplies and restore water to a more pristine state, people will have to deal with diminishing water supplies in a crisis situation in the future.

"Unless we plan wisely, we will see more contentiousness over the allocation of water worldwide--between countries and between states," Ward warns. Political and legal debates over "rights to water" like the current Alabama-Georgia water wars over allocation of water from the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River system will be commonplace.

By 2020, human populations will increasingly be seeking and using water from such sources as underground aquifers, but that solution will bring its own set of problems. Renewal of sub-surface waters takes much longer than surface waters such as rivers and lakes. "We are in danger of using the water faster than it can be replaced. Also, tracking the movement and contamination of subsurface water is much more difficult than with surface water. The longer we wait to deal with water issues, the more expensive and traumatic it will be."