Here in America we have always thought we were the land of plenty and in many senses that is very true. We enjoy one of the best economies in the world, we have some of the most beautiful scenery, some of the bravest people, and we have rights provided to us that others in the world still only dream about. When this country was first settled by Europeans hundreds of years ago, it was indeed a land of plenty, plenty of land, food, and water.
When people began to settle areas of the country that had a limited water supply of its own, measures were taken to get water from other areas to where it was needed. This was fine then because the numbers of people that populated these areas were not that many and there was some water available, so it did little harm to those who lived in the water rich areas.
In recent years one place that has become known for not enough water of its own is Southern California. The population there is greater than ever before and those who live there love it and do not wish to live anywhere else. Two-thirds of the state of the Californian population lives in the Southern region. There have been droughts lately that have caused the natural water supply of that area to dwindle and water has been pumped into the southern region from the North of the state.
The Southern region has been so dry that wildfires have become common. Although those with plenty of water in Northern regions sympathize, they do not wish to export so much of their own water resources that it begins to jeopardize their supply of fresh water and endanger the wildlife in their area. East of San Francisco in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta there is one small fish called the smelt that has been noticeably disappearing and it is thought to be a direct result of water being pumped out of the delta and sent south. In the end they were ordered to pump at least one-third less water from the delta not only to protect the fish, but the delta itself.
This ruling has made a bad situation in the Southern California area even worse and many people had restrictions placed on their water usage. It makes you wonder if this is only a sign of things to come as our fresh water supply grows less and less in some places and not only in our country, but all over the world. When people begin to really run out of clean water that makes their survival possible, it is not likely to be a very pretty picture.
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