Water Wars: Fresh Water In The Great Lakes

1341 Words6 Pages
Water Wars Ben Bernanke World Geography Ms. Glenda Witch June 25, 2010 Approximately one-third of the world’s population is suffering from water scarcity. The Great Lakes of the United States and Canada make up the largest body of fresh water on the planet, as those without search for fresh water, the very existence of the Great Lakes is in constant threat of diversion. Entreperneurs, farmers, and recreational users all have their eye on the prize, but with eight U.S. States and two Canadian Provinces now working to protect this important resource things are moving in the right direction. The Great Lakes consist of five lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. These lakes lie on the U.S./Canadian…show more content…
Annin writes, a growing global water shortage will put tremendous pressure on the water-rich regions of the world to open up the spigots (2007). The United Nation predicts that by 2025 two-thirds of the global population will face water shortages. You need to look only as far as what Russian farmers did as they looked to what they thought was a never ending supply of water in the Aral Sea. They began pumping from it’s tributaries to irrigate crops and “bloom the desert,” in little more than 14 years the results are catastrophic, The Aral lost 90 percent of it’s volume and 75 percent of it’s surface area, for…show more content…
In 1998 a Canadian entrepreneur was granted the right to export 158 million gallons of water per year to China for consumption but public outcry halted the entrepreneur’s efforts, it also highlighted some of the WRDA’s shortcomings. Over the next four years and several meetings the governors and premiers created a stronger, more legally binding protection for the Great Lakes. These parallel legislations: St. Lawrence Basin Sustainable Water Use Agreement, and Compact now hold both parties in trust of the waters. They also are meant to create a better defense when the day comes that others will fight for our water. The Compact isn’t perfect, by the words of Annin, but it is a start and will lead us closer to a solution that will help the Great Lakes and the Seaway endure the next 100 years

More about Water Wars: Fresh Water In The Great Lakes

Open Document