Jobe, The reference to " the day of reckoning " in the beginning post was written by the author of that article, not by me :-) However I do agree with his sentiment, and we will see increasing conflict over water issues that will rival the fighting that has been in progress already for diminishing hydrocarbon energy supplies. In the United States, the southwest is precicted for much drier conditions in the coming decades, so we may very well see the economic " progress " we have become accustomed to, curtailed greatly, from lack of water. Also in these same areas, it takes huge amounts of energy to move what water there is available, to where its needed.