Our pumps suck the aquifers for the most accessible and sweetest water to put golf courses, lakes and fountains in the desert, to slurry coal to our electrical generating stations, to flush our toilets and water our lawns.

We will leave the deep, bitter and expensive water for our children.

White Sands, New Mexico and St. David, Arizona supported lush grasslands and springs within the last 50 years and are now deserts. The road to Bowen Ranch once led through a pinon and juniper forest. The forest is mostly gone and motor vehicle-borne interloping grasses and thorns now compete for the vacated space.

"The Cadillac Desert" and "The Last Ranch" were written in the waning years of the 20th Century. The stage is now set for the 21st Century struggle for possession our most precious commodity.

As Mark Twain once said, "Whiskey is for Drinking, but Water is for Fighting."