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</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/water-wars/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/water-wars/</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">VV</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>When it comes to dams, we're not just talking about hydropower</strong>. We're talking about agriculture, water storage and flood control. We're talking about storing hazardous materials. While the first dam Americans think of is usually the Hoover Dam or the Grand Coulee, most in the US are embankment dams (which are made from soil that retains the water). Many in the US were built and owned by the federal government. Today, however, more than half of them are privately owned, operated and maintained.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>It may come as a shock, but the average age of the more than 90,000 dams in the US is 56. The number that are hazardous and outdated is growing</b>. The <a href="https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Dams-Final.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">American Society of Civil Engineers estimated</a> that<b> repairing them would cost nearly $45 billion. </b>That price tag is prohibitive when neither the federal government nor the private owners of these dams is willing to front the money. We are seeing the makings of a 21st-century "water war," in the US and around the globe, but it's a war being waged over more than dams.</font></p><h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Underneath this story of development are the stories of conflict over water rights, the privatization of water resources, and the steady depletion of aquifers and rivers.</font></h3><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Especially in the American West, states are suffering through drought after drought, through problems with groundwater extraction and through conflict over who has the right to which water</span>. In the US, as is the case in most other countries, maintaining the infrastructure for the safe use of water comes with a high financial cost as well as a high political cost. The financial cost is self explanatory, but the political cost comes from the fact that repairing things like dams and other hydrological infrastructure projects is rarely something politicians can point to as "savvy" or "impressive." It's attractive for politicians to claim they're building <em>new</em> and <em>impressive</em> water projects. But <em>repairing</em> infrastructure? Well, that just doesn't sound like a cool campaign ad.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the 19th century, Americans packed their belongings and made their lives in the western United States in search of gold, coal, oil, or just to build a new life. But in the process of settling, and basically claiming the West as "American," one of the most important resources has become increasingly scarce and expensive: water.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the West, water issues have been consistently a flashpoint, not just between and among states but also between and among white settlers, Indigenous Americans, federal government officials and the business elite. The West holds the headwaters of the major rivers in the continent, mainly the Columbia, Missouri, Mississippi, Rio Grande and the Colorado. But, importantly, the West also has the driest regions as well: the Mojave, Great Basin, and Chihuahua deserts. Historically, and to this day, the region depends on consistent irrigation to maintain agricultural production, especially because rainfall is totally insufficient. The scale of this irrigation development grew exponentially in the late 19th century as the federal government aimed to make the West attractive to agricultural settlers. The Bureau of Reclamation constructed dams across many western rivers to store water and then make use of it for irrigation. In the early 20th century, the dams the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed began to provide hydroelectric power as well as irrigation, water supply and recreation.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>However, this so-called "great" era of federal investment came to a halt in the late 1980s, especially with the Water Resources Development Act in 1986.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">This legislation led to the general view that <b>private and local interests</b> should shoulder more of the financial burden for these water projects, that the environment is a new consideration that must be factored into planning and maintenance, and that smaller or more marginal projects (especially those on Indigenous American reservations) will most likely not be constructed. So for most of the 20th century, the federal government's massive investment in water projects fulfilled the main objective: attracting settlers to the West. Virtually none of the cities in the west today, nor any of the major industries in the region—such as mining, manufacturing, agriculture, and others—would have survived if not for the federal investment in water projects across the region.</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, underneath this story of development are the stories of conflict over water rights, the privatization of water resources, and the steady depletion of aquifers and rivers. Most of the rivers have been dammed to the limit to capture the runoff and in many western states the groundwater has been tapped beyond the recharging limits of the aquifers. The "water wars" of the 21st century are only going to get more intense.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In the 20th century, most fights took place in courtrooms or in legislatures, but there were also literal conflicts. </b>One of the most famous was the conflict between Los Angeles County and the Owens Valley. In 1904, William Mulholland, the man in charge of the waterworks in Los Angeles, decided to divert the Owens River to Los Angeles County. This would mean enough water for decades. Despite years of pushback from residents in the Owens Valley (as well as some naysayers in the federal government), Mulholland achieved his objective, and his ditch in the San Fernando Valley was hailed as a great achievement that rivaled the Panama Canal itself.</font></p><h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the 20th century, most fighting took place in courtrooms or in legislatures, but there was also literal shooting over water.</font></h3><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In what seemed like a few hours, Los Angeles transformed from a region plagued by water shortages into a virtual oasis. However, in 1924, citizens of Owens Valley decided to use dynamite to make their point heard and reverse the water diversion. With this, the conflict left the legislature and turned into a shooting contest. After three years of on-again off-again fighting, then some negotiation, the Angelenos coughed up $12 million to "clean up Owens Valley." For the citizens of Owens Valley, however, it was a Pyrrhic victory. Today, they're <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-owens-valley-eminent-domain-20170712-story.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">fighting back</a>. Across the country (between Texas and New Mexico for example), there are other conflicts over water.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One of the most important fights over water comes from Indigenous Americans, who, since a landmark 1908 Supreme Court case (<em><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/207/564/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Winters v. United States</a></em>), have been trying to get their rightful claim over water on reservations. Despite this case "reserving" water for Native Americans in 1908, the federal government as well as white citizens across the West have made it harder for Indigenous Americans to get even their fair share of drinking water, let alone funding for irrigation projects on their land</span>s.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So the "water wars" in the 21st century <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/12/the-politics-of-drinking-water/384081/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">are already upon us</a>.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">They might not be as bloody as the "war" in California in the early 20th century, but the stakes will be higher. Across the country there are failing dams that neither private companies nor the federal government is willing to repair;<b> <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/drought-provokes-debate-on-unplugging-great-dams-of-american-west" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">rivers like the Colorado</a> are virtually dying from overuse,</b> ensuring that eventually citizens, especially those living in arid and drought-prone climates, will be fighting harder for water; and most importantly, some of the most marginalized communities, like Indigenous Americans, continue to fight inside and outside the system for the basic right to water.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">America was once hailed for its irrigation and dam development as a beacon of "modernization." As one looks deeper, however, it's clear the conflict over water has not only been drawn out, but it's also a fight that won't be ending anytime soon.</font></p><div class="around-the-web"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</font></div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><li class="from-your-siteitem"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/153084/cain's_milwaukee_meltdown%3A_will_koch_still_love_his'brother_from_another_mother'/?page=entire" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: lighter; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Cain's Milwaukee Meltdown: Will Koch Still Love His 'Brother From ... ›</a></font></font></font></font></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2013/06/noam-chomsky-nuclear/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: lighter; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Noam Chomsky: Ronald Reagan's Secret, Genocidal Wars - Alternet ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2015/03/california-fast-running-out-water-blame-it-big-ag/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: lighter; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">California Is Fast Running Out of Water - Blame It on Big Ag ... ›</a></li></ul><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</font></div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><li class="around-the-webitem"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/world-aquifers-water-wars" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: lighter; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">What You Need to Know About the World's Water Wars ›</a></font></font></font></font></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/10/where-the-water-wars-of-the-future-will-be-fought" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: lighter; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Where will the 'water wars' of the future be fought? | World Economic ... ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://theconversation.com/interstate-water-wars-are-heating-up-along-with-the-climate-159092" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: lighter; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Interstate water wars are heating up along with the climate ›</a></li></ul></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">420</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html</a></font></div><div><p style="margin: 10px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A severe <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">drought</a> that has engulfed the American Southwest since the year 2000 is likely to soon be the most severe drought since the 800s, according to a <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6488/314" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">new study</a> published in <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6488/314" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">Science</a>.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div class="rebellt-item col1" id="rebelltitem1" data-id="1" data-reload-ads="false" data-is-image="False" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" data-basename="particle-1" data-post-id="2645742986"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;" /><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"This appears to be just the beginning of a more extreme trend toward megadrought as global warming continues," the authors wrote in the <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6488/314" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">study</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A team of researchers from Columbia University conducted the study. They described the ongoing dry spell, which has helped intensify <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">wildfire</a> seasons and threatened water supplies for people and agriculture, as an "emerging megadrought," according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/climate/drought-southwest-climate-change.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">The New York Times</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;" /></div><div class="rebellt-item col1" id="rebelltitem2" data-id="2" data-reload-ads="true" data-is-image="False" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" data-basename="particle-2" data-post-id="2645742986" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 10px 0px;" /><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Of course, nothing is guaranteed. By comparison to the previous 19 years, 2019 was actually a fairly wet year. Unpredictable <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">climate variability</a> may also bring enough rain to the region to end the drought, but global warming boosts the chances that the drought will endure.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We know that this drought has been encouraged by the global warming process," said lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/%25E2%2580%259CWe%20know%20that%20this%20drought%20has%20been%20encouraged%20by%20the%20global%20warming%20process,%25E2%2580%259D%20said%20Park%20Williams,%20a%20bioclimatologist%20at%20Lamont-Doherty%20Earth%20Observatory%20at%20Columbia%20University,%20and%20lead%20author%20of%20a%20study%20published%20Thursday%20in%20Science.%20%25E2%2580%259CAs%20we%20go%20forward%20in%20time%20it%25E2%2580%2599s%20going%20to%20take%20more%20and%20more%20good%20luck%20to%20pull%20us%20out%20of%20this.%25E2%2580%259D" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">The New York Times</a> reported. "As we go forward in time it's going to take more and more good luck to pull us out of this."</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;" /></div><div class="rebellt-item col1" id="rebelltitem3" data-id="3" data-reload-ads="true" data-is-image="False" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3" data-basename="particle-3" data-post-id="2645742986"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;" /><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Scientists have suspected for a while that that the dryness is evolving into a megadrought. The new research not only confirms their suspicion, but also concludes this megadrought may be as bad or worse than anything known before.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said Williams, in a statement, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/16/drought-worst-western-megadrought-here-study-says/5145929002/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">USA Today</a> reported. This is "a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The researchers say that man-made global warming caused about half of this drought</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Changes in the climate have contributed to dwindling reservoirs and harsher wildfire seasons.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It all could get much worse.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;" /></div><div class="rebellt-item col1" id="rebelltitem4" data-id="4" data-reload-ads="true" data-is-image="False" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4" data-basename="particle-4" data-post-id="2645742986"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;" /><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Anthropogenic global warming and its drying influence in (southwestern North America) are likely still in their infancy," the study warns, as </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/17/health/drought-southwest-north-america-study-trnd/index.html" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">CNN</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> reported. "The</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">magnitude of future droughts in North America and elsewhere will depend greatly on future rates of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions globally."</span></font></p><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url css-listicle-body-2645742986" data-elid="2645742986" data-post-url="https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html" data-authors="Jordan Davidson" data-headline="Southwest Drought Could Be Worst in 1,200 Years, Due to the Climate Crisis" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><div class="body-description" style="clear: both;"><div class="rebellt-item col1" id="rebelltitem4" data-id="4" data-reload-ads="true" data-is-image="False" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4" data-basename="particle-4" data-post-id="2645742986"><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Without a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, these droughts are just the beginning.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The effects of future droughts on humans will be further dependent on sustainable resource use because buffering mechanisms such as ground water and reservoir storage are at risk of being depleted during dry times," the study continues, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/17/health/drought-southwest-north-america-study-trnd/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">CNN</a>....</font></p></div></div></div></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">icn 1219</font></p><h3 class="article-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-family: " playfair="Playfair" display="Display" serif="serif" font-weight="font-weight" normal="normal" line-height="line-height" font-size="font-size" rem="rem" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" height="height" px="px"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04122019/atmospheric-rivers-climate-change-flood-mudslide-risk-rising-california-west" rel="bookmark" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none;">Atmospheric Rivers Fuel Most Western U.S. Flooding. Climate Change Will Make Them Worse.</a></h3><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div>