Ideas 8...Water Shortage & Poor Quality

As the human population on the planet grows, so will the need for more water, for drinking, agriculture and industry. Shortages in California, Australia, Turkey and northern PRC are just the tip of the iceberg. Only a world technocracy can build a global water grid running mainly from cold latitudes to warmer ones, with pumps powered by output from geothermal, wind, solar and nuclear fusion power stations. Existing networks in the PRC and Libya give some idea of what is required. Most existing natural gas pipelines would be converted to carry fresh water. In addition plants would be constructed to treat water contaminated by mine workings and natural chemical processes, such as arsenic. Where necessary water desalination plants would be constructed, to extract fresh water from sea water.

The long term solution to this problem is birth control and hydroponics. The simmering conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Revolution Dam project clearly shows that the Egyptian government is resistant to these ideas. However, it maybe forced to do so, in order to stop rising ground water undermining the nation's valuable and irreplaceable archeology. Extending Egypt's agriculture out from the Nile valley is causing these ancient foundations to crumble away, and no doubt destroy archeology that is thus far undiscovered. Predictions that the human population of this planet will level off by 2100, do not take into account social factors nor medical advances in immortality.

In August 2022 HMG declared a drought in the UK as forest fires raged in Portugal and south west France. Most of France and Germany were under drought conditions with the River Rhine almost closed to barges due to low water level, many carrying fuel to power stations. Rivers to the south, such as the Loire and Po were in an even worse condition, whilst the river Thames was at its lowest since 2005. The level of water on Lake Mead which supplies water and electricity to 40 million people in the south-west United States including Las Vegas, was so low that electricity production could cease in two years time. The way things are going, if governments don't get a grip on global warming, then much of the world's drinking water will have to be conveyed along lengthy pipelines from the tundra regions or obtained by desalination in the not too distant future. Hydro-electric power has been cut by 20% in the UK due to lack of water whilst riverside powerstations have had to reduce output due to the river water being too warm for cooling purposes. The situation does not bode well for winter. No sooner was the first heat wave over in the UK in 2022 than 50 beaches came under threat from pollution from water companies, due to rainwater in thunderstorms producing too much run-off from Sun baked earth. Statistics now showed that the equivalent of 16 football pitches of forest were being destroyed by fire every minute said Global Forest Watch. A figure that has doubled in the last 20 years. Nine million hectares were consumed in 2021, 5 million of which was in Russia. Clearly the Russian military were fighting in the wrong field.

It is clear to me that companies transporting or producing water should be owned by that nation's sovereign wealth fund, and not left to the forces of capitalism where assets, like infrequently used reservoirs, are sold off, only to see the company asset stripped after a take over, where the share holders receive extra dividends from these sales. Then of course there is mismanagement, where the water company invests in something that has nothing to do with its prime function, only to lack funds for essential water plant operation and maintenance, often resulting in punitive fines for breaches in water pollution regulations. Until nations are managed by technocrats it's unlikely that these failings will be a thing of the past. Water, gas, electricity, information technology, and rapid transit employing taxi-vans and air taxis should all be owned by that nation's sovereign wealth fund. I include IT because of the huge amount of time spent maintaining such systems and their cost. In the UK there is little training, no standards and no rationalization. Being the foundation of an economy, it is in the government's interest to drastically improve IT efficacy and organizational efficiency, in order to improve competitiveness in the global economy.

In August 2022 The Liberal Democrats stated that 90% of the water industries foul water sensors either did not work, did not work most of the time or did not exist. It is clear that these sensors should be installed, linked to the internet via satellite, to be read by water companies, OFWAT, environmental organisations and the general public. It's just another example of HMG's failure to understand and implement the capabilities of information technology. And whilst water companies are paying share dividends there is no excuse for not having these sensors working. It should not be necessary for parliament to legislate this matter. Just what kind of an environment do water companies want?