WATER WASTE

As a follow-up to my post earlier this month about water, here's an article from the Economist about the world's water shortage: "Running Dry."

Here's a depressing statistic: farming accounts for 70 percent of human water consumption, and as much as 70 percent of water used by farmers never gets to crops (leaky irrigation channels, draining into rivers). That means almost half the water we have to work with is squandered!

A more appropriate price for water would encourage drip irrigation, water conservation methods, and other rational behaviors. As it is, we're treating water as if we can waste it, so it might seem like it's a good thing that we don't have to pay for it, but somebody's going to pay.