WATER - Almost Enough For Everyone

The towns people of Redding, Iowa, have survived a tornado,
several blizzards, and a plague of locusts, but the worst thing
ever to happen to the small farming town was that one day
they turned on their spigots, and nothing came out.  Thirty-
eight of their forty wells had dried up, and the National Guard
was called in.  The average American uses sixty gallons of
water a day, in Redding each person was allowed a regulation
twenty-two gallons a day.  with restrictions placed on water use,
the townspeople needed to make decisions, sacrifices, and
changes in lifestyle.

From Oowa to Antigua, California to Africa, drought and water
supply are serious issues.  The African Sahel suffers from one
the worst cases of drought in recent memory, and because this
drought is accompanied by poverty, it has escalated from a
serious issue to an emergency situation.  This lethal conbination
of drought and poverty was the cause of a famine that killed
tens of thousands of Africans.  If drought occurs in a community
that is not stable, or if it is coupled with economic, political, or
agricultural problems, the result is a crisis.

In Water: Almost Enough For Everyone, Stephanie Ocko,
provides an in-depth look at the social and environmental
implications of a severe drought, their causes, and some
possible solutions.