Water Shortages in Canada Are Here

“Water disputes” can easily lead to trouble – even war – or so Gwynne Dyer suggests on page 20 of his newest book, Climate Wars. (Please see my earlier post on his book.)The World Bank is also fretting about water issues. They feel that “water management (In India) also remains a formidable challenge. The climate change projections indicate that even when farmers have largely adapted to arid cropping patterns, increased demand and consequent water stress could severely jeopardize livelihoods and diminish agricultural productivity.”
http://beta.worldbank.org/node/3675
Oh well – that’s India – always troubled – really poor - very far away. No disputes about water are going to arise here in Canada – right? Hmmmnnnnnn – ask Mike Rose of The Quilchena Cattle Company in Merritt, BC. http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20090922/KAMLOOPS0101/309229973/0/KAMLOOPS0102/rancher-calls-water-order-attack-on-agriculture
The BC Ministry of Environment ordered him to turn off his irrigation pumps on September 17, 2009. This order will cost him approximately $ 150, 000 for feed to replace the hay drying up without the irrigation water from the river. Understandably, Mr. Rose is hopping mad. I predict his problem – our problem – will worsen as climate change increases water scarcity. Global warming exacerbates and causes droughts: our lives are changing in a non linear fashion.