Problems, Politics and Prophecy About Water

"Water, water everywhere . . ."?; Not so! The worldwide crisis of water shortages continues to mount. Some have ideas that may alleviate the problem, if enough nations and individuals cooperate. What about God? Is He causing today’s problems? Will He change the climate in the future?

by Cecil Maranville

Most of us have never heard of Nassarawa, Hauwa-Gana, Tundun Wada or Bolari Kagarawal. But they and many more cities and towns in the state of Gombe, Nigeria, face an acute shortage of water.

So does Chitungwiza, a city of one million outside of Harare, Zimbabwe. Borneo, Mozambique and the Maldives do, too.

Unseasonably hot weather in Saudi Arabia led to acute water shortages in Riyadh. The Yellow River in China is at its lowest level in 50 years, and more than half of the watersheds of China’s seven main rivers are contaminated by industrial, farm and household waste, translating into summer water shortages for literally millions of people.

The Amarillo-Globe News reported in May of this year about a developing American water shortage problem in Texas: "By 2050, Texas is projected to have a 43 percent shortage of water in 900 cities," said Ron Kaiser, Texas A&M professor and organizer of a series of seminars on conservation of groundwater ("Water Shortage Expected by 2050," May 29, 2003). The Texas problem is potentially solvable with money—a lot of money, $17 billion.

I was fascinated to learn of the modern technology employed in U.S. conservation efforts. The Oregonian (June 10, 2003, online edition) tells of farmers using tractors guided by lasers and satellite receivers to level fields so perfectly that every plant receives the same amount of irrigation water. Further, what little runoff occurs is captured and recycled. Even so, local farmers struggle with a different kind of water problem—the politics of environmentalists who dispute the use of limited water supplies.

Millions of acres of pine forest in the southwestern United States have died or are dying in the current drought, due to a pine beetle infestation. The beetle burrows into trees, feeds on the inner bark and destroys or clogs passageways that move water from root to branch. As of this writing, the official estimate of acres destroyed by the pine beetle in Arizona alone stands at 800,000. That’s up from 50,000 acres in 2001 and on its way to over a million acres—an area the size of the state of Rhode Island.

Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0307/aboutwater.htm

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