The pending scramble for water (BBC/Analysis)

[eppur_se_muova]

ANALYSIS
Dominic Waughray
Senior director, head of environmental initiatives, World Economic Forum, Geneva
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None of these countries needs the land for the sake of territorial expansion.

What they need the land for is more fundamental: food. In all these cases, it is a shortage of water that has prompted this move.

The experience of Saudi Arabia, China and South Korea today could be a foretaste of what will follow elsewhere.

It stems from the failure of national governments and the international trade system to address the looming water crisis. Without changes, we face a scramble for water over the next two decades.

When water availability drops below 1500 cubic meters per person per year, a country needs to start importing food, particularly water intense crops.

Saudi Arabia faces this problem. Twenty other countries fell below this threshold in 2000, and another 14 will join them by 2030.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7790711.stm

Some hard news in this article for those who favor meat in their diet.

[villager]

1. I'm amazed the grain/energy/water-intensive (wasteful?) meat "industry" has lasted as long as it has

...given what an ecological disaster the whole thing is...

[depakid]

2. Key policy points:

Why is finding the water for agriculture becoming such a profound issue?

First, we have been incredibly wasteful with our agricultural water over the years, and now face shortages of groundwater in many parts of the farming world.

Second, as we grow richer, we tend to eat more meat, which requires more water.

Third, trying to reform water use in agriculture is often deemed political suicide, so inertia prevails.
Cherry orchard in the Golan Heights
Around 70% of the world's freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture

Fourth, we have an outdated global trade system for agriculture.

While over 70% of the world's freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture, historically this water has been heavily subsidised and therefore free or hugely under-priced.

It has been used wastefully as a result.