Whitewater in Arkansas again! Subsidized rice farmers in Arkansas want the Federal government to pay for diverting water from the White River to irrigate their crops, since they have almost completely drained the large aquifer under their farms. Arkansas gets about 50 inches of rain per year, enough for decent crop yields without irrigation. Sustainability without further attacks on the environment is the only reasonable option, one unlikely to get consideration from our current "government."

As I've ranted about before, water is the BIG ISSUE for the 21st century. Corporations are already grabbing up as much as they can, while more and more fresh water is polluted by chemicals and animal feed lots or depleted by irrigation and global warming. While we can live without oil, and in many ways life would be more pleasant, we can't live without water, and there are shortages occurring throughout the world, including within the US. A responsible government, something we haven't had for a long time, would put an immediate stop to frivolous and wasteful uses of water: golf courses, suburban lawns, feed lots, and many others.

The "Politics in the Zeros" weblog has an ongoing page of water-related stories and links.