There would appear that here in the United States we have many problems, not the least of which is water shortage due to drought. Global warming being the cause? Perhaps or it could simply be a natural cycle brought upon by the day to day activity of the weather patterns encompasing the Earth. Either way, we are beginning to have severe water shortages.

  If something isn't done, I envision armed camps at every lake in the nation to prevent those who are low on water from draining our natural resources. And yes, a lake is a natural resource. We cannot afford to steal from Peter to pay Paul as the saying goes.

  A few solutions come to mind that we could try rather than lengthy court battles between states which will do to us what Bin Laden and the other extremists greatly covet. Our demise. For if we begin squabbling among ourselves, how in the world are going to stand united against them?

  So with that in mind, here are a few solutions I think it would be feasible to try:

  1- Put a cap on building in areas with a limited Water Supply!

  Sounds simple enough doesn't it? But the developers would rather build and sell to people who will have a hard time in years to come, than to risk allowing legislation to be enacted which might cut into their profit margin. I guess the saying holds true here: Buyer Beware!!

  2-Desalinization Plants

  Kind of self explanatory. Remove water from the seas. But where are you going to build them? On the beaches, people living nearby will tie you up in legslation, not to mention the hue and cry from the environmentalists. But you don't really need to build on the beach. Just as cities pipe in water from lakes miles away, so too could desalinization plants. Underground pipes would destroy nothing, detract in no way from the scenic beauty of the area, except during the initial construction. But you could get by that by having the companies installing the pipes landscape the area upon completion.

  Through the use of desalinization plants, we could save our lakes, and provide water to areas in desperate need. I could even see desalinization plants being private enterprise. With growing water shortages everywhere, there will be a high demand and potentially high profits to be made.

  Another benefit from drawing our water from the seas is it would reduce the effect global warming has on the rising level of the seas. As the ice caps melt, the seas rise. If we had many desalinization plants, it may not halt the rise, but it could conceivably slow it. Build enough and maybe we could even halt it. Remember the movie, 'Day after Tomorrow'? The biggest cause for the desatrous weather patterns was the decrease in the salinization of our seas due to the melting ice caps. Take out water, put the salt back in, and we could help restore the balance. I'm not a scientist, but I think this is a viable solution.

  We could even have Water Rigs out in the oceans like we have oil rigs. Tankers, instead of hauling oil, would be used to haul fresh water to dry areas. People pay for water now as it is, why not pay for water from the oceans.

3-Tap our Rivers

  Millions of gallons of fresh water pours into the ocean via our many rivers. I would propose constructing water collection points at the mouths of all our major, and even minor rivers. Or how about the Mississippi River? Place collection points along its length, and whenever there is a danger of flood, or even if it just reaches a certain level, start drawing off water. We don't have to take it all, and I would even advise against taking too much, but draw off half during the wet months and store it for the dry.

  Any river that floods on a regular basis, say every other year or so, should have large capacity water siphons in place to draw off the excess. Yes, it will be expensive. But how much will the legal fees be in all the trials for water rights that are going to occur in the next decade, or even longer? Don't pay lawyers, pay engineers and construction workers who need the money.

 Those are my three main ideas which I believe are feasible. Instead of fighting amongst ourselves, or threatening to steal water from lakes like a thief in the night, let's work together to solve this issue.