Texas conjures up images of big oil and tycoons, such as Boone Pickens, a wealthy oilman who is poised to gain eight acres of Texas scrubland in an effort to strike fresh water amidst a growing western drought and just in time for what he predicts to be a long-term water crisis. Pickens plans on capitalizing on global warming at a time when desalination plants are being built on the West Coast and water pipelines are a growing business as the population grows. Biofuels are another reason water promises to be profitable – the new energy craves water.
Pickens’ estimated $10 billion project will allow him access to a portion of the 174,000-square-mile Ogallala Aquifer – North America’s biggest underground water reservoir. So, if this oil mogul is willing to spend $10 billion he must expect a pretty profit, right? All the more reason for Great Lakes states to take responsibility for their water resources by passing the Water Compact. Because if they don’t, thirsty states will be putting their straws into the lakes and sucking them dry.
Begging the question, what does that say about Great Lakes restoration and the more than $80 billion in short- and long-term economic gain the region is expected to experience through the cleanup of the lakes? Simply: If you ain’t got water, you ain’t got the economic benefit.
Ken Kramer, director of the Texas Sierra Club told Bloomberg reporter Lorraine Woellert that “We have real concerns about private control of water. Water is a resource, yet in some respects it is a commodity. It’s as essential to human life as air. That puts water in a different class.”
I’d say. Water defines the region, economically and culturally. A restored Great Lakes will position the region as attractive to new businesses and industries; foster the development of cutting-edge water technologies; and attract and retain talented workers–thereby reviving metropolitan areas and boosting the region’s prosperity.
And yet all of this is jeopardized by a new rush for water, as illustrated by the story of one Texas oilman who is quick enough to jump on an “emerging market.” There’s just one problem: I’d no sooner sell off Great Lakes water than I would sell off the Grand Canyon or Mt. Rushmore. The Great Lakes are not for sale. It’s time to see the Great Lakes as what they truly are: a national treasure in need of some help–a resource that, if treated wisely, can help transform the rust belt into the fresh water north coast.
Related posts:
- Never Forget Those Who Think We Are Awash In Water
- Forget the Alamo: Remember Love Canal
- Climate Change and Water Diversion Won’t Leave Much “Great” in the Lakes
- A Real Economic Recovery Package
- Water, It’s Worth Fighting For