A Dwindling Resource Access to reliable fresh water is rapidly becoming a constraint on the economic growth and food production in even the most advanced economic and agricultural societies of the world. According to the United Nations Environmental Program increasing competition for a limited supply of water and the rising economic and environmental costs of traditional water strategies must be met with a new approach to water management and regulation.
Water is used as a factor of production in agriculture, industry and households accross the world.
We rely on it to feed our increasing populations, to produce everyday goods, and to act as a diluting and purifying agent for our environment . Water is the home to countless forms of animal and plant life and provides us with aesthetic enjoyment and richness that immeasurably adds to the quality of life. In short water is essential for almost every human endeavor. This policy is no panacea for the problems of our thirsty economies. Nowhere in the US are these problems more apparent than in the states west of the 100th meridian.