THE WATER PROBLEM

How to Get It Where It Isn't

THE most plentiful natural resource in the U.S. is water. Some 1.5 quadrillion gallons annually fall on the nation, enough to fill a lake as big as the state of California and 50 ft. deep. But in many sections of the U.S. a serious water shortage exists or is developing. The real problem is one of distribution --how to get the water where it isn't. Shortages crop up because a growing population and a rising standard of living (e.g., 35 million bathrooms now v. about 13 million in 1930) are multiplying the demand faster than the U.S. is learning how to use its supply. For every one of its 165 million people, the U.S. uses an average of about 1,500 gallons of water every day (v. 600 gallons in 1900). All told, the nation consumes 231 billion gallons daily, more than enough to float the combined merchant fleets of the entire world; by 1975 consumption will soar to 402 billion gallons a day. One of the nation's top water experts, Army Engineers Chief Samuel Sturgis Jr., warns that the U.S. had better head off a shortage without further delay.

The shortage has already taken hold in Texas, where population jumped 130% between 1890 and 1950, and water consumption an astonishing 13,500%. What this means is that today's Texan uses 135 times as much water as his grandfather, and some parts of the state are draining their reserves. Houston, for example, is pumping from wells so fast that the land is actually sinking, from six inches in the business district to more than three feet in suburban Pasadena. Though enough rain falls on Texas every year to cover the entire state to a depth of 30 inches, man uses only a small part of this flood. Such worthless plant life as mesquite and catclaw absorbs 35% of the rainfall, and another 40% is lost to evaporation. Of the total precipitation, Texans are left with little--about 3% for pasture grass, timber, crops, etc.. another 3% that seeps to underground reservoirs.

In all the U.S. the biggest single consumer of water is irrigation, which has spread from a few thousand western acres in 1850 to some 30 million acres, sprawled over such eastern and southern states as Delaware, Rhode Island, Mississippi. To grow a bushel of corn by irrigation requires about 10,000 gallons of water; to grow a ton of alfalfa hay, about 200,000 gallons. At present irrigation soaks up about 100 billion gallons of water daily, almost half the water withdrawn by the entire nation.

Nobody is more concerned about water than U.S. industry, which already uses about 80 billion gallons daily, will siphon off 200 billion gallons daily (exclusive of water power) by 1975. Whatever the product, the choice of any plant site often depends on how much fresh water is available. After World War II, for example, General Motors wanted to take over a Lima (Ohio) plant that it had operated for the Government, but backed out because it could not get a guarantee of future water supplies. Ford Motor Co. built a huge new plant at Walton Hills, outside Cleveland, but only after the city agreed to extend its water mains. If Denver cannot find more water, its industrial growth must grind to a halt by 1963.

As scarcities loom, many a company learns to conserve water. By using, cooling and re-using water until it completely evaporates, Kaiser Steel Corp.'s Fontana, Calif, plant consumes only 1,100 gallons of water per ton of steel v. the industry average of 65,000 gallons per ton. Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point (Md.) plant found a cheap water supply in the treated effluence of Baltimore's municipal sewage. Though the initial equipment cost is higher, some companies are shifting to salt water for cooling.

Every water expert knows that there is no quick and simple way to avert the threat of shortages. One proposed remedy is the regional water commission of nonpolitical experts to tackle the problem for an entire valley or watershed; such commissions are in operation in Boston, Los Angeles, suburban Washington. To plug two big leaks, the Government is pressing farmers to replace open irrigation ditches with more efficient concrete pipe, industry to conserve water by re-using supplies.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a $6,000,000 appropriation to develop a low-cost method of converting sea water, thus provide thirsty cities, Los Angeles, Houston, New York and others, with unlimited supplies; it is considering a bill to authorize longterm, interest-free loans (up to $5,000,000) to local groups that want to build small dams. But Congress has left the Army Engineers with an $8.5 billion backlog of flood-control and water-storage projects. Only last week the House Appropriations Committee slashed $48 million from President Eisenhower's $512 million budget for water projects next year. The price of water conservation may seem high, but the cost of water shortage is even higher.

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