Not a Drop to Drink author Ken Midkiff - Essay Example

NOT A DROP TO DRINK
Midkiff endorses the intensity of the problem by explaining more about one of these 3 rivers - the Ogallala - calling the area on its banks as “quite literally the nation’s breadbasket” (Midkiff, 28).

The second cause is the wrong choice of crops and the wrong encouragement of such a choice. Midkiff points out that whereas about 50% of the U.S. population were engaged in agriculture in the early 1900s, that number has dwindled to just 1% at present (Midkiff, 36). While also blaming the growing of crops like soya beans, corn, and wheat on lands where irrigation is fed by depleting aquifers (Midkiff, 52), he heaps heavy blame on the “water-guzzling” rice crop (Midkiff, 50), saying rice is a wrong crop choice as it needs a huge amount of water. For example, in Central Valley, California, rice has largely contributed to the water shortage; the Valley, once previously a desert, blossomed with agricultural abundance brought about by the supply of underpriced water as a result of old fashioned, lobby-driven farm grants from the government {for example, in 2005, government grants totaled $ massive 143 billion (Midkiff, 46)}. Midkiff warns that if no remedial action is quickly taken, huge tracts of California land will revert to desert conditions (Midkiff, 45).

The third cause is population increase. Midkiff says the U.S. population is continually increasing and consumption of water per person is also increasing (Midkiff, 53), creating the problem of “too many people in a dry land that cannot support its population” (Midkiff, 54).

The fourth cause is privatization. Blaming water privatization for causing “consternation, controversy, and outcry throughout the world” (Midkiff, 92), Midkiff declares that it will only increase the water bills payable by the common people.

The fifth cause is water wars. Midkiff cites the example of fighting between the cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas for the freshwater in Colorado (Midkiff, 3) as a prime example.
The last cause is global warming that is increasingly throwing the patterns and volume of global water resources into disarray. Midkiff blames the burning of fossil fuels in coal power plants and in the nation’s millions of cars as the main producer of carbon dioxide that is polluting the atmosphere and leading to global warming (Midkiff, 119). He uses this opportunity to criticize the Kansas City Power and Lights proposed extension, and the construction of a new, massive coal power plant in Southern Illinois (Midkiff, 128).

Midkiff does not believe that the solution lies in either setting up desalination plants or depending on the melted waters of towed glaciers. This is because both types of desalination plants – reverse osmosis and distillation – are not practicable due to the inherent high costs, inefficiency, and problems with waste disposal (Midkiff, 139), while dependence on glaciers is inadvisable as the glaciers all over the world are melting due to global warming (Midkiff, 122).

The only solution, according to Midkiff, is water conservation. Using a 1960 slogan: “If you are not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” (Midkiff, 89) to underline their heavy involvement in the crisis, he pleads with his fellow citizens to exert strong efforts to urge environmental organizations and government agencies to take up remedial measures urgently.

In conclusion, Ken Midkiff, who is a leading expert on American water supply, succeeds in providing such an insightful analysis of the approaching water crisis in the country, that the book inexorably invites increasing attention from environmental organizations, government agencies, and U.S. citizens about the vital need to speedily protect and conserve the nation’s water resources before the looming water shortage situation spins out of control.