Rain & Water Wars.

After weeks of dryness throughout April & May we finally had rain last night. All climate records have been broken. There was stunning thunder and lightening. The Alchemilla looked lovely with it's fat raindrop globules this morning. My newly planted trees have struggled despite my watering efforts, and my lawn is full of deep cracks in the ground. The spring flowering has been spectacular. This following on from the third hard winter in a row. The man made cause might be disputed, but but not by me. I don't see how anyone with eyes to see can deny climate change.

We think of the UK as a "green & pleasant land"- I wonder for how long. We assume water is an ever flowing constant, always there. Without a plentiful water supply we are simply unsustainable. Growing food, rearing animals, industrial needs, not to mention the simple day to day routines of washing - all water dependent. The trouble is, as so many things, we take it for granted.

Informed people are already talking about "Water Wars". Nations abstract huge amounts of water seriously impacting on other nations further down river. Massive dams are built, again impacting on other countries. I have seen the "Great Man Made River" in Libya and was filled with horror at the wasteful selfishness of the whole project.  Farmers, villages & individuals do the same.

We seem to think that water is a right rather than a valuable natural resource. Tell that to millions of people in the third world who have no access to clean water. As you are watering your flowers think of people walking miles to get a container full of water or drinking filthy, contaminated water from a river or stream.

I'm not naive enough to think that this can be solved easily, but it could be solved now. We have the technology & the resources. It's not rocket science. It just takes the will of enough people not to accept the unacceptable. It also takes the will to spend the money on something really worthwhile.