Michigan, Land of Abundant Waters, for Now

Say what you want about Michigan, but it is benign.  Think about it.  Our only poisonous snake is a less than deadly rattler.  Not many pernicious insects to speak of, well maybe some Black Widow spiders in the wood piles.  But, perhaps the most benign thing about Michigan is its climate, particularly of late.

Sure we've had some warm days in July and some cold ones last winter, but compared to the other parts of the continent, no complaints.  Look at the rest of the country.  Floods, hurricanes, droughts, you name it.

Drought definitely doesn’t top of our list of climate hazards.  Michigan is surrounded with water, fresh water.  In fact we're surrounded with a little over 20% of the world's fresh surface water.  That's undoubtedly a factor that moderates our climate here and ensures its benign constancy.

The Lakes themselves contain 6 quadrillion gallons.  That would cover North America, South America and Africa with a foot of water.  But don't think for a minute the water around us is limitless.  Marc Smith, a policy analyst with the National Wildlife Federation’s regional office in Ann Arbor puts it this way.

We live in a very water-rich area and it’s easy for folks to look at this vast resource and think there’s no way we can deplete it, we don’t have to worry about conservation. That would be a terrible mistake.

Three states and Canada suck vast amounts of water from the Lakes every day for agriculture, industry, drinking and who knows what else.  But so far, we haven't drained them dry.  So far, but...

But with world population growing exponentially and droughts looming here and there more often, the demand for fresh water continues to explode.  And who is it that's sitting on a preponderance of that water?  Why yes, that’s right.  It's us.  And who do you think will be among the first to fill their buckets at our well?

Start a few decades ago when large segments of our own population and that of the surrounding Midwest fled the declining “rust belt” for the warmer climes of the Southwest. The National Academy of Sciences studies conclude that explosive population growth then and in prior years has pushed the Southwest's relatively meager water supply to unsustainable levels of use.  A New York Times article states that…

The region's population grew from 2.1 million to more than 50 million during the 20th century. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that, by 2030, the Southwest will be home to more than 67 million people. Within 50 to 100 years, the current population could double.

After they’ve drained their neighboring states dry, where do you suppose they’ll turn for fresh water.  And they’re not the only ones.

Will Graf, a geographer in the University of South Carolina’s College of Arts and Sciences sums it up…

It turns out that the Southeast has a relatively small margin of water surplus for the future…The water resource picture in the Southeast is becoming similar to that of the Southwest, where water disputes have long been a prominent part of policy and resource management.

Who would have guessed that instead of Arizona vs. California, we may have South Carolina vs. Georgia? The looming issue of providing enough water for Atlanta and the possibility of reaching to the Savannah River for water for Atlanta is an example of the coming debates over our region’s water.

So neither the Southwest nor the Southeast apparently has enough water to fill their needs.  And here we are, blissfully enjoying our benign State with its abundant waters.

For how long, I wonder.