The United States' water shortage situation is critical. More states could experience more severe water shortages in the future if droughts persist and if the government fails to invest in water infrastructure.
During an appearance on the show "Liberty and Finance," investment guru and financial expert Rick Rule discussed how this situation will only get direr as the government continues to ignore America's need for strong water infrastructure.
"This is a circumstance that occurs around the country. There has been insufficient investment in water storage, in water distribution, in all aspects of the water business," said Rule. "It wasn't a problem until it became a problem. Now, it's a problem that will require trillions of dollars and too many decades to fix."
Rule further warned that this crisis is far too terrible to postpone any further. "We postponed it in the '70s. We postponed it in the '80s. We postponed it in the '90s," he said. "I remember the arithmetic around the discussions that I would have at times like this, and the response from every member of the community was 'That's tomorrow's problem.' Well, tomorrow's here."
California most affected by drought, millions could experience water shortages soon
Among the states with the worst water shortage situation is California. A new report has found that nearly 20 percent of water agencies in the state will likely experience shortages in the coming months if the drought continues. (Related: Los Angeles desperately trying to meet water demand as drought continues to threaten future supplies.)
"We are living in unprecedented conditions," said Alvar Escrito-Bou, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California's Water Policy Center, who noted that the last three years have been the driest in California's history. "We haven't seen this before. It's normal that after three years of drought – especially if we don't get rain this fall or winter – we could face big challenges on the supply side."
According to the California Department of Water Resources, nearly 82 percent of water suppliers in the state did not project supply shortages in 2023. But nearly 18 percent projected water shortages without immediate mitigation actions.
Most of these suppliers are located in the San Francisco Bay Area region and the South Coast region, which includes much of Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange and San Diego counties.
"It all depends on how conditions develop," said Demetri Polyzos, a resource planning team manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "If conditions stay dry as they have been, then we again are in a situation where, for pockets of our service area, we will not have adequate supplies."
The water district's recent water conservation efforts are reportedly working, but more needs to be done to continue preventing water shortages.
"We could see conditions worsening especially if we don't get enough rain this fall or winter," said Escrito-Bou. "So, next year, especially those who rely on one supply or one reservoir or one single supply can be more vulnerable than places that have a portfolio of options."
Learn more about America's water supply situation at CleanWater.news.
Watch this episode of "Liberty and Finance" as host Dunagun Kaiser speaks with investment guru Rick Rule regarding America's critical water shortage situation.
This video is from the Liberty and Finance channel on Brighteon.com.
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