Water in the US comes rather for granted. Turn on a tap, and there you have it. Enough water for whatever your needs are. However, in many water-starved areas, it's not so easy. In the Middle East and Africa, there are thousands of communities without access to the most basic need of life. In an almost perverse opposite, the town of Sitka in Alaska sits on a 6 billion gallon lake, inventively named Blue Lake. For years, it's just been sitting there, feeding about 1000 people. But now, the water will finally be exported; to India.
On the surface, this seems a good thing, but underneath is the transformation of water as a public commodity to a private one. As a public commodity, water goes out to everyone. As a private one, it goes only to those who can pay for it.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/08/the-race-to-buy-up-the-world-s-water.html It's from slashdot, but this is the story it's based on, and it's a lot more detailed.
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