Town "Runs Out" of Water
The water wars continue, with another story coming from Drudge. This one is titled: "Tennessee town has run out of water." But reading the story, it quickly becomes evident that the headline is false. The town has water every day from 6-9pm. Why just 6-9pm? Well, that's when the mayor turns it on. It appears that, during this time period, people can use as much as they want (but I'm sure are encouraged to show restraint).
The story laments that everyday they have to import water, from Alabama! Of course, Alabama is less than 4 miles away. But the town, apparently, has "run out" of water, because they don't constantly have any on hand. Some days I "run out" of food, and some times I drive all the way to the District of Columbia, or even Maryland to get some!
I won't make any pleas to institute "market" prices or "privatize" the water supply. If you're reading this you are probably already either for or against that proposition. But I will point out that the story closes on a happy note, as the town has received a $377,590 grant from the citizens of These United States to resolve the issue (this amount is more than 29 years worth of the town's annual budget of $13,000). The Mayor calls it "THE solution," as in, "THE [only] solution." Well, I'll just say it isn't the only one (where are the Ostroms when you need them?).
So a little town of 1000 people can truck in enough water each day for its
citizens using a fire truck, even if they have to force everyone to only
use water in the evenings. Regardless of "when" Atlanta proper runs out of
water, no one seems to have a good idea how you import millions of gallons
of water to keep a major metro area going on even a subsistence level if it
does get to that point. It isn't just keep citizens shower fresh and their
washing machines going, but also various industries for whom water is a
critical part of their industrial processes. So a few million people just
pack up and leave orderly and resettle elsewhere in the US while they wait
for the reservoirs to fill back up?