Predictions often are simple. An example was the S&L/Mutual Savings Bank collapse. It was triggered by two events. The first was that these institutions loaned money for mortgages long term but borrowed money short term. This was not a smart idea in an inflationary period. The second indicator was the Hunt Commission which deregulated the industry without putting new rules in place.

But often there is a series of little indicators. That can collectively lead to a forecast. This is so with the new future for water.

Humankind has harnessed water for power and to irrigate crops. We have dug wells. But we have covered most urban and other areas with roads that do not permit water from rain, for instance, to contribute to the water table. It appears to me that we are not utilizing rain ..especially from flooding…to husband this resource. We can add to this loss the significant loss from pipes that leak.

There are small indicators that the future of water will change in a dramatic way. I predict that we will use water to replenish the water table, that we will farm in a more water economical manner and that we will, among other changes, find a more efficient manner to dispose of human waste.

The change in climate has and will increase drought and flooding. That is a given, no matter on how you see the causes of climate change. The affects are here already.

My old futurist friend T T Molitor cited a quote by Richard Lamm that ought to encourage us. “The future isn’t something we inherit. It is something that we create.”

That quote ought to inspire us.