How much water is there on earth? (Introduction)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 18:15 (4455 days ago) @ David Turell

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html
> > 
> > This accounts for water vapor (clouds) too.
> 
> And we are using it stupidly. Dams destroy the ecology of rivers; look at the studies of the Colorado below the Glen Canyon dam. At least now the releases approach the natural needs. The Ogalalla aquifer is disappearing. No one cares. When it is gone it will take 6,000 years to replace. At least we can always desalinate the oceans, and sell lots of sea salt, the latest sales gimmick.
> 
> Let's not get into the question of what do we do when the artificial lakes behind the dams silt up. We use water stupidly, especially when dictated by a government.-That might be a little harsh... I've known guys in the Army Corps. If you let each state control flows without centralized management, internal politics could get pretty dicey: Imagine if North Dakota faced drought and decided to shut the gates? Everyone downstream would be negatively affected. -Water flow is too big a problem to not have some kind of national management system.

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"