A vital but limited human resource subject to increasingly unsatisfiable demands:
The politics of water are becoming quite interesting. Private property rights will be severely tested as urban areas find they cannot sustain growth without securing water rights that may come from great distances. City dwellers will compete with farmers and ranchers for adequate amounts of affordable water. States sharing water resources such as rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers are already battling their neighbors when they perceive an unfair overuse of this precious commodity.
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Urban Studies Program Director Political Science Professor Steven P. Erie voiced similar concerns about the future of smart growth. Cities, he said, will fight for paltry sales taxes from ever fewer auto dealerships, and neighborhoods will battle against infill, made increasingly necessary by the lack of land for development in rural areas. ''It will be NIMBYism (''Not-In-My-Back-Yard''ism) on steroids,'' Professor Erie cautioned. ''It’s going to be a different set of growth wars than we’ve had in the past.'' 12/18/2009 Web Link
