One issue that is constantly undermined by the mainstream media is the centennial water crisis. Cynthia Barnett’s Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Waters of the Eastern U.S., nonfiction published in 2006 about environmental conditions, carefully describes the history behind the relationship between water, corporate greed, and human selfishness.
Throughout the book, Barnet explains the unexpected troubles with water in the South Eastern part of the United States. It has been assumed that to the East of the Mississippi or 100th Meridian, water is perpetually used by man and replaced by nature, but to the West, it is scarce. This is true, but according to Cynthia Barnett, the Southeast will be facing more troubles with droughts than the West due to overpopulation and inefficient use of water.
Barnet further explains the many failed attempts of the government to create effective policies protecting wetlands, aquifers, and surface water. The government is simply incapable of working in the interest of both nature and the common man; agencies such as the Army Corps created a habitable Florida at the cost of wetlands and wildlife. For example, throughout the twentieth century, the Army Corps mainly worked in the interest of developers by draining wetlands not anticipating the future troubles with flooding, crops, temperature, and destruction of nature. In an attempt to protect the people, the Army Corps tried to control flooding in the Everglades with canals such as the C-38 which caused catastrophic damage to thousands of acres of the Everglades.
With the Southeast spuriously growing and not decreasing water consumption, Governors of the Great Lake states are protecting their water from being drained to southern thirsty states such as Florida and Georgia. These “Water Wars” between states resembles miniature Civil Wars and are microcosms of the overall conflicts over water in the world.
In addition, Barnet also condemns the...