Remember Pete Seeger's classic song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" A new version of that may be "Where Has All the Water Gone?" Scientists have identified large areas of the planet as "hot stains," that is regions of the earth running out of clean, drinkable water. Our most precious natural resource is imperiled. Rising demand along with fetishes with green lawns, golf courses and endless showers are all part of an appalling lack of conservation. Depletion of aquifers, rivers and lakes shrinking and drying up, pose serious threats to our collective well-being. Water for millennia was considered an integral part of the commons, for the public good, not owned for private use and profit. All that is changing now with ominous consequences. Corporations are sweeping down and literally buying water. A major crisis is not far away.

Deborah Kaufman
Deborah Kaufman is the author of Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water. Her documentary films "Thirst", "Secrets of Silicon Valley" and "Blacks and Jews" have been broadcast on PBS and throughout Europe and Asia.