The Water Plan

If anyone wants to know the easiest way to ensure the success of a country, it is important to remember to things.  1.  Control the water.  2.  Be energy independent.

Since energy isn't a topic at the moment, water is the main concern.  All places have at least a little water, or they need to get it from somewhere.  Areas of huge land expanses like the United States have rain, drought, glaciers, and coastline.  There are places that have lots of water, and some with almost none at all.  Still, it is the 21st century, so why are there still people that 'hope' and 'pray' for rain or the lack of it, when they have the ability to control what's already there on the ground?

In the Water Plan, three things are needed for efficient water handling.

1.  Aquifer recharge stations.  These are points along a stream or river in the higher elevations that use simple mechanics to control the height of water to prevent flooding downstream.  Water flows along its course and hits a control segment, which is essentially a concrete section with a built in sliding door at the high water mark.  As the water reaches a level above normal high level, it pushes a sliding door/valve/covering open, and water enters a channel and flows into a covered cistern that will hold the water and let it settle into the aquifer later on.  If the cistern fills completely, then an exit channel takes the water to either a secondary cistern or a holding tank, pipe, or some other means of holding water until it is needed.

2.  Pipe Systems and Pump Stations.  We pump oil and natural gas thousands of miles, but think the idea of transporting water is ludicrous.  If cisterns fill and the water flows, then pumping stations send excess water to other areas, possibly dry areas or farms that need the water for irrigation.  In this way, water stays in the river systems longer and benefits those that are not set up with the water plan.  Pump stations can be replaced with gravity feed systems as well, limiting the need for energy usage.  Areas that are wet pump to dry areas, and the need to rely on rainfall lessens, as long as the aquifers are charged and places that are supposed to house water are holding it.

3.  Water Plants or Desalination Plants.  The coast is a place rich in wind, solar, and tidal energy.  If these three power systems are used to operate coastal desalination plants, then the reclaimed water from them can supply areas inland and in cities that lack the supply from a natural source.  A self-sufficient plant that is off the grid becomes something that only helps, and supplies a constant amount of water when the exchange between areas isn't working, or too costly to be beneficial.

Benefits of this plan are not sole profit of the one who put this system in place, but all the business owners, the farmers, and the residents that can go about life without worrying about too much water or the lack of it impacting their lives.  Governments would have less disaster relief funds because many of the smaller events would disappear.  Assistance for living in areas that are typically drought stricken would be unneeded.  The cost of food and energy would go down, and bio-diversity would be easier to maintain when livestock sales aren't forced due to the inability to feed or water them.  Floods and destructive river events would be self-controlling unless the control system was overwhelmed as well, but at least the effects would be lessened along the way.

A healthy country is one that is not worrying over the weather and controlling the resources it has at hand.  An active control of water would be the next great move in history, and an inspiration for many societies to copy.  Once the water is no longer an issue, power is next.  But energy is for another time.