There is already the sound skeleton of a strong political body established based on the growing need for water, and it is a very important one. The Great Lakes Basin is, as I recall, the largest reserve of fresh water in the world (at least as its ecology supports it being such at this moment). There is an international political body consisting of representatives of US states and Canadian provinces with Great Lakes lakeshores which oversees how the water from the lakes is used. It is, of course, subservient to both the US and Canadian national governments, but trust that this body is very serious about its mission.

Here in the Milwaukee area th...

There is already the sound skeleton of a strong political body established based on the growing need for water, and it is a very important one. The Great Lakes Basin is, as I recall, the largest reserve of fresh water in the world (at least as its ecology supports it being such at this moment). There is an international political body consisting of representatives of US states and Canadian provinces with Great Lakes lakeshores which oversees how the water from the lakes is used. It is, of course, subservient to both the US and Canadian national governments, but trust that this body is very serious about its mission.

Here in the Milwaukee area there is a geo-physical feature known as The Sub-Continental Divide. Depending upon which side of this feature rain falls, it either drains into the Great Lakes and then ultimately the St. Lawrence Seaway and onto the Atlantic Ocean if it is to the eastern side, or via the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico if to the western side. The divide is pretty much in the middle of the Metro-Milwaukee population. The city of Waukesha lies west of the divide, as does a good part of the city of New Berlin. Both want water from Lake Michigan (partly for the fact of deeper wells are needed as the water table has receded some, and due to radon gas showing up in the groudwater as well) and it could be easily accomplished insofar as engineering goes, but politically their desires are blocked by members of the Great Lakes Basin Compact.

My point is that, if this is the case now simply within one metro area, imagine what it will be as pressure grows from around the world to draw the water off from the Great Lakes to slake growing world thirst.

It isn't going to be fun, that's for sure.