Sin aqua non

Water shortages are a growing problem, but not for the reasons most people thinkTHE overthrow of Madagascars president in mid-March was partly caused by water problemsin South Korea. Worried by the difficulties of increasing food supplies in its water-stressed homeland, Daewoo, a South Korean conglomerate, signed a deal to lease no less than half Madagascars arable land to grow grain for South Koreans. Widespread anger at the terms of the deal (the islands people would have received practically nothing) contributed to the presidents unpopularity. One of the new leaders first acts was to scrap the agreement.Three weeks before that, on the other side of the world, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California declared a state of emergency. Not for the first time, he threatened water rationing in the state. It is clear, says a recent report by the United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, that urgent action is needed if we are to avoid a global water crisis.