Like Water for Oil

Droughts are on my mind.

It all started when a trucker friend of mine recently took a job working for an oil company in the middle of nowhere.  After only a 15-minute phone interview he was hired sight unseen with a great salary.  Within days he packed up and moved cross country to Hobbs, New Mexico.

My friend was ecstactic. He felt lucky to find such a good job offer in this economy.  I was happy for him, too.  But I remember the first thing I said was:  "Sounds like you're going to be hauling something other than oil." 

And we laughed about it.

Most on-shore oil fields recycle produced water for large quantities of water injection.

Turns out I was right.  Today I learned that my friend is not hauling oil at all.  He's hauling water.  On the surface this fact is not out of the ordinary as oil fields require large amounts of water to operate.

But then I flashed back to the Arizona Massacre conspiracy post I wrote in January.  In that post I basically concluded that the Powers That Be were moving their power base from Washington, D.C. to Phoenix, AZ. 

Hobbs, NM is located on almost a straight line path east a days drive from Phoenix.  It's also within close proximity to two international airports, the billion dollar LES-URECO Nuclear Uranium Enrichment Facility, Roswell of alien fame, and the Carlsbad Caverns (the largest set of underground caves in the world).

Back then I also generated the following list:

Ok, so it's kind of funny, but the #2 reason on the list was access to Free Water.  Under Arizona Water Law, the water is ownerless.  Any amount of water can be pumped out by private companies with costs limited only to drilling, pumping, and distribution. 

I realize that I'm going way out on a limb here, but what if water were being hoarded and stored underground in the Arizona-NM area in preparation for a worldwide shortage?

In light of the current extreme droughts both in the U.S. and around the world, it's clear that water, not oil, is the most valuable commodity on Earth. 

No living creature can survive without it.

Here's the trailer for the documentary FLOW: For the Love of Water.  It will really make you think.