Water Wars

Published May 9, 2003 at 12:00 AM EDT

The San Francisco Bay area and southern California may face a water shortage crisis by 2025 as cities, farms and wildlife compete for a limited water supply, according to the Interior Department.

The Interior Department is proposing a plan to change the way the federal government deals with water problems in the Western United States. Interior Secretary Gale Norton says fights over precious Western water have become much nastier in recent years, thanks in part to booming population growth.

Norton wants to kill this trend by making it easier for farmers to buy water-saving irrigation systems, and by finding ways to desalinate water cheaply. Most of all, Norton wants to make it easier to buy and sell the water. Critics of the plan say it punishes poor people and endangered species. NPR's John Nielsen reports.

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