New York, New York, USA

“And to think they thought the water would never run out.”
The room resonated with a quiet chuckle, but the tension and urgency would be visible to a blind man. The man at the head of the table, a stocky, fifty-something-year-old man wore an impassive expression. However, after looking carefully, anybody could tell that he had missed a lot of sleep by the dark bags under his eyes and the prominent lines on his forehead.
It was the year 2097 and several important people were gathered in the UN headquarters in New York. The president or prime minister of nearly every country- except Russia- was present, all to discuss the looming issue that had to be resolved: the water shortage. Also, several senior UN members were in room, along with the chairman of the World Health Organization, who was currently speaking. Geologists and water scientists stood in the corners, taking notes. The chairman of WHO continued on, and everyone listened with undivided attention. One thing that was different from previous meetings, however, was that there were no water fountains in sight, not even glasses of water.
“We have been through so much as a unified world. Now, to the shock and despair of all earth scientists, and the horror of millions, there is limited water supply left on this planet, and according to Dr. Albert, we will have no water left by next spring.”
A tide of unhappy mutterings washed over the room, with angry questions being muttered. Is it stoppable? What can we do? But the most common question was evident. How did this happen? Didn't we learn that water is always constant? The chairman seemed intrigued by the latter question.
“Indeed, if you recall from our schooling years, we were taught that water always remains constant, but it may change form. In the last few years, our scientists--he gestured to the corner-have discovered that our atmosphere is so damaged by pollution, that water vapor has been escaping at a steady rate.”

San Francisco, California, USA

        What once used to be a wondrous, magnificent city was nearly gone. In its place stood an ash covered, half-aflame ruin, with only about 900 residents. The majority of the population had fled east, trying to escape the deadly drought, which was worse than it had ever been. Only those who couldn't bring themselves to leave their homes stayed, a ragtag community, half driven mad by dehydration. Nobody knew how they didn’t die of thirst, but people speculated that they drank purified ocean water, which was nearly impossible to produce these days.




Chicago, Illinois, USA

However, in some places, the population had recently doubled or even tripled recently. The population of Chicago (and other towns bordering the Great Lakes) was a whopping 20 million, however, the surrounding lakes were nearly dry. Lake Ontario and Erie had dried up months ago, and rumors flew that Michigan would be next. Already the shorelines had been cut by 20 miles, and the depth of the lake had decreased by 200 feet. The citizens of Chicago bustled around, trying to accomplish their tasks and work before the evening water ration, at six o’clock.
The mayor sat in an otherwise empty, office room. It was simple, but nevertheless, the few lavish decorations displayed power, which the mayor had a lot of. He was currently on a phone call with the governor of Milwaukee, and he was using a private network. To ensure security, he had placed the brand new technology SoundBlock sheets around the door and windows. It was vital that nobody heard this.
“How much do they want?” the mayor asked the governor.
“Two million,” the governor almost whispered.
“Deal.” The single word was spoken with a reserved confidence, the confidence displayed when making an important choice, one that could affect many.
“I will let them know,” the governor responded shakily.
The mayor leaned back on his seat, pleased for the day. If all went well, the largest and most powerful water company in the Midwest would have done a great favor for him. Starting this week, they would start extracting tens of millions of gallons of water, keeping it in a secret storage, just to be used by the mayor and governor. When, in a matter of months or years, the water left the Great Lakes, and the citizens started dying, the mayor would still have water. Some would call it bribery, or worse, corruption. The mayor called it insurance.

Nairobi, Kenya

While the majority of the world had turned its back on Africa years ago, when faced with severe drought, places like Kenya had been left to rot and die out. Sure, there were “charities” and “water sharing programs,” but who were they kidding, no help was going to arrive. Dehydration and disease was widespread, and some people thought of it as worse than Ebola, which had been cured decades ago. The estimated population of Kenya was 19,000, but unfortunately, steadily decreasing. But, the country was not completely lost. Several leaders had decided to take initiative, and they made a plan, to-as some people would call it-delay the inevitable. The president of Kenya had called for a relocation of all citizens to the west- to the massive Lake Victoria. Even though it was easy to see that eventually the few-mile-wide lake would dry up, it would satisfy the drought for the time being.

                      Russia

The only place that was agreeably flourishing was Russia. They didn't have any drought, had a healthy population, and were a self sufficient country. Why? Several people wondered. It had to be the vast amount of lakes, and their sizes. Also, the president had put a number of strict policies that allowed no immigrants in and the equal distribution of water for the citizens. It was one of the world’s greatest powers, with the wealth and resources to control the future.

New York. New York, USA

The speaker started to wrap up his speech. The entire audience of world leaders was restless, whispering to each other and wearing accusing faces. If the man speaking noticed, he didn’t show it.
“The best we can do is start conserving now, instead of tomorrow, or the day after,” he continued. “Our scientists are working harder than ever to resolve this issue. They have begun a project to collect water vapor from the atmosphere and condensate it.” “Our environmental scientists are building upon an idea from decades ago, developed by Mr. Bill Gates, converting human waste into water. However, we will need funding for this, up to 10% of each country’s GDP. We encourage everyone to install two water plants in their country.” A note of finality crept into his voice. “I want each and every one of you to realize one thing.”If, throughout the past decades, we hadn’t taken water for granted, polluted, and wasted energy, this water shortage problem could have been delayed, or more likely, avoided. Thank you.” And then the meeting was over.