Gun shooting news is more exciting news than water supply news

Looking at the news during this weekend, something seems urgent to me. It is being little mentioned on the news anymore. Will be interesting to see if any of it is true.

It concerns the Libya fracas, particularly Tripoli part at present.

Earlier I had seen replays of what was claimed to be one of Col. Gadaffi's sons bragging in Tripoli in an expensive car in a convoy, that the rebels were being led into a trap. The newscast indicated it was all merely bragging by a regime that was perishing, and of no import.

But the past day or so something has been nagging in my mind. It has to do with the water supply to Tripoli, a city of two million people normally served by piped tap water to their homes. Which has been not working for several days already.

The rebels probably are far better at brandishing guns and doing the conflict thing, tough as that is. But dealing with major infrastructure restoration possibly is not a strength of theirs. Imagine a city of 2 million people largely dying of thirst and lack of sanitation without water.

The supply of water to Tripoli, as I understand it, was a technological marvel sponsored by Col Gadaffi's regime. It involved drilling 300 wells deep into an ancient aquifer in the desert south of Tripoli, and building the transport system of huge volumes of water to Tripoli, and maybe elsewhere.

Now, having lived years in the Los Angeles area, it too a desert seacoast large city that is supplied artificially by water transported by a complex large system hundreds of miles from a distant source, I know the vulnerability, as well as the struggle to create that system by Jim Mulholland's team in the first place; including violent opposition at times causing hundreds of deaths at St Francis Dam. And I know of what it is to be like with water being totally cut off suddenly in the middle of the night and none even restored to have a sip of water to drink, or to flush the toilet for three days, and months before drinkable water was restored, after the Northridge quake.

Now this is about the effects of the lack of assumed water services in a major city. Like is now ongoing in Tripoli, already for several days. Long enough for neighbors to have shared much of their stored emergency water with neighbors already, as I did after the quake. And that is just precious small amounts of drinking water; none for flushing the toilet or washing one's hands even once in those three days. It really adds to the stress of life in hard times.

At the moment, Washington DC is only thinking about too much water (hurricane Irene,) and may not be able to switch frame of reference to comprehend a major impending catastrophy due to lack of water.

Now in news re Libya, I read a small item that engineers who went to restart the water well pumps in the desert, were prevented from doing so by Col Gadaffi's forces there; and the engineers vehicles and equipment were impounded by the assaulters and threatened with death if they returned. Clearly there were ongoing efforts to prevent Tripoli from having lifegiving water.

(Perhaps I too well resonate with how despicable an act that would be.)

So I think that the battle for Tripoli is not yet won, despite the news reports. Or at least have a suspicion that major things are yet to happen, not being adequately explored by the news. Gun shooting news is more exciting news than water supply news.

That amazing desert water system was surely of interest to Col Gadahffi's administration. And well might be the focus of the next stage of the war. If they can keep Tripoli from receiving the lifegiving water from the 300 wells, it would soon become catastrophic and making Tripoli unable to be defended even by rebels armed with guns but no water to drink for a long time.

Col Gadahffi clearly gloried in that water system, brought a long distance after being brought up from deep ancient aquifer wells far from there; witness the reports of extravagant swimming pools among the Gadahfii folks. I read of his bragging about the water system, I recall; in fact, it is indeed something to brag about for sure, in my desert-raised opinion. Water in the desert is a big thing, I know, personally very well.

(In fact, a recent news report of the perishing of two Dutch tourists in the Joshua Tree National Monument - a desert place familiar to me long ago when I worked at Twentynine Palms - due to lack of water - points out how quick the problem can become severe and then fatal.)

Two million people in a desert city in the summer without any water being replenished, can become a big deal. Yet the news is not exploring this problem beyond saying the rebels are trying to get some fighters to go see if they can deal with Col Gadaffis forces that are blockading the well water source.

Also I wonder about the aquaduct that brings the water to Tripoli, surely big. Is it pipes? Or is it an underground tunnel system that, once shut off, becomes a path for cars to drive to far away places with impunity? Then a place to put those 50,000 missing prisoners to perish without food or water, to then be flushed eventually toward the city water faucets? Such goes my worries.

The battle for Tripoli may have just begun. A mean war.

Or hopefully it is all my imagination and all will be well in a day or so, water restored to the city, and the missing prisoners found elsewhere and safe.

Time will tell. I doubt anyone able to act on what I have to say will discover this writing in time anyway, as this blog seems to be censored by power crazed hostiles, it seems, even google itself cannot find what I write here.