When I was in the US in 2007, lots of people talked about water "mining". Abstracting water from the ground for use usually in farming but also for municipal drinking water. The water cannot be replaced naturally at the same rate that it is being abstracted. The Guardian reports that in Cambodia water use by tourism could actually threaten the ancient site that people are actually coming to see.
"The five-star hotels around the ancient temples of Angkor are oases of green; sleek new buildings ringed by tropical forests and sprawling lawns. But the water used to keep them so is being sucked from groundwater under the city, threatening the stability of the centuries-old, world heritage-listed landmark. Unchecked development, and the widespread, unregulated pumping of groundwater throughout Siem Reap city, has raised concerns that the temples, including the world's largest religious monument, Angkor Wat, could crack or crumble if too much water is drained away.
The temples and towers of the 402-square-kilometre Angkor site sit on a base of sand, kept firm by a constant supply of groundwater that rises and falls with the seasons, but which is now being used to supply a burgeoning city. With the number of visitors to the northern Cambodian province approaching 2 million a year, increasing pressure is being put on the scarce water resource". Follow the link to read the full article.
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