WATER PROBLEMS
"Already about 40% of the world’s population has insufficient water for sanitation and hygiene, and 2.2m people die each year from diseases linked to inadequate sewerage or contaminated drinking water." And the situation is getting worse -- even in so-called developed countries. Link to the Economist

Officials in Mira Loma, California, have committed to building a desalter purification plant to meet the water needs in parts of western Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Link to the Press Enterprise (You may have to do the free registration bit for this article).