The Economist magazine has often printed articles of the problems over water around the world and speculated on the potential future strife it could cause.

In the Far East such rivers as the Yellow (Huang He) already run dry towards the coast due to over extraction. The result is that farmers cannot irrigate their fields.

Many rivers here are also heavily polluted with industrial waste.

Domestic water is so cheap in China that often locals just leave taps and pipes running with no thought as to the waste. The Government wants to increase water charges to try and cut the wastage, but it is causing ructions.

In SE Asia the damming of the Mekong is causing problems in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

I recall reading about water wars in the US between the cattle farmers as well as between the sheep farmers and cattle ranchers. This was back in the mid to late 1800's. So not a new problem.