From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Are there water wars in our future?

Hello again, I'm Woman Olney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

The daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

Two billion people

already live with too little water, and water as a means of social control could be a

fact of life in the next decade. Potential conflict over waters just as great in developed countries

as it is in the world's poorest nations, and the U.S. is by no means immune. On to the point,

multinational corporations have joined environmentalists

in calling for action before it's too late. There's big money in recycling, desalinization,

and other technologies. Can they overcome the demands of agriculture and the industrial way of life?

What about global warming? Our reporter's notebook later on, the planet Pluto becomes a dwarf.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D.

and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Hello again, Mormon-Aulney, back with To the Poet. Six years ago,

scientists predicted that a third of the world would face water shortages by 2025. It has already

happened. On To the Point, can technology overcome overuse, mismanagement, and global warming?

Will shortages lead to greater cooperation or major conflicts, even in the United States?

On reporter's notebook, Pluto's not a planet anymore. What about Zena?

First is news update. After three years and three different commissioners, one of the Food and Drug Administration's most contentious issues finally has been resolved. The so-called morning after, contracentive pill, will be sold over-the-counter

to women 18 and older. Gardner Harris is public health reporter for the New York Times. Thanks for

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