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

Water, water, everywhere?

Not anymore.

Hello again, I'm O'Anallie, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most. The dried- out forests of South Lake Tahoe are on fire today, with hundreds of homes

destroyed and hundreds more in danger. And a historically western problem is moving east. Grass

that used to be underwater caused massive fires last month in Florida's Lake Okeechobe. There's drought in about one-third of the country.

But not all water shortages are caused by Mother Nature.

On to the point, with drought increasingly effective life,

we'll talk about shortages caused by the way we use water.

Our water restrictions and higher prices in store.

On reporter's notebook later on, two captives heard from in Gaza.

First 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. McArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Mormon. I'll only back with To the Point. A Western problem is moving east with drought now afflicting one-third of the United States. But Mother Nature is only part of the reason that water shortages are increasingly common. On To the Point, we'll hear what inefficient use of water has to do with it.

Are new water restrictions and higher prices part of the future?

On Repoda's notebook, messages on the internet from an Israeli soldier and a British journalist

kidnapped in Gaza. First, this news update, the state of California has declared a state of

emergency in South Lake Tahoe, where 240 structures

...