The closer China gets to hosting the Olympic Games, the more one has to wonder how in the world the selection committee let itself get scammed into awarding the sports extravaganza to Beijing. There were other notably eager venues bidding for the August events, and they had nothing resembling the distractions surfacing in China.

First, there was strong pressure applied at the time of the selection about the need for China to focus more on human rights and individual freedoms. There seemed some veiled agreement from the Chinese that progress would be made. Analysts familiar with the territory say there has been modest gain, at best.

Then there is the element of pollution, super-pollution in fact, that will force some countries to send their athletes and officials to China far ahead of the event in hopes they can adjust to the troublesome air they will have to breathe. Again, the Chinese Olympic people indicated much would be done to solve the problem but there is little evidence of notable gains.

Now it’s a case of the Chinese in effect having to water down the territory to make the Games viable. Henry Sanderson of the Associated Press writes that when 16,000 athletes and officials get to Beijing this summer, they will be able to turn their taps and get drinkable water. That is something few Beijing residents have ever enjoyed. To keep the taps flowing for the Games, the city will be draining surrounding regions and depriving poor farmers of water.

Experts say the city of some 17 million is fast running out of water. Explosive growth and a persistent drought have decimated the supply. To cope with the water woes, the government is digging a canal that will tap the Yangtze River to aid the arid north. However, that will not be done until 2010.

One would think that two of the most important ingredients for a successful Olympic Games carnival would be clean air and pure water. Right now, China is desperate to create both and seems to be losing the battles.

Meanwhile, with all the world emphasis on oil and its circulation to the needed sources, spots everywhere on the globe, including in Kansas, are fearful of what might happen to their air and water. Kansas and Colorado have long feuded over Colorado’s piracy of water resources provided through the Arkansas River. To the north, there is concern about control of water flow in the Missouri River that deeply affects our region.

Where resource management for citizens is concerned, many things have changed over the past century, but many others haven’t. There has been unrealistic world demand on water supplies and poor stewardship of the resources available.

Now as the Olympic Games in China draw near, we realize just how badly others also have mismanaged their resources. Again, it was bad enough that China sold planners a bill of goods on human rights and pollution, but now it appears water problems will further cause us to wonder why the Chinese were awarded the games in the first place.