Ah, but the article pointed out the reasons behind the expanding population...
It showed that only improving the water supply without also providing family planning, an educational element, will cause more problems. You can't improve only one technology, you must also provide other technologies (say farming technologies perhaps) AND education. While they were increasing the overall health of the people with improvements in the water supply, they were also increasing the amount of free time, without giving them knowledge of other activities to do in their free time other than what they already know, which is fucking.

“This research shows that development projects that focus on just one issue can cause long-term problems and that it is preferable for development to be ‘multisectoral’. Improving access to contraception, which was poor in the area where this study was done, should be a key part of development programmes.”

I don't know all that much about how to create more food sources in an arid region, but that is one of the bits of education that should have been added as well as education and access to birth control.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Sat 19 Apr 2008, 19:06, Reply)