[ch4s3]

Plenty of countries and localities have fixes in place for internal air quality issues. We've largely solved this in the US. Inida also has a lot of wood burning and 2-stroke engine vehicles. They have a lot of low hanging fruit here if they prioritize it. Dealing with atmospheric Co2 is a much bigger and thornier problem.

[blamazon]

The US has largely solved the air quality problem, but the situation of water rights in the west feels to me like it carries the same tones of OP story.

[ch4s3]

Not really. The Colorado River Compact is a special monster that allocated more water than exists on average in the river.