The worst part would be the atmosphere composition, rather than the amount of water there. It would take a long time to make it have enough oxygen like in the Earth to sustain life. Not to mention having a plants ecosystem.
If there is enough humidity in the air, they might try some "windtraps" (the real ones) like in desert climate for extracting water. Those would reduce the evaporation rate and help to slowly gather water drops. Again, it would take a long time to fill a water deposit there, but I don't see why it wouldn't be viable. After all, it is in desertic climates in Earth.
Also, the climate there is colder than the Earth, so that's another downside for living there if one is the average Earth inhabitant.
Transportation and its cost would be a pain in the ass. Imagine having to wait between half a year and a year for having your store shipments arriving. You better stack toilet paper for a long term if you decide to move there.
Mars would likely be reduced to be a colony for the first country colonizating it or an "Earthly alliance", rather than a touristic or residential place. Which I guess is better, because the last thing we need is having another planet being flooded with trash and waste. |