Wars Over Water
73Will these be the wars to come? There are many experts who believe that water, not land, natural resources or religion will be the reason that nation rises up against nation in the years to come. Now why on earth would this happen when we have ‘water, water everywhere’? Because very soon there may be ‘not a drop to drink’?
Water covers a large part of the earth and yet, most of it is not drinking water. Just 3% of all the water in the world is fresh water and of that, what with a lot of it being ice, just about .007% is actually available to us for our needs. And all over the world, we’re using it like there is no tomorrow. We talk about depleting oil reserves and we don’t stop to think that we could run out of drinking water before we run out of oil.
So where does our freshwater supply come from? Rivers, lakes and the groundwater. Rains and the ice that melts on the mountains replenish the water in these water bodies.
So why is it that the world looks like it is going to run out of water? Many reasons, actually.
One: We’re fast approaching the 7 billion mark where world population is concerned. That means many more people for the same amount, probably less of water.
Two: We use a lot more water per person today than we used to. Flushing toilets, two showers a day, washing machines, dishwashers, manicured gardens, swimming pools, the list goes on.
Three: We’ve pumped out too much of the groundwater and very soon, this is going to affect the growth of crops.
Four: We drink far too much water – and bottled water at that. This has its own set of problems – unhealthy water and plastic waste that clogs up the rivers and seas. In the US alone, $100 billion is spent every year on bottled water! Add up what the rest of the world uses and you’ll see the phenomenal amount of money that is spent on bottling something that should be free and clean if only we treat it right!
Five: Climate change has also affected the supply of water – in many parts of the world, there isn’t enough rainfall. Pollution and concretization has resulted in less rain or sometimes none at all.
Six: With all the science we have at our disposal, we can fly men to the moon and back but we have yet to successfully desalinate water from the sea and make it fit for drinking on a large scale.
Seven: There is only a half hearted attempt at recycling the water we use. If every community did it with enthusiasm, there would be so much more water available for use rather than have it run through the drains to the rivers or sea.
Eight: We pave our streets and the rainwater cannot run into the soil – instead it runs into drains which empty out into water bodies, polluting and dirtying the water there too.
Nine: Water or the lack of it has meant that millions of people all over the world have been displaced – this is much more than wars do.
Ten: There’s a huge disparity between the haves and the have-nots when it comes to water. The haves could be using as much as 150 gallons of water a day while the have-nots have to very often make do with less than 2 gallons. So a day of reckoning and confrontation is bound to come!
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Comments
Wow G-Ma - that was fast! Thanks so much for reading - yes, we really need to pay it a lot more attention.
I'm definitely with you on this one. I wrote about this in one of my hubs a few months back. The growing population and the change in climate will make water valuable in the near future. Canada could be the Middle East of water.
Nah, you did not scare me :)
Shalini, it's all about overpopulation. People are the problem. All people, everywhere. We need to reduce population density in those areas that are dense, while maintaining low population density in areas where it is sparse.
LOL Aya, how are going to complete this without heavy government involvement, and inevitable total screw up?
Misha, we could persuade people in this generation to stick to ZPG or less... Hubpages is a place to start. And if not, there is always my polyandry idea!
Pete - thanks for reading - I'm off to look for your hub. Terrible to think of Canada with all its lakes being reduced to water scarcity!
Ahhh Misha - I tried!! :D
True Aya - but also waste. It can be done - with incentives to manufacturing units so that the density of population in various areas can be controlled.
Very interesting Hub. The solution is going to be very elusive and complicated.
I understand that during Noah's flood, more part of water came from the underground water. Water was jetting up into the sky. There is more water down than we think. But there will be no Noah flood any more.
Worry is a killer. Therefore I am not worry. We have rich and awesome God. This earth was planed to be populated. Entire population can be comfortably placed on the area of Texas.
The nation when not populated enough shall cease to exist.
We are underpopulated. The same is with Europe. What is worse is population with wrong people. Also nation without moral virtue will ceased. Thanks for information.
It is great you are bringing this problem to light! We have to address the problem that we are running out of resources and deal with it! Very well done!
LOL Aya, I would honestly prefer polygamy, and strongly suspect you put all this theoretical stuff to support polyandry just because you are a woman. :P
But seriously, water is a renewable resource, and i don't really see how we can exhaust it. :)
As for trying to perform population control by persuasion, it is likely to severely backfire. You will have to lead by your own example, to be taken seriously, right? This will guarantee that the number of your supporters in the next generation will decrease dramatically, and with every next generation will decrease again, too... :P
Misha, yes, I have though about the fact that people who practice what they preach in regards to ZPG will have a dwindling support base. This was a point of disagreement I had with my father when we used to discuss the issue.
Yes, polyandry appeals to me as a woman, and is not so appealing to men. But, in fact, it is in those areas of
the globe where female infanticide was practiced by men that men were forced to accept polyandry. Ironic, don't you think?
breakfastpop - maybe - and then again, maybe the simplest of solutions help! Thanks for coming by!
Vladimir - is that so? Always thought it was the rain, rain, rain that did it! Are we underpopulated? That's a new way of looking at things! Thanks for commenting.
kartika - maybe the problem is not that we use the resources but how we use it! True, we need to do something!
Misha - there would be enough water for all if we didn't misuse it - dirtying and polluting it and draining it out of the earth. You have a point about the population Misha - if you want the vote banks, you need the numbers!
Aya - India might have to go down that route very fast - it is 1000:831 I think right now, thanks to female infanticide to a large extent!
Yeah, nature has its own quite perverted ways to keep the balance. That's why I am not easily scared. :)
...perverted? Now Misha - you're scaring me!! I'm not going to argue with you because I do believe that balance is what Nature eternally strives for!
Shalini, wow! I didn't realize this about India. I never imagined!
Misha, you may be right. Maybe without any government intervention, the situation will bring about the population reduction that is needed, by the most surprising and diabolical means.
I keep telling my husband to stop drilling for oil and drill for water, ugh! Great hub.
Unfortunately, I am afraid this is going to be the case. :(
Scary scenario, isn't it, Aya?
Storytellersrus - ahhhh - the next millionaire :) Thanks for reading!
Misha - you could be right :(
Great hub. I agree with you - overpopulation is the problem. Down here in one of the driest part of Australia we are very conscious of water consumption. They start teaching it in schools to young kids - they give out egg timers for showering, buckets for collecting water etc. Its good, my children are very conscious of how much water they use. We have recently installed a massive tank in our garden for collecting rain water because of course we have water restrictions. There is a massive desalination plant being built to service Melbourne - at huge cost and with many issues but it won't be finished for some years anyway. But it is definitely an issue that we can't ignore I believe.
I have to agree that we are certainly wasteful when it comes to water usage. I hope that the day never comes when we actually have to kill in order to keep our own water reserves. Thank you Shalini for sharing this.
Hi Catherine - that's so heartening to hear - that the young are being taught to conserve. I know that Australia is in the forefront when it comes to water conservation and harvesting. It's also nice to know that preparations are being made for the future - thanks for reading!
Hi Dohn - I do hope that day never dawns! Thanks as always for reading!
This is a very timely and informative hub Shalini! I'm glad you wrote about it. Thank you very much!
I used to do a water activity in class. I got some data on water consumption of different nations and would dare my class to try to live even for just 2 days on the same amount of water available to some of the nations (with the lowest water consumption/availability).
Some students will always take up the dare and would get the shock of their lives when they come to realize just how hard it is to live with very limited water supply. After the activity, they will always devise some means to lessen their water consumption and wastage.
Jill - what a wonderful idea - as long as it's all up in the air, the enormity of the problem just doesn't strike us - it's only when we realise how little is little that we wake up - thanks so much for stopping by!
shalini
You present a really scary facts and possible scenarios. It is indeed mandatory for all humankind to act more responsibly and think more about sustainable development.
Great hub. Thanks for sounding the alarm. :D
Hi Shalini, I saw a news item very recently about the melting of glacier ice, and the impact that this is likely to have on global water supplies. You'd think that less ice would mean more water, but apparently not. I see a future where de-salination plants will become commonplace on our coastlines.
I believe that there is plenty of water, it is a matter of redistribution and conversion.
For the United States, we need a national aqueduct, similar to the national highway system. The goal is to distribute water from the over-abundant places in the US to the arid places such as the western states.
Yes, all solutions are expensive and time consuming but they have to be done at some point. We can use solar and wind energy to pump the water across the country. Each year, many parts of the US are flooded, while other parts of the country have wild fires because of the lack of water.
We hear talk about the oceans water level rising because Global Warming is melting the Polar Ice Caps. Yet, we resist large desalinization plants on the coastlines. We put a man on the moon in less than a decade, we surely could do the same for solving the water problem.
We could also do a better job of recycling water. Most places flow rainfall into drains that divert the water to the ocean or other collective place. Huge quantities of water are therefore wasted.
Water can be recycled from waste water, it can even be made purer than it came from our faucets. It only takes a plan and an adequate amount of money.
The problem is that we had the last fifty or more years to deal with the water problem. We did nothing, just like the oil/energy problem. It won't get any cheaper by delaying a solution. Conservation or rationing resources is only an interim solution. As long as the population continues to increase you must increase the supply to keep up with it.
The solutions to the water problem is simple, it is the politics and bureaucracy that is the difficult impediment to the solution.
Very interesting, however, mother nature is very wise. we have already had global warming after the ice age and maybe another is on the way to ease us of this problem. So, is global warming man made or just wise old mother nature curing us and caring for us????
Great hub Shalini Kagal ,so many comments at a time,it's like you can't keep up..LOL
I've heard my Island is one of the richest sources of fresh water and springs,I think we even export the bottled stuff to Hung Kong,I suppose if that water war ever happens I'll have to migrate or hide from the many forces that would come to my part of the world..LOL LOL!:D
Thanks for sharing a most interesting and informative hub!:)
Spot on as usual, Shalini. Water has always been the maker or breaker of civilizations. Now companies like Nestle and Coca Cola are buying up the worlds fresh water supplies. The writing is on the wall. Thank you!
Again Thank you!
Hi Shal,
Over the past couple of decades this issue has been seriously viewed by many. You would have noticed that even hotels put up a notice in the wash rooms requesting guests to exercise caution when using towels such that the need to replace them each and every single day will not arise, and also in order that the need to launder them after every use be eliminated. I always used to think it was foolish to shove towels into the laundry basket after every single use.
I heard recently that some middle eastern countries are considering using de-salination plants to meet 100% of their requirements in water. There is even a tall building, one side of which faces the sea, and this side is coated with metal which is chilled by some refrigeration mechanism. The sea air which strikes the chilled metal condenses and drips down and is mechanically guided into a tank.
Quite apart from that I also remember that in the seventies there was an attempt to tow large chunks of ice chipped off from ice bergs to the middle eastern countries. This project was abandoned as over 50% of the ice melted in the course of the voyage.
So I guess there is nothing much to bother about although each and every one of us can and should do our very best not to waste this precious liquid.
Phew! All that typing made me thirsty. Glug! Glug! Glug! Whoops! Nearly spilled some on the keyboard! What a waste it would have been! :)
You lost me when you said the "world population is approaching 3 billion people". The world population is approaching 7 billion people.
I am much more concerned about the farmers in California's Central Valley that cannot get water for their crops because environmentalist complaints of the Delta Smelt minnow being drawn into irrigation systems. The sharp rise in food prices due to a reduction in supply of agricultural staples produced in this area is going to be a much more urgent catastrophe.
While I agree that good stewardship is required of us for all of our natural resources, I challenge your effort to personify nature as "seeking balance". I strongly believe that when the demand for fresh water gets strong enough, desalinization will be the answer to drinking water problems of the future.
As for all of your commentators who are advocating population controls I invite them to "go first".
You are so right! Next wars will be waged over water so God will be with those countries who are blessed enough to have rivers...On the other hand, no wonder water is being depleted due to our bad habits. Thanks Shalini.
one2get2no - thanks for reading.
Cris - yes, it is - in India, the water crisis looms large, thanks to our population explosion. We really need to be a lot more serious about sustainable development.
Amanda - isn't that ironic? I guess most of it would then run down to the sea! Yes, I suppose desalination plants would have to be very much a part of our future.
opinion duck - yes, so much can be done. We've had ancient civilisations around the world where water harvesting was the norm. There's so much of water that can be recyled - we don't. We suffer from the extremes of too much water or too little. I agree with you - we have to manage our resources better. Simple solutions? AS ytou say, it can be donw if we had the will and without political interference.
K - you could be right :)
Waren E - you're lucky! Sssshhhhh - don't tell - we might all descend on your beautiful island!
Jess - you're right - every great civilisation grew up on the banks of rivers, didn't they? And now, water is getting into corporate clutches!
quicksand - thank you - I also believe that there are always answers, solutions. The problem is, instead of meeting them and planning for them, we leave it till too late and then do the fire-fighting. For me, it's a lack of respect for Nature and all that it gives us.
Native Son - thanks for pointing that out - corrected! I am sure there will be answers like desalination in the future. The point is, if we invest in water saving, water solutions and water management today, we need not get into situations when there isn't enough water to grow crops or when there could be wars over water sources. I personally don't think population controls will be the answer.
Shamel - thank you for reading and commenting.
Scary situation, and one that we saw glimpses of in India this year thanks to the temperamental monsoon. It's amazing how we take things like water for granted.
Yes. FP - with the water supply being cut to once a day, one wonders how it's going to be when summer comes around!
You are so right Shalini ... we are in for big trouble on this one. Even the wars on this account. You are aware I am sure of the problems we are having with our neighbouring countries on the sharing and damming of river waters. And now the fights have started even between the states, and states not listening to the Centre, and matters going to the Supreme Court!
Many countries have set up huge plants for recycling water, and for desalinating sea water to good quality drinking water. I think even we have plans for one at or near Chennai. But these are frightfully expensive plants and will make water even more expensive than electricity! Wonder whether we can afford them?
I say we start finding a way to reduce the salts in ocean water. Good Hub, but i don't think we can deplete the water supply, it may be polluted however.
Eye opening. Here's hoping for a quick resolution to this crisis. I agree with nature & balance, only one problem, it usually means the pendulum must swing before the balance is reached. There may never be a 'rush' to assist until we see the pendulum bob heading our way.
Jaspal - true - I think we're beginning to see it in India already - do hope those desalination plants around the world become commonplace soon!
jiberish - no we can't deplete it - but what is potable seems to be growing less, which is the problem.
steffsings - do hope the pendulum doesn't swing way out so the backlash is bad :)
Thanks you all for reading!
So, once we destroy all the natural potable water we go to work on the oceans. We won't last that long.
Saying that nature seeks balance is not personification; any more than saying flowing water seeks the path of least resistance.
Any species that refuses to comply with the laws of nature can expect only one outcome: extinction. It has nothing to do with any mythical deity and there is no other kind.
Your observations are accurate Shalini.
Water will become a very valuable commodity upon which to capitalize. Wars will be fought over it just as they are now over oil. The fact that it is necessary for survival will only increase its value on the market. It works in well with disaster capitalism. The wealthy will "own" and control it and the usual rule will apply; buy or die.
CWB - you've put it so much better than I have. It's started in India with a few powerful people diverting water for their own townships. From there to states to nations will be inevitable unless we do something fast. Unfortunately. so many of us live in the now, rarely bothering to spare a thought for our children and their future world!
Things are usually much simpler than they seem.
How true CWB! Thanks as always for coming by!
Apparently within us as the human species is the need to dominate, thereby subjecting others to an inferior lot. History has much to say about one nation overtaking another, one nation's power over another, battles waged for economic, social, and religious reasons.
There are water wars now, with more to come. But it's a subtle war...evidencing itself in only certain pockets of the world. These pockets portend the future. Whoever controls the water, controls the people.
I don't see any hope of avoiding this ultimate war fueled by scarcity of water...unless we drastically reduce the world's human population in a very short amount of time.
Hi Sally - you're so right about man's need for dominance - I guess if it isn't water, it would be something else! I do agree that we are getting overpopulated for the world's resources but with better management of these resources, there could just be enough for all! But we all want more for ourselves :(
Thanks for coming by!
Capitalism, especially the segment specializing in the exploitation of disaster, natural or man-made, is making great strides in "drastically reducing the world's population in a very short time".
Given the changes to the environment we can expect in the coming years, directly related to the consumerism created by profit seekers, I think it's safe to say that the speed of the "reduction" will increase exponentially as human-induced "natural" disasters multiply.
Also, there's always the nuclear ace-in-the-hole that can be employed if all else fails.
Shalini, this is absolutely the most pressing environmental hazard that need immediate attention! Brilliant facts you have pointed out in this hub. Capitalism is our worse enemy--or poison. Like ColdWarBaby stated, exploitation will be a swift means to an end of humanity. Scary.
Well done, Shalini.
CWB - that's the scary part - that we should exploit disasters!
AIDY - it is scary, isn't it? But I live in eternal hope :)
We will not only exploit them, if none are conveniently happening, we will create them in order to profit from them.
CWB - even scarier! Has conscience become history? :(
For those who seek supremacy? Yes.
The love of power is such a total corrupter, isn't it?
It's a genetic flaw in our species that should have been selected out long ago. It's dominant in such a tiny minority of us and yet, somehow, that minority has managed time and again to destroy entire societies while causing widespread death and destruction.
It defies reason.
And it's the tiny minority - you're right! I've always wondered about both the Power Genes and the Selfish Genes - they should ideally have been selected and erased out of our evolution ages ago. If indeed they did exist - or are they being quietly nurtured?
G-Ma Johnson says:
3 months ago
!!!!!right on and you are so right...it is unbelievable how we are so behind in what truly matters. nothing can survive without water..Great Hub Thanks..:O) Hugs G-Ma