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Water Warfare (by Hannah Renglich)

For the past two centuries, industrial nations have adapted to a system in which more fossil fuel energy was available every year and the global populations expanded rapidly to take advantage of this energy premium. Oil has been the least expensive and most convenient energy resource ever discovered by humans and as a result, it has also been the cause of much global conflict. These industrial nations built economic systems reliant upon the assumption that growth is normal, necessary, and everlasting; however, when oil production peaks, these assumptions will fall short. 

The world’s population will double in the next forty to ninety years, as it increases by eighty million each year. Fortunately, as oil sources are depleted, countries can turn to different resources for energy; however, our water supply is constant and has no alternatives. “The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water,” said Ismail Serageldin, the vice president for environmental affairs of the World Bank and chairman of the World Water Commission.

The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, also recognizes that “in this new century, water, its sanitation, and its equitable distribution pose great social challenges for our world.” Since there is the same amount of water on earth as when the earth was formed three billion years ago, it is essential that the world’s population recognize the importance of conserving and protecting these limited resources. Nearly ninety-seven percent of the world’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable, leaving two percent locked in ice caps and glaciers, and only one percent available for all of humanity’s needs. Polluted water contributes to the deaths of fifteen million children under five every year, as more than one billion people do not have access to a safe water supply. Forty percent of humanity lacks sufficient sanitation and more than three billion die every year of water-related diseases. 

Although in recent centuries, most international conflicts have stemmed from differences over religion and politics as well as disputes over oil, many futurists believe that in the next few decades, many nations will go to war to avoid catastrophe over shortages of water. It is forecasted that water will cost as much as oil per barrel in certain parts of the world, and with the average total home water use for each person in the United States averaged at fifty gallons per day, water is sure to become a precious commodity. The countries that control water are destined to be the victors of the future.

As Lebanese villages prepared to pump water from the Hasbani River, Israeli officials raised the idea of a water war, as the river flows through both countries. The late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin noted, “If we solve every other problem in the Middle East but do not satisfactorily solve the water problem, our region will explode.” It is most likely that conflicts will arise where rivers and river basins cross state borders since a country near a river’s source that uses more water can lower the amount that reaches a country downstream.

It would be incorrect to assume that developed countries are immune to water problems. In the southeast of the United States, where water has always been abundant, states are struggling with water conflicts. Atlanta’s population is quickly outgrowing the existing water stores and as a result has faced conflict with Alabama. With experts advising that Atlanta pump water out of the Tallapoosa River system that runs into Alabama, Atlanta is facing the accusation that they are depriving Alabama of water they consider their own. Similarly, at the Canadian-US border, there is conflict over possession of the water in the Great Lakes. In 2002, a Nestlé/Perrier water bottling plant was built in Stanwood, Michigan, withdrawing from an aquifer that feeds the Muskegon River, which flows into Lake Michigan. The Ice Mountain bottling plant withdrew up to 400 gallons a minute, but was shut down in 2003.

Many communities in the western states are recycling grey water, which is water used for washing that contains traces of detergents. It is not safe for consumption, but it is useful for irrigation. Many areas are now reliant upon groundwater resources since many lakes and streams have been pumped dry. These resources tend to be taken for granted as this water supply is being tapped into worldwide; however, it takes centuries for these reserves to form as water slowly trickles down from rainfall through the soil. Ironically, the technology used to pump oil is identical to that used to pump groundwater.

It is projected that by 2025, sixty-six percent of humankind will be living in regions of acute water stress. Today, water is in crisis in China, Southwest America, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and even in Europe. Towns and cities downstream are starting to recognize the penalties of careless alteration in old hydrological ecosystems as wetlands dry up, rivers rage out of control, and contaminants enter the groundwater. Egypt has threatened to go to war over diversions of the Nile more than once, and threats of this kind will become more common in the years to come. A ten minute shower uses about 55 gallons of water. A leaking faucet can waste up to 100 gallons of water a day. Great civilizations such as Mesopotamia and the Aksum Empire have fallen when failing to properly manage their water resources, sending a clear warning about the importance of conservation. Of all the natural resources available, water is the most critical to humankind and it is understandable that with global water supply at risk, the threat of water warfare has become omnipresent. A person can live for a month without food, but only a week without water. 

Sources

de Villiers, Marq. “Water Wars of the Near Future.” ITT Industries. 1 December 2004. <http://www.ittind.com/waterbook/Wars.asp>.

“’Future wars might be fought over water.’” Hindustan Times. 10 May 2004. 1 December 2004. <http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/6321_244351,0016001100070004.htm>.

Gosse, Jason. “Great Lakes Water Conflict.” Water is Life. 1 December 2004. <http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/GOSSEJP/>.

Sandrasagra, Mithre J. “Polluted Water Sets Stage for Future Wars.” Common Dreams. 23 March 2001. 1 December 2004. <http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0323-01.htm>.

Sutherland, Ben. “’Real conflicts’ over world’s water.” BBC News. 20 March 2004. 1 December 2004. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2867583.stm>.

“Water.” Global Policy Forum. 1 December 2004. <http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/natres/waterindex.htm>.

“Water Facts of Life.” Environmental Protection Agency. 1 December 2004. <http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/kids/facts.pdf>.

“’Will Future Wars Be Fought Over Water?” ESL Lounge. 1 December 2004. <http://www.esl-lounge.com/level6/lev6water.shtml>.

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