The Water War
By: Bikal Dhungel
What will be
added to international conflicts in this 21st century? Hardly anyone can guess
that it will be water, war for water, yes water that we drink. Water is a
public good, at least in many countries and is available freely.
Two third of planet Earth is covered by water. From this, 97% is salty, hence not drinkable. Among the remaining three percent, 99% of it is stored as ice in North and South Pole or trapped underground. So, only 1% is available for use. Still, this 1% is enough to fulfill the daily needs of all people in the whole world. However,1 billion people around the world have no access to clean water supply and 2.5 billion have no sanitation. This number is huge even though water is a freely available resource provided by the nature. Additional to this fact,
Two third of planet Earth is covered by water. From this, 97% is salty, hence not drinkable. Among the remaining three percent, 99% of it is stored as ice in North and South Pole or trapped underground. So, only 1% is available for use. Still, this 1% is enough to fulfill the daily needs of all people in the whole world. However,1 billion people around the world have no access to clean water supply and 2.5 billion have no sanitation. This number is huge even though water is a freely available resource provided by the nature. Additional to this fact,
Ignored by
the mainstream politics in almost all countries, water is an important issue
today that should be addresed. This will engage us in this century intensively
because the availability of water is the same but world population is growing
in an alarming rate.
In the year
1800, world population was only 1 billion, in 1920 it reached to 2 billion, in 1960
it rised to 3 billion, in the year 2000, it reached to 6 billion and took
another 10 years to hit the record of 7 billion. This is not the end, world
population is still growing with a very high rate: Every year 80 million more people are born, as much as the population of Germany. With the current rate, we
will have crossed the record of 10 billion people by 2050 and another 5 billion at the end of this
century. What does this mean? This means an intensified struggle for limited
global resources including water. People need resources to survive and given
the economic growth of today, people not only need water to drink but they’ll
need more amount with the increase of their well-being. For example, an average
person in the US today uses 700 liters of water per day whereas most Africans living
in rural areas use 30-40 liters per day[1].Now
imagine, all Africans and Asians including China and India where over two third
of the world population live, using as much water as the americans. With the
growth rate of China and India, they are on their best way to catch up with USA
and Western Europe. They are already increasing their food consumption, which
is one of the main factors of rising food prices throughout the world. Same
argument is valid for water consumption. This will keep the demand of fresh water high
and lead to the depletion of natural resources. This case is alarming as we do
not know either our planet can sustain this growth when there will be 15
billion people at the end of this century. The scientific community is unsure
how to deal with this issue as it is a multi-dimensional problem. The issues of
food prices, climate change, bio-fuel, world economy and many more are
connected with it. One nation or even many powerful nations cannot solve this,
there is either a global solution or nothing. However, the issue of water is
the most important one because it is not only vital for our survival but our
future and future of our earth also lies in it.
Water is
such a fantastic thing to talk about. It is the most essential factor for
humans after air to survive but it is also one of the most dangerous killers.
Water pollution causes various diseases like Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Diahhroea,
Arsenicosis, Cholera, Fluorosis, Guinea Worm disease, Malaria etc. Diahhroea
alone has 4 billion cases per year with 1.5 million deaths[2].
In a typical year in Africa, 5-10 times the number of people die from Diarrhoea
than from war[3]. Diseases
have immense affect in human lives. Due to water related illness, 443 million
school days are lost every year.
But the
story of water is not only about the disease related to it. There is a much
bigger issue going on. Its about the unfair distribution of water, its about
the wars that are being fought only because of the power struggle about who
should get how much. We don’t only need water to drink, we also need it for
industries, for irrigation and many other purposes. Agriculture is responsible
for about 70% of the world’s water usage, industry needs another 22%. An
important task of any government is to insure that its citizens get enough on
their plates. Hence, enhancing agriculture is an important task. Nomatter how
many varieties of foods you see in the supermarket, all of them have their
origin on the field. For example wheat is required to make our daily bread,
noodles, biscuits, beverages, beer and many other varieties of foods that we
consume everyday[4].
According to Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), alltogether in 2010 over
2 billion tons of wheat, maize and rice was produced ( 1 ton= 1000 kg). It
takes 2000-5000 liters of water to produce one person’s daliy food[5]
. Now imagine how much a person eats out of wheat or rice or maize in a day and
how much water is actually neccesary to produce all of these billions of tons
of crops. This is why countries fight for water because their lifelines lie
there. If they don’t get the water, they will not survive. Especially in
developing countries, a large portion of people rely on agriculture, in many
countries as much as 80%.
Due to the
differences in geographies, there are dry places on earth where there is no or
little water resources. Saudi Arabia for example, is the world’s largest oil
producer but they have no single river and no source of fresh water. Being a
rich country, they can afford desalination, a process of turning salty sea
water into fresh water in an artificial way but with a natural procedure but most of the developing coutries cannot afford this,
it is an expensive method and requires lots of energy. This is why many people of some parts of sub-saharan
Africa should walk many miles every day to get water. The scarcity has led to problems, in small and large scale water conflicts.
In every
continent, there is a conflict related to water. Jordan River, where Jesus
Christ was baptized is the source of conflict between Lebanon, Syria, Jordan,
Israel and Palestine. Every country built large dams in order to store water
for their purpose that causes a large damage in eco-system. In the future,
Jordan River might not reach the country Jordan from what it is named for
because too much water is being taken out. The Dead Sea, where Jordan River
actually ends, is also the lowest point on earth’s surface, has a high
evaporation rate. With this rate, the amount of water there will shrink and
scientific community doesn’t know what kind of impact that will have in our
eco-system. But eco-system is of less concern about these countries, the bigger
issues is about who will take how much water and either it is fair. The
Arab-Israeli war of 1967, also called ‘Six day War ‘had its origin in water
disputes between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Israel won the war and took
60% of water which the Arabs often cite as unfair[6].
From that time onwards, in every Arab-Israeli peace negotiation, water has always been
the important topic.
River Nile,
which flows through 12 countries in East and North Africa, is an imporant
source of fresh water in the region. It is also a matter of conflict between
the nations. East African countries like
Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya frequently mention that they are handled unfairly
and that Egypt is having massive advantage from the river. Many negotiations
have taken place in the past to resolve the dispute. For all these countries,
Nile’s water is important for their agriculture and economic development.
The Middle
East has 5% of the world population but only 1% of world’s fresh water that is
freely available[7].
Other notable conflict in the Middle East is over Tigris and Euphrates between
Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Bit further in central Asia, Kazakstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, Tajikstan and Kyrgyszstan are fighting for Aral Sea water.
Once, Kyrgyszstan cut off the water to Kazakstan until coal is delivered and Uzbekistan did the same to Kazakstan for not paying the debt. These insecurities of water have resulted in building huge dams for water conservation. It is in fact a good technique for securing the water need for the future but is also connected with other vulnarabilities and risks. In 2008, the Taliban threatened to blow up Warsak Dam in Peshawar, Pakistan. Warsak Dam is not only the primary source of water in the region but also, if the Taliban blow it up, hundreds of thousands will die from flood and many others will have no water to drink. Similarly, in Srilanka, the Tamil Tiger rebels cut the water supply to the government-held villages leaving people waterless. The conflict caused 425 lives. Terrorist group Al-Quida has frequently threatened to poison the drinking water in Western and American cities. In 2002, Italian police allegedly arrested four Morrocans for planning to contaminate the water supply system in Rome with a cyanide based chemicals. In the same year in Nepal, the the Khumbuwan Liberation Front (KLF) blew up a hydro-electric powerhouse in Bhojpur district. The Maoist terrorists have destroyed more than seven micro-hydroelectric projects as well as drinking water projects and pipeline supplying water to western Nepal. Innocent people have suffered and even lost lives[8].
Once, Kyrgyszstan cut off the water to Kazakstan until coal is delivered and Uzbekistan did the same to Kazakstan for not paying the debt. These insecurities of water have resulted in building huge dams for water conservation. It is in fact a good technique for securing the water need for the future but is also connected with other vulnarabilities and risks. In 2008, the Taliban threatened to blow up Warsak Dam in Peshawar, Pakistan. Warsak Dam is not only the primary source of water in the region but also, if the Taliban blow it up, hundreds of thousands will die from flood and many others will have no water to drink. Similarly, in Srilanka, the Tamil Tiger rebels cut the water supply to the government-held villages leaving people waterless. The conflict caused 425 lives. Terrorist group Al-Quida has frequently threatened to poison the drinking water in Western and American cities. In 2002, Italian police allegedly arrested four Morrocans for planning to contaminate the water supply system in Rome with a cyanide based chemicals. In the same year in Nepal, the the Khumbuwan Liberation Front (KLF) blew up a hydro-electric powerhouse in Bhojpur district. The Maoist terrorists have destroyed more than seven micro-hydroelectric projects as well as drinking water projects and pipeline supplying water to western Nepal. Innocent people have suffered and even lost lives[8].
Importance
of water is increasing, especially in the economically booming areas for their
industries, hydro-power, irrigation etc. So, human activities are intervening
too much in the natural flow of water. Human activities have pulled so much
water out of the rivers that Indus River on the Indian sub-continent, Yellow
river in China or the Rio-Grande along the US-Mexico border that they now
either disappear before reaching the sea or contain sections that seasonally
run dry[9].
This is a sad thing because Rivers have historical meanings, they played an
important part in our history and they helped human beings to prosper, by helping us to transfer our goods from one place to another throughout the past.
The Indus Valley Civilization dates back to five thousand years, started from about 3300-1300 BCE. The largest civilizations in human history were based on three rivers, the Nile Valley Civilization in present day Egypt, which was the earliest civilization, Indus Valley Civilization in South Asia and Yellow River Civilization in China. Mega cities like London, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai and New York City all have a history of prosperity that was supported by the rivers, their water. Without the in-land water system in Great Britain, its industrialization would have taken another direction. Inner European trade would not be so strong without the rivers that are there. The river Rhein that originates from the Alps Mountains and ends in the North Sea helped the trade pattern of Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany and Netherlands. Still today, Rhein is one of the busiest Ship routes in Europe. Many big cities have been created at the shores of Rhein. we can count what kind of cities lies; Basel, Strassburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Mainz, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Rotterdam, Utrecht etc to name the few. Hence, how much importance these cities have today in European economy is immeasurable. Hence, rivers are the origin of human civilization and we need to protect it and share its water in a fair way among the fellow citizens and give the best to solve the problem of water.
The Indus Valley Civilization dates back to five thousand years, started from about 3300-1300 BCE. The largest civilizations in human history were based on three rivers, the Nile Valley Civilization in present day Egypt, which was the earliest civilization, Indus Valley Civilization in South Asia and Yellow River Civilization in China. Mega cities like London, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai and New York City all have a history of prosperity that was supported by the rivers, their water. Without the in-land water system in Great Britain, its industrialization would have taken another direction. Inner European trade would not be so strong without the rivers that are there. The river Rhein that originates from the Alps Mountains and ends in the North Sea helped the trade pattern of Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany and Netherlands. Still today, Rhein is one of the busiest Ship routes in Europe. Many big cities have been created at the shores of Rhein. we can count what kind of cities lies; Basel, Strassburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Mainz, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Rotterdam, Utrecht etc to name the few. Hence, how much importance these cities have today in European economy is immeasurable. Hence, rivers are the origin of human civilization and we need to protect it and share its water in a fair way among the fellow citizens and give the best to solve the problem of water.
In an
international level, the crisis of water is known to us all, the Climate Change.
Rising sea level water threatens our survival. The ice on Greenland and the
Anctarctic are melting. If the temperature rises by 3 degree in Greenland, all
the ice will start to melt. In about 100 years, there will be no ice remaining
and that will cause the sea level rise by 7 meters. When the sea-level rises by
1 meter, 20 countries will perish from the world. So, imagine all ice of
Greenland melts and the sea level rise to 7 meters worldwide[10].That
has catastrophic consequences. 7 meters
rise means all the east coast cities of USA will be gone, from Boston to Miami,
including New York City, Jacksonville, Newark and many other cities in-between.
Highly populated areas like Bangladesh with its 145 million people will
completely disappear. From Belgium to North-eastern Germany, including the
cities of Hamburg, Kiel, Amsterdam, Copenhagen will all be gone. In Africa,
high populated areas like Niger Delta, East Africa will face problems. The most
vulnerable areas are in Africa, Asia and Europe. The UN estimates that there
will be 634 million climate refugees[11].
Can we afford so many refugees? Who will take them all? We already have a world
where Refugees are unwanted everywhere. Refugees always face descriminations in
everyday life. Without required papers, it is hard for them to find a job to
live a decent life. We can see so many Refugee camps in many countries full of people who arrived from their villages due to voilence, political problems, war, famine and
natural catastrophe and hope to find a place for them and their children where
they should not fear death. They are forced to move in search of a better life.
Despite the suffering of Refugees, whereever an Asylum center will be planned,
we encounter a massiv opposition of the locals, mainly in Europe. People seem
to be hostile towards immigrants and refugees. In this situation, we need to
think where such a large climate refugees should go in the future. Anyway, this
is the topic for the future. And when Antarctic ice melts, 55 meters of sea level rise[12].
55 meters sea-level rise is a horror scenario. We will be depressed to know
which places we will never see again above water.
This problem
of climate change is in global level. In national level, as I mentioned above,
there are many conflicts between more countries regarding water. The greatest
problem however is in the local level. Whereever there is scarcity, there will
be conflict. A village somewhere in Africa has just one well as a source of
water, now imagine thousands of people are living there who need to feed their
family, livestocks etc. There are thousands of examples where the individuals
are fighting with each other for water, sometimes even killing the neighbours
etc. Water is a matter of life and death, so people do anything to get it. In
India few years ago, when Coca Cola Company pulled too much water from the
wells to make Coca Cola, sources of fresh water dried and there were no water
in the wells. This resulted in massive protests because the locals had no water left to drink. That lead to a national
discussion in India and ethical consumers throughout the world boycotted Coca
Cola for such activities. Big Oil corporations in Niger Delta contaminated the
water but still nothing happens because Oil companies can bribe the public
officials easily who are then reluctant to pass any regulations against big
multi-national oil companies. In other countries, companies have contaminated
the water resources with their waste. Not only big and small companies, even
people with their household waste contaminate water resources. 90% of waste
water in developing countries is discharged into rivers or streams without any
treatment[13]. In
the city of Kathmandu, all the household waste will be directed to Bagmati River.
Bagmati will merge with other rivers at some point and people again use that
water for drinking purposes, for agriculture and for animals. This again has a
very bad implication in human health. This will lead to an increased number of
diseases and the health-care cost overall. We can see this picture in other places
too, where animals take bath in a pond, where people throw their waste and
others take the same water for drinking purposes. Due to the lack of waste
management and recycling techniques, developing countries are facing this
problem. Hence, it is a responsibility of countries that have efficient
recycling technologies to help the countries that do not, because this
contaminated water will finally flow to the Ocean and it has bad implications
for the eco-system as a whole and it affects the whole earth.
To conclude
everything, a major problem our generation is facing today has its roots in
water. Be it a conflict for drinking water in individual villages, be it a war
for a river, be it water contamination or terrorism or climate change, until and
unless we seriously sit down together to find a genuine solution that is also
fair, we will spend a long time in the future to resolve this crisis. It is important
to accept that water is not only essential for survival, but also a human
right. A right to safe drinking water and sanitation should finally be granted.
The millenium development goals (MDG) target this right but in implication, it
is still far away. This was shown by the fact that, after 13 years of signing
MDG, still almost a billion people have no access to clean drinking water and
other billions have no proper sanitation. It is time to agree that in some
problems of 21st century, there is only global solution, for example
water. Today we have a technology, an ability to finance this and a neccesity
to do this, so we should take a one step ahead in order to make it a reality
that someday no woman should walk 5 miles everyday to collect water, no child
should die of Diarrhoea, no man should kill his neighbour to get one additional
pot of water and no war should be fought anymore for water. This is the world I
envision, a world without a water war.
Sources:
[1] http://www.waterindustry.org/Water-Facts/africa-water.htm
retrieved, 26.feb. 2013
[2] Unicef: http://www.unicef.org/wash/index_wes_related.html , retrieved 23. Feb. 2013)
[3] http://matadornetwork.com/change/40-shocking-facts-about-water/ , retrieved – 15th Feb. 2013)
[4] Cauvain, Stanley P. & Cauvain P. Cauvain. (2003) Bread
Making. CRC Press. p. 540.ISBN
1-85573-553-9.
[13] http://www.waterindustry.org/Water-Facts/africa-water.htm retrieved
26.02.2013
