Global Water Crisis: The Responsibility Paradox
With just 10 percent of the total water intake going to domestic household use, are we the real culprits?
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!
(…)
Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die -
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.(Dorothea Mackellar, My Country)
Water has always been not only necessary for human survival but also at the center of any kind of progress.
Yet, its distribution is highly imbalanced. Nine countries possess 60 percent of the world’s freshwater resources: Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Peru, Russia, and the United States.
But even in these countries, not all the regions are equally covered.
Also, Asia, home to around 60 percent of all human beings, has only 30 percent of the world’s water resources, while in the Amazon rainforest, which contains 15 percent of all available water, live only 0.3 percent of people.
In numerous countries, people live in a state of chronic shortage of water. As of today, 2 billion people, 26% of the total world population, don’t have access to safe drinking water.
Water is also at the heart of the climate crisis, the hunger crisis, and the centre of many armed conflicts, especially in Africa.
Two or more neighbouring countries often share hydrographic basins. This can give rise to disputes, such as the ones between Jordan and Israel over the river Jordan, or between upstream and downstream countries, like Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile, or Iraq and Turkey over the river Tigris.
Then, there is the excessive usage: America’s wheat belt, where a sixth of the world’s grain is produced, depends on the large Ogallala Aquifer of the High Plains. However, that aquifer refills far slower than the pace at which the water is withdrawn.
Not to mention that approximately 95 percent of groundwater pumped is used for irrigated agriculture. 95 percent!
Well, you might now ask: but isn’t water a renewable resource?
Of course, it is! Water can be used, and the wastewater generated can be treated and reused. Properly managed, this process can continue indefinitely.
Properly managed, which is not that easy. And let’s not forget about the energy we need to treat the wastewater.
Also, each stage of the water cycle takes different amounts of time to complete: water can exist in the form of rain or snow very briefly, but water in lakes can take decades to cycle through. Water in oceans or glaciers takes even longer, up to thousands of years.
Besides, in areas of little or no precipitation, water becomes almost non-renewable. Once the water is used up, it doesn’t return for a long time.
Generally, 69 percent of the total water intake goes to agriculture. Another 19 percent of global usage goes to industry.
Only 8 percent of the total water intake goes to domestic household use (or 12 percent for cities).
Should the individual citizen feel responsible for the water emergency?
The accepted narrative is that it depends on us.
Seriously?
The “global water crisis” is a very important topic today. Unfortunately, the response to the problem remains inadequate.
Hollywood stars invite us to give generously as individual consumers. Bottled water and beer multinationals show off with their advertising campaigns based on their sustainability policies.
Meanwhile, charities acknowledge that they need “real money” to earn from what they do.
There is also the World Water Council, an organisation that has the support of UN agencies, but in reality, is a multi-stakeholder body headed by multinational water corporations. It brings corporations and governments together in order to promote private interests in the management of freshwater supplies. WWC organizes the World Water Forum, which is being held in Bali (from the 18th to 25th May 2024).
Countries pay 30 million euros for hosting the event. And if you want to take part as an individual, it will cost you around 430$.
Good and fair management of water is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that form the core of the UN 2030 Agenda, which was adopted by world leaders in 2015.
We are, though, very far from achieving these goals.
Another problem is that water is being privatised. In the 1990s around 50 million people worldwide got their water from private companies.
Today the number is between 800 and 900 million people.
Strangely, or maybe not, Africa recorded the biggest surge in water privatisation. Huge companies such as the French Suez-Veolia have contracted the water supply in some of the main African cities.
Privatisation of water can include different situations, such as partial ownership over resources, control over assets, transport, marketing, billing, collection, maintenance, technology, and other tasks.
It is very easy to find some kind of a “Chinese box” structure, where the private companies that manage water supplies are so diversified and entangled that is difficult to make head or tail of who is really responsible for managing a safe and efficient water delivery procedure.
What we get is a market-driven arrangement, where the system, which is largely responsible for the crisis at the same time aims to make money by tackling it. The crisis is one of the system’s key elements, and when it becomes structural, what is the answer?
It is how capitalism works: the management of the crisis becomes itself a source of profit.
Water, however, is not just a commodity like any other and shouldn’t be treated according to the mere rules of the market.
If it stays in private hands, with profit as the final goal, the “water crisis” will always remain part of our lives.
If you are lucky, you get the water, the (high) bills, and the guilt.
If not, you get neither.
So, what can we do?
Of course, exaggerated and inconsiderate water use has never been an option, regardless of its global scale impact. It is simply a matter of personal ethics, like not wasting food, for example.
Also, being aware of all the parts of the water supply chain, from its start to our household tap water, can allow us to address different issues, such as high costs or water quality.
Last but not least, if your tap water is safe to drink, consider purchasing less bottled water. By doing so, we can avoid feeding a market that is mostly there to feed itself.
References:
Benson, K., & Karunananthan, M. (2022). Counter Streams: Organizing the Dakar 2022 Alternative World Water Forum. Transition, 133, 147–173. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48767703
Mohai, P. (2018). ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND THE FLINT WATER CRISIS. Michigan Sociological Review, 32, 1–41. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26528595
Gawd, E., & Bernsen, K. (2011). Globalization of Water: The Case for Global Water Governance? Nature and Culture, 6(3), 205–217. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43303905
Lalonde, B. (2019). The Water Challenge. Horizons: Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development, 13, 184–193. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48573778
