Asad Tahir Jappa
How did we reach a point in our generation at which the water levels, supplying everything we rely on for a living, dropped at such an alarming rate?
It is an undeniable truth that throughout human history on the planet earth, conflicts emanating from water scarcity have already been happening. It does not matter whether it is for freshwater or saltwater. Ages hence, people have already been facing this issue of what we are experiencing today. Several countries are trying hard to fight for their respective rights towards certain water resources. At this point, no one is to be blamed as to how this has come about and why this has happened and is still happening. Some countries are committed to doing everything they can within their power to provide their nation with enough water resources for survival. It is no longer a pleasant sight to witness people surviving for their lives, more so, countries fighting each other for the sake of their own.
There have been a lot of industrial and manufacturing methods that have severely damaged our environment. Therefore, global warming has reached a more serious and alarming level that left our environment and the people difficult to grapple with this new reality. Many factors have affected the level of water the earth has that can be calculated as either sufficient or other. There have already been more than a hundred reasons why wars occur before and now. The water issue is slowly taking over the oil issue which has also caused a global threat and panic over the years. Water is an absolute necessity for all human beings. It is highly associated with and used in almost all human activities.
The dominant aspect of our being, in general, is deeply connected to the availability and quality of water. The bad news is, there is not enough water for all the billions of people across the globe. Considering the affecting factors such as climate change and general human activities, the amount of water available is likely to decrease with every passing day. Water Wars exist because mainly the water demand supersedes its supply. Furthermore, debates as to whoever has the power to control certain access to water and the process as to how it should be distributed is an unending process.
Likewise, in Eastern Africa, the severe case of drought has led to the fatal combat between Africans and the Somali clans vying for water accessibility. The danger of having shortages when it comes to life necessities, which is water, is slowly leaning towards violent competition between countries. The extensive scope of water conflicts makes it impossible to address. Local and international law, corporate or business interests, environmental concerns, and human rights activists make water conflicts too complicated to resolve. Many interconnecting factors need to be looked at whenever trying to build bridges between conflicting parties. Not to mention, when combined with opposing and endless views, opinions, and interests, the longer, riskier, and more complex it is to find that solution.
The uncertainty of having enough water supplies or resources for all countries is already a scary thing to even think about. Adding salt to the injury, certain areas of the globe have taken matters into their hands by aggressively pumping underground water. In the line of that, particular lands are beginning to sink at a depth of three to four inches per year. Specific areas in California have already sunk by a foot. Furthermore, local areas have also dropped to as much as 25 to 28 feet. These numbers continue to rise as days, months, and years pass. Many scientists agree that we continue to abuse our water resources. Considering the aggressive underground water pumping, railways, roads, infrastructures, and foundations of buildings will get disrupted. China, as an example, is now considered one of the most stressed-out countries when it comes to water management and supply. Due to the irresponsible consumption of groundwater across the globe, for reasons such as agriculture and providing drinking water to cities and local areas, its sufficiency to provide for us in the upcoming years is now threatened. The United Nations themselves shared their prediction that by the year 2030, a drastic shortfall in waters will occur globally. Even Africa, Eurasia, and America, all containing the largest amount of groundwater, are now in a critical situation.
Resultantly, as countries and regions draw closer to having unsustainable water, the economy is badly affected. The economic growth will rapidly decline, which will catapult the prices of food and other products immensely. Hence, it will further fuel the fire between existing conflicts or cause new conflicts in that matter. People’s revolutions have already taken place years ago because of water instability. Furthermore, if the water crisis worsens, the start of a bigger war between neighboring countries is more likely to happen. People in affected areas of water scarcity are already anticipated to migrate from one place to another, practically, to where there is enough supply of water. The predicament in this situation is, the more populated the place, the more likely it is to use up all the water supplies rapidly. So, when some people talk about thousands or even millions, migrating to a less water-stressed country, a higher possibility that perhaps that particular place might refuse and hinder their arrival.
Therefore, if opposing interests and intentions clashed, then conflicts will arise. In the worst-case scenario, government intervention may be required and may opt to call for war. Yes, it could hPappen and is even already on the verge of happening! Water scarcity can affect a greater scale than we could imagine. It can destroy a larger picture from what we can only imagine or see. Let us not forget that water is an important necessity for almost every function of society and the world in general. It is used in every process or method for every product or food creation. Not to mention that it is an important essential to humans and their health. Hence, the instinct to compete and survive is a higher percentage of happening.
It brings us to a million-dollar question that is on every person’s mind. How did we reach a point in our generation at which the water levels, supplying everything we rely on for a living, dropped at such an alarming rate? It may be possible or impossible to trace the genesis of this crisis. Several factors have potentially contributed to this global problem but the following four appear larger than the rest. Firstly, a corrupt or irresponsible usage of water supplies for agriculture, manufacturing, business purposes, personal use, etc. Secondly, poor management of pumping groundwater has significantly compounded this crisis. Thirdly, substandard maintenance of cities or local areas to their respective water systems causes the pipes to leak.
Fourthly, a spike in population growth followed by an increase in demand for water supply for food production has put immense pressure upon water as a key resource. On the other hand, the brighter side of this whole water issue is that its urgency to be resolved is at its minimum now. It is a slow-occurring crisis that leaves us more time to find measures and solutions to resolve the issue. Highly affected regions can find new ways or methods to conserve water and make it reusable if possible. Where are we right now at this point? Knowing that the issue of water scarcity is a slow-rising conflict can be quite comforting. However, it does not leave us to abuse further the convenience that we still have now. Certain areas of the globe are already troubled and are in danger because of insufficient levels of water availability.
That itself already calls for international intervention. In today’s generation, laws have been added, new principles have been followed, and a new set of fundamental conflict-solving theories have been implied. All this makes it more complex to solve a single problem.
In the final analysis it may safely be said that scientists and experts have predicted that our relationship with water is not painting a rosy picture. Unless we take immediate steps to address this issue, this situation is set to worsen. If this crisis persists, a global divide is likely to happen. This issue can only be slowed down or stopped through concrete and strategic measures. The result should be as large as providing separate water sources to countries with one key water access. But, if our water resource is seemingly going down the drain, where can we find the supply to refill what we have wasted over the years or decades? In the meantime, we can play our role in helping the globe conserve its water through small steps. It may seem too small in a larger picture, such as a global crisis, but at least it can testify that a beginning has been made in the right direction.
