Water as life
“Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.”
-Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
- ... when the Ogallala aquifier in the Midwest is depleted and can no longer provide cheap and plentiful water for the water intensive crops?
- ... to Southern California and Arizona, where communities exist only because of water subsidies from "neighboring" watersheds?
- ... to cropland which is experiencing desertification?
, looks at the history of water and how we can attempt to to become sustainable once again.History of Water
Major cities and states throughout history have been centered around fresh bodies of water. This is because water provides a function vital to life. In the past people have typically managed water resources on a community level. Water usage has limited human expansion based on available water in a given region. However, in recent years has humankind been able to extend itself outside of nature's bound by using fossil fuels to extract water in massive quantities.
The most recent and startling change to the way water is regarded is the privatization and industrialization of water. Water has been turned into a commodity where it should be treated as a resource for all to use. Global corporations have privatized many water systems and are making money off of poor third world citizens.
Shiva argues that this is completely unethical because water is necessary for life. Imagine if corporations were able to control access to oxygen and then ask people to pay money to be able to breath. Although it sounds extreme, this essentially what companies are doing with water. Water is a critical resource for survival and companies have turned it into a commodity for their own profit.
Although water for U.S. citizens is still cheap, it is not affordable for many third world country people where water has been privatized. In many cases the people drink Coca Cola instead of water because it is a cheaper. Every has the right to breathe and has the right to affordable, if not free, water.
Water Conflicts - Resource Wars
With the industrialization, commercialization, and privatization of water, many conflicts have been bred. The most difficult aspect about water it is not a static resource and flows through many cities and even through many countries. A body of water's origin may be in a distant country. If the country decided to dam and divert the water before it reaches a downstream country, the lower country may not have any water access at all.
The Aral Sea is one of the most drastic examples of how water usage can completely change the landscape and ecosystem. The picture below shows the Aral sea has lost more than 1/2 of it's area because the water was diverted for irrigation purposes.
Water wars can be considered the most important resource war out there. Most of the focus in the world has been on oil prices and how our lives would change. Without oil our high energy lifestyle cease to exist. But without water, our life will cease to exist.
My Thoughts
Water wars often are forgotten when one looks at resources and other commodities. However, as I learned the hard way, (see blog post Am I ready for peak oil), access to water should not be taken for granted.
There are many ways in which individuals can make a difference. First, stop supporting beverage companies by buying their bottled water which can cost more per gallon than gasoline!
Assuming a 1L bottle costs $1.50, the equivalent cost is $5.69/gallon, $1.50 more than gasoline in most places. Also, take a look at Pablo's calculations of the environmental impact of Fiji Water. Not only will you reduce your environmental impact but your wallet will thank you.
Most of this water is simply the same as tap water and merely bottled. Many studies have shown that tap water is just as safe and in some cases bottled water has more bacteria colonies than regular tap water.
The second way of reducing your water usage is related to your diet. Most crops grown in the world are done so unsustainable with massive inputs of water and fossil fuels. These crops are then fed to animals to produce meat. It takes anywhere from 1500-2500 gallons of water to produce 1 lb of meat whereas a pound of potatoes, tomatoes, or wheat require less than 25 gallons of water per lb.
If each person in the United States reduced their consumption of beef by just 1 lb a year and substituted that with potatoes, the amount of water saved would be 735 billion gallons of water each year. These savings would be in addition to all the pollution that is prevented from animal waste and reduction of fossil fuel use for fertilizer.
There are many ways that you can reduce water consumption and the ones mentioned above are only a few. I hope that you will find a way to reduce your water consumption in whatever way that you can. Remember, water gives us life and we should not waste it.
About the Author
Vandana Shiva is a PhD physicist but later went to research science, technology, and environmental policy. She is most well known for her activism and writings in the fields related to agriculture, food production, biodiversity, and genetically modified organisms.
For more information about Vandana Shiva, see her article in Wikipedia.
Related Blogs
Recommended Books:
- Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict - Michael Klare
- Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit
1 comment:
this is the most informative post i have read yet and i have been researching reducing water usage
for about a month now!
Also i loved the quote you used at the begining
“Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.” by Albert Szent-GyorgyiIn
Again, amazing post
Cheers,
Stephanie
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