This may sound surprising, but there is as much water on the planet now as was present in prehistoric times. The appearance of a shortage of water is only of regional relevance. As water is part of the global commons it requires global protection and access. But, this does not happen. People in poor areas of the world are being shorted and are suffering as a result. When people are unable to get what they need, they fight all the harder for survival.
The miserly hoarding of resources and sense of entitlement as well as the misconception that global warming is merely a cyclical climate change, herd us further toward the conflict dynamic that is taking place now in many places across the globe. Ethiopia and Kenya are two of the most vulnerable regions.
Kenya and Ethiopia have vast experience in the devastation brought by lack of water. Climate changes related to global-warming exacerbate the already critical drought. Cracked, waterless earth and rare but furious rainstorms flood the land parched too solid to absorb anything. The runoff floods the land, swells and overflows open sewers and uncollected garbage. The slurry mixture then rushes into the back yards of families, poisoning that potential source of water as well.
Potable water must be bought in these regions of Africa, and it is expensive. It is often even more expensive than it needs to be thanks to manufactured shortages created by greed. Good water can cost a family five cents for five-and-a-half gallons. In a country where you are considered lucky to make eight dollars weekly, that is a small fortune. The resulting anger of the people is natural, knowing water prices are driven up for pure profit. Powerful conflict results.
These issues are not new and they prevent progress. Climate changes from greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide were reported by Paul R. Ehrlich in 1968. Social problems that hold back the growth of a people have been studied as far back as the publication of George Orwell's Animal Farm. The Orwell quote seems apt: "Some animals are more equal than other animals." Regions of the world that struggle for basic survival needs are certainly not able to concentrate on progressing scholastically or socially if they are distracted by growling bellies and unsafe living environments. People need the access to resources first. Further progress is next.
We Americans take more than our share. We literally hoard water all over the country in underground storage facilities for example. In Los Angeles, the ground rises and falls by more than four inches a year due to this type of collection and the huge quantity required to sustain the city and its population over time. This pumping of water into underground aquifers is stunning to geophysicists as the resulting groundswell is 100 times larger than normal seismic fluctuations. According to these scientists, nowhere else in the world have they observed the magnitude and extent of the change in land levels due to water demand. In northern Orange County, seventy-five percent of all water used is pumped from these aquifers.
By contrast, Ethiopia and Kenya have precious little water, and it is hard won. The area is composed of vast tracts of dry, cracked earth more like the surface of Mars than our own Earth. Dust is another problem, not surprisingly. The wells of the region are typically insufficient or drying up. The people must share their portion of water with the animals. Animals are the people's lifeblood. They have monetary, farming and nutritional value.
Many of the Ethiopian and Kenyan people are nomadic. They go where the food is or could be with proper farming and water. Many unlucky others are forced into slums without sewage systems, garbage pickup, running water or adequate education. The people become angry with the government for not protecting them. The governments hold on to outdated and outmoded principles in greed and worry. The price is volatility and unrest.
Philosophically and scientifically speaking, no one can truly own water. It is part of a contained cycle. At best, water is rented. It passes in and out of our lives, homes and bodies to seek the source, to return to us again in other ways.
Ultimately, a vast paradigm shift in both the ecosystem and equality is required. As a people, we must consume less, buy less, trash less and waste less. We must recycle more, find even more creative solutions and broaden the innate spirit of sharing.
Water fed conflict does not exist in Africa alone. According to the BBC in Obstacles to Peace: Water, the unfair allocation of water has been a historical obstacle to peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well. As settlers around the Gaza and West Bank area build barriers for security, they also engulf areas that have a high yield of water. The flame of conflict in this area needs no further fanning.
The struggle for water in Africa may be a sub-national conflict however is just as devastating. The fighting for limited resources between tribes, strains delicate peace agreements and can easily become a tipping-point toward violent and bloody civil conflicts.
The lack of water exacerbates ongoing tensions, highlights discord and provokes sensitive issues. The reluctance to protect our most basic of resources will only heighten the problem further. In this century and for centuries to come conflict will be fueled by water and the lack thereof. Open access, allowance and conservation of water is one solution for dampening the potential of future violence and putting out the fire of inflamed discontent.
Submitted to Helium, Pulitzer Center
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