THE BIG ECO-PICTURE

     Water Inc. is a work of fiction. But the scenario it has created is based in an all-too factual reality: the world is running out of fresh water, and this imperils us all. Governments are not on top of the situation – but huge, profit-oriented transnational companies are, and are exploiting this reality to a very dangerous degree.

     The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), released in April 2005, is the first-ever global inventory of natural resources. It cost more than $24 million and took more than 1300 scientists in 95 countries 4 years to put together. Its overwhelming conclusion: we are living way beyond our means. The study stated that approx 60% of the planet's "ecosystem services" are already being degraded or used unsustainably. What is more, this degradation increases the risk of abrupt and drastic changes.

     WATER IN RED ALERT: Of all those degraded and overused ecosystem services, the MA chose to highlight two as most in danger: fisheries and supplies of fresh water. The report says that fresh water supplies “are now so degraded that they are well beyond levels that can sustain existing demands, let alone provide for future needs.”

THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT:

     The majority of water resource planning in the western US was done in the early decades of the 20th century – a time we now know was unusually wet. As a consequence, decisions were made which are highly inappropriate today. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in its spring forecast that the US Southwest, extreme West and mid-Atlantic regions will be warmer than normal this year, and that there’s no sign that the drought in the Northwest and Rockies will ease up. “Drought is the major story this spring” said the NOAA administrator.
The drought in the Plains and West is to continue, and worsen, according to experts at the Climate Modeling Group of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), part of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. They also note that persistent drought in the America West has historically been synchronous with droughts in mid-latitude South America, the Mediterranean and Asia, which seems to be the case today. In addition, the scientists at LDEO express concern that if historical patterns are any guide, “the American West could be in for a future in which the climate is more arid than at any time since the advent of European settlement.”
      With dry weather predicted for a third summer in a row, officials have warned that British Columbia may experience its worst drought since the Great Depression. Almost every area is already seeing historically low groundwater levels. Last year’s fire season set a record – and this year is expected to be worse. This spring the provincial river forecaster said, “Last year the accumulated precipitation for lake levels were close to historic minimums set in the 1920s. The Okanagan Lake [level] goes back to the early 1900s.”
     The president of the American Farm Bureau says that by 2050 “water will be the most critical resource issue we face in the entire world. Frankly, I think wars will be fought over water.”
US President G.W. Bush has publicly promoted “better pipelines, across borders,” stated that “water will forever be an issue in the United States,” and says that where he grew up, “water was more valuable than oil.”

SHRINKING SEAS, DISAPPEARING LAKES AND RIVERS:

     Rising global temperatures make it hard for lake waters to purify themselves, thus increasing the prospects of more dead and dying lakes in the future. (read more...)
"Eutrophication" -- which causes algal and plant growth that depletes oxygen and kills aquatic and animal life, plagues more than half the lakes in Europe and Asia, 41% in South America, and 28 % in North America. Acidification (from “acid rain”, as well as other sources), has killed or is threatening thousands more lakes.
     Irrigation uses 2/3 of the world's available water; 70% of this irrigation water never reaches the crops it is meant for; irrigation has doubled the use of groundwater since 1960. With motorized pumps, groundwater extraction in many areas has greatly exceeded recharge from precipitation, causing water tables and lake levels to fall drastically.
      In 2005, for the first time in history (recorded and oral) Mt. Kilimanjaro's peak was bare -- the glacier that had covered it melted away. Glaciers that feed rivers in the Himalayas, in the Pyrenees, in Canada, everywhere, are melting. In Europe, rivers such as the Seine, the Rhone and the Danube are threatened. The melting of glaciers will first increase river levels, then the levels will drop precipitously as the glaciers disappear. Some experts say that glaciers contribute up to 95% of water in major rivers around the world.

GLOBAL WATER AND THIRST:

     More than one billion people today have no access to clean drinking water, and the fish many have relied on for food are disappearing as lakes and seas shrink, disappear or die from pollution. Half the world's population lives in countries where water tables are falling and wells are going dry (UN, NAS data). On today’s trends, 1/3 of the planet’s population (more than 2 billion people) will be seriously short of water by 2025. Half the urban population in Africa, Asian, Latin America and the Caribbean already suffer from one or more diseases associated with inadequate water and sanitation.
     Fortune magazine writes, "Water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century". A BBC report says, “If you want to induce mental meltdown, the statistics of the worsening global water crisis are a surefire winner.” The United Nations (UNEP) says water scarcity “will be one of the major problems of the 21st century”, goes on to state that there could be water wars in the first half of the century – perhaps within a decade – and predicts that by 2025 there will be more "water refugees" than war refugees. (Note: water “skirmishes” have already started, with fighting and deaths in Kenya.)

REPLUMBING THE PLANET:

     At present, major dam and pipeline projects are underway or in advanced planning stages on all continents. These projects include: diverting the Yangtze River to the Yellow in northern China ($60 billion); two networks, linking and diversions of 31 rivers in India; and the "great man-made river" of Libya (from Saharan aquifers to coastal cities).
     A major pipeline from northern to southern Spain is planned; in Greece the "greater Acheloos" scheme to bring water to parched Thessaly has begun; plans to divert and pipe the Oubangui River (Congo) in Africa to Lake Chad, are underway; pipelines to assuage thirst in Australia and a variety of schemes in Turkey are on the table; also a proposal to pipe water from Siberia to the drought-ridden republics of Central Asia; and indeed, to China.
     CANADA-US PROPOSAL: President G.W. Bush has called for talks with the Canadian government to discuss buying water from Arctic rivers to pipe to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the American SW. Discussion is not taking place in the public realm, hence current status is unknown (investigation ongoing). According to New Scientist magazine, in 2003 there was a proposal on the table for two pipelines, one on either side of the continental divide.

STARTING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS - FOR DISCUSSION:

     There are viable alternatives to the water megaprojects. Normally, such solutions are an appropriate mix of small-scale projects that involve massive conservation, re-use (grey and black water) and thinking like an ecosystem. Sometimes, massive planning of conversion of agriculture may be required. In other situations, modest efforts at using water more efficiently would avert water crises. In most places, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, we “can fill taps without emptying rivers”.
     Since irrigation takes 2/3 of world's water, and since 70% doesn't reach its destination, massive drip-irrigation programs have the potential to conserve huge amounts of water globally.
Solutions differ in their mixes from place to place. In India, for example, the revival of a huge system of traditional cisterns to retrieve rainwater has been started -- very effective to retain rainfall, with no damage to ecosystems.
     In the US Southwest, which is very water challenged, consider New Mexico. NM has passed a bill, WET (Water Efficient Technology), that would pay to fix leaky old pipes, chop down salt cedar (an invasive plant which sucks up water), reuse water, store water in aquifers during wet years and pump it out during dry years. It would also pay for the state to acquire water rights for recreation and other public uses through a modest surcharge on water that would cost the average household in Albuquerque less than a dollar a month: about the cost of a bottle of water at the corner store. WET would provide New Mexicans with billions of gallons of more water without building expensive, damaging, and often controversial new dams and pipelines.
     Other examples: plug leaks in city water mains; cut evaporation loss on farms; use drip irrigation; reuse waste water to irrigate crops and golf courses; collect rainwater more efficiently; desalinate where absolutely necessary (but improve energy-intensiveness of desalination).