The lack of broad awareness of water scarcity on a world scale and its consequences for sustaining human life on the planet is a bona fide crisis.
Water, a gift from the sky, has been taken for granted for so long it is hard to fathom a radical, maybe permanent, absence of water in places that traditionally have been the agricultural-rich areas that produce food for the world population.
We have a case in point with the Ogallala Aquifer(1) in the U. S., one of the world's largest aquifers(2) that underlies an area of approximately 174,000 square miles in portions of eight states across much of the central plains. It is a shallow water table aquifer surrounded by sand, silt, clay, and gravel. It has seen its water level drop significantly every year since 1969. In other words, the natural replenishment from rain and melting snow is insufficient to compensate for the amount of water used year after year. As a result, the water level has fallen about 40 feet.
Large scale extraction for agricultural purposes started after World War II. Today, about 27% of the irrigated land in the entire U. S. lies over the aquifer which yields about 30% of the groundwater used for irrigation in the U. S. The aquifer is at risk for over-extraction and pollution. Once depleted, the aquifer would take over 6,000 years to replenish naturally through rainfall. And the problem is generalized as we learn from the worldwidelife.org website:
“Water covers 70% of our planet, and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, freshwater—the stuff we drink, bathe in, irrigate our farm fields with—is incredibly rare. Only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use.
As a result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year. Inadequate sanitation is also a problem for 2.4 billion people—they are exposed to diseases, such as cholera and typhoid fever, and other water-borne illnesses. Two million people, mostly children, die each year from diarrheal diseases alone.
Many of the water systems that keep ecosystems thriving and feed a growing human population have become stressed. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up or becoming too polluted to use. More than half the world’s wetlands have disappeared. Agriculture consumes more water than any other source and wastes much of that through inefficiencies. Climate change is altering patterns of weather and water around the world, causing shortages and droughts in some areas and floods in others.
At the current consumption rate, this situation will only get worse. By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. And ecosystems around the world will suffer even more.”
What is really infuriating is that all this was predictable and mitigating measures could have been put in place decades ago but were not because of lack of will and of leadership in most major countries. Consider that as long ago as the late 80s, Malin Falkenmark wrote in Ambio(3) an article entitled: The Massive Water Scarcity Now Threatening Africa: Why Isn't It Being Addressed? The water crisis in Africa is, of course, more dire, however it signals problems the U. S. will have to confront if mitigation does not occur immediately.
In the 1989 article, Falkenmark writes:
“Nations depend on precipitation + inflowing waters (rivers and aquifers)— evaporation losses form vegetation and wet surfaces—outflowing water (rivers and aquifers). Self-sufficiency in food production relies on water from rain and technical supplies (irrigation). Continual population growth in Africa cause water consumption levels to go so high that many countries have already reached the water stress level (>500 persons/flow unit). By 2000, 12 African countries with a population of 250 million people will be water stressed. 150 million of these people will live in countries with absolute water scarcity. Tunisia will be beyond the water barrier. By 2025, the total number of water-stressed African countries will be 21 (1.1 billion people). Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Malawi will be beyond the water barrier. Population growth accounts for the difference between 2000 and 2025. Yet many engineers and economists do not accept the existence of water barrier. They do not consider the fact that many African leaders do not have the mechanisms and tools available to meet water demand. This man-induced water scarcity is exacerbated by the fact than many of these countries are in arid climates and at constant risk of intermittent drought… policymakers must develop sound water strategies and integrate them with land management.”
Another sad example of this worldwide crisis is outlined in The Independent’s article, India’s ‘worst water crisis in its history’ is only going to get worse, government think tank says.
“India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history and around 600 million people face a severe water shortage.
Approximately 200,000 people die every year due to inadequate access to clean water and it’s “only going to get worse” as 21 cities are likely to run out of groundwater by 2020.
In the longer term, the under-supply will become even more acute in the South Asian nation, as demand increases with the 1.4 billion population growing at a rate of around 1 per cent.
By 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply the Niti Aayog report reads. “[This will cause] severe water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people.”
The water crisis is already directly affecting the U. S. though it is worse in many parts of the world. It affects the very sustainability of life for the population in many regions in the world and consequently makes an indirect impact on the U. S., not only financially from the production and distribution of food, but with pressures of immigration and its associated challenges, both on a scale we have never seen.
In short, water scarcity already experienced in many parts of the world is growing more dire as it directly and indirectly impacts the entire world population.
This is a full-fledged humanitarian crisis.
The general lack of leadership from national leaders focused on short-term political gains can only be offset by a massive engagement of the population. That is a difficult task in authoritarian regimes but is the very stuff that democracies can address. But first, for that to happen there must be a greater conscious awareness of the issues of water scarcity and its urgencies.
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(1) a vast groundwater resource under eight U. S. states, used especially for crop irrigation, that stretches from southern South Dakota to western Texas and eastern New Mexico
(2) An aquifer is a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater.
(3) Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published eight times a year by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It was established in 1972.
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Sources:
“Ogallala Aquifer.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer.
“Water Scarcity.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/threats/water-scarcity.
Falkenmark, Malin. “The Massive Water Scarcity Now Threatening Africa: Why Isn't It Being Addressed?” Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment, vol. 18, no. 2, 1989.
Mattha Busby @matthabusby. “Worst Water Crisis in India's History Predicted to Get Much Worse.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 17 June 2018, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-water-crisis-shortage-niti-aayog-report-drought-mismanagement-a8403286.html.
Photo by Michael Bourgault on Unsplash