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SS 5 Themes of Geography Research Paper

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water scarcity

by nikhil ghag

WATER RIGHTS

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

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Water stress imposes growing socioeconomic costs - Rapid economic & demographic expansion has made potable water a major world issue Example: Lifestyle changes have increased water consumption in the form of industrial and agricultural products. - Consumption growth has become the single biggest cause of water stress. Example: Rising incomes have promoted richer diets, especially a greater intake of meat, whose production is notoriously water-intensive, making water the world's next major security and economic challenge. Water Privatization - Privatization of water companies has been contested because of poor water quality, increasing prices, and ethical concerns. Example: In Bolivia the proposed privatization of water companies by the International Monetary Fund was met by protests which ousted Bechtel, a US engineering firm based in San Francisco. South Africa also privatized water, creating an outbreak of cholera that killed 200. - Consumers took to the streets in many South American countries to protest water rate increases of 500% by private companies. - As services become more expensive and inefficient under privatization, there is reduced access to water for poor households.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

Tomorrow's water is being used to meet today's need - Water is the world's most exploited natural resource. Nature's capacity for providing renewable freshwater is lagging behind our current rate of utilization. - Climate change will likely diminish water resources in parts of the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the southern United States, southern and western China, and western Africa. Example: Destruction of the Amazon rain forest has reduced rainfall in the region that supplies Brazil’s water, even as climate change has made Brazil more susceptible to a vicious cycle of flooding and drought. - The struggle for water is worsening the effects on the Earth's ecosystems. Groundwater depletion affects natural stream flows, groundwater-fed wetlands & lakes, & related ecosystems. -Droughts caused by water scarcity result in crop failure, food shortages, habitat loss, and animal species reduction/extinction.

SOCIAL/CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS

Access to safe & clean water, a major public health concern world wide - 1.4 billion people live without clean drinking water. - Two-fifths of the world’s population lack access to proper sanitation. - Every eight seconds, a child dies from drinking dirty water. - 80 percent of all sickness & disease is related to contaminated water. - Dirty water kills more children than war, malaria, HIV/AIDS & traffic accidents combined. - As water resources are degraded & depleted, environmental refugees will result & cause water stress to more than 3 billion people worldwide. Example: If Bangladesh suffers the impact of China's damming of River Brahmaputra, the resulting exodus of refugees will increase India's security challenges. - Lifestyle changes have become a key driver of water stress. Example: In East & Southeast Asia, traditional diets have become more meat based. Meat production is water-intensive. If the world stopped diverting food to feed livestock & produce biofuels, it could abolish hunger & feed a larger population. - Much of the world's freshwater is not located near growing population centres. Problems range from development in areas with scarce water resources to a lack of development in areas with abundant freshwater. Example: Amazon River Basin contains approximately 15 percent of the world's freshwater but supplies water to less than 1 percent of the world's population.

POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS Hydropolitics: Politics affected by the availability of water

BLUE GOLD: WORLD WATER WARS DOCUMENTARY TRAILER

- Water’s essential nature makes it a strategic natural resource & it’s absence makes it an important element of political conflict. "Clean water will become the next oil" - Water-rich countries such as Canada, Chile, Norway, Columbia, Peru will gain political strength. - Global corporations entering the water market (worth over $400 billion) influence international governing bodies such as the U.N. and funders like the World Bank. - Silent water wars waged by building dams on international rivers & by resorting to coercive diplomacy to prevent such construction. Example: China's panicked upstream dam building in its borderlands Egypt's threat of military response against Ethiopia's construction of large dam on the Blue Nile. - In tropical wetlands or deserts, the potential of water causing war is more likely in this century than ever before. World Water Vision Example: Competition for water resources may lead to armed conflict between India and Pakistan, specifically if India's planned dams block the Indus River. - Use of water as a weapon of war & tool of terrorism more likely in next decade.

LEGACIES OF COLONIALISM

Historically, Colonialism acted as a form of capitalism - Enforced exploitation and social change. - Resulted in the destruction, dependency and systematic exploitation of a country, it’s people and commercial resources. - Produced distorted economies, disorientation, massive poverty and neocolonial dependency. - This search for raw materials and new investment opportunities goes on today with the capital accumulation of third world country water rights by major European and North American corporations. - Results have been disastrous with less access to water for the poor, extremely high rates & bad water quality. Historical Example: Conflict erupts between Britain & France in 1898 when a French expedition attempted to gain control of the headwaters of the White Nile. They negotiated a settlement between themselves while ignoring the needs and rights of Egyptians.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE - Build more water storage and infrastructure, such as aqueducts & dams, to drain more runoff from rivers before it runs into the ocean. Example: A proposal to build two 35 mile tunnels from the Sacramento River would cost $25 billion. - Roll back environmental regulations that prevent more water from being diverted for human activities. Example: Repeal the decades-old Endangered Species Act. Willing to sacrifice more animals and habitat to buy a few moments of unregulated water use.

THE LEFT PERSPECTIVE - Increasingly look at ways to reduce demand by recycling water, replacing thirsty lawns with drought-friendly landscapes, and using water-efficient crops and irrigation. Example: Singapore is a leader in developing advanced technology that cleanses wastewater for other uses, including drinking. - Educate to change consumption & lifestyles to motivate new behaviours. It is vital to ensure the problem is understood worldwide with a major rethinking of all forms of consumption, from individual use to the supply chains of major corporations. - Shrink corporate water footprints Industrial water use accounts for approximately 22 percent of global consumption. This includes water that is directly & indirectly consumed when goods are produced. As sustainable manufacturing becomes more important due to water scarcity, the bottled water industry must be questioned.

CAUSES

THE LEFT PERSPECTIVE - Inadequate water supply - Dependency on one major water source - High population growth - Rapid urbanization, modernization, industrialization Example: The Endangered Species Act gave environmentalists legal tools to fight overuse of water, helping them block subsidies for new dams, which block salmon migration, and reservoirs, which drain water from their environment. Conservatives hope to suspend entire portions of the this vital act to pump water to farms without restriction. - Environmentalists blame the 70 million gallons of water used for fracking and the bottled water industry for wasting water. - Disputes over dams, reservoirs & other large-scale projects. Example: The traditional answer of building more reservoirs won’t solve the problem. Building additional reservoirs does little when there's no snow or rain to fill them.

THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE - Conservatives blame environmentalists’ “silly” civilization-destroying causes, such as trying to prevent extinctions and avoiding the collapse of ecosystems. Example: Environmental policies have worsened the perilous lack of water in California and liberals are trying to hide it by shifting blame to agriculture. "A man-made human tragedy brought on by overzealous environmentalists.” Carly Fiorina, a possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate -Conservatives blame drained reservoirs and aquifers on resource misallocation, instead of reduced mountain snowpack melt levels.

CONCERN

NATIONAL

FRESH WATER SCARCITY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM TED-Ed LESSON VIDEO

World water issues go unnoticed in Canada - Most Canadians believe their water infrastructure is in good condition even though drinking water, wastewater, and storm water in Canada is reported to be in ‘fair’ to ‘very poor’ condition. - Less than half of our freshwater is renewable, most is locked up in glaciers. 50% of what’s left over drains into the Arctic Ocean. Meaning easy access to freshwater is unavailable to 85% of people living along Canada’s southern border.

INTERNATIONAL

80 percent of the world is vulnerable to water scarcity - Threats to freshwater supplies for more than 3.4 billion people range from problems related to scarcity, pollution, improper management & political instability. - Safeguarding watersheds, wetlands & flood plains is essential to preserving global freshwater resources.

LOCAL

Troubled waters in First Nations communities - More than 80 First Nations communities are currently under “boiled water advisories” & 21 communities are considered high-risk for contamination. Example: The northern Ontario community of Kashechewan was forced to evacuate 1,000 residents in 2005, due to poor water quality & unsanitary conditions.