"Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink" is a well-worn paraphrase from a Coleridge poem, but it bears repeating. In fact, it may soon feature in headlines around the globe as news stories about dwindling fresh water supplies are becoming all too common.
Crowded cities face critical shortages due to high consumption and waste, pollution and deforestation. Industry, agriculture, even our daily showers drain our reservoirs. If present trends continue, we may all end up as thirsty as the Ancient Mariner.
Imagine no water aboard a ship in a sea of salt water, or being thirsty in the desert knowing that relief flows in an aquifer beneath your feet. Solutions to your predicament escape you; dehydration dulls the mind. So too can an abundance of water; as long as taps keep flowing complacency sets in, and we assume the hydrological cycle is an enormous global process that will endlessly refresh our water. The planet is largely covered by water, so it seems inconceivable that we should ever run out. But most of that water is unusable, so that "more than one out of every six people lack access to safe drinking water" (World Health Organization).
Escalating Conflict Over Water
When something that is essential to life becomes scarce then people tend to panic and often end up fighting. Thus we find, especially in places like China, India, Israel and Egypt, conflict over water is increasing.
Even where there are still large, healthy lakes and rivers, the sheer politics and logistics of capturing and moving water around can become a great strain on a society. Municipal water and sewage taxes keep rising, water reservoirs are being encroached upon by urban development, and the flooding and drought associated with global warming compounds the problem. It is true that technology may yet provide solutions to the looming water crisis. Nevertheless, the classic reduce, re-use and recycle mantra gains credence everyday as we continue to realize how we all share the same basic needs and interests regarding our water resources.
Water Paradigm Shift
To solve a problem systemic to our way of life requires radical shifts in thinking. The current paradigm for many people is that there is plenty of water. The planet is largely covered by it, so it seems inconceivable that we should ever run out of bath water. But think like a fish for a second, and imagine jumping out of the pond. What do you see? A whole new world with inexplicable laws and strange principles. In this new place our old assumptions about the world may no longer hold water.
Revolutionary insights, partly stemming from chaos theory, are forcing us to re-evaluate our current assessment of available fresh water supplies. To use the metaphor of a river, particle physics can explain why an eddy appears in the water behind a rock in a river, but it cannot explain exactly where that eddy will be at any given moment. Whether this is because we lack sufficient knowledge, or because we could never know enough to understand infinitely complex things, is uncertain.
What is for sure is that potable water is essential to life, and that we ought not to take it for granted. The water cycle is highly intricate and inextricably linked with a myriad of other factors, from sunspots to SUV's, any one of which could seriously impair the functioning of this cycle. As with any such system, we must be humble and entertain uncertainty in our attempts to understand it so as to avoid under-estimating the magnitude of the problem.
A Few Solutions
There is plenty of on-line information available on ways to conserve water. Re-using grey water, fixing leaks and avoiding wasteful practices are typically at the top any list of recommendations.
In addition to lower water bills, there are other financial incentives for home-owners to reduce water consumption.
The Government of Canada Eco-Action Program provides, as an example, rebates of $65 for the replacement of older toilets with newer, low-flush models.
Participating in the public debate over water use also helps because, by letting our politicians and legislators and others know that we support efforts towards water conservation, they are more likely to defend our long terms interests.
It is true that technology may yet provide solutions to the looming water crisis. Nevertheless, the classic reduce, re-use and recycle mantra gains credence everyday as we continue to realize how we all share the same basic needs and interests: we are all in the same boat. Let us keep repeating such clichés in new ways in order to keep reminding ourselves of our fabulous lifestyles that depend upon the albatross not dying.
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