Most Americans rarely think twice about the amount of water they consume in a day. Nowadays we might be prone to thinking of water consumption as purely an environmental issue, but in reality, water scarcity affects four out of 10 people in the world.
According to the World Health Organization, water scarcity is getting worse because of causes that include “population growth, urbanization, and increased domestic and industrial water use.”
Aside from being a basic survival necessity, water plays an integral role in the health of an individual and their community. Some women walk miles each day simply to find water to provide for their family. The water is not just used for nourishment — households, the environment, the farm and community industry all compete for scarce water resources.
Even in locations lucky enough to have substantial rainfall or freshwater, water scarcity can still be rampant because of this competition. When water is scarce, the pressing needs of life do not simply go away. Communities and individuals turn to unsafe and unclean sources of water to meet their basic needs.
An inability to access quality water dramatically increases exposure to and likeliness of contracting diarrhoeal diseases, like typhoid fever, dysentery or cholera.
We think of these diseases as “Oregon Trail” woes of the past, but they are a stark reality for individuals around the world. Scarce water supplies lead to an increase in home water storage, thereby building a household breeding ground for mosquitoes and making families vulnerable to waterborne diseases such as malaria.
WHO predicts that by the year 2025 “nearly 2 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water shortage, where water resources per person fall below the recommended level of 500 cubic meters per year. This is the amount of water a person needs for a healthy and hygienic living.”
This is not simply an international concern. The organization Science Debate 2008 states that an overwhelming 39 states in the U.S. are expected to experience a shortage in water supply over the next 10 years. With this scarcity would come a spike in water prices around the country. Similarly to the distribution of oil, water supplies are inequitably distributed across the globe with the world’s industrialized countries receiving the most benefit.
Yet having a comparatively higher supply does not mean that it is capable of meeting the demand of a country’s population. If the United States and other developed countries continue their wasteful water consumption habits, then problems in the near future are certain.
We must be mindful of how we use, preserve, protect and recycle one of our most valuable resources — or the prospect of the fight over oil turning into the fight over water could become reality.
Molly Hamm is a senior in education. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.
Water scarcity a threatening issue worldwide
Published: Monday, November 3, 2008
Updated: Monday, November 3, 2008
i really enjoyed reading this peice!!
you are a very talented writer!
i used some of your facts for a report of mine!
thank you!!