OUR WATER
By: Hodalis Bonifacio
The water crisis that is affecting the world is caused by three factors: poverty, population growth and the mismanagement of water. In order to fight the water crisis we have to find solutions to three problems. The effects of not trying to solve the immediate problems of the water crisis could and have led to water wars, epidemics and the destruction of the environment. I hope to form a web page that will help solve the water crisis the world is facing. The web page will show solutions that have been used in all parts of the world. Members from other parts of the world can then try to apply these solutions to meet their own water needs in their communities. It will serve as a tool for teachers in their classrooms to use in their curriculum on water. The curriculum will look at all the water problem that the world is facing and solutions that have be found all around the world and how to implement them. I hope to start this curriculum in the United States and work my way around the world. They reason I want to start in the United States is because I live in the United States and on an economic standpoint it makes sense to start here. I’m not also familiar with other cultures around the world. I believe that the best way for other countries to solve the water problem is by meeting their needs and not aliening their culture. A future goal that I have is to change policies and laws around the world in order to help the working poor get water. I hope that community leaders working to solve the world water crisis will see this web page as a help tool to them and others. The last goal I have for the web page is to inform everyone about the water crisis that the world is facing. That it is not only a problem for developing nations but also a first world issue as well. There are parts of the first world that are drinking unsafe water without knowing. Excessive consumption in the United States does affect the water crisis in others part of the world. The following are problems that that United States is facing and other part of the world. There are solutions that can be applied to those problems by involving politician and community leaders around the world. Countries that are facing the water problem right now or will have them soon need to act fast. I hope to make it clear that the water problem is here now, and that steps have to be taken now and not ten or twenty years from now, not only in the developing world but also in the first.
Katherine L. Kling and James E. Wilen did a study in, San Joaquin Valley, California to see if water markets would reduce water drainage and more efficiently manage water. Hanak defines water markets as, “the historical holders of water rights—mainly farmers in the agricultural heartland—to transfer water to other users willing to pay for it. Potential buyers include urban and industrial users, farmers with higher-value crops, and environmental programs to support fish and wildlife habitats. ” Katherine L. Kling and James E. Wilen’s experiment proved that the water markets did help reduce drainage by 30 percent. Despite this success, crop return was a problem since the farmers did not make the profit they expected. The study is promising since it indicates that water markets can reduce drainage water up to 30 percent, but more studies need to be done to construct a better way to implement water policies. Kling and Wilen’s study also looked at other factors that should be considered when trying to manage water usage. Some of these factors include looking at the size of the farms (whether they are corporations or small farms) and looking different regions. Another point to take into consideration is how much water the farms were receiving before and after the water markets.
Looking at studies like these are important to determine the amount of water being wasted, because “agriculture and industries account for more than 90 percent of water usage… ” In some areas there is sufficient water to meet an adequate standard of living but the water resources are being taken away to be used for agricultural production. The problem is that more and more water is needed for food because of exponential growth in population.
As a nation becomes wealthier, they demand more water for agricultural production to fed animals. This means that they are wasting more water since greater amounts of water are needed to raise animals. Meat “takes much more water - between 5,000 and 15,000 liters” to produce one kilogram of meat . To produce that same kilogram of grain it would take “between 500 and 4,000 liters” of water . If people ate less meat it would save more water, or if they would change what they fed their livestock. The problem with this is that they are afraid of malnutrition. This is irrational since the United States has an excess amount of meat production as well as consumption.
Water is not only used to grow food anymore but in other parts of industry that we normally don’t think of. For example, water has been used in the garment industry for years to grow cotton. One simple cotton t-shirt can take up to “25 bathtubs full of water to grow the scant 9 ounces of cotton” to make that t-shirt . Now image how much bathtubs it will take to cloth the growing world population and the effect it will have on the water crisis. Now it is also being used to solve the fuel problem that the world is facing. “Policies seemingly unrelated to water drive increased water use. For example, using biofuels may be a way to reduce greenhouse gases, but growing the crops to produce them demand additional water ”. Policies like these cause more strain on the water resources in places like India where to meet 10 percent demand on transportation biofuels it will have to use the same amount of water that it take to produce food in India.
In order to meet the demand for food production, bio-fuels, and other needs, the agriculture industry has to expand. They have been expanding by moving to areas with arid land and where there is limited water. The expansion for agriculture is destructive to the environment. Trade could be a solution to this problem, but cannot be implemented because of poverty, politics and policies of self-sufficiency. If countries that have low water supply or resources relied on trade from other countries that had rich water sources it would reduce the strain that they have on their own water sources.
Another problem that needs to be looked at is privatization and how companies and corporations affect the law and people. In the First World, one example of how privatization has negatively affected the working poor can be seen in Whales, United Kingdom. Pre-paid water meters have caused a conflict in poor communities since they cut off water to the consumer after their credit runs out. Some would even try to save water in bathtubs when they know they would run out of credit or money to pay for water, this can cause health related problems for consumers and their families. The problem with this is that when the company first told the consumers about pre-paid water meters they made it seem more affordable and easier to pay which was not the case. Most of the consumers that used pre-paid meters have problems paying for water in general but it’s made sometimes more difficult when consumers have the money and are willing to pay but the locations to make payments are closed. If a customer runs out of water on a Friday night, they would have to wait until Monday morning since payment centers are closed on weekends. A consumer stated:
"I got a letter stating that if I couldn’t pay the arrears I would be disconnected. The man from the water company said I’d have to have one of these. He told me that I’d be able to get tokens for £2 or £3 each, but I found out after I had it that you could only have them £5 or £10. I’ve written to complain, and to the newspaper, but I haven’t heard anything from Welsh Water."
The company misled consumers to choose pre-paid meters after they could not afford to pay under the regular system. Many of the consumers that used pre-paid meters were in debt using the regular meters. Before privatization the company made a profit of £2 billion and after it made £10 billion. There was a growth of 16 percent for an individual person to pay for water. The only way the company can make this profit is by overcharging their customers. The company was also violating the law when water meters stopped giving water to consumers since they did not immediately notify the courts so they could try to reach an agreement. They were taken to trial by the counties to protect the consumers. The company lost the trail and instead of removing the pre-paid meters they instead installed another system called the “trickle-flow,” which would give water to consumers who had the pre-paid meters but it would only flow enough to supply people with the most basic necessities .
Another form of privatization is bottled water. Unlike the privatization of water in the United Kingdom, bottled water affects the environment. Research has found that bottled water is not better than tap water yet people continue to buy bottled water because they associate bottled water with health and purity. Additionally, water bottles are not as strictly regulated as tap water. Research shows that there are more chemicals in bottled water than in tap water. Bottled water is harmful to the environment because “bottling companies can pump up to 200 gallons per minute, or even more, out of each well, and many wells run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year” . Organizations against water bottling companies are concerned that these companies are pumping water too quickly for the environment to recover affecting underground water, rivers, streams, and lakes. The actual bottles themselves also cause pollution since they mostly end up in landfills. Cancerous chemicals have also been found in the materials used for the water bottles.
The privatization of water in the third world has caused poor people to drastically lower their standards of living. In the documentary, “Flow,” a native Bolivian, spoke about not being able to take showers regularly because she could not obtain access to water. Another problem is that water companies in the third world have a monopoly on water. In order obtain safe drinking water people have to go through these companies. If a person does not have sufficient money they would have to go to water sources that are unclean in order to satisfy their needs.
The documentary “Flow” also highlighted a similar example of pre-paid water meters in an African country. The citizens had to pay first to receive water. The problem is that when the companies came to help villagers obtain water they do not explain how the pre-paid meters really worked or operated. They gave out pamphlets written in English which most of the time are not written in the villager’s native language. Additionally, illiterate people cannot read them either. The water companies claim that they are trying to help the villagers and that pre-paid meters are the best way to give them the water that they need. The documentary later shows an engineer in India who devised a more cost effective way to provide safe, clean water for Indian villages .
In addition to pre-paid water meters another problem are the laws and policies related to water. Since the companies have a monopoly on the water they do not want the natives to harvest the water on their own. If the natives harvest their own water, the local people would not need to pay for water. The water companies put pressure on the government to create and enforce laws that could make it illegal for the natives to harvest their own water, thereby securing their own monopolies. These kinds of polices later led to the water war in Bolivia.
Dams have also become a problem. Originally dams started out as a solution to the water problem but over the years have done more harm than good. For example, in the documentary “Downed Out ” a dam was built to reroute water to a drought stricken village but in the process thousands of villages are going to be submerged underwater. The people from these villages have been there for generations but because of this dam project they either are being relocated to barren land or drowned out. The resettlement sites they are being rerouted to do not have proper drinking water. Some of the villagers are not given the option of even getting relocated to the barren land and are forced to move to the slums of India. The worst thing about the project is that the water might never reach the drought stricken area and instead just fuel the already prosperous areas of India making the rich richer.
According to the article “Not a Drop to Drink ” dams are wasting water. The Nile River dam evaporates 15 cubic kilometers of water, “that is roughly the amount of water that is used by the whole of the United Kingdom in a year” . Not only is the water being wasted but the Nile River water does not even reach the sea anymore. The Nile River is not the only river that doesn’t reach the sea anymore; this is becoming a world phenomenon. Dams not only stop the flow of river to the sea but they are also polluters. Dams contribute to 25 percent of the human caused methane emissions and 4 percent of total warming impact of human activities. “Scientists have long warned that dams alter the chemistry and biology of rivers. They warm the water and lower its oxygen content” . This has caused rivers to harm most of the world endangered species than any other ecosystem. Even though one of the reasons that dams are built are for flood control, they can cause even more destructive floods. The reason for this is that the government and private owners fail to upkeep the dams. Most dams in the United States have a grade D by the Society of Civil Engineers. The United States has not given $36.2 billion dollar or less than that which is required to repair those dams that are a safety hazard to people. Most states are strapped for cash and don’t permit safety officials to perform their jobs and sometimes only have one employee for 500 to 1,200 dams! This has caused many inspectors to feel that dams are set up to fail. What is even more astonishing is that owners of old dams lobby, litigate or even walk out of dams in order to not pay for up keeping. Over the past 134 years dams have killed 5,128 people and caused millions of dollar in damages. A cap and trade scenario has been thought of to help reduces the air pollution caused by the dams. The cap and trade system has been proven to be successful in the past with other industries to help reduces pollution. So even after knowing all of the problems that are caused by dams, what motivates governments to build such expensive dams? The answer is the World Bank. It is all because of the privatization of water and other natural resources. The World Bank needs to look at the effects that their policies have on the environments in developing nations and human lives before putting them in place. Dams are really only a short term solution that does not help the people but instead makes their lives more difficult. Does this government have the money that it takes to upkeep this dam? They don’t think about how this will affect fishermen who cannot fish in the rivers anymore because the fishes have died or moved out. Now these people are out of work as well as famers. There are a number of economies that are based on rivers that are being disturbed when dams are built .
Not only are the rivers like the Nile disappearing but also the sea. “How the Aral Sea Has disappeared. People call it one of the great ecological catastrophes in the world... It had happened entirely as a result of misuse of water to pour the contents of what were large rivers onto fields to grow cotton, and it destroyed a sea in the process” . So what do people and governments do when rivers or seas cannot meet the water demand anymore? They are planning on transporting water from another river like the example of China who for the 2008 Olympics games transported water from the Yangtze River in the south to the Yellow River in the north to Beijing. This project, to keep the north watered will cost china $60 billon dollars. Not only are projects like this expensive but also ineffective. When water is moved from great distances, water is last in the priorities. The best way to manage water is locally. Harvesting rain water is the best solution by stopping it for going into streets, river, dams and the sea; famers can capture it, “pour it back down their wells, creating a storages system so that they can pump it up later in the year” . Ideas like these will help better water management into dams. In some part of the world the best solution to the water crisis is better water management that can help save and reuse water. A family in Menard, Texas is able to rely solely on the water that they harvest from rain. They are able to capture 2,900 gallons of water. For people that live in apartment buildings they can do little things like changing the toilet to one that uses less water. Using high efficiency washing machines, can save up to 20 to 30 gallon per load. Taking one shower in the summer and also taking shorter showers can help save up to 700 gallons by only reducing 1 to 2 minutes. There are many little things that can be done in everyday life that can help save water .
We need to save water because as the rivers run dry many people in the third world have ended up pumping water which has had a negative effect on the water supply and people’s lives. In places like India people are pumping water out of control. This can cause a problem because when people pump water from the underground, this lowers the water table. Not only this but many people are being poisoned by this water because it has fluoride and arsenic. People don’t know this is happing to them because it takes a year to kill them. It also has to do with the fact that pumping water has not been a tradition in India so they don’t know this can happen, but even so what are they supposed to do to get water? They are part of the 2 billon population in the world that does not have safe drinking water.
Water is a human right that everyone has a right to. In “The Human Right to Water” Gleick takes a look at existing human right laws from conventions and declarations to support the fact that water is a human right. Gleick makes a clear point that “water is explicitly mentioned only in the Convention of the Right of the Child” . This dose not means that if it is not explicitly stated it is not a right? The answer he gives is no. In order to meet other human rights, like the right to life, people need water. Without water people can’t live. The problem with declaration is that they are statements of principles of inalienable rights and “imposes only moral not legal, weight on members” which means they have no power to help people meet their water needs. The only legal rights that we have are treatments of water and the standard of our water quality. None of this takes into account the right of an individual to access clean drinking water.
Water wars will be the conflict of the future if there is not better management, sewage treatment, and distribution. There will be two forms of conflicts. Some will take place within the same country and others between neighboring countries. A water conflict within a country will most likely be caused by legislations that limit water to certain places and favor others. An example would be the United States where areas are being favored for industrial and agricultural production while negatively affecting the environment and other industries amongst other parts of the country. South Dakota and North Dakota have been fighting with Missouri over the Missouri River. The Army Corps of Engineers has control of the rivers water level and distribution since the 1950s. The 1950s was when the army started building dams and putting locks to control the flow of the river. There are six dams along the Missouri River Basin which runs through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri and then flows into the Mississippi River. The Army Corps of Engineers have been favoring an area of the upper part of the river at the cost and expense of the wildlife and industries of North and South Dakota. The Army Corps of Engineers are favoring North Dakota and South Dakota that ship farmer’s goods, which is a 9 million dollar industry, while Missouri is being left behind even though the river helps run an 85 million dollar industry in recreational tourism. In the Army Corps of Engineers manual the environment is last in their list of priorities. The Northern areas are being supported since congressional leaders have the northern area’s interest in mind. Ironically, later on Bush supported the Army Corps of Engineers because he thought he won Missouri’s vote because of the Army Corps of Engineers and their commercial interest. Missouri at the time was a swing state and also Democratic . Problems like these are being seen all over the country. States fighting each other over water rights is becoming more common.
Other reasons that could have lead to conflict are the privatization of water utilities and other water rights. This is the case of Bolivia where the city of Cochabamba’s water utility was privatized. This led to a violent altercation that killed 6 people, the executive of Bechtel to flee the city and caused the president to step down. The protest was caused because after the company took control over the water utility of the city their water bills went up by an outrageous 200 percent. The abuse of water companies in Latin America has lead to the outcry of its citizen and finally of the withdrawal of most of the big water company. Subsequently, this water company and others have moved to China and other parts of the world. They claim to want to help these nations that have been forced by the World Bank and other institution to privatize their water, but in reality they are only out to make a profit. Now they are trying to make their way into the United States were similar problems as in Latin American are happening. The difference between Latin America the United States is that they are claiming to be able to do a better job than local governments can, but this is not the case. Not only that but to save the city more money. That is the case of Atlanta where the city had reported that the company that had taken over the water utility had not met half of the agreements in their contract with the city. This led the city of Atlanta to lose millions of dollars in unpaid water bills and other similar bills. The water company in Atlanta also failed to keep the same standard of water as was used before. This was the same problem facing developing nations that could not afford to clean up after these companies leave their countries. “Privatization can work only under tight city supervision. And if tight supervision is possible, why privatize” ? This was the statement made by one of the chair of the city council from Atlanta who was responsible for the decision to keep that private water company in Atlanta or end its contract with them. Those companies are also found in many corruption scandals.
Conflict between neighboring countries over water can best be seen in the Middle East. This is the case of Israel, Jordan and Palestine who are all fighting for access and control of the Jordan River. Examples of war over water can already be seen in these areas. One example was described as, “attempts by the Arab nations to thwart Israel’s diversion plans and capture the Jordan’s headwaters for their own use led to skirmishes in the mid – 1960s, including Israeli attacks on construction facilities at diversion sites in Syria.” Ariel Sharon, and Israeli commander, even stated that the Six Day War started on the day Israel decided to act against the diversion of the Jordan. Inclusively, even the King of Jordan in 1990 declared that the only reason he would go to war with Israel is over water. Tensions in the Middle East are extremely high due to land and water control but all sides understand the importance of water. There is no better example of this understanding than Palestine and Israel when, “behind the scenes, even during the worst of the second intifada , ministers from both sides quietly met and agreed not to damage each other’s water infrastructure.” It is just not governments but also environmental groups and local organizations that are trying to unite the Palestinian and Israeli communities with the water issue. The Good Water Neighbors project in 2001 helped educate the communities about the Jordan River’s water management and the project also helped unite the communities with sewage treatment.
Another location where the water problem can also be seen but has not yet led to water wars is the Nile River. Potential water wars are likely in areas where rivers and lakes are shared according to a United Nations report. In Africa, the Nile, Niger, Volta and Zambezi river basins are going to lead to conflict within the countries they run through because of water stress. Due to dams, population growth and economic developments these bodies of water will not be able to sustain those populations anymore. Examples of this can already be seen in the Nile River. The Nile has a dam already in the North section located in Egypt. Currently the Ethiopian government is considering building their own dam which the Egyptian government does not agree with. This would also affect other nations along the river that depend on water from the Nile. Right now the Nile barley makes it to sea. Another area that also has potential conflict in South Africa is in Botswana, Namibia and Angola. This is all due to the Cuito River that runs through these countries. If that is not enough, the pollution of these bodies of rivers is causing fresh water to become scarce.
Water pollution in the world is affecting the healthcare of children and elderly around the world. One of the new problems that water pollution is causing is the resistance of bacteria, viruses, protozoa and helminthes which means that drugs that were used before to fight various diseases have either become immune or resistant to antibiotics. Now people are dying of disease that was once thought to have been cured. Water pollution also helps spread these diseases in populations. Children and the elderly are the most affected by this as well as patients with AIDS and Cancer because their immune system has been weakened by their illnesses and they are not strong enough to fight back.
Another problem with the contamination of water is caused by the increased population in metropolitan areas. “This new urban majority puts stress on infrastructure, increasing the likelihood that illegal connections will be inserted into existing water systems and that, as a result, the piped drinking water will become contaminated” . This is why it is no surprise that in countries where urbanization and population growth have increased mortality rates for infants and children increases. Diarrhea, which is mostly caused by contaminated water, is like a double edged sword, especially in water stressed areas. Contaminated water is what caused the problem but water is also what is needed to keep the victim alive. A current example of the devastation of polluted water can be seen in current conditions occurring in Haiti with the spread of Cholera . In addition to Haiti, this problem is also occurring in the United States. As these diseases have become immune to some chemicals used to combat the disease that started in 1910 such as chlorine. The best way to try to combat this in the United States and other parts of the world is to change the way we treat our water. An example of the best way to treat water sewage can be seen in John R. Sheaffer’s book Future Water: An Exciting Solution to America’s Most Serious Resource Crisis . In this book Sheaffer proposes sewage farms as a way to combat the water problem. This farm uses sewage water to grow their crops. Not only does this process stop the pollution of rivers and the spread of disease, but also fertilizes the soil. This free fertilizer also helps the farmers make a profit at the same time. In the United States fertilizers cost about $16 million per year which is a waste when you see it go into the river that later destroys the ecosystem and finally people’s homes. An advantage to the environment is that this water is later recycled naturally as ground water. The underground water can later be sent back to cities and towns that need it. Sheaffer’s makes a point that houses around the farm do not lower in their values and that is not a health risk to the worker and the surrounding population. He found that farms in Europe are in competition with each other, which helps to keep them productive. He also goes on to describe other forms of purification that all have failed to meet the same standards of quality of water as farms. Farms do not only solve the pollution problem but environmental and economical ones as well. In many areas that have water pollution a large percent of jobs were based on tourism. By cleaning up the polluted areas unemployed decreases and animals that were becoming instinct can be saved outside of zoos.
In the world of water there have been many advances made, and of those advances the leader is Israel. They have developed ways to improve irrigation of agriculture. Its highly efficient irrigation system is a “drip systems [that] deliver[s] water directly to the roots of plant at low volumes…drip systems nearly eliminate wasteful evaporation and runoff… they can double or triple the crop yield per unit of water” . They are changing the way they farm but also improving the accessibility of water to communities. They have also developed desalination, which is the removal of salt from seawater. This would create an endless supply of clean water. The only problem with this idea is that it is too expensive. In years to come this could change and become a real solution to some of the global water problems for nations that are not land locked. This does not solve the pollution of water and sewage water problems in those nations. Problems like this show how every nation has to come up with their solution to the water problem.
I plan to start the website with the help a friend who designs web pages professionally. I hope to spend a total of 400 dollars to start. This will include the website name and hosting costs. I hope to be able to run the page myself with the help of my friends at first, and later on have the help of other volunteers to keep it running. I don’t want to depend on donations and other organizations that could have conflict with my plans and ideas. The biggest problem to my plan will be marketing. I need to find other popular websites that would be willing to place advertisements of my page for free. I also have to find a way to let communities that do not have internet connections know about my website as well as how to use it. I hope to do this by allying myself with other organizations within the communities I will be working with. They don’t have to have solving the water problem as their goal. They could be organizations that are trying help with education and other social problems. My last problem would be helping this community to implement these ideas. In order for them to be successful in this they will need the help of professionals which is why I want to gain force with local engineering schools to help out. It would be in the form of internships in which students gain experience and the community gets the help they need (they will only get paid if the community can afforded it). I also hope that community will also take part in this project, like local business. I hope that the theology that we use can be found in their community and county for this would make it affordable for them to keep water clean even after we are gone. This would also improve the local economy. The website’s final goal should be to inform people of the water problem that the world is facing. Not only overseas but also in their own communities without them knowing (such as bottled water), and how it affects other parts of their lives as well. This will help people make changes in their daily lives and make a difference in their community.
I would like to ally myself with a company that can help my cause. For example, a company that sells water effect toilets, they may be willing to donate their toilets to communities that really them. I want companies to feel that they are a part of this project and for them to take part in it and not to donate because they can get a tax deduction. On the individual level I want to give people choices as to what they can to do help solve the problem. They can volunteer their time to raise money, run the website, or even work with the communities. I believe that this is a cause that everyone want to help solve but don’t really know how to go about it. By giving them choices they would be more likely to get involved.
As for government I want them to take an active role and not pass it on to private companies that are only looking to make a profit and not really help the people they are suppose to be protecting. Both the control and local government have to take part in this in order for it to work. Laws must be passed in the control government and enforced by the local government. One of laws should be to control the amount of water being pumped from underground wells like in India, China and México. I hope to convince governments that sewage farms are the best solution to their problem. Not only does it stop the pollution of rivers and sea but it saves water that is in desperate need to help stop the speed of diseases. It will also help feed the growing population of the country. The water should also be saved locally because it is the most effect way to handle water. They should think of sewage farms (also known as loop farms) as an investment from the money they could be making of the selling of food produced in those farms. They can also sell the methane gas instead of wasting it. This can later be used to produce electricity . The water problem should also be saved locally because it is the most effect way to handle water. Each community should come together and talk about what is the best to solve to their problem. The communities should ponder if they should ask the government to allow then to build a well or if they get enough rainwater in the year to harvest it? In cities they should try and built mass tunnels to collect rain that go into the sewage, then clean it and reuse it . They can come up with ideas like this and many others. I also hope to get a law passed that would stop building dams and even start to remove some of them. By doing this they can help to restore the life of the river and the communities around them. They should also be prison time failing to upkeep dams as they could be placing many lives in danger.
For the First World I would like to push governments to fix and change the old pipes on their own. I would present this solution to them in the form of a new deal. This would help create more jobs as well as keep the ones that are already around. By fixing these pipes this would save millions of dollars in lost water because of leaking pipes. There should be stronger supervision of water utilities and water companies. They should mandate companies to change from plastic to glass, and place a cap on how much water they can pump if they using springs, wells, or rivers and not tap water like most other companies. They should also have to give a yearly report like every local water utility company (even though I don’t support bottled water companies they are sometimes needed in case of emergencies, like in the case of a natural disaster). There should also be aware of the problems that could potentially happen if water becomes the new blue gold. They should pass laws that would stop the selling of local water utility and those that should go back, because of the affect it is having on low income families. They also need to try and control the amount of water that is being used for agribusiness. They can support funding in companies that are trying to find new forms of using less water to grow food. They could also demand that they use existing technology that does help reduce the amount of water used for agriculture. Governments should subsidize this kind of technology. They need to start water markets and they should also include industries as well. Together they use more that the world water supply. Third World countries need to place heavy fines on companies that pollute water and the environment.
Governments should also educate students on the water problem. For example, in New York City every student has to take a health class. In this class they should make the water problem part of the curriculum. They need to show them how the water crisis affects them directly and indirectly. They could have volunteers come into the classroom and let them know what they can do in their communities. They should also be encouraged to use the website and share their ideas. They should also be encouraged to volunteer.
This is my overall goal. My short term goal is inform high school and college student so that they can become aware of the water problem. I picked this group because they are the new generation that will be affected by this problem. Secondly, they now have the right to vote (I know that only applies to seniors and some juniors in high school). This will be an issue that will get them to the polls as well as to write to their congresses members. I would like to ally myself with groups that are there to improve education in the developing world. I would like the water crisis play a bigger role in the educational system overall. For students to know not only what causes pollution in their science classes but also what can they do to stop it. How they can better use the water they already have and make sure they don’t run out of it. Taking these preventative measures will ensure more water for our future generations.
I also would like to get the support of the local leaders, because many times they are the one that make the decisions about water. They are the ones that have to enforce regulation and other policies. With their help, water systems can be improved and not sold to foreign water companies that only want to make a profit.
This idea will take time and money to implement, so my first goal will be to implement water into science and health curriculum in places like California because I think they would be the most willing to add this in, as California is one of the areas in the United States that is most affected by this issue. I would slowly move to other parts of the United States and eventually the world. I would like to use the website as a form of positive peer discussions. Teachers should use it as a tool in and outside of the classroom. They will be chatting with other students from other parts of the community and the United States. This will allow other students to see how water is a problem in the United States that would not have thought so before. In the classrooms I want them to learn the history of water or current issues related to water in the United States and how it differs from other nations. Then students can examine the problems that they are now facing and think of solutions to those problems. I would like for them to go on class trips to see those solutions and problems to help motivate them more about this cause. Lastly, in the curriculum I want students to see how it affects their economy. If they see that it could affect their parent’s jobs or careers, as well as their own, it would change their actions as well as their families. I also hope families will also be affected by this curriculum indirectly.
Other organizations and people that are trying to solve the water problem in their communities and countries are CMF, Multimedia Village and Gemma Bulos and Kevin Lee. I hope to be able to use some of their ideas in my own project both in the short term and long. Their ideas have changed the education and policies of communities and countries which I hope can be applied in the first world and other developing nations. V.S. Chary created and organization in India that is called Members of Chary’s (CMF). Chary described his plan as follows:
"Chary has put into action a model of 24-hour, seven days per week water delivery, demonstrating that delivering water at a particular pressure for 24 hours a day actually reduces cost of delivery and that fixing meter tariffs results in changes in consumer behavior. Chary argues that full-time delivery allows towns and cities access to sufficient water while also serving the poor, leading to a reduction in government public health expenses from urban water-borne diseases."
The organization’s members are also politicians and leaders of local communities. Chary is tackling the water crisis locally. He has been able to reduce the cost of connection to water and changed the method of payment. He is allowing poor communities to pay the bill in installments. Chary is aligning himself with other organizations such as the “Cranfield University, WEDC and the Water & Sanitation program of the World Bank. ” This helps people in power as the local leaders get the information they need from these organizations to better help and assist their local communities. Overall they are helping millions of people have access to affordable clean water which could not have been possible without CMF.
The Multimedia Village is an organization that looks at ways to help developing nations get access to water and change their lives by adapting solutions to their needs. One of the best examples of this can be seen in Kenya and pasturing societies. They have built bull holds so cattle can have access to water and with the money they make they can invest it back into the community. This will help people in the community have access to water, education, healthcare and much more. Children that could never go to schools because they had to take care of the cattle and look for water are now going to a mobile school that goes to them instead. Their teachers travel with the community and other staff members. Thanks to the Multimedia Village project this pasturing society now only has to walk an hour to get water. They are helping mobile societies which previously people had thought not be developed because of their constant moving in search of water to grow.
Other innovative leaders in the water solution effort are Gemma Bulos and Kevin Lee . Their organizations helps millions of Filipinos get access to clean water by educating the communities and providing them with low cost efficient technology such as a “Portable Microbiology Lab ” and others. Their idea is to solve the water problem locally in the Philippines and to make them self-reliant. In order to make this possible the criteria for the technology used is that it should be simple, durable and easy to maintain. The technology is affordable in that it “use[s] local resources and infuse local economy, and can be manufactured locally and replicated easily. It can be income generating to ensure financial independence, as will does not have a negative environmental impact.” Even after the organization has left, the community can continue with their work because it helps their economy.
In conclusion, I hope to inform readers why we need a curriculum and a website on water in schools all over the United States and the world and of the positive effects it can have on the community and the world in all areas of life in every societal class. By taking this small step to change this new generation I hope to change the world’s future water habits. This should also lead to change in water laws and policies around the world. In the end these changes can save millions of children and lives around the world. Children and parents that didn’t think that they could have a future will be changed by this. That is why I feel that if you change the youth you can change the world. They are our biggest assets.
Notes
1. Weinberg, Marca, "Water Markets and Water Quality”
2. Hanak, http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/rb/RB_703EHRB.pdf
3. Weinberg, Marca. "Water Markets and Water Quality”
4. Sterling, page 7
5. Molden, page 16
6. Molden, page 16
7. Mieszkowski, page 26
8. Molden 15
9. Drakeford, page 595
10. Drakeford, “Water Regulation and Pre-Payment Meters”
11. Priesnitz, page 45
12. Salina, “Flow”
13. Salina, “Flow”
14. Director’s Name, “Drowned Out”
15. Mieszkowski, “Not a Drop to Drink”
16. Mieszkowski, page 29
17. Workman, 153
18. Workman, “How to Fix Our Dam Problems”
19. Mieszkowski, page 31
20. Mieszkowski, page 29
21. Neal, 36
22. Information for population count afflicted by no access to water (United Nations perhaps)
23. Gleick, page 490
24. Glerick, 490
25. Lambrecht, pages 73-79
26. Luoma, page 71
27. Postel, page 86
28. Six Day War - (In Hebrew - Mil'hement sheshet Hayamim). A war between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and Syria that began on June 5, 1967 and ended on June 10 1967. In the war, Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights,
29. an uprising by Palestinian Arabs (in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) against Israel in the late 1980s and again in 2000; "the first intifada ended when Israel granted limited autonomy to the Palestine National Authority in 1993”,
30. Poste,l 88
31. Postel, 89
32. Nappier, page 120
33. Desvarieux, Jessica. Time Magazine, November 22, 2010. Time Inc. Print.
34. John R. Sheaffer, Future Water: An Exciting Solution to America’s Most Serious Resource Crisis
35. John R. Sheaffer, Future Water: An Exciting Solution to America’s Most Serious Resource Crisis
36. Postel, pages 87-88
37. Steven, page 189
38. Steven, page 185
39. Ashoka: Innovator for the Public, http://www.ashoka.org/node/3855
40. Ashoka: Innovator for the Public, http://www.ashoka.org/node/3855
41. http://www.earth.columbia.edu/videos/watch/248
42. They are part of echoing green fellows.
43. Simple kit that identifies unsafe water, Technology Solutions, http://www.asdforsafewater.org/
44. http://www.asdforsafewater.org/