Last weekend, during my morning walk alongside the backwaters of Kerala, I took this picture. What struck me was the number of life forms that are dependent on water for their survival. The thought extended to my next week travel to the UN Water Conference in New York. The Mar del Plata United Nations Conference held in 1977 was the first and only conference on water held till date. Hence, this upcoming conference in New York is important and significant considering the challenges we are facing concerning water.
It was a paradox which Adam Smith pondered over but was unable to solve in 1770. He added that life cannot exist without water, but can easily exist without diamonds, yet diamonds are more valuable than water. Although later theories like the Labor Theory of Value, Theory of Subjective Value and Marginal Utility theories tried to solve this, but revisiting these will be the solution to the water challenges that the world is facing and shall face going forward. We need to value water more.
In the book, The Wizard and The Prophet, Charles Mann brings out how aliens will view Earth when they pass through our solar system. They would pass Neptune, Uranus as ice giants, Saturn and Jupiter as gas giants and Mars and asteroids as barren rocks, all of which are interstellar in the cosmos. Earth would appear remarkably different to them because of water. Yes, water is the reason for existence of life on this planet. It was water which created life and it is the reason for the existence of life. Every form of food we consume for survival needs water. Not just us, even the food consumed by every form of life needs water. H2O is the most common molecule on Earth. The molecule in our drinking water has been around in some form even before dinosaurs roamed the earth. Even our body comprises of 60 percent water. If it is so abundantly available, why are we discussing water?
As presented by Coleridge, the challenge is around fresh water. Freshwater makes up a very small fraction of all water on the planet. While nearly 70 percent of the world is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of it is fresh. Of that, just 1 percent is easily accessible. In essence, only 0.007 percent of the planet’s water is available[1]. With demand increasing and the pollution of fresh water sources, this gets further skewed.
The water challenge characteristics can be different in different regions. In some places, it can be availability, in other places, it can be accessibility while elsewhere it may be the quality. Brazil with 1/6th the population of India has 4 times more water, but even Brazil has its own challenges around water. Unlike 1 ton of CO2e of emission having equal impact worldwide, 1 kl of water does not have the same effect. This is one reason why we are having only the second UN Water conference since 1977. The nexus between climate change and water is also well known today and add that to the fact that access to fresh water is a basic right, the challenge multiplies.
Another uniqueness of water as a resource is that it is always on the move. It is a resource that is not fixed to one place unlike metals and ores we mine for. Even ground water is moving. That is the reason for exploitation and privatizing the common resource. When one gets a permit for mining a land for limestone, laterite or coal, there is a high level of certainty in terms of the quantity. But for water since it is moving, there is a tendency to “own” it. A classic example is what happened in Maharashtra around 2016 and 2017. The government initiated an incentive for building ponds with an aim towards improving resilience against drought. But what resulted in some areas was ground water exploitation, pumping ground water into the ponds, with even ponds being constructed at heights to ensure gravity flow of water[2]. When the water was below the ground, it was common to all but as soon as it is pumped into a pond, it becomes private. What is not realized is the impact of this in the long term.
Every year when the smoke from stubble burning engulfs the capital region of India, the same question is raised as to why paddy is cultivated in that part where ground water is depleting[3]. Added to that, this is done by labour that has migrated from east of India, where there are better conditions for rice cultivation. Trading of commodities or any goods result in a virtual water trade. If someone is growing watermelons and selling them, there is a water trade. That sounds obvious, since I used the example of watermelons. It becomes less obvious when I say that when you buy a cup of coffee, it is equivalent to around 150 liters of water, and it takes 7600 liters of water to make a pair of denim jeans[4]. If you think you are consuming water only while brushing, bathing, gardening etc, you are wrong. We consume water while consuming anything, whether it is food, clothing, electronics or even energy. Whatever forms of energy we consume, whether it is thermal, nuclear or even solar, all of that comes with a water footprint. The topic of virtual water trade should be factored into the policy directions of a country or region in deciding whether a country want to be a net exporter of water or a net importer of water.
Getting back to the title, are we valuing water in the right way? We have taken this resource for granted and hence have reached the situation where we are. It is in our best interest to value water. Think of the magic potion called water, which created life and is critical for life to survive. Look at the world around where it is apparent that all that our eyes can see, our ears can hear, our nose can smell and our tongue can taste contains water. If we can appropriately value this resource, we will be better off.
[1] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/freshwater-crisis
[2] https://sandrp.in/2017/03/02/maharashtra-farm-ponds-accelerating-groundwater-exploitation-rather-than-harvesting-rain/
[3] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/bereft-of-viable-options-punjabs-farmers-persist-with-paddy/article65931675.ece
[4] https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/it-takes-7600-litres-of-water-to-make-your-jeans/article30871977.ece
