It is predicted that by the year
2025, almost 2 billion people will be living in areas with water shortages.
(Black, 22) There are many reasons for the global water crisis. The water
quality of an ecosystem depends on climate, vegetation, and geology. It’s a
complex system that relies on the water cycle to replenish water aquifers,
oceans to remove pollution from surface waters, and forest ecosystems to store
humidity and water in its vegetation and soil. All of these levels have been
abused by humanity. We as a species are destroying the earth’s ability to
receive and store fresh water. We are also polluting water beyond its ability
to recover. Many things contribute such as deforestation, mining, pollution
from waste and agriculture, as well as over pumping of ground water sources.
(Shiva, 2)
This crisis
is happening all over the world. Most people think that the global South is the
only region affected but the global North is facing the same problems. The
people in the global North are wealthier and have been able to minimize the
impact of the crisis by spending on pipelines and infrastructure that can move
fresh water from one location to another. Countries like Australia, the United
States, and France are all facing serious problems in relation to water quality
and drought but the face of the global water crisis is the developing world. More
than 3.4 million people die each year from dirty water, lack of sanitation, and
hygiene-related causes. Ninety nine percent of those deaths happen in the
global South.
Lack of
water resources has greatly affected the global South because most of its
countries have smaller or poor economies. Ninety percent of the human waste
produced by the developing world is released straight into streams, rivers, and
lakes without being filtered or treated. Human waste is one of the biggest
causes of water pollution around the globe. More people have access to a cell
phone than a toilet. (water.org) Seventy percent of the people who live without
access to sanitation are in Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa is the worlds slowest in
attaining improved sanitation. (Barlow, 7) In China, eighty percent of the
major rivers are so polluted that they can no longer support aquatic life. The
Chinese government announced in 2006 that two thirds of its cities are facing
water shortages with almost one hundred cities already out of water sources. (Black,
79) In India, over seventy percent of the rivers and lakes are polluted beyond
being safe to drink or even bathe in. It’s estimated that eighty percent of all
the disease in India is from contaminated water. As a result two million
children under the age of five die every year just from dirty water. (Barlow,
7)
Because of
the surface water pollution that makes so many rivers and streams unsafe the
world has turned to pumping ground water to find clean resources. Two billion
people, one third of the global population, rely exclusively on ground water
sources. Those two billion people withdraw one fifth of the global water yearly.
(Barlow, 11) Pumping ground water can cause wells that small farmers and
villages rely on to dry up, it can turn fertile areas into desert, and it can
cause nearby rivers to dry up as well. Some countries have tried to build huge
dams to store and redirect water to areas in need. Most of these mega dam
projects have caused more harm than good. Large-scale dams have forced close to
eighty million people off land that served as their home and livelihood. These
people often never receive any compensation for leaving their homes.
Like many
issues we’ve covered in class this global crisis is putting an excessive burden
on women and children (especially girls) in developing countries.
In India for example women are tasked with gathering water
as well as childcare, cooking, and cleaning which all require clean water
resources. In India women can take up to six trips a day carrying heavy jugs of
water on their head each time. This causes back and foot problems as well as
hurts posture. (Water in Crisis) All over the world the water crisis is
prohibiting millions of women from any accomplishments other than survival.
(water.org)
With the growing scarcity and
drying up of water resources women are forced to walk farther and farther to
find water, which is often polluted. The World Health Organization estimates
that 200 million hours are spent each day collecting water around the world.
This time is lost productivity. Water has to be fetched daily and this crisis
is holding women and girls back from bettering their lives. Those 200 million hours
can account for lost work hours that women and young girls could be using for
other productive chores, holding jobs that provide additional family income, or
investing additional time in resources like gardening, household upgrades, or
education.
Many young girls drop out of school
by the age of ten so they can assist their families with household chores and
water collection. Another reason many girls leave school and abandon education
is the complete lack of sanitation at schools. Once a girl hits puberty and
gets her period, sanitation needs are much more immediate. It can be very
embarrassing for young girls to have to menstruate without access to running
water or bathrooms to clean in. Lack of sanitation is also a safety issue in
many countries as women have been attacked for going to the bathroom in view of
others. (Water in Crisis)
In class
we’ve discussed the potential of the globes young girls as a resource in terms
of education. Educating the population of young girls in developing countries
could benefit a number of areas including economy, family values, poverty
level, and improved health (especially sexual and reproductive health). Women
are an untapped resource in many of these so-called ‘third world’ countries.
One of the biggest obstacles to educating young girls in the developing world
is the water crisis. Attending school takes a back seat to survival needs.
Water is an absolute need compared to the luxury of school.
Another
contributing factor to the water crisis in the developing world is water
privatization. The World Bank provides development funds to many developing
countries. Many countries wanted aid to address their water and sanitation
issues. In the 1980’s the World Bank decided that privatizing water systems
would be a requirement in order to receive development funds. Poor countries
were forced to sell their water resources to private corporations (often from
the global North) in order to continue receiving aid. The goal of privatization
was to invest in water infrastructure, improve water quality, provide access to
all, and to combat waste of resources. Privatization has actually created
corruption, high water rates, water cutoffs to millions, reduced quality of
water, and worker layoffs. In many countries, most famously Latin America,
private companies took control of water resources that were once common public resources
and started providing access for a profit. The poorer populations are unable to
pay the price for water access and are then forced to turn to highly polluted
waters or travel even longer distances to reach sources that haven’t been
depleted by private corporations.
As an
example, in 1998 the Bolivian government privatized Cochabamba’s water services
and gave control to the U.S Corporation Bechtel (owned by Suez). Bechtel was
given a monopoly and took over the water systems that were run by households
and small independent co-operatives without giving them any compensation for
their businesses. Once Bechtel took over, water prices were raised to unreasonable
levels and those who could not pay were cutoff from service. The minimum wage
of Bolivia is less than 60$ us a month and yet customers were being billed at a
rate of 20$ us a month which was impossible to afford. When some tried
collecting rainwater the company charged them for that too. (Barlow, 59)
Privatization
has prevented many women from providing safe water for their families. If a low-income
household can’t afford the price set by a corporation then women are forced to
walk longer distances to wells or streams that may or may not be reliable. Many
women are also forced to turn to polluted sources. In Bangladesh 70% of the ground
water that feed wells is contaminated with arsenic. Many of the people know
this and the government has made efforts to mark the poisoned wells but without
an alternative source families are forced to drink the dirty water anyway.
(Black, 79) Women are at a greater risk for infections and disease because of
their role as water gatherers. Frequent contact with contaminated streams and
wells increase their exposure to disease that can lead to blindness, diarrhea,
and death. (Water in Crisis)
Overall it
is women and girls who have been worst affected by the increase in water
pollution and shortages. When women are affected it risks the health of the
family as a whole especially in countries that rely on the woman for water
collection. Privatization has also put an unfair burden on the lives of poor
women who are condemned to searching for dirty water to help their family
survive instead of spending time bettering their lives or letting their
daughters go to school.
Barlow,
Maude. Blue Covenant the Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the
Right to Water. New York: The New Press, 2007.
Black,
Maggie and Jannet King. The Atlas of Water. Mapping the World's most
Critical Resource. Second ed. Los Angeles: University of California Press,
2009.
Shiva,
Vandana. Water Wars, Privatization, Pollution, and Profit. Cambridge,
MA: South End Press, 2002.
"Water.org." Waterorg.
N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
"Water
in Crisis - Women in India." The Water Project. N.p., n.d.
Web. 25 Nov. 2013.