Women and the World Water Crisis.

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.