Water stress

Water stress is a major growing concern of the whole world we have a rising sea water level and a shortage of freshwater and right now the world is not built to conquer these problems. Water stress will be a problem for the world, humans, animals and also companies will experience massive problems because of water stress. Instead of wars about religion or raw materials, wars will be about fresh water. At the moment the countries with the most water stress are the countries closest to the equator. Water stress is a massive threat to human health and the UN declared that access to fresh water is a human right. However, with the increasing water stress the world will not be able to give access to fresh water to every human on earth.

Definition of water stress

Water stress happens when there is a scarcity because of a bigger demand for clean, fresh water usable water that a given area can supply. More than 70% of the world's usable water is used for agriculture. The rest is used for industrial (19%) and domestic (11%) use. The supply of fresh and usable water comes from rivers, lakes, reservoirs and groundwater.

Scientists have different ways of defining water stress and also measuring water stress. Scientists include seasonal changes, water quality and accessibility. Measuring the amount of freshwater, especially groundwater is very imprecise.

What is the cause of water scarcity?

There are two categories that water scarcity can be divided in physical scarcity and economical scarcity:

• Physical scarcity: Physical scarcity is a shortage of water caused by local ecological conditions
• Economic scarcity: Economic scarcity happens when there is a shortage of water due to a lack of water infrastructure to transport the water.

Many times these two types of water scarcity come together and cause water stress. A good example of both the scarcities together is an area with barely any rainfalls as well as no capacity to store the water or to sanitize the water and resulting in water stress. Most of the time humans are the main cause of water scarcity and water stress. Almost always physical scarcity is not the main cause of water stress. It is caused by political and financial wherewithal scarcity to put into water infrastructure to provide all people with clean water. Even though some countries have good infrastructure, the rapid population growth causes water stress.

Climate change and water stress

Climate change is also affecting water stress. UN experts predict for every 1 degree celsius increase in the global temperature there will be a 20% drop in renewable water sources. Climate change will increase the number of areas with water stress and heighten the amount of water stress in areas that already have water stress. Due to climate change, many regions are expected to have more extreme and longer droughts and more extreme rainfall as well. Rainfall and droughts will be more irregular and out of balance. Because the drought as well as the rainfall will become more extreme and out of balance, agriculture will become more of a challenge. Due to the rising temperature, water will evaporate more quickly from the soil making farming much more of a challenge. A more erratic climate will bring more floods that can ruin crops easily and overwhelm storage systems. Even though we have the Paris agreement to prevent the global temperature to go increase higher than 1,5 degrees Celsius, the most devastating climate change effect will not be prevented.

Water stress and the social consequences

Clean water is essential for humans for multiple reasons. Having water scarcity will result in worse human health because of the spreading of bacteria as well as less food resulting in acute or chronic hunger all over the world. Because of global warming, there will be more and more extreme heatwaves however, there will be not enough water to cool off and some places will be unlivable for humans because of the water scarcity and the heat waves or global warming. Children are more prone to get conditions stemming due to malnutrition because of food scarcity as a result of water scarcity such as stunting, wasting and other chronic illnesses due to poor diet such as diabetes. Water scarcity also forms a risk for work and education because of the time it costs to walk to a source of fresh water.

Also when water scarcity becomes very severe many people from all over the world migrate to countries with more excess to water. Especially countries further away from the equator and closer to the start of the river and mountains will get a lot of migrants who escaped their country due to water scarcity. Because of water scarcity and the rising temperature people will displace. Economic and population growth are demanding more water however climate change is decreasing the freshwater supply and making rainfall increasingly erratic in many areas. Because a lot of countries are not prepared to hold and store water, the erratic rainfall makes it more difficult for countries to manage droughts.

Economic consequences of water stress

When there is a scarcity of water the price of water will rise. This will result in higher bills for consuming water but also the cost of many clothing and food will become much more expensive. Many companies of unnecessary food for survival that uses a lot of water. For example, beer will be too expensive for middle and lower-class people to consume or even too expensive to produce and therefore not be on the market anymore. Water will become liquid gold in the future meaning that the countries with the most water supply are the countries with the most power.

Water and wars and conflicts

Because water will become liquid gold and one of the main factors that the power of a country or company relies on, water will become one of the main reasons for conflict and wars within countries as well as between countries.

Severe droughts in India and Iran have led to an increase in conflicts. These conflicts were about access to irrigation water and demonstrations against water diversion. Water is used as a weapon in wars for instance in the war between Russia and Ukraine by attacking civilian water systems. The growing population and worsening ethnic and religious conflicts in sub Saharan Afrika together lead to the death of hundreds of people a year because of the violence between different groups over scarce water sources. Also, computerized water systems are getting growing cyberattacks that threaten water safety, quality and reliability.

3 forms of water violence

• Trigger:

Access to water and control of water can be considered a trigger for violence such as the demonstrations and riots in Iran and the killing over irrigation water in India and Pakistan during severe droughts.

• Weapon:

Water and water systems can be a weapon of violence for example intentionally flooding areas or cutting off the water supply trying to poison the water supplies in an effort to ignite violence.

• Casualty:

Water(systems) can be casualties of violence when attacked during conflicts that may start because of other reasons. For instance when the Israeli attacked and destroyed the Palestinian water infrastructure.

Over the years water conflicts are rising and especially when it comes to triggers and casualties which is due to the increasing water stress.

How to solve water stress

The main user of fresh water is agriculture. 8% of all freshwater use is caused by personal use therefore trying to limit the amount of water for personal use will not have the biggest effect in preventing water scarcity. However, it still affects water scarcity so it is still very good to try to limit the amount of water usage as much as possible. The best ways to solve water scarcity are to solve food waste and eat less per human on earth, grow crops that use less water, recycle clothing and limit eating meat as much as possible. There are solutions for reaching deeper aquifers by using solar energy. Therefore it is not too expensive and economically profitable. However, aquifers are limited so it is definitely not a long-term solution and focusing on aquifers will only postpone water scarcity. Humans should change their way of living and their way of treating water.

Sources

• Pacific institute
• European environment agency
• United Nations
• Council on foreign relations