Water Promises: Much Ado about Nothing ‐ As Profitless as Water in a Sieve?1

Abstract

Today there is much ado about water – as there always has been and always will be. However, until we actually find ways to apply scientifically-based, truly interdisciplinary scholarship that embraces sound community engagement, crucial knowledge about our most valuable resource may continue to be “lost” or at least ignored, much as water trickles through a sieve. We need a comprehensive, inclusive approach to solve the challenges of the water environment. Of course this is not a new argument. Thousands of books, articles, papers and technical reports have been written describing water problems from around the world, outlining fundamental causes, and calling for changes in the way we approach problem solving. Yet still we encounter severe crises – shortages of water for drinking, agriculture and industry, catastrophic floods, contamination and pollution of water sources, and outbreaks of water-related health issues such as cholera, schistosomiasis, and typhoid. The sieve that has made such endeavors profitless, it seems, is a human one, a lack of will and commitment on many different levels. For all intents and purposes, we understand many of the issues involved; we have “merely” failed to implement appropriate solutions. Even a cursory look at the literature on water reveals a vast scholarship originating from diverse disciplines and applying multiple methodologies. The term “water wars” is used ubiquitously to describe the challenges facing many societies around the globe, from the corporate moves towards water privatization and the recent climate change issues in Bolivia, to the dam and reservoir systems in India, to the controls over water supply encountered in the Middle East and China. Indeed, “water wars” elicits 585,000 hits on Google and 3,400 on Google Scholar. On Amazon.com there are over 850 book citations to “water wars.” Clearly, there is no shortage of scientists and academics dedicating serious study to water conflicts. Other terms reveal similar levels of Google hits: water crisis (973,000), water solutions (736,000), water sustainability (73,300), water quantity (477,000) and water quality (15.4 million). A similar search on Google Scholar reveals thousands of titles, articles and reports outlining the problems facing societies around the world. Most of this research aims to improve our understanding of the water ecosystem; when viewed from a resource perspective, this is of course very much a geographic issue, one that presents both spatial and temporal challenges to society. The water resource manager must ensure that the right amount of water, of a suitable quality, reaches the desired place at the appropriate time. So the manager’s challenge is to balance supply and demand in an ever-changing natural and social environment, with a constantly-moving target. In this respect, the expertise of hydrologists, fluvial geomorphologists and geo-hydrologists, is fundamental to any scientific modeling of the water world. At the same time, though, we must recognize the overwhelming significance of the human environment and the powerful social, economic, and political forces that create and ultimately determine the directions of the water crisis. Obviously this is no easy task. We need scientifically-based studies of both the natural and social environments to appreciate the complexity of water problems and develop predictive and explanatory models. Perhaps more importantly, this must involve interdisciplinary initiatives 1