Is The Glass Half Empty Or Half Full Due To Water Crisis?


12/16/2019

Even though, the situation around the globe seems to be disheartening when it comes to water scarcity, there could still be hope; maybe sands are shifting now.


Dailycsr.com – 16 December 2019 – The risks attached to the availability of water and its supply due to climate change can be “overwhelming”. According to a recent study, conducted by the “U.S. Forest Service”, by 2071 almost fifty percent of the U.S. water basin may not be able to meet the “monthly water demands”.
 
As per the “World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct tool” data from the map of global water stress, seventeen countries which make up one fourth of the global population are under “‘extremely high’ levels of baseline water stress”, while many other countries such as the U.S. will experience “extreme water stress” in certain pockets.
 
We get to hear many stories of water shortage surfacing on a daily basis from “from Chennai, India, to Cape Town, South Africa, from Mexico City to Los Angeles”. Therefore, it is needless to say that addressing the issue of water scarcity could often “feel like a Herculean task”. Water is needed for almost everything from bathing, to swimming to drinking while it is even present in our bodies.
 
Nonetheless, the close connection between water and humans do not help us to be more aware of how it reaches out taps. Water is a local commodity that belongs to a “highly fragmented” sector”. The U.S. alone has nearly “152,000 water systems” which gives birth to “a tangled web of regulations and interests”. The EU lawmakers have not yet “fully integrated water management plans” as the natural resource varies “greatly from region to region”.
 
Moreover, the countries that share “a history of cross-border disputes” often keep their water data under “classified national security information”; as a result the lack of information creates a hurdle for “effective management of shared resources”. However, Kate Zerrenner yet sees some hope in this apparently disastrous situation. In Kate’s words:
“The solutions to water supply scarcity are not technical or hydrological. There are an abundance of solutions already available on the market, and companies and governments are undertaking research and development to advance technology further”.
 
Among the most effect solution is the reuse of water, while desalination of marine as well as ground water has paved another road. However, high cost and every requirement along with the waste generated in the process still need looking into. Other solutions include rainwater harvest for various usages including irrigation. Kate also noted:
“The solutions to water scarcity are political and ethical, but the sands are shifting in the right direction. Momentum is building around the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Reuse Action Plan, of which a draft for comment was released in September. The plan aims to better integrate federal policy and leverage business expertise and state and local government to identify, and ultimately implement, action on water reuse”.
 
 
 
 
References:
3blmedia.com