WHO Wants Clean Water! Do You?
is aimed at eliciting thoughtful response from high school students in history and social studies classes in regard to considering water rights on an international scale. Since 1900, the global demand for water increased 900 percent and in parts of the world, primarily in much of Africa, the Middle East, Mexico, and India, the quality of drinking water is dangerously substandard.1 Growing population, increased consumption patterns, natural phenomena, and pollution threaten to make freshwater scarcity a global problem. Coincidentally or perhaps consequently, advocates from United Nations agencies have been promoting access to clean water as a human right. United Nations initiatives such as the World Water Forums and the recently established World Water Assessment Program (WWAP) have a philosophical basis in this concept. Historically, access to water has been defined primarily through precedence and property rights. Those with legal control of property adjoining water have been able to enjoy use of this resource to their liking. Those with property rights have been able to draw as much as they have liked and also dump what they have liked into the rivers, streams, lakes and oceans. The ascent of the industrialized world has introduced new strains on our water supply that pose not only as local, but also as global threats. Increased global initiatives aimed at protecting and managing the water supply universally are gaining momentum under the stewardship of the United Nations.
A Comparative Approach
The problem of conflict and clean water will be examined in this unit in light of a comparative approach. Students will be exposed to a survey of water related conflict from different environments and geographical locations. Claims that water will be the focus of future wars will be assessed. Students will also be confronted with an essential question as to how water rights and water quality can best be protected and more equitably shared among nations. More specifically, students will engage in reading about issues of water rights and water conflict. The critical assessment of United Nations’ initiatives in regard to avoiding conflict over water, providing and maintaining access to clean water, securing equity of access, and raising awareness of water related problems will be encouraged as means of stimulating problem solving skills. In completing their work in this unit, students will have demonstrated a number of performance standards consistent with local, state, and national criteria. Specific outcomes expected from students will include participating in a water rights simulation game and presenting guided research findings to an essential question through a PowerPoint presentation, illustrated poster presentation, or overhead projector presentation. Evidence gathered for this research will predominantly be based on secondary sources. However, analysis of primary documents from United Nations organizations will be required.
Debate Over Water and Conflict
In 1985, Boutros-Ghalis who was then Egypt’s minister of state for foreign affairs, (who later went on to become UN Secretary General) gave warning that
“The next war in the Middle East will be fought over water not politics” 2
The unit will offer opportunity to examine evidence in regard to claims such as these. According United Nations World Water Development Report released in March 2003, there are “261 international river basins, involving 145 nations. About one third are shared by more than two countries, and 19 involve five or more.”3 In parts of Africa, the Middle East, and at the southern tip of Latin America, shared basins account for more than half of the water supply.4 Considering these claims, it makes sense that there is concern over water quality and quantity. With large numbers of people dependent on a shared supply, any alteration of the water supply that tilts the balance of water availability to one group or another or any potential water threat that adversely affects a nation’s supply can be seen as an invitation to hostile action. Through a comparative approach, students will attempt to assess water related conflict or potential areas of water related conflict for an answer to the question: What circumstances could result in nations going to war over water?
It is unquestionable that there are global and localized threats to the world’s water supply. However, it is not clear what the implications are for the future. The historical record, according to the UN, shows that water related conflict has not been a serious factor in the past. The UN World Water Development Report of March 2003 presents that of 1,831 international interactions in regard to shared water, 1,228 were cooperative. Of the 507 conflictive events reported only 37 events included violence. Twenty-one consisted of military actions. Eighteen of these acts were between Israel and its neighbors.5
Yet, other scholars disagree that water is not a source of international tension. In their book, Water in the Middle East (2000), Hussein Amery and Aaron Wolf claim that water is “the resource which will bring combatants to the battlefield in the twenty-first century”6 Debate over the importance of water to international relations lends itself to an engaging driving question for the unit: In a climate of world population growth, mismanagement of water supplies, and increased water pollution will conflict over water become an increasing reality?
Water Rights Cases: Difficult to Define and Manage
In addition to manmade stresses on the water supply, natural occurrences such as drought or storms, become mitigating issues. Peaceful management of water resources will need to grow from the fair and judicious brokerage of water rights. Because precedence normally governs uncertain areas of the law, careful understanding of water rights is essential to the peaceful resolution of dispute. Mechanisms for dealing with disputes within a nation’s borders and in the international community differ in that while water rights can equally be the source of contestation among municipalities, states, and regions within one country as they can be among international states, the legal framework of a country such as the United States is more often than not better suited to render an enforceable judgment on water rights issues than can an international body. While the United Nations deals with cases of contestation over water, it is difficult for the UN to enact enforceable decisions. Nonetheless, the United Nations has orchestrated a campaign to promote the concept of water rights to facilitate the resolution of water rights issues. Examining the newly published “water as a human right” report could be an additional field of study in this subject area. Excerpts from the report are available on line. (see notes). The complete report is available for purchase from the United Nations.
How nations are managing problem areas of contestation is a primary area of investigation for students in this unit. In the guided research activity, students will be given a list of proposed topics to investigate. Information on one significant body of water from each of five regions of the world will be presented as an anchor set of information. Each body of water has two commonalities: first, each body of water runs along or across international borders, second each has current water rights issues among two or more of the countries that are in contact with the body of water. Figure 1 outlines the proposed bodies of water and their location. Students will explore the nature of the international water related problems for his or her assigned body of water and present their findings to the class. As topics are presented comparison and contrast can be generated in discussion.
Figure 1: Bodies of Water to be explored.
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North America
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Rio Grande River, The Great Lakes, The Colorado River, Tijuana River Basin
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South America
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The Amazon River
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Europe
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The Danube River, The Rhine River
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Africa
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The Nile River, Lake Victoria
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The Middle East
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The Jordan River Basin, The Tigris and Euphrates
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The Near East
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The Indus River, The Ganges River
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The Far East
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The Yangtze River
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The importance of water as a necessity for survival is instinctual. However, in the United States and in much of the developed world, the apparent abundance of clean water at least in the twentieth century has been perhaps somewhat taken for granted. Comparatively, third world or developing countries currently strain the most to provide access to clean and sufficient amounts of water to their people. Nevertheless, technological developments, environmental considerations, and population growth in the latter twentieth century have established a threat to the water supply of the developed world too.
Because water is shared across international boundaries, what ends up in water ultimately is also shared across international borders. The by products of our industrialized society- solvents, fertilizer, metals, and human wastes- tax water supplies and consequently strain relationships among nations. Historically, water wars in some areas have been fought over scarcity. However, now conflict over water grows from water’s quality as well as water’s quantity. In Eritrea and Ethiopia, fighting has long existed over controlling the water supply. In other cases, this is true also, but increasingly there are cases where the quality of the water and not the quantity is the problem. In cases such as the Jordan River Basin, how much responsibility does Israel have to Jordan in regard to what Israel dumps in the Jordan River or in regard to how much water is consumed? In the Middle East, to what extent should Turkey be the broker of water that flows down the Tigris and Euphrates from Turkey? Closer to home, what rights do Americans have to clean water in the Rio Grande after companies on the Mexican side exploit more lax regulation (than in the United States) in dumping pollutants into the river? What responsibility do Americans have in managing the waters of the Colorado River, which does not even reach Mexico any longer? What rights do Egyptians and members of other riparian states have in maintaining the water quality and quantity of water in the Nile, which now only deposits 10% of its natural flow into the Mediterranean Sea?
The prospect of polluted water being shared raises serious questions of water rights. Historically, countries most directly affected by water rights issues have been the ones who have taken action. However, over the last twenty-five years initiatives led by the United Nations and non-governmental organizations have organized initiatives to raise awareness to problems that restrict access to clean water. Over time, these initiatives are coalescing into a more unified movement that shows promise for raising global awareness and bringing about direct action. Students will examine the rhetoric of these resolutions and discuss the feasibility of their effectiveness.
Ultimately, without proper management of the water supply, even the most affluent citizens in the most developed countries will be adversely affected by potentially serious threats to the water supply. Consequently what has been thought of as a third world or developing world phenomena-clean water scarcity- could become a reality for everyone. This is why it is important for young people to seriously consider the global nature of water related conflict, evaluate initiatives that are taking place, and consequently make judgments as to whether or not their conclusions warrant considering personal behavior changes.
Historically, conflicts over access to water date back to the earliest accounts of recorded events and probably earlier. It appears well established that the earliest civilizations were established in river valleys. One can find stories of dispute and physical conflict over water in the Bible. In the modern age, disputes have continued primarily in areas affected by natural scarcity. In some parts of the world, such as in parts of the Horn of Africa and along the fringes of the Sahara, severe natural phenomena serve as sources of tension to populations who are victimized by severe climates, drought, and desertification. However, new stresses on the water supply are becoming the source of overt and covert conflict. Population growth and the associated increased consumption and sewage output and industrial waste and by products threaten to tax and pollute the water supply to the point that water is becoming an endangered resource.
WHO and WWAP: Quantifying The Problem
The World Health Organization states that over a billion people do not have access to clean water for drinking and over two billion do not have access to clean water for sanitation.7 More striking is the mismanagement of water resources that results in contamination of water to the point that it cannot be used safely. As predictions of population growth materialize, the threat to significant numbers of the earth’s population will only increase. A thoroughly orchestrated campaign to minimize water contamination and preserve clean water resources is necessary.
Bodies of water may be used as national boundaries, however, flowing water rarely conforms to international boundaries. This is apparent for surface water and for ground aquifers. Surface water from rivers and lakes has been the source of international attention in many areas. For instance, an international committee oversees water quality issues for the Rhine River, which is shared by numerous European states. A similar committee exists for matters concerning the Great Lakes between the United States and Canada.8 However, increasing attention should also be paid to ground water aquifers. The World Water Development Report states that 98% of accessible drinking supplies are held in ground aquifers that supply about half of the world’s drinking supply. In comparison, the volume of water in these aquifers dwarfs the volume of river water- 23,400,000 km3 to 42,800 km3 . 9 While countries have been left to work out disagreements on their own in the past, the growing scope of water rights issues demands that a coordinated international effort be in place to monitor water related agreements and facilitate continued access to clean water. An international movement sponsored by numerous UN agencies has been coalescing in regard to water rights and water management issues. While relief efforts have dominated the history of the movement, newer initiatives are being focused on pro-active approaches that involve increasing levels of collaboration between United Nations agencies, NGO’s, and local and national governments. Since the 1970’s world water monitoring and reporting have become intense and comprehensive. They have also become more centralized. With the establishment of the World Water Assessment Program in 2003, the United Nations now has a centralized agency that collects data from 21 separate United Nations agencies. The World Water Development Report is the result of the WWAP’s work. A timeline of the efforts at world water monitoring is included as figure 4.10
This unit presents developments in the WWAP initiative for high school level students of world history and world affairs. Students are encouraged to explore WWAP date and publications presented on the web. Additionally, students investigate the natural and manmade causes of water pollution that contribute to water-related crisis. Lastly, information to help students evaluate case studies of international conflict involving freshwater water rights issues is explored. By completing this unit, students and teachers will comparatively evaluate efforts by the United Nations to curb the water crisis in the developing and developed world.
Essential Questions
Some driving or essential questions for the unit are as follows: How can water be best protected and more equitably shared among nations to minimize potential conflict? How real is the potential for water wars? What people or organizations are best suited to monitor and enforce compliance with water rights issues? How have United Nations sponsored organizations performed in monitoring and enforcing compliance with water rights issues?
Why is it important for 9th , 10th, and 11th grade students at Wilbur Cross High School to study international water rights issues? How can 9th grade students at Wilbur Cross High School have an impact on international water rights issues? Why conflict over water? How have disputes over water been historically played out? Who has the right to water that passes through or sits between international boundaries? Why is water more scarce in some places rather than in others? What is the difference between natural scarcity and manmade scarcity? What manmade threats to clean accessible water exist? What regulations are in place to ensure access to clean water? What diplomatic initiatives have been effective in resolving water rights issues? Why have people fought over water?
“The link between environmental degradation, water scarcity and violent conflict is a serious threat. Water is becoming a commodity that even peaceful neighbors are willing to battle over. For the sake of the region it is crucial that water scarcity and environmental degradation be dealt with in a manner that will ensure essential water demands are met sustainably. (GCI has already undertaken several actions to support this goal, and is planning more for the future).”
from Bertrand Charrier, Shlomi Dinar, and Mike Hiniker: Water, conflict resolution and environmental sustainability in the Middle East
