Is Water the New Oil?

“Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarce anything; scarce anything can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarce any use-value; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.”

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)

Is Water indeed the new Oil?

Perhaps not.?Comparisons can be odious, but if you look at it objectively, oil has possible substitutes. As an energy source it is possible to substitute oil with renewable energy sources such as, solar and hydro-electric power. But when it comes to water, it is a strategic natural resource, and scarcity of potable water is a frequent contributor to political conflicts throughout the world. We have in the past had geo-political issues with oil in centre stage. A case in point was the Arab Oil Embargo in 1973, when Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed?an embargo against the United States in retaliation for the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military and to gain leverage in the post-war peace negotiations.

A similar situation can be anticipated using water as an arm-twisting tactic by nations that are have rivers that are situated upstream. Unprecedented levels of dam building and water extraction by nations situated upstream leave countries located further downstream increasingly thirsty and increasing the risk of conflicts.

?As much as a quarter of the world's population now?faces severe water scarcity?at least one month out of the year. According to an article by the BBC, water scarcity affects roughly 40% of the world's population and, according to predictions by the United Nations and the World Bank, drought could put up to?700 million people at risk of displacement?by 2030.

However, this can also be treated as an opportunity to find innovative approaches to save our precious resource by looking at water efficient systems that can conserve water, just like the way we have adapted ourselves with oil consumption.

We can’t ignore the fact that influential countries can adapt to changing technologies easily but the developing and the under developed nations are the ones which are facing the wrath of water deficit. The regions which are already unstable and are facing their own internal and social conflicts, are the ones which are most affected and these lead to adverse situations that take a toll on them. ?There is further dissonance when water has to be rationed.

What is the real cost of water? Between rain and the glass of water you drink, it traverses a long way through collection, purification, leakage loss and piping into the taps in our homes. We need to start an active conversation on this.

It is time that we align politics around water, so that each nation gets what is due to them, thereby promoting the productivity of water. Further, climate change is also affecting the water cycle. There is either a surplus of water that causes floods or too little water leading to drought. Polluted water is compounding the problems further and hence the outbreak of water conflicts amongst nations is a reality. A reality we need to deal with and come up with long-lasting solutions.

We invite comments and views!

Concept: Subin Vattamthanam, Ecoparadigm