Water Security: A Global Challenge That Demands Our Attention and Action.

The headlines of the past few weeks alone paint a clear picture of the water challenges we face, with reports of New York investors snapping up Colorado River water rights, the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and the worsening water crisis in California and Colorado.

This is not just a problem in the United States, as headlines like "Europe's water crisis is much worse than we thought", "Devastating floods in Pakistan", and “Lebanon water crisis fuels cholera outbreak” continue to highlight that water security is a global issue.

From UNICEFs Water Scarcity Programme:

• 4 billion?people — almost two-thirds of the world's population — experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year.
• Over?2 billion?people live in countries where the water supply is inadequate.
• 50%?of the world's population could live in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025.
• Some?700 million?people could be displaced by intense water scarcity by 2030.
• By 2040, roughly?1 in 4?children worldwide will be living in areas of extremely high water stress.

Water is essential to life, and its scarcity will have far-reaching impacts. The effects of water scarcity are often felt most acutely by those already marginalized. The thought of not having access to clean, safe water is a scary one and it is not a situation that we should be content to wait and see how it unfolds.

Water security is not just an environmental issue, economic or social issue. The impact of the lack of access to water is not limited to just one sector, as the toll of agriculture, oil, and gas sectors on California's water crisis shows.?

When it comes to the challenges we face as a society, it is often easier to understand them when we look at them through a simple lens.?

If you ask a random person about the impact of a reduction in scope 3 emissions on their daily life, you will probably be meet with a blank look. But ask the same person “What will the impact be to your life, if you no longer had access to tap water”. In that case, the answer is likely to be immediate. This is because water is simple to understand, and so are the headlines and the severity of the problem.

As individuals and members of society, we all have a role to play in addressing water security.?

Water security is not just a problem for the future; it is a problem we are facing now. The headlines of the past month clearly indicate the severity of the issue and the need for action.?

It is time for us to take water security seriously and to work together to address this critical challenge. Whether through individual effort, business engagement, or advocacy for policy change, we all have a role to play in ensuring that access to clean, safe water is a reality for all.

Last summer, unknowing of the connotations of the statement, my daughter said to me:

“Dad, this drought is going to kill us”?

We live less than 1 mile from the Illinois River - a principal tributary of the Mississippi River

Water is simple to understand. So are the headlines, and so is the severity.