Water wars: blue gold
Two little girls are burning inside a house in South Africa, while the neighbours look on. They are afraid to use their own precious water to douse the flames, because water is expensive, and their own family needs it to live. Virginia Shetshedi tells this horrific story in Sam Bozzo’s documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars, which examines the issue of many corporations and governments trying to capitalize on the Earth’s dwindling water resources, raising the question: is water a human right, or a commodity?
By: Nathan Tedrow
The August edition of Coast magazine cites the statistics that 884 million people are without access to safe drinking water, and more than 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation, according to a U.N. report. Also, 1.5 million children under the age of five years old die each year as a result of water and sanitation related diseases. In some countries this is because water is viewed as a commodity; something that is owned by a company or government, and must be paid for even though many people cannot afford it. Unfortunately, this view of water as a commodity is one that is catching on around the world, given a foothold by those who are willing to pay for water–like buying bottled water–creating a market for it. Diane Francis, a blogger for the Financial Post, is one of many people who are referring to water as “the new oil.” And with less than one percent of the world’s freshwater being readily accessible, it could become a niche market for those more interested in bottom lines
than human lives.
National Geographic magazine’s entire April issue was dedicated to water, and it featured an article called “The burden of thirst,” which examined the lives of some women who spend at least eight hours a day hauling water. The average American uses a hundred gallons of water just at home every day; Aylito Binayo [an Ethiopian woman interviewed by Graphic] makes do with two and a half gallons. But in countries where water is not considered public property, not even walking to retrieve water is an option.
Many things can be done to send the message that water is a human right. One highly suggested course of action for the average North American is to refuse to pay for water: don’t buy bottled water. Also, fundraisers or donations to foundations such as Ryan’s Well Foundation or The Water Project can help villages and tribes all over the world have easy access to clean, free water. Other ways to help can be found on the website for Blue Gold: World Water Wars. If water is recognized as a human right, rather than a commodity, perhaps no one else will have to make the decision to let their neighbour’s children die to save their own from mild discomfort. Get involved and you can make
a difference.
Author: Bekki McCoy
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