Using Named Examples Assess The Potential For Water Supply To Become A Source Of Conflict

Countries that maintain and control waterways tend to have the better fresh water supply, better agriculture, renewable electricity, and trade routes. This is because the containment of water can be used in many different ways, whether it is politically or economically. For agriculture and a better economy is maintained through waterways because large areas are used for irrigation and large scale crop growth with richer soil to grow better cash crops. Politically waterways can affect a country because they are valuable and useful so when large water basins are between countries it can cause tension. A waterway is a body of water that is used for transportation and as a resource. The usage and control of waterways positively and negatively affect economy, and politics through irrigation, trade routes, and the placement of waterways.

Many populations, the majority being in Africa, face many water-borne diseases mainly due to pollution of water resources. The option then becomes to either drink polluted water or not have anything at all. Continual Human development such as population growth and industrial growth have further drained water resources, causing a shortage of drinking water. As a result, there are many conflicts over ownership of water resources and these lead to injuries or fatalities.(2) As mentioned before, this shows why it is so important to find a solution to the issue of water shortage.

Many people have suffered from water crisis. Places like California have been dealt with this for some time and has affected so many people lives. Is destroying the most important areas where water is needed. In addition, several people get caught by this situation which eventually leads to death. This is definitely a major issue in today 's world since is destroying the state of California. Most people who come to California for their first time are not even aware that these problems occur and are just putting their one life in risk. Water should to be conserved in order to keep it in the years to come.

Many countries are also highly dependent on water that originates outside their borders; the water diversion provided by dams for countries that are downstream exacerbates an already serious problem. The diversion of river systems is an area of international concern, the nature and extent of such interdependency is already extensive: 145 countries share over 261 international river basin. As demand increases, and as indigenous sources of water become fully utilized or exhausted, the only alternatives are likely to be international (Dolatyar, 2006). Ironically, the very solution of one country's scarcity, plunges another into water shortage, this is the reason why water security is one of the most crucial foreign policy considerations of a globally connected economic and political atmosphere.

Competition for a limited amount of water worldwide may be one of the biggest problems facing future

“Water systems in the region are under great stress,” ICRC President Peter Maurer said in a statement. “If urgent efforts are not made, we will reach a breaking point.” Record- low rain, “diminishing aquifers, overuse of scarce resources and the devastating impacts of conflict have made clean water increasingly difficult to come by,” the ICRC said.

Why is this a major a problem around the world today; Having access to reliable drinking source is not common in other countries, besides mainly in America the rest of the entire plant has some sort of water problem that being water shortages and/or water pollution. Water needs to become a major concern around the entire world. The focus is going towards the surface water because that is what can be visually seen everyday but groundwater is actually in more immediate chronic danger. The reserves of water aquifers hold are large so humans have been tapping them like there is no tomorrow. “Currently in America we are pumping out about 200 billion cubic metres (1 cubic metre=908 litres) more than can be recharged, steadily using up our water capital,”(Godrej). The water on Earth today is the same water that was on Earth billions of years before humans, during the age of the dinosaurs.Water can never be destroyed but the purity of freshwater is in danger; Every day that it rains the runoff of water collects fertilizers, pesticides, and other harmful chemicals that contaminate precious H2O that all flows back into america’s great lakes or aquifers.

The use of water quantity as an attribute to water conflicts is the most well known theory behind the cause of water related struggles, its belief lies with the assumption that competing claims for a limited amount of water cause Water Wars. For example, this theory emphasizes that the potential for Water Wars over allocation increases when the resource is scarce, and even when the resource is scarce, its distribution to different uses and users can be extremely disputed. Therefore, as the population is educated and aware of environmental threats and the value of ecosystems, they will also claim water to sustain the environment and the livelihoods it nourishes.

Aquifers are not the only water resource under strain. Rivers are being over pumped for irrigation in agriculture. Agriculture demand for fresh water is estimated to take up 70% of all fresh water consumption. The best example for agriculture putting strain on a river is the Nile Valley. The Nile River is the bread basket for approximately two hundred million people. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia already us the majority of the fresh water that comes from the Nile. Over the next coming century that demand will rise making the need for fresh water surpass the limits of the Nile. This will inevitably lead to political strife between these counties. {Brown}

Priscoli, J. D. & Wolf, A. T. (2009). Managing and Transforming Water Conflicts: USA: Cambridge University Press.

One would think there are enough conflicts to be had in the Middle East. The area is simply a breeding ground for turmoil, and has been for centuries. Of the many conflicts that revolve around the areas history, politics, religion, territory or ethnicity, one more can be added to the group: water. These societies all need water, but not all have the same resources to get to that water. What is the hotbed of vice in this situation is only a few of the countries in the Middle East have total control over their own water, leaving most of the others to depend on the graces of those few countries to manage their water magnanimously enough to supply them with what they need. With Turkey and Israel in control of much of the Middle

Reasons and origins of the conflict for water are dating back in the late 40s and the Arab-Israeli conflict. More precisely, the countries involved that represent potential conflict are Israel and Syria, as well as Israel and Palestine. For example, what can be mentioned here are Israeli aspirations to keep tight control over the economically important areas. This is directly linked to the water issues and diverting the water from one to another region. Other Arab countries are strongly opposing such shift as this will increase Israel’s industrial and agricultural capacities and, consequently, will encourage further Jewish immigration to the country. There have been plans to prevent such discourse, but Israeli`s military strikes have

In his book Eco violence he presented five key social effects of environmental scarcity which could cause conflict in some part, which are constrained agricultural output, constrained economic production, migration, social segmentation, and disrupted institutions— which can either singly or in combination produce or exacerbate conflict among groups or states (Homer and Blitt 1998). Despite its importance and relevance, Homer T Dixon says that literature on the specific connections between environmental scarcity and acute conflict is surprisingly thin (Dixon 1991). The Rio and Dublin conferences in 1992 had much influence in fostering interest in shared water issues specifically in relation to politics, economy, security and international relations (Dinar et al 2006). The subsequent hydro-political literature has both embodied and benefited from the tools, lessons and underpinnings provided by different academic disciplines like: economics, international law, international relations and negotiation as well as geography and hydrology. (Biswas 2011, Wilner 2005,). Economics has brought to bear such concepts as regional cooperation, game theory and institutional economics. International water law rich in its history but relatively juvenile in its codification status; as of 1997 has introduced particular important legal principles such as equitable utilization and the obligation not to

In regards to the Middle East, it appears that much of the long-standing conflict in the region is linked both directly and indirectly to water supplies. Since water is a vital part of life, it would make sense that this is a leading reason that political conflicts in the Middle East are old and seemingly intractable. The debate over water stems from two main sources, the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, with all nations in the watershed equally involved in the conflicts regarding the management of these rivers (Winnefeld 1994). Contributing factors in the water-related conflicts include issues regarding water quality, location of water sources, and location of water demand. In addition to regional

I’d first like to make a regard to the notion of power, as discussed in the module. Power, as has been noted, is constantly being negotiated within unequal and dynamic relationships (Kilman Module 5). Power dynamics can be asserted in a multitude of ways, through institutions and governments or even in our personal lives. It’s highly important to keep this notion of power and power dynamics in mind when referring to the global water crisis.