Currently, there is a debate over whether water wars actually exist or not. Wendy Barnaby argues that water wars do not exist: “Countries do not go to war over water, they solve their water shortages through trade and international agreements, [and] cooperation, in fact, is the dominant response to shared water resources.” And Jack Shafer at Slate writes:

None of my skepticism should imply that I think everybody everywhere has all the clean, cheap water they need. Water, like all resources, is scarce, and I accept that scarcity can cause conflict. But before anyone starts frightening themselves about impending water wars, they might want to consider Barnaby’s observation that in the last five decades there have been no “formal declarations of war over water.”

No doubt, sensationalism in the media has muddied the issue, since I’ve never thought of the phrase “water war” to actually mean “formal declarations of war over water.”  I believe it’s more of an umbrella term that includes disputes over water rights, disputes over access to water resources, conflicts over water privatization, water revolts, or a formal declaration of war over water. As a result, the phrase “water-related conflicts” is perhaps more appropriate.

Conflict and war is not formally declared over environmental degradation or water availability, but these themes are surely strong factors in some conflict-ridden regions of the world. This is what I believe some folks like Jeffrey Sachs are arguing—not that wars are officially being declared over water (although it’s not impossible), but certain areas are susceptible to conflict, extremism, and war, because these areas lack an abundance of natural resources, stable economies and trade, dependable infrastructure, educational opportunities, health care, or equal rights—basic necessities that support stable societies. Consequently, there are many factors to consider and certainly environmental degradation and natural resource availability are some of the strongest factors.

Most certainly, water availability or natural resource availability in general is connected to environmental degradation, and a bankrupted human environment results in poverty, disease, and conflict; and these sinister things spread their poison across oceans and political borders like the worst of infectious diseases. From Jeffrey Sachs:

Extremist groups such as the Taliban find ample recruitment possibilities in such impoverished communities. Governments lose their legitimacy when they cannot guarantee their populations’ most basic needs: safe drinking water, staple food crops, and fodder and water for the animal herds on which communities depend for their meagre livelihoods.

Politicians, diplomats and generals in conflict-ridden countries typically treat these crises as they would any other political or military challenge. They mobilize armies, organize political factions, combat warlords or try to grapple with religious extremism.

But these responses overlook the underlying challenge of helping communities meet their urgent needs for water, food and livelihoods. As a result, the United States and Europe often spend billions of dollars to send troops or planes to quell uprisings or target “failed states” but not even a 100th of that amount to address the underlying crises of water scarcity and underdevelopment.

Water problems will not go away by themselves. On the contrary, they will worsen unless we, as a global community, respond.

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