Water Bankruptcy?

There is a seemingly endless quest to craft language that captures the complex challenges of water scarcity, poor quality, inequity in access, and impacts to ecosystems. More importantly, the narrative on what needs to change to solve these challenges remains elusive. There is a recent report by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Global Water Bankruptcy, Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era that frames the issues and solutions in financial terms accessible to the layperson.

Two key ideas presented in the report are worth focusing on.

The authors state that we need to “rethink terminology,” and I completely agree. According to the report, “the terms’ water stress’ and ‘water crisis’ do not accurately represent today’s circumstances. Water stress can be overcome; however, water crises are fleeting shocks from which recovery is possible. Water bankruptcy is a long-term problem with permanent damage that has eliminated natural capital from the water system.”

An example of this is my view that we should avoid using the word “drought” and instead use “aridification” (as we are experiencing in the American West and elsewhere in the world). While aridification is a mouthful, drought is fleeting and doesn’t capture the structural problems of declining freshwater supplies, rising demand, and outdated public policies. Also, I agree that humanity is overwhelmed by “crises” and likely too numb to take on one more, such as water scarcity.

Most importantly, the authors call for what they describe as “bankruptcy management” instead of reacting to water emergencies. “Bankruptcy management entails protecting remaining aquatic ecosystems, rebalancing water rights based on reduced withdrawal capacity, and assisting communities in transitioning to alternative sources of income. In addition, the new global water agenda would transform water-dependent industries through crop changes, modified irrigation methods, and the development of more efficient cities.”

While this is an interesting way to frame our failure to address water challenges and deliver solutions at speed and scale, I am not sure that this will get the job done in ensuring an abundance of water for economic development, business growth, ecosystem health, and social well-being.

I propose we be honest and clear with civil society: there are outdated public policies that fail to address the increasing demand for a finite resource and a hydrologic cycle disrupted by climate change. With regard to water management, the past is no longer a guide to the future, and the status quo is no longer adequate. We need to increase water efficiency and reuse, and develop alternative water supplies, due to declining surface water and groundwater depletion.

I am not sure that even this will be enough to move the public and private sectors fast enough to effectively address our 21st-century water challenges. However, I do believe we need to keep trying.

Onward