World Water Wars - Essay Example

?World Water Wars Changing our perception Since our childhood we have always perceived water as an infinite resource which will never dry up or cease to exist. In our primary school we are taught the water cycle that according to our text books will go on for an eternity and is a never ending process. It all starts with rain pouring down on soil, the soil soaking some of it to replenish the plants and trees and some to replenish the ground water supply. The leftover rain water is drained back into the sea which again is heated by the sun creating water vapors which again turn into heavy clouds that provide rain. So where did it all go wrong? Why the never ending cycle is not enough to supply famine regions of Africa with fresh drinking water? These are the questions that actually change our perception about water because now water is not a natural resource available for one and all by God but a valuable commodity, privately owned and exploited for corporate profit. Further on, the perception that building more and more dams would solve our problem after watching the documentary is completely reversed. Dams are nothing but elements choking the river nutrients from flowing further. 2) Blue Gold: World Water Wars The documentary (Bozzo, “Blue Gold: World Water Wars”), sketches a realistic picture of what the world is beneath the veil of glamour, advance technology and looming structures of corporations. It creates awareness regarding the importance of water and the depletion of it as our most important resource. Not visible to the common eye, water is going to be the reason of potential conflicts and the United States has already created a new world map defining the conflict regions. These conflicts will turn into World Water Wars. Ninety seven percent of our planets water is salt water and only three percent of it is fresh. The conflict is between those regions who own that three percent and those who wished that they could own it. Wishes do come true. The government decides to privatize water and in the process creates giant water firms that are now influencing from water prices to foreign policies. The documentary (Bozzo, Blue Gold: World Water Wars”) is a wakeup call for all of us who are still under the illusion that water is the last thing that could trouble us, since we have all the pools, fountains and lakes around; how could we possibly be having a water crisis? 3) The crisis At first like in the Mayan civilization, civilizations prospered around water and strategically populated around areas that would fulfill their water requirements. However, as the world advanced the system was reversed and water was adjusted to according to where we lived instead of us adjusting to where it was. This has developed a huge problem for us and for the generations to come. We have polluted the water to such an extent that no matter what huge water corporations say; even the bottled water that we drink is polluted. Poisonous water of Mexico full of wastage flows to landscapes that grow crops sold back to us; in short our daily food intake includes the poisonous water whether we like it or not. Increasingly, dangerous water diseases are more deadly than any other disease. The fact that our fresh water source is depleting at a faster pace has forced us into obtaining ground water at a faster rate not giving it enough time to be replenished. Natural disasters are also a reason of our increasing dependency on aquifers. Excessive pumping of aquifers may lead to disastrous events such as giant sinkholes forming in Florida. The fact that we pump billions of gallons of water every day is decreasing our ground water reserves and is putting more pressure on sea; the result of it is tsunami and earthquakes. Also now more rain does not permeate in the ground because it is covered with paved roads therefore again creating pressure on the ocean. 4) Creation of water company giants Suez, Veolia, RWE, Thames, Coca Cola, and Nestle are powerful water companies who have privatized vast volumes of water that was at first a public good. Even France’s President couldn’t do anything to nationalize them because these firms have grown too big to be controlled; instead they have the power to control now. When Margaret Thatcher came to power she also took steps regarding privatization of British waters. Just around the same time it comes to notice that UN is beginning to look at water under a different light now; as an economic good. This is what opened the gates to the private water firms which had already grown into huge giants by owning the water of the countries they initially began in, to try to own the global water. World Bank played an important role in assisting these huge transnational’s to exploit developing countries by trading debt relief in return of ownership of water. Currently, Brazil, Canada and Russia are powers which have control over large amounts of fresh water and have already begun to plan strategically using water as their security. While, states such as United States are exercising military power to be able to have access to these large aquifers for example by forming military base near one of the largest aquifer of Brazil at Paraguay. 5) Possible Solutions It is not too late yet is what the documentary (Bozzo, “Blue Gold: World Water Wars”) concludes with. We have time to retract some of our steps and although it won’t undo what is already done it can surely improve our future. The documentary (Bozzo, “Blue Gold: World Water Wars”) itself contains a very simple solution in the form of water catchments that are similar to dams, but does not contain the negative aspects of a dam. Globalization, multinationals, and WTO are all terms that explain what is polluting the environment and our renewable supply of water. Unfortunately, for some of us our short sightedness manipulates our conscience and we fail to understand the consequences, the glamorous modern society brings with it? However, there is still time for us to change and conserve our water which is the only resource we cannot survive without. Works Cited Sam Bozzo, dir. Blue Gold: World Water Wars. Purple Turtle Films, 2008. Film. Read More