Prayers for
rain, water cops on the beat, artificial turf blanketing large swathes of
outdoor space…welcome to drought in the good ol’ USA. Throughout the country,
communities finding themselves in the grips of a water crisis are exploring all
manner of water conservation and efficiency tactics. Some work better than
others, but, so far, widespread panic seems to have been averted.
But if you’re
wondering just how bad it can get, look no further than Australia. Southeastern Australia has been battling a
debilitating drought for several years now, forcing communities large and small
to limit how and when water can be used. For example, in Melbourne, gardens can
be watered only on specified days, and car washing has been banned outright.
Most citizens have taken these water conservation
efforts to heart and are doing their best to comply, but a few have crossed the
line. In Melbourne for example, any apparent misuse ignites not just derision,
but outright anger and condemnation by neighbors suspicious of grass that looks
a little too green or a car that’s cleaner than all the rest. Described as
“water rage” by a local newspaper, these outraged residents employ variety of
vigilante tactics—from equipment sabotage to verbal threats—in an attempt to
scare their water-wasting neighbors into compliance. Sometimes the situation
gets out of hand—in 2003 two Sydney neighbors literally came to blows after one
family felt the grass was much too green on the other side of the
fence.
But now
enforcement and water management has gone beyond the actions of a few aggrieved
citizens: large-scale water theft—diverting entire streams of water from a
river or reservoir—is the
latest and greatest threat to Australia’s fragile water resource management
system. For Premier Mike Rann, the possibility of “grand theft water” is a
matter of national security; an act of “environmental terrorism” that demands a
hefty punishment. He warns that soon prison will await anyone found guilty of
illegally siphoning off water.
“Anyone who is doing this sort of thing is
unbelievably treacherous to the national interest and it’s an act of terrorism
against the Australian people,” says Rann. “It is a criminal offence, and anyone
siphoning water off illegally, in my view, should be locked
up.”
Could a similar situation unfold in the US? Is it
a stretch to equate the theft of a natural resource with terrorism? What if oil
was being stolen instead of water?