“Whiskey is for
drinking. Water is for fighting
over.” – Mark
Twain
As with any scarce resource, water is valued – and fought
over – throughout the world. With
exponential population growth, an ever-increasing consumerist class (and all
their attendant demands and requirements), and longer, dryer droughts deviling
every continent, those fights over water are only going to get more and more
extreme.
This week, an editorial by Brahma
Chellaney in The Times of India warned about the growing tension
in Asia over China’s water resource management. As that editorial points out, with its
control over the Tibet plateau, China can direct and impact the flow of several
major river systems – rivers depended upon by many countries in Southern and
Southeast Asia. Because the region
is already facing severe water shortages, Chellaney
predicts that Asia will morph into “most likely flash-point for water
wars, a concern underscored by attempts by some states to exploit their riparian
position or dominance.”
But not all disputes over water
are preordained to become international incidents. Case in point, the Mississippi
Basin. This week, Arkansas
and Missouri announced that the two states have come to an agreement to jointly
study ways to protect watersheds and aquifers that share their state boundaries,
the status of which will be released in a biennial report by officials from each
state. Under the agreement, both
states have also pledged to develop quality programs for their shared
watersheds.
According
to Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, this agreement is designed to avoid the more
contentious relationship that currently exists between the state and Oklahoma
(including lawsuits filed against Arkansas poultry industry over water use and
water quality). By contrast, the
Missouri/Arkansas agreement promotes interstate cooperation, by laying the
foundation for a systematic approach to prioritizing projects and coordinating
monitoring and modeling efforts.
“This is an historic agreement
between Missouri and Arkansas,” said Missouri Governor Matt Blunt. “Water
quality is critical to jobs, economic growth, our environment, and the quality
of life for citizens of both states.
Watersheds and aquifers know no state borders, and interstate
collaboration is essential to protecting our streams, providing healthy drinking
water, and planning for future water needs. Stronger communication today will help
avoid conflicts tomorrow.”
For more on China’s water wars, Click Here.
Click Here for more on the Missouri/Arkansas agreement.