Water in Conflict: Water Scarcity, Epidemics and War

Jennifer L. LeSieur With Contributions from: Lawrence B. Burke Amber Harvey

Clackamas High School Clackamas, Oregon

May 2018

Introduction: “Without water, life would not exist” (water.org). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well­being of himself and of his family, including, food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of . . . circumstances beyond his control.” In 2010 the U.N. additionally recognized a human right to safe, acceptable, affordable, and physically accessible water sufficient for personal and domestic use and sanitation (Water United Nations).

Unfortunately, the reality is that available water is scarce, polluted, wasted, exploited, and fought over. The impacts are deadly: ­ “Each year more people die from unsafe water than all forms of violence, including war” (World Water Development Report); ­ More than 1.1 billion people are currently living without adequate supply and access to water (Watkins); ­ 2.5 billion individuals don’t have access to a toilet (Stcyr); ­ 1.8 million children die each year as a result of diarrhea (Shah); and ­ 3.4 million people die every year from water­related causes (WHO).

The causes of water pollution are no mystery: a lack of basic domestic sewage control; improperly and inadequately treated industrial wastewater; and agricultural waste disposal (World Water Development Report). “Every day, 2 million tons of sewage and other effluents drain into the world’s waters.”(Id.) Climate change, dams and other man made causes also impact water security. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki­moon states:

1 “Our indispensable water resources have proven themselves to be greatly resilient, but they are increasingly vulnerable and threatened. Our growing population need for water, for food, raw materials and energy is increasingly competing with nature's own demands for water to sustain already imperilled ecosystems and the services on which we depend. Day after day, we pour millions of tons of untreated sewage and industrial and agricultural wastes into the world's water systems. Clean water has become scarce and will become even scarcer with the onset of climate change. And the poor continue to suffer first and most from pollution, water shortages and the lack of adequate sanitation” (World Water Development Report).

Is it too late? “In some areas, depletion and pollution of economically important water resources have gone beyond the point of no return, and coping with a future without reliable water resources systems is now a real prospect in parts of the world. UNESCO’s Third World Water Development Report predicts that nearly half of humanity will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030 (Global Biodiversity Outlook 43).

The lack of adequate clean water and proper sewage treatment creates preconditions for war, spreads disease, physically displaces vulnerable populations, creates barriers to education, and fuels the cycle of poverty. In The Big Thirst — The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water (Free Press), Charles Fishman states, “Water poverty doesn’t just mean your hands are dirty, or you can’t wash your clothes, or you are often thirsty.. . . water poverty traps you in a primitive day­to­day­struggle. Water poverty is, quite literally, de­civilizing.”

On an individual level, water poverty often bears the hardest burden on women and girls, compounding other social factors that keep them in cycles of intergenerational poverty. In areas where the nearest water is miles away, they often bear the time­consuming burden of fetching water for their families or communities, depriving them of crucial educational opportunities. In many places the only time available for women or girls to defecate, is after dark. Apart from the discomfort caused by the long wait and possible physical harm, there is also a risk of harassment and assault during the walk to and from the communal defecation fields.

2 The lack of safe, separate and private sanitation and washing facilities in schools is one of the main factors preventing girls from attending school, particularly when menstruating.The health and lives of more than half the world's children are constantly threatened by environmental hazards as they get sick through contact with excreta in their environment. Caring for sick children adds to the already heavy workload of women and girls. About 44 million pregnant women have sanitation­related hookworm infections that pose a considerable health burden in developing societies (UNCIF).

Factors:

Climate Change: Climate change is a major threat. Much of this threat will be transmitted through more frequent extreme events (e.g. floods and droughts) and shifts in rainfall patterns. The overall impact will be threatening the livelihoods, health and security of millions of people especially as individuals must flee or migrate when natural disasters occur. Climate modelling exercises point two possible outcomes. The first is that dry areas will get drier and wet areas wetter, with important consequences for patterns and levels of agricultural production. The second is that there will be an increase in the unpredictability of water flows, linked to more frequent and extreme weather events (UNDP, 2006).

Water shortages and a lack of clean water: Individuals suffer from a lack of clean water throughout the world. The problem could be chronic, seasonal, localized, widespread or only impact the poorest citizens in a given country. Lester Holt reported on NBC nightly news, “Strict water codes are in place in Cape Town, South Africa, forcing residents to reuse water and take 90­second showers with a limit of just 13 gallons a day per person to save every drop.”

The problem is worse in developing countries where the government is unable to provide the necessary technology, funding or infrastructure, or where political instability is at odds with the needs of its citizens “. . . in many of these countries . . . infrastructure is nowhere to be found, generally because of the lack of funding for creation and upkeep. People in these countries must collect water from far away sources, trekking large distances and carrying large weights of water” (Water Security in Developing Countries).

3 Bangladesh, Chad, Ghana, Haiti, India and Rwanda all suffer generally from a lack of clean water. Other countries with widespread problems include:

Afghanistan: clean drinking water is only readily available for 13% of its people (Stcyr, 2012). It lacks the infrastructure to supply water and the political turmoil hinders progress, while the population is growing. Cambodia: 84% of the population suffers from a lack of steady, clean water. During the monsoon season from May ­ November the MeKong River floods and without the proper technology, the water used for drinking is often contaminated and mismanaged (Stycr). Central Kosovo: water sources dry up early in the summer. Consumption of impure water leads to many diseases in the rural areas (World Water Development Report). Ethiopia: over 47 million people do not have access to a safe water supply. Infant mortality is impacted since only 11% of its population has access to clean sanitation. (Stcyr, 2012). Laos: the Mekong River water is used for electricity, transportation and farming which supports 80% of the population but the available water is shrinking. The low water level has led to a shortage of food (Asian Foundation). Mongolia: 55.4% of the population rely on dirty, polluted water since the nearest clean water is too far away from the home (Dore & Nagpal 2006). In Mongolia only, “44.6% of . . . (the) population has reliable and immediate access to treated, sanitary water sources . . . the nomadic lifestyle of Mongolia’s past has left a country with a significant lack of permanent infrastructure” (Water Security in Developing Countries). Pakistan: in one of the most water­stressed countries in the world, agriculture consumes 90% of the country’s rapidly dwindling water resources (Kugelman). In addition, Pakistan’s groundwater tables are falling at an alarming rate. The Indus Basin aquifer is the second most stressed in the world. Sub­Saharan Africa : hundreds of millions suffer from the lack of clean water. Girls and women bear the burden of walking each day to fetch the water from any source they can find, often collecting unsafe water than is full of diseases that make their families sick (watereducation.org).

Overconsumption, Exploitation and Water Privatization: The developed world uses or wastes a majority of the world’s water, “12% of the world’s population uses 85% of

4 the world’s water and these individuals do not live in the third world” (Barlow, 2001). The water is used for everyday items or luxuries with little or any thought. A daily newspaper uses 150 gallons of water, one liter of orange juice uses 1000 gallons and one pound of beef uses 2500 gallons (WaterDoc.org).

Humans use of water in more developed nations also creates issues that do not bode well for the future anywhere. Richard Daminia states, “If you are in a dry area, you are going to get a lot less rainfall. Run­off is declining. People are turning to groundwater in a very, very big way. ”National Geographic reports that, “Beijing is sinking. In some areas, the ground is giving way at a rate of four inches a year as water in the aquifer below it is pumped.” The groundwater has been so depleted that China’s capital city, home to more than 20 million people, could face serious disruptions in its rail system, roadways, and building foundations, an international team of scientists concluded earlier this year. Beijing, despite tapping into the gigantic North China Plain aquifer, is the world’s fifth most water­stressed city and its water problems are likely to get even worse (Parker).

The report goes on to say that, “Beijing isn’t the only place experiencing subsidence, or sinking, as soil collapses into space created as groundwater is depleted. Parts of Shanghai, Mexico City, and other cities are sinking, too” (Parker). The most over­stressed water supply in the world is the Arabian Aquifer System, which supplies water to 60 million people in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Food First, says, “While transnational corporations over­exploit water resources as they expand industrial and agricultural capacity, they pollute the water table through pollution and overuse . . . In the race to compete for foreign direct investment, countries are stripping their environmental laws and protection of natural resources, including water protection . . . they . . . look the other way as environmental laws are broken . . . ” Maude Barlow explains that countries like China are diverting their water from farming communities to their industrial sector. Farmers are discovering their wells are running dry. Eighty percent of China’s rivers are so degraded that they no longer support fish . . . ” In many countries, farmers use a majority of the water, in others water is used for industrial purposes or energy production.

5 Countries look the other way or ignore the long­term impacts of big businesses that over use or exploit water, especially if these companies provide jobs or tax revenues. Tibet bottles its region’s water and does not consider the long term impact that draining its resources has on its neighbors. Water in Tibet is abundant and cheaper than in other parts of China. “Water bottled upstream among snow­capped peaks is also perceived as pure, commanding a premium. This has led to a huge influx of companies hoping to cash in on the region’s water resources” (Hongqiao).

Although 90 percent of the world’s freshwater stocks remain under public control, privatization is more common as poor governments cannot afford to maintain and repair decades­old water purification and delivery systems. Historically, however, in places where privatization has been established, it has proven to be another cause of—rather than a solution to—chronic water shortage problems. That is, because corporations are (by their nature) more concerned with making money than serving people and communities’ best interests, water privatization has led to corruption, lack of corporate accountability, loss of local agency, weakened water quality standards, and steep rate hikes that eliminate poor people’s access to water (Barlow, M., and Clarke, T).

The poorest countries don’t look at alternatives and can’t provide oversight or check for abuse. There is an old saying in the American West: “Water flows uphill toward money” (Leavenworth). These companies argue that privatizing water is the best way to deliver it safely to a thirsty world. This is yet another area of potential disagreement. It is true that governments have done an abysmal job of protecting water within their boundaries. However, the answer is not to hand this precious resource over the transnational corporations who have escaped national­state laws and live by no international law other than business­friendly trade agreements. The answer is to demand that governments begin to take their role seriously and establish full water protection regimes based on watershed management and conservation (Barlow).

Privatization can block access to water for the poor who simply cannot afford to connect legally. “If you live in a slum in Manila, you pay more for your water than people living in London” (Shah, 2010). “British aid money is being used to push water privatization on poor countries . . . making it less likely that clean water will ever get to the poorest

6 people. And while poor people lose out, a group of big UK companies are profiting from this aid” (Water and Development). Some privatization programs have produced positive results. But the overall record is not encouraging. From Argentina to Bolivia, and from the Philippines to the United States, the conviction that the private sector offers a magic bullet for unleashing the equity and efficiency needed to accelerate progress towards water for all has proven to be misplaced. While these past failures of water concessions do not provide evidence that the private sector has no role to play, they do point to the need for greater caution, regulation and a commitment to equity in public­private partnerships (Water and Development).

Water Wars: Underground water is being pumped so aggressively around the globe that land is sinking, civil wars are being waged, and agriculture is being transformed (Parker). Richard Damania, a leading economist at the World Bank, predicts that without adequate water supplies, economic growth in the most stressed parts of the world could decline by six percent of GDP. His findings conclude that the most severe impact of climate change will be to deplete water supplies. “If you are in a dry area, you are going to get a lot less rainfall. Run­off is declining,” he says. “People are turning to groundwater in a very, very big way.” As regions and nations run short of water . . . economic growth will decline and food prices will spike, raising the risk of violent conflict and waves of large migrations. Unrest in Yemen, which heavily taps into groundwater and which experienced water riots in 2009, is rooted in a water crisis. Experts say water scarcity also helped destabilize Syria and launch its civil war. Jordan, which relies on aquifers as its only source of water, is even more water­stressed now that more than a half­million Syrian refugees arrived (Parker).

The Indus Basin aquifer in northwest India and Pakistan is the second­most threatened in the world, and the Murzuk­Djado Basin in northern Africa the third, so the chances for conflict abound. “What you have in developing countries is a large number of small farmers pumping. Given that these guys are earning so little, there is very little you can do to control it,” Damania says. “And you are, literally, in a race to the bottom.” Outside Mexico City in May 2014 more than 1,000 armed police battled with residents asserting the right to a spring’s water that the residents said the government was trying to steal from them. This area suffers from chronic water shortages and conflicts are common (Becerra).

7

Jay Famiglietti, lead scientist on a 2015 study using NASA satellites to record changes in the world’s 37 largest aquifers, says that the ones under the greatest threat are in the most heavily populated areas."Without sustainable groundwater reserves, global security is at far greater risk,” he says. “As the dry parts are getting drier, we will rely on groundwater even more heavily. The implications are just staggering and really need to be discussed at the international level” (Parker).

According to the United Nations two­thirds of the worlds’ transboundary rivers do not even have cooperative management framework (Water, United Nations). But an agreement is no guarantee of stability. The 60 year old Indus Water Treaty (IWT) directs how India and Pakistan manage the Indus River Basin rivers and tributaries. India often threatens that it will cancel the treaty. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in 2016, “revoking the IWT could be perceived as an act of war.” If the IWT was revoked the devastation to Pakistan would be far­reaching (Kugelman). Pakistan is very USFG should substantially increase its non­military engagement with transboundary dependent on the Indus for its water supply and when India threatens to cut off its supply the needling is seen as a greater weapon than traditional warfare.

Proposed Resolutions: Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its public health water assistance to one or more of the least developed countries.

The United State Federal Government should substantially increase its international involvement in water related movements and/or projects.

Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should establish a foreign policy substantially increasing its support of international water development.

The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its international involvement in water related movements and/or projects.

The United States Federal Government should create an international organization to oversee, fund and/or organize projects to promote water resources.

8 Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase the non­military development of the Earth’s water resources.

Proposed Resolutions by Topic Area:

Water Conflict USFG should substantially increase its non­military involvement with transboundary water conflict mediation. and/or intranational water rights conflicts (in the least developed countries).

USFG should establish a foreign policy substantially increasing its support for potable water conflict resolution internationally and/or intranationally.

Foreign Aid The USFG should substantially increase its non­military involvement in (potable) water resource policy and management in the least developed countries.

The USFG should substantially increase its involvement with international water resource research, policy and/or management (foreign aid projects).

The USFG should substantially increase its foreign aid to the least developed countries for the purposes of water resource research, policy and/or management.

Anticipatory Action The USFG should substantially increase its involvement in non­military anticipatory water scarcity projects.

The USFG should substantially increase its involvement in non­military water system response projects.

Solvency: The remedies to a problem of this scale and complexity includes components from multiple actors and disciplines. Governments and communities within developing countries must develop the infrastructure to “have access to water domestically, they need roads, pipes, treatment plants, and wells to bring clean and ample water to them” (Water Security in Developing Countries). The methodologies to

9 accomplish this are numerous. There are substantial political and economic barriers to any water management plan that must be addressed in the outset. Water shortages are often created by the privatization of water. In the case of water exploitation, local water availability and quality is knowingly jeopardized in order to export water to more developed and wealthier regions or nations. The corporations who profit from this exploitation hold massive power over the countries they operate in. Democratizing water will thus likely require some popularization of its management: returning control of water to publicly overseen entities, like governments, with the ability to administer them for the public good.

Binding international accords for natural resource issues are hard to achieve. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is evidence of that point. And that’s not just because the freshwater crisis, arguably the most visible and dire of the climate change risks, was ignored. Regional agreements regarding transboundary or shared water bodies such as the Great Lakes Compact in the U.S., and Nile River basin agreement in Africa are just as difficult to ratify. But policymakers and advocates need to keep trying. Humanitarian­oriented treaties, such as the U.N.’s drinking water Millennium Development Goals, indicate that comprehensive global strategies are possible.

Safe water is a valuable investment. Each dollar invested in water and sanitation produces $3 to $34 in returns of increased productivity. Finding solutions to the water crisis, no matter how big or small, are critical to saving lives and ending poverty (Westover).

Affirmative Ground/Case Ideas: Aid Money: Multilateral groups exist with the purpose of redistributing aid money from many different governments to whomever is in need of the funds. One good example of a multilateral economic group is the World Bank, which uses investment project financing to help countries who need the funding (Rodriguez & McMahon, 2012). In many past examples, the World Bank has been effective at providing developing countries with sufficient capital. One such example was the World Bank’s assistance in the Ouagadougou Water Supply Project (Mercier 2003). This project aimed to build a dam 60 kilometers away from this capital city of Burkina Faso. In this project, the World Bank helped the project by funding an environmental assessment prior to the construction. This is a vital phase of the construction of a dam that most developing

10 countries cannot afford. By providing this assistance for Burkina Faso, the World Bank helped make their dam possible.

Climate Change Mitigation: Climate change and water scarcity go hand­in­hand to cause some of the biggest contemporary challenges to the human race. These issues have a reciprocal relationship, identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in which, “water management policies and measures can have an influence on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” As renewable energy options are pursued, the water consumption of these mitigation tactics must be considered in producing alternatives ranging from bio­energy crops to hydropower and solar power plants (Circle of Blue).

Desalination: Approximately 99 percent of the water on earth is not drinkable. Desalination is the solution to purifying sea water or salt water for human consumption. Uptake of the technology has largely been limited by the high costs of the desalination process. However, arid countries are finding that it is a necessary solution. According to the International Desalination Association, the largest desalination plant in the world in Saudi Arabia produces 273 million gallons of drinking water per day while in Israel, a quarter of the nation’s water supply is generated from desalination (Samo).

Flood Management: To better combat flooding, the Associated Programme of Flood Management (APFM), a WMO and GWP joint effort as well as UNESCO’s International Flood Initiative (IFI) outline new approaches that are being developed for a better understanding of the links between natural settings and the legal, environmental and social conditions inherent to flooding and the mitigation of its impacts. In this way, communities commonly faced with flooding can now develop more sustainable methods to reduce the socio­economic effects of such high­impact events (UNESCO).

Genetically Modified Crops: GMO crops create more efficient water uses and provide critically needed food (Mission 2017).

Harvesting Fog: This is one water harvesting technique that is not new to mankind. In the Andes for example, the Inca Empire generated water from harvesting fog from the cloud forests in the Andes by building fog fences above the rain line. The Inca’s then condensed the fog into usable water. The practice is still alive and well in Chile and has received a technology boost from the Mechanical Engineering Department of MIT.

11 There are now modern fog fences which collect water for agricultural and drinking water use (Samo).

Holistically Manage Ecosystems: Simply put, holistic management applies to a practical, common­sense approach to overseeing natural resources that takes into account economic, cultural, and ecological goals. In essence, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and each facet is related to and influences the others. Good examples of holistic management are communities that operate sewage treatment plants while pursuing partnerships with clean energy producers to use wastewater to fertilize algae and other biofuel crops. The crops, in turn, soak up nutrients and purify wastewater, significantly reducing pumping and treatment costs (Circle of Blue).

Improve Irrigation and Agricultural Practices: Some 70 percent of the world’s freshwater is used for agriculture. Improving irrigation can help close supply and demand gaps. In certain cases profligate irrigation practices meant for an earlier era has weakened the ability of farmers to provide food and fiber to a growing world. Examples include the Murray­Darling basin in Australia, Central Asia’s Aral Sea, and the American Southwest. Although new technology has become an appealing solution, global water experts like Peter Gleick note that in some cases, such as the agricultural systems in California, success stories can happen by improving what’s already in place (Circle of Blue).

Integrated Water Management (IWM): “a resource management theory that attempts to promote the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources in order to maximize the resultant economics and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems . . . it has four principles . . . preserve and distribute water; consider water an economic resource, recognize that water is a finite resource, encourage democratic participation in the development of water, and require that women play a fundamental role in the management of water” (Kulkarni, V.V.).

Recycle Wastewater In March, World Water Day panelists urged a new mindset for wastewater treatment. Some countries, like Singapore, are trying to recycle to cut water imports and become more self­sufficient. The rich East Asian republic is a leader in developing advanced technology that cleanses wastewater for other uses, including drinking (Circle of Blue).

12

Solar Stills: Solar stills have the dual capacity to desalinate and decontaminate water. The simple solution involves harnessing the power of the sun to distill water in order to generate portable, clean water. It was originally developed for military and survivalist usage where holes were dug into the ground and covered with a sheet of plastic.

Water Projects In Developing Countries/Transfer Of Technology: Climate change and water scarcity are producing the most dramatic consequences in developing regions, such as northwest India and Sub­Saharan Africa. One proposed solution is to transfer water conservation technologies to these dry areas. Doing so is tricky because economies are weak and there are gaps in skills that often compel government and business authorities to impose these changes on local citizens (Circle of Blue).

Other Ideas: ● Transboundary water conflict mediation ● Scientific aid: funding groups of scientists to aid in the planning of water management systems, funding research projects in LDCs on specific types of wastewater or pollutant management

Negative Ground:

Cost: The World Bank has loaned at historically high interest rates that make it extraordinarily difficult for developing countries to repay. Recently, it has implemented debt­relief programs with the sole purpose of avoiding the economy­crushing debt that it instilled upon lender countries in the past. To further remedy this, it is recommended that the World Bank, and other similar groups, reduce these interest rates, so it would be more realistically feasible for the countries to pay back. This benefits both the World Bank and the countries because the countries would be able to develop water­related infrastructure or implement water­related governmental policies and the World Bank would be at less risk of defaulting on a loan.

The truth is, most of the world’s water woes can be solved with enough money and willpower. The real challenges are not technical or hydrological but political and ethical. The world’s water crisis, as it turns out, is really more of an existential one. But it’s one that poses plenty of real­world foreign policy challenges (Moore).

13 Oldfield said helping hard­to­reach populations will require a more concerted effort, smarter grantmaking, closer relationships with local governments, and likely an extended timeline and more financial and technical support in the short to medium term. “It is not easy to reach the final few hundred million people, but that is the most important gap,” he said (Pattee).

Disadvantages

Aid Tradeoff DA – With limited budgets, this disadvantage argues that any increase in funding to improve water access and sanitation will trade off with other existing aid program with greater impacts.

China DA – China is already working with and investing in many countries in Africa. Moving in on their territory could increase tensions and lead to military conflict with potentially greater impacts. A similar disadvantage could be developed for Russia.

Economy ­ The cost is too great and the USFG is already in too much debt.

Plan Specific Disadvantages – The many potentially unique affirmative plans will also provide the negative ground for plan specific disadvantages.

Politics DA – The typical “plan increases\decreases Trump’s political capital which leads more aggressive actions” type of disadvantage.

Counterplans Actor counterplans : an. inter­governmental body like the UN, African Union, European Union, etc.

Private Industry or NGO Counterplan – Is the United States Federal Government really the best actor or would private industry or non­governmental organizations be better? There is considerable opportunity for this type of counterplan, especially since most of the water needs in LDCs are unique to their area and requires actors to work closely with local governments.

Kritik:

14 The ground for K’s on this topic would likely fall into two very broad categories: the analysis of the immediate and tangible effects of U.S. foreign policy and aid, and the psychological and aesthetic motivations and representations of such policy. While these broad categories are integral to, and inextricable from each other, they present different starting points and methodologies of criticism.

Imperialism, Neoliberalism and U.S. Empire: Any topic with the potential for foreign aid, particularly economic foreign aid, will likely be used as a tool of US empire. Economic aid given by the US, which countries come to depend on, can be revoked or altered at any time, making the country’s economy and livelihood dependent on its relationship with the US. Such aid is often given strict limits that require it be spent on businesses that are specifically aligned with U.S. interests, counterinsurgency projects and popular repression. Multilateral organizations, although marketed specifically to reduce the plausibility of such economic warfare, are governed through voting power, which is directly proportional to the amount of money a country puts into the bank. Thus, organizations such as the World Bank and IMF function as another arm of U.S. neoliberalism. In his book W ar Against the Poor: Low­Intensity Conflict and Christian Faith , Jack Nelson­Pallmeyer illustrates these principles with the example of Nicaragua. In 1980, a year after the Sandinista revolution forced the fall of the U.S. backed dictatorship, the U.S. Congress approved an aid package to Nicaragua that specifically helped the most conservative, U.S. aligned businesses in the country. When those efforts failed, the U.S. withdrew its direct aid and used its voting power in the World Bank and other economic power to pressure the World Bank to decrease funding to the progressive Nicaraguan government. The country was then left both economically poor and in debt, and “the ability to exploit indebtedness is a powerful weapon in the U.S. economic­warfare arsenal.” The giving or excluding of so­called humanitarian aid is a powerful tool for obtaining and maintaining power over nations and can be classified as neoliberalism, imperialism, and the maintenance of U.S. Empire (Nelson­Pallmeyer).

The White­Savior Complex and Colonialism: The narrative of U.S. assistance to other nations, particularly developing ones, creates and perpetuates the representation of non­U.S. citizens as weak, inferior, and perpetually in need of rescue. This “use of human rights discourse... reinforces colonial power relations, strengthens the West’s sense of privilege and superiority, and blurs the disenfranchised into a homogeneous object of patronizing sympathy” (Bex and Craps).

15 This holds true for unilateral U.S. action as well as NGOs the U.S. may partner with who rely on representations of developing nations “to conform with preconceived notions of child­victimhood, Third World degradation, and First World charity” (id.). This construction creates nations that will always be in need of rescue by more civilized, and therefore more human, Western nations.

Definitions:

Least Developed Countries (LDCs) (Economic and Social Council of the United Nations): The world's most impoverished and vulnerable countries have been classified by the UN as "least developed" in terms of their low gross national income (GNI), their weak human assets and their high degree of economic vulnerability. The term "Least Developed Countries (LDCs)" describes the world's poorest countries with following 3 criteria: Low­income criterion based on a three­year average estimate of the gross national income (GNI) per capita (under $750 for inclusion, above $900 for graduation)

Human resource weakness criterion involving a composite Human Assets Index (HAI) based on indicators of: (a) nutrition; (b) health; (c) education; and (d) adult literacy.

Economic vulnerability criterion based on indicators of the instability of agricultural production; the instability of exports of goods and services; the economic importance of non­traditional activities (share of manufacturing and modern services in GDP); merchandise export concentration; and the handicap of economic smallness.

List of Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

Africa ­ LDC’s Angola Benin Burkina Faso Burundi

Cape Verde Central African Chad Comoros Republic

Congo Dem. Rep. Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Eritrea

16 of the

Ethiopia Gambia Guinea Guinea­Bissau

Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi

Mali Mauritania Mozambique Niger

Rwanda Sao Tome and Senegal Sierra Leone Principe

Somalia Sudan Tanzania Togo

Uganda Zambia

Asia ­ LDC’s Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Cambodia

Lao PDR Maldives Myanmar Nepal

Timor­Leste Yemen

Australia and the Pacific ­ LDC’s Kiribati Samoa Solomon Islands Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Caribbean LDC’s Haiti

Pollution: Typically refers to chemical or biological substances in concentrations that may be harmful or poisonous (Oxford Dictionary). Major water pollutants include microbes, nutrients, heavy metals, organic chemicals, oil and sediments; heat, which raises the temperature of the receiving water, can also be a pollutant. Pollutants are typically the cause of major water quality degradation around the world (World Water Development Report).

17 Potable Water: Water safe for drinking (Oxford Dictionary), being free from Pollution, it is water that can be consumed without concern for adverse health effects. Potable water does not have to taste good. Likewise, water may be palatable but not necessarily safe to drink ( Mosby's Medical Dictionary).

Public Health: Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities. This work is achieved by promoting healthy lifestyles, researching disease and injury prevention, and detecting, preventing, and responding to infectious diseases. Overall, public health is concerned with protecting the health of entire populations. These populations can be as small as a local neighborhood, or as big as an entire country or region of the world.

Public health professionals try to prevent problems from happening or recurring through implementing educational programs, recommending policies, administering services and conducting research—in contrast to clinical professionals like doctors and nurses, who focus primarily on treating individuals after they become sick or injured. Public health also works to limit health disparities. A large part of public health is promoting healthcare equity, quality and accessibility (CDC Foundation)

Quality vs Quantity: Peculiar or essential character (quality) versus a determinate or estimated amount (quantity) Webster’s 3rd New International Dictionary. Adequacy of the village water supply was stratified in two categories and defined as follows: Adequate water quality was defined as all groundwater from a protected source – e.g. a borehole with protective apron and functional hand or submersible pump. A village was only classified as having adequate water quality if all water sources used for human consumption could be considered adequate. Surface water or water provided by open wells was considered of inadequate quality. As such, our definition represents a proxy indicator for true water quality and is in accordance with definitions used previously by the WHO and UNICEF [12 WHO (2002) Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation. Geneva: World Health Organization.]. Adequate water quantity was defined as a capacity of the water source of at least 20 L per person per day.

Transboundary Water Aquifers: Transboundary waters – the aquifers, and lake and river basins shared by two or more countries – support the lives and livelihoods of vast numbers of people across the world (UN Water).

18 Water Governance: “The exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs at all levels. Governance comprises the complex mechanisms, processes, and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, mediate their differences, and exercise their legal rights and obligations” (UNDP 1997).

Water Pollution: Water pollution occurs when water is contaminated with chemicals and foreign substances that are harmful to humans, plants and animals. Water pollutants include chemical contamination from waste sites, chemical wastes from industrial discharges, heavy metals such as mercury and lead, sewage waste, food processing waste, fertilizers and pesticides. Water pollution is a serious ecological threat. Drinking contaminated water is hazardous to human and animal health. When toxic substances dissolve in bodies of water, such as oceans, rivers and lakes, the water becomes polluted. Pollutants tend to lie suspended in the water or deposited on the bed. They degrade the quality of water over time. This results in disastrous effects to aquatic ecosystems. Pollutants even contaminate the groundwater, which poses a serious threat to households that use the contaminated water.

Pollutants are classified into different types, including organic, inorganic and radioactive. Human activities are the main causes of pollution. The major sources of water pollution are industrial waste discharge and city sewage. These are disease­causing agents that carry bacteria, viruses and parasitic worms. Some pollutants are oxygen­demanding wastes that deplete oxygen and cause organisms in the water to die. There are also contaminants that mix with the water supply from soils and groundwater systems that contain agricultural residues and industrial wastes that are disposed of improperly. Contaminants from the atmosphere also enter groundwater systems through rainfall (National Institute of of Environmental Health Sciences).

Water Resources: Water Resources are sources of water that are useful or potential useful to humans (Science Daily). The combination of both naturally occurring conditions and humanity’s actions creates pressure on our water resources. Climate change and natural variability in the distribution and occurrence of water are the natural driving forces that complicate the sustainable development of our water resources. Some of the main driving forces affecting water resources include: *population growth, particularly in water­short regions *major demographic changes as people move from rural to urban environments

19 *higher demands for food security and socio­economic well­being *increased competition between users and usages *pollution from industrial, municipal and agricultural sources.

Water Rights: A group of rights designed to protect the use and enjoyment of water that travels in streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds, gathers on the surface of the earth, or collects underground (Water Rights).

Water Rights Distribution: Water Right ­ A limited or unlimited use­of­water right that may or may not be attached to land. Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage 3rd. “A right to the use of water (as for irrigation) either originally acquired by appropriation and perfected by beneficial use or derived through ownership of riparian land and in the U.S. if acquired by appropriation resting either in the company making the diversion or in the individual to whose land it is delivered depending upon the statutes and court decisions of the state concerned. Webster’s 3rd New International Dictionary.

Property relations in irrigation and water rights distribution have become central issues in current policy debates and rural development initiatives. Nevertheless, there is still a great lack of understanding about what water rights­in­practice are, how they function, and how they are created, consolidated, and transformed from abstract sociolegal categories into local procedures and in­the­field practices. Understanding users’ rationality and local expressions of water rights in peasant and indigenous communities is of crucial importance if we want to comprehend their claim for water rights and perhaps support local empowerment processes in common property water control systems.

Actual water rights are not simply defined in lawyers’ offices and at engineers’ design desks; they are negotiated and enforced in processes of social struggle. Moreover, water rights not only give access to water but also constitute power relations that define the control over decision making on water management. Water rights are dynamic, and even long­standing rights may be sacrificed to strengthen local autonomous organization.

Water Management: Is the control and movement of water resources to minimize damage to life and property and to maximize efficient beneficial use. Good water The Battlefield of Water Rights: Rule Making Amidst Conflicting Normative Frameworks in

20 the Ecuadorian Highlands management of dams and levees reduces the risk of harm due to flooding. Irrigation water management systems make the most efficient use of limited water supplies for agriculture. Sometimes water management involves changing practices, such as groundwater withdrawal rates, or allocation of water to different purposes. US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/water/manage/

Water Resources Management (WRM) is the process of planning, developing, and managing water resources, in terms of both water quantity and quality, across all water uses. It includes the institutions, infrastructure, incentives, and information systems that support and guide water management. Water resources management seeks to harness the benefits of water by ensuring there is sufficient water of adequate quality for drinking water and sanitation services, food production, energy generation, inland water transport, and water­based recreational, as well as sustaining healthy water­dependent ecosystems and protecting the aesthetic and spiritual values of lakes, rivers, and estuaries. Water resource management also entails managing water­related risks, including floods, drought, and contamination. The complexity of relationships between water and households, economies, and ecosystems, requires integrated management that accounts for the synergies and tradeoffs of water's great number uses and values. The World Bank, Understanding Poverty http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/waterresourcesmanagement.

Water System: 1. A water supply. 2. A river and all its tributaries (Water System).

Work Cited:

Addressing water challenges in the developing world [electronic resource] : a framework for action : an annex of the 2008 Report to Congress for the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act. (2009). [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Agency for International Development.

Asian Foundation. “World Water Day Laos Hardest Hit by MeKong Falling Water Levels.” 17 March 2010.

21 Barlow, M., and Clarke, T. “Water Privatization.” Global Policy Forum. 2004. http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/209/43398 . 4 Dec. 2010. Web.

Barlow, Maude (2001) Water as Commodity ­ The Wrong Prescription. The Institute for Food and Development Policy. Backgrounder, Summer 2001. Vol. 7, No. 3.

The Battlefield of Water Rights: Rule Making Amidst Conflicting Normative Frameworks in the Ecuadorian Highlands.

Beccerra, Hector. “In Mexico, water fight underscores distrust of government.” 7 July 2014. Web. www.latimes . Com.

Bex, Sean, and Stef Craps. “Humanitarianism, Testimony, and the White Savior Industrial Complex: What Is The What versus Kony 2012.” Cultural Critique , vol. 92, no. 1, May 2016, pp. 32–56.

CDC Foundation: What is Public Health. 2018.

Circle of Blue, “Experts Name the Top 19 Solutions to the Global Freshwater Crisis,” May 24, 2010. http://www.circleofblue.org/2010/world/experts­name­the­top­19­solutions­to­the­global­f reshwater­crisis/

Dore, G., & Nagpal, T. (2006). URBAN TRANSITION IN MONGOLIA. Environment, 48(6), 10­24.

Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Copyright © 1998­2017. nationsonline.org.

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary: potable water. (n.d.) Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary. (2012). Retrieved June 4 2018 from https://medical­dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/potable+water

Fishman, Charles. In The Big Thirst — The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water. Free Press. 2010.

22

Holt, Lester. NBC Nightly New. How a three­year drought changed life in Cape­Town. 20 May 2018.

Hongqiao, Liu. China’s bottled water industry to exploit Tibetan plateau. 29 Oct. 2015. Web.

Kugelman, Michael. “Why the India­Pakistan War Over Water is so Dangerous.” Foreign Policy. 30 Sept. 2016. Web.

Kulkarni, V. V. (2012). An Overview On Integrated Water Resource Management In Developing Countries With Reference To Global Efforts. Indian Streams Research Journal, 2(9), 1­17.

Leavenworth, Stuart. “Questions arise about wisdom of huge China water project.” 12 May 2014. Web.

Mercier, Jean­Roger. (2003). Health impact assessment in international development assistance: the World Bank experience.Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 81(6), 461­462. http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042­96862003000600019 &lng=en&tlng=enen. 10.1590/S0042­96862003000600019.

Moore, Scott. Council on Foreign Relations, “How to Solve the Global Water Crisis,” March 20, 2018. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2018­03­20/how­solve­global­water­crisis

Mosby's Medical Dictionary: potable water. (n.d.) Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. (2009). Retrieved June 4 2018 from https://medical­dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/potable+water

National Institute of of Environmental Health Sciences: Water Pollution. 1 May 2018.

Nelson­Pallmeyer, Jack. War Against the Poor: Low­Intensity Conflict and Christian Faith . Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2017.

23 Parker, Laura. What You Need to Know About the World's Water Wars. National Geographic. 14 July 2016.

Pattee, Jon. Inside Philanthropy, “Clean Water for All: How Well Is Philanthropy Tackling One of the World's Biggest Challenges?” March 22, 2018. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2018/3/22/clean­water­for­all­how­well­is­phil anthropy­tackling­one­of­humanitys­biggest­problems

Policy Brief on Water Quality. UN­Water, March 2011.

Rodriguez, D., den Berg, C. v., & McMahon, A. (2012). Investing in Water Infrastructure: Capital, Operations, and Management. World Bank Water Papers, 1, 1­52.

Samo, June. Borgen Magazine, April 11, 2016. http://www.borgenmagazine.com/10­clean­water­solutions/

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. (2010). Global Biodiversity Outlook. 3rd May, 2010. P. 43.

Shah, Anup. (2010). Global Issues Water and Development. Web.

Stcyr, Linda. (2012). World Water Day: 10 Places Most in Need of Clean Water. Web.

UNCIF. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. Wash and Women. 2003. Web. UNESCO, The

UNDP (2006) Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis. UNDP, New York.

United Nations World Water Development Report 2 (2006).

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, December 10, 1948.

US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/water/manage/

Vital Water Graphics. UNEP.

24

Water. United Nations. Web.

WaterDoc.Org, Hart Productions Inc. 2003.

Water.org. (2018). Web.

Water Education Foundation. “How Oceans Can Solve Our Freshwater Crisis.” 27 May 2014. Web.

Water Education Foundation. “Why Water? Dirty water causes needless suffering.” Web.

Water Quality for Ecosystems and Human Health. 2nd edition. UNEP, ERCE, UNESCO. 2008.

Water Rights. West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008. The Gale Group.

Water System. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Watkins, K. (2006). Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty, and the global water crisis. United Nations Human Development Report, 1, 2.

Webster’s 3rd New International Dictionary.

Westover, Sophie. Safe Water Returns the Investment. Global Envision, “Three cool solutions to the clean water problem,” Christian Science Monitor, October 26, 2015. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making­a­difference/Change­Agent/2015/1026/Three­ cool­solutions­to­the­clean­water­problem.

WHO and UNICEF [12 WHO (2002) Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation. Geneva: World Health Organization.

25

The World Bank, Understanding Poverty. http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/waterresourcesmanagement.

World Health Organization (WHO). (2008). Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits, and Sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health. Updated Table 1: WHS deaths by region, 2004.

World Water Development Report 3 'Water in a Changing World.' WWAP, 2009.

Additional Bibliography:

Adelman, C., et al. (2013). Global Philanthropy and Other Financial Flows. Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances, 1, 4­28.

Batchelor, C.H., Rama Mohan Rao, M.S. and Manohar Rao, S. 2003. Watershed development: A solution to water shortages in semi­arid India or part of the problem? Land Use and Water Resources Research 3 (2003) 1­10

Biswas A K (2004) Integrated Water Resources Management: A Reassessment. Water International 29 (2): 248–256

Bureau of Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade : U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Science, [2009].

Calder, I.R. 2005. The Blue Revolution. Earthscan, London.

Cleaver, F. 2007. Water governance and poverty: a framework for analysis. (In Press).

Cleaver, F. 2000. Moral ecological rationality, institutions and the management of common property resources. Development and Change, 31, 361–383

Cleaver, F. 2007. Water governance and poverty: a framework for analysis. (In Press).

26 Cleaver, F., Franks, T., Boesten, J. and Kiire, A. 2006. Water governance and poverty: What works for the poor?. DFID Research Report, University of Bradford

Conant, J. (n.d.). Water for Life. UN Water. http://www.unwater.org/downloads/Water_EN.pdf

Dubey, J. (n.d.). Pollution and Sanitary Quality of River Narmada in Relation to Human Use at Mandla.. NCBI. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1818032

EC. 1998. Towards sustainable water resources management: a strategic approach. European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.

EC. 2007. European Union Water Initiative. http://www.euwi.net/

Edmunds, D., & Wollenberg, E. (2001). A strategic approach to multistakeholder negotiations.Development and Change, 32, 231–253

Global water Partnership (2003) IWRM ToolBox. GWP Secretariat: Stockholm

Global water Partnership (2003) IWRM ToolBox. GWP Secretariat: Stockholm

Global Water Partnership. What is IWRM? Retrieved November 9, 2013, from http://www.gwp.org/en/The­Challenge/What­is­IWRM/

Green, C. 2007. Mapping the field: The landscapes of Governance. EU­funded SWITCH Project.

GWP. 2000. Integrated Water Resources Management. Global Water Partnership TAC Background Paper No. 4.

Hodgson, S. 2004. Land and Water: The Rights Interface. FAO Legislative Study 84, Rome.

27 How We Classify Countries. (n.d.). The World Bank. data.worldbank.org/about/country­classifications

McCulloch, C.S. and Ioris, A.A.R. 2007. Putting politics into IWRM. Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 9, 02981.

Mitchell, B. (ed.) 1990. Integrated Water Management: International Experiences and Perspectives, London/New York: Belhaven Press, 1990.

Moench, M.; Dixit, A.; Janakarajan, M.; Rathore, S.; Mudrakartha, S. (2003). The fluid mosaic, water governance in the context of variability, uncertainty and change. Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, Kathmandu, and the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Molden, D., Sakdithel, R., Samad, M. And Burton, M. 2005. Phases of river basin development: the need for adaptive institutions. In Svendsen, M. (Ed): Irrigation and River Basin Management: Options for governance and institutions. IWMI/CABI publication.

Moore, M. and Unsworth, S. 2006. Britain’s New White Paper: Making Governance Work for the Poor. Development Policy Review, 2006, 24 (6): 707­715.

Moriarty, P., Butterworth, J., Batchelor, C., (2004). Integrated Water Resources Management And the domestic water and sanitation sub­sector, IRC Thematic Overview Paper, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, Delft, The Netherlands

Nauges, C., & Whittington, D. (2010). Estimation of Water Demand in Developing Countries: An Overview.The World Bank Research Observer, (2), 263. doi:10.2307/40891376

North, D. 1990. Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

28 Ohlsson, L. and Turton, A. 2000. The turning of a screw. Social resource scarcity as a bottle­neck in adaptation to water scarcity. SAS Water Issues Study Group Occasional Paper 19, University of London.

Rama Mohan Rao,M.S., Batchelor, C.H., James, A.J., Nagaraja, R., Seeley, J. and Butterworth, J.A. 2003. APRLP Water Audit. Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihood Project, Dept of Rural Development, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh..

Regulation of US corporations or products: assessing for and enforcing safety restrictions on US corporations and/or corporations that sell products in the US that are frequent wate. 2000, Pages 105­119, ISSN 0167­8809.

Rogers, P. and Hall, A.W., (2003). Effective Water Governance. TEC Background Papers No. 7, Global Water Partnership, Technical Committee, Stockholm, Sweden.

Rural Water. (n.d.). Water Home. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http://water.worldbank.org/topics/water­supply/rural­water

Savenije, H. H., & der Zaag, P. V. (n.d.). Integrated water resources management: Concepts and issues. Science Direct. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147470650800017X

UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States. (n.d.). The Criteria for the Identification of the LDCs. http://www.un.org/special­rep/ohrlls/ldc/ldc%20criteria.htm

US farmers challenging monsanto patent claims appeal to supreme court. (2013, September 6). http://rt.com/usa/monsanto­patents­lawsuit­supreme­court­487/

Wallace, J.S. 2000. Increasing agricultural water use efficiency to meet future food production. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment,Volume 82, Issues 1–3, December

29 Warner, J. 2005. Multi­stakeholder platforms: integrating society in water resource management?. Ambient. soc., July./Dec. 2005, vol.8, no.2, p.4­28. ISSN 1414­753X.

Wester,P., Merrey,D.J. and De Lange, M. 2003. Boundaries of consent: Stakeholder representation. World Development Vol. 31, No. 5, pp. 797–81.

World Health Organization (WHO). (2013). Water supply, sanitation and hygiene development. (n.d.). World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/en/

World Health Organization (WHO). (2008). Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits, and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health; Updated Table 1: WSH deaths by region, 2004. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241596435_eng.pdf

30