Water: Source of Life, Source of Conflict

Eva Donelli, UN Regional Information Center in Brussels, Italy Desk

Fresh water is a basic and fundamental resource, not only essential to daily human activity, but indispensable to life itself. For centuries, wars and conflicts have been tied to the protection of this vital resource. With the question of climate change adding to a swelling world population, the risk of water shortages in many regions of the world is increasingly becoming an issue. Water has become the defining point of contention in a number of conflicts. International law is often inadequate in defending the fair use of shared water supplies; neighbouring countries compete for access to water and “Water Wars” seem to be inevitable in the world's future: in regions where water supply is scarce, armed conflict is sometimes the only option to obtain water. The one who controls the population’s access to water controls the population itself. Water then becomes both an end in itself and a means to exercise authority.

In a bone-dry land as ungoverned and ungovernable as Somalia, where armed groups are part of the landscape, water is the “liquid gold” and is controlled by groups that are more than able to defend their liquid treasure. Drought and desertification in North Darfur forced the Arab nomads to move into South Darfur, where they engaged in conflicts with black African farmers.

In refugee camps the women in colourful toubs wait patiently in huge water queues, and boys pass by on their donkeys carrying jerry cans. They leave in the morning and come back in the afternoon. It takes on average of four hours to collect water in Darfur. In the camps, each person gets about 4-5 litres of water per day for drinking, bathing, washing clothes and cleaning. In general the water situation is better than in the villages, where there might be only one water pump for 500-600 inhabitants. A vast underground lake has been recently discovered beneath the desert in the far north of the country: the resource should help bring peace in Darfur, but if mishandled it could actually worsen the conflict. The real question is: who decides and who benefits?

The world's population is growing fast and the amount of water presently available seems insufficient to satisfy the increasing demand. To make matters worse, the available stocks are unequally distributed. This is the case in Yemen, where very high population growth has plunged the country into a deep water crisis, forcing the population to gather around places of safe access to drinking water but paradoxically reducing the amount available per person. The country is running out of water fast and that plays a major role in fuelling Yemen’s armed conflict.
Another issue behind water conflicts is the fact that large rivers and lakes are normally shared by more than one country. Without the existence of a legitimate water sharing agreement, states tend to unilaterally acquire control over the water supply. Mountain Aquifer, which is underneath the West Bank, is a point of contention between Israelis and Palestinians. Palestinians accuse Israeli settlements of diverting the water supply away from them. According to a World Bank report, Israeli settlements use over four times more water than the Palestinian average and they struggle with what they say are insufficient quotas. Both sides blame each other for failing to honour the 1995 agreement. A water rights compromise has to be found to enhance the peace process.

As well as being a point of contention causing or exacerbating conflicts, water itself has historically been used as weapon. In 1993 in Iraq, Saddam Hussein reportedly poisoned and drained the water supplies of southern Shiite Muslims to quell their opposition to his government, provoking an immediate reaction from the European Parliament and UN Human Rights Commission.

Greater international cooperation is needed to end the water shortage and control competition over a crucial resource like water. In this sense, Green Cross International, an environmental NGO, is working with governments, local authorities and civil society on a project called “the Water for Peace programme”, aiming to promote cooperation and conflict resolution throughout the world's trans-boundary river basins. This programme is run by the International Water Programme and in July 2009 won an award at the Save the World Awards ceremony. David Alix, Director of the programme, spoke of the importance of tackling water issues in conflicts, explaining that “in order to utilize water as a positive and powerful peace-building tool, finding shared benefits and common ground is the key.



Picture ©UN Photo/Fred Noy