Water on my mind (Photo: Scott MacKenzie)

As the rains fall here in Northern California, and snowstorms pound the Northeast of the United States, water is on my mind. It is a topic that is of vital importance but continues to be misunderstood. Perhaps most importantly, it is at the center of considerations that must be taken into account in considering how humanity will adapt to climate change.

A recent article in Reuters highlighted this very issue, discussing how “water should have a more central role in debates on food security, peace, climate change and recovery from the financial crisis.”

More to the point, “efforts to combat global warming will themselves put more strains on water because of rival economic demands — such as for irrigation, biofuels or hydropower.”

I recently came across this presentation by Geoff Dabelko at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program, on the role of water and water security more broadly. He is at the forefront of thinking on the interface between the environment, human vulnerability, and security issues, and I found this quick video to be a good refresher.

Although it was relegated to second tier status at COP-15, water remains one of the most important issues surrounding climate change and sustainable development across the planet.  With drier and drier years ahead for many parts of the world, but particularly already vulnerable areas such as Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, beginning the dialog process on water issues is a crucial step to ensuring that the strain of scarcity is handled cooperatively, and not through violence and conflict.

Although it is not always to the top headline, water security issues permeate the news. Recent surveys from Iraq show water to be a top issue for most people (along with electricity and basic utilities more generally), and as Circle of Blue reports, “Water supply problems because of war, under-investment, poor management and drought are evident throughout Iraq. In Baghdad, where nearly 15 percent of its 8 million residents do not have access to potable water, officials are trying to gain control over the distribution system.”

Another article from Circle of Blue paints an equally difficult picture next door, with water woes in Syria. Most recently, water was a topic on the table as India and Pakistan met in high level talks for the first time since the Mumbai terrorist attacks over a year ago.

There is evidence that water can in fact be a conduit for cooperation, even in areas of high tension and distrust. Despite years of brutal conflict and war, India and Pakistan have been able to maintain open dialog on the sharing of the Indus river, and the 10 African nations that share the Nile river are actively communicating to ensure that the river’s resources are not exhausted by in a manner that would adversely impact downstream partners. Perhaps one of the more successful efforts so far, is the Mekong river in Southeast Asia, where Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos have active mechanisms in place to help guide governance of the waterway and the disputed issues that arise along with it.

But while these steps are important reminders of the possibilities, they are not indicative of the outlook in its entirety, and more of a snapshot of what steps in the right direction look like. Water remains largely misunderstood as an international issue, and is frequently hyped as the next great source of conflict and wars. This is not an entirely accurate representation. To get more of a sense of what the Future Faces of Water Conflict may look like, watch another ECSP video below with Dabelko and Ken Conca, from the University of Maryland.