Water Bankruptcy is Unknown to Most

Water bankruptcy is not the same as a water deficit. It is a chronic condition that develops when a place uses more water than nature can reliably replace, and when the damage to the natural assets that store and filter that water, such as aquifers and wetlands, becomes hard to reverse. Many natural water systems are long past returning to their historical conditions.

Every year, nature gives each region – and Earth in general - a water income, depositing rain and snow. It’s a liquid version of a bank account. If we spend more water each year than what nature deposits, we go broke. There’s also no water-based Federal Reserve to bail us out should we do so.

When demand rises, we can borrow from our bank account. We basically steal the share of water needed by nature to do what it does best. That can work for a while, just as debt can finance a wasteful lifestyle for a while. However, the water banks are slowly disappearing.

The world has lost more than 1.5 million square miles of natural wetlands over five decades – an area larger than India. Wetlands don’t just hold water. They also clean it, buffer floods, and support fauna and flora.

Water bankruptcy creates hidden costs. Lakes shrink, wells need to go deeper, rivers turn seasonal, and salty water creeps into aquifers near the coast. The ground itself can actually sink. It’s called subsidence. Land holds water like a sponge, but when groundwater continually depletes, the underground structure can collapse – a slow-motion sinkhole. In Mexico City, land is sinking up to 10 inches per year. Once the pores are compacted, there’s no simple refill.

Agriculture is the world’s biggest water user, using about 70% of the global freshwater withdrawals. When a region goes water bankrupt, farming becomes more difficult, more expensive, and farmers can lose their livelihood. National security can also be threatened. About 3 billion people, and more than half of global food production, are concentrated in areas where water storage is declining or unstable. That threatens the continuation of food supplies around the world.

Nations continue to increase water withdrawals to support the expansion of cities, farmland, industries, and utility-raping data centers. It’s not all done wisely or efficiently.

What can be done? We can protect wetlands, restore rivers, rebuild soil health and manage groundwater recharge. We can encourage farmers to transition to less water-intensive crops, and make investments in water efficiency. We can learn to live with nature instead of trying to conquer it.

Desalinization is a possibility near coastal areas, but it’s costly. Maybe the simplest thing to do is end unnecessary usage. Water parks and Bellagio-style fountains may be wonderful amenities, but they aren’t necessary. Many of us do conserve, but more need to do so.

The hardest part of water bankruptcy just might be psychological. With water, as with finance, bankruptcy can be a turning point. Humanity can keep spending as if nature offers unlimited credit, which it doesn’t, or it can learn to live within its hydrological means.

Source used: The Conversation