Solutions

The Climate Crisis solutions are obvious if complex (basically the two part fix it and stop it I've been advocating)but that's not precisely the specific kind of water story on the UN's underreported list. They are talking about solutions now, in the "fix it" phase of the Climate Crisis, as well as for the many other reasons for water shortages, such as pollution, overpopulation, deforestation and poor management.

Knowing how vital water is, its simple to assume that the attempted solution would most likely be war. And that's been tried--something like 7 wars in modern times are attributed to fighting over water. But you may be surprised to know that historically this has not often been the case. Water sharing has been far more common than water conflict becoming violent, or so the scholars say:

Aaron Wolf, a leading authority on the politics of water, makes a compelling case that unlike diamonds, oil, and land, the demand for water resources does not promote conflict. Historical records and data from over 400 fresh-water agreements decidedly demonstrate more cooperation than conflict.[3] Many scholars share Wolf's view that water is a resource "whose characteristics tend to induce cooperation and incite violence only in exception," resulting in water-sharing treaties that are "creative, resilient, and manage to transcend other conflicts.

If this is so, we perhaps owe it to traditions begun in more civilized times, if you take civilized to mean when cultures recognized their dependence on nature and each other. People in particular who live with scarcity and drought have integrated cooperation into their traditional cultures. One such culture is the Gabra, as described in the landmark book Millenium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World by David Marbury-Lewis (he is the founder of the organization Cultural Survival.)

The Gabra live in the Chalbi Desert area now in Kenya, and have a longstanding tradition of lending camels, their most precious and sacred possession, to others who are in need because of drought. This even extends to people outside their own culture: "They will also lend them to outsiders in time of dire need. During the last, particularly vicious drought they lent many camels to the neighboring Boran. In fact, many Boran came to live with the Gabra during those difficult times."

This is not only a deeply felt obligation, it is a relationship that offers protection, for the recipients take on the obligation of helping others in need when they are able, and specifically to help those who helped them. "Whether the lending is between Gabra and Boran, or among the Gabra themselves, the ties created along the lending paths endure for generations, and a herder must therefore know the genealogy of his animals so as to know to whom he is indebted."

Still,there are some modern precedents. The UN site on the topic notes:

With world demand for water increasing six-fold over the 20th century, there was no let-up in disputes over transboundary water issues, prompting some experts to predict that the wars of the 21st century will be fought over water. While freshwater's propensity to strain relations among countries frequently makes headlines, the other side of the coin - water as an agent of cooperation - rarely gets sufficient attention. Nevertheless, research has shown much more historical evidence of water playing the role of a catalyst for cooperation, rather than a trigger of conflict. There are examples of workable accords on water reached even by States that were in conflict over other matters, including the cases of India and Pakistan, and Israel and Jordan.

Which brings us to one of the stories the UN has highlighted: Lake Titicaca which is partly in Bolivia and partly in Peru. Using the technical sophistication of the World Water Assessment Program and a planning process aided by the European Community, these two nations created a common Autonomous Water Authority (known as ALT) to manage water use for agriculture, electricity generation and drinking water and sanitation.

Focusing on water use has led to analyses of the local economy and in particular highlighted the need to improve public health. There are substantial remaining problems. The area is still subject to sudden flooding which is likely to get worse.

But the combined authority has some important accomplishments: new floodgates, dredging of the Desaguadero River, new sewage treatment facilities, and the beginnings of a cooperative biodiversity conservation program by the governments of Bolivia and Peru, and the United Nations . It has in turn become a model for similar large-scale situations.

One notable achievement: Indigenous cultures and populations have become part of the decision-making process, and Native communities are planned to be participants in the biodiversity conservation program. There is often conflict between contemporary governments, advised by international banks and their globalized economists, and the cultures that have been living the natural environment for thousands of years. Their traditions often embody the knowledge appropriate to the local environment and the natural economy that outsiders miss.

It's obviously a complex set of problems, that will be at the center of things for a long time. If it's a bit too much to take in all at once, perhaps you should take a couple of aspirins, or the pain reliever of your choice. With a nice drink of water, of course.