In recent months, the world has been bombarded with reports of attacks on major dams and civilian water systems in Ukraine, water being used as a weapon during the violence in Gaza and the West Bank, unrest and riots in India and Iran over water scarcity and drought, and conflicts between farmers and herders in Africa over land and water sources. Our limited and precious freshwater resources have become triggers, weapons and casualties of war and conflict.
Water is vital for everything we want to do: it allows us to grow food, run industries and businesses, cook and clean our homes, and manage our wastes. Although there is plenty of water on Earth, it is unevenly distributed in space and time, with humid and arid regions as well as wet and dry seasons. These disparities lead to competition and disputes over water access and control. As populations and economies grow, the pressure on limited water supplies and the delicate ecosystems that depend on them is intensifying. And now, human-caused climate disruptions are affecting the planet’s hydrologic cycle, worsening extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, altering rainfall patterns, melting glaciers and snowpacks, and leading to higher temperatures and increased water demands.
Violence over water has a long history. The first known water war occurred nearly 4,500 years ago between the ancient city-states of Umma and Lagash in Mesopotamia over access to irrigation water from the Tigris River. For more than 30 years, the Pacific Institute has tracked and recorded incidents of violence associated with water in the open-source database, the Water Conflict Chronology. A new update has just been released, indicating that the frequency and severity of water conflicts have sharply increased in the past two decades, with a record number of events reported in 2022. The trend for 2023 appears to be just as concerning.
The UN formally declared a human right to water in 2010 and international humanitarian law demands the protection of civilian water infrastructure during conflicts. It also prohibits the use of water as a weapon of war. Yet violence over water is worsening. Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy and water systems, including the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and reservoir, and attacks on pipelines and water treatment plants, have cut off water supplies to millions of civilians and hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile agricultural land. Israel has systematically destroyed Palestinian water wells, storage tanks and irrigation systems in the West Bank, and is now disrupting water supplies in Gaza, forcing hospitals, refugee camps and hundreds of thousands of residents to rely on highly contaminated or salty groundwater, raising the threat of water-related diseases. Iran and Afghanistan have fought in recent months over the waters of the shared Helmand River, with deaths on both sides. Farmers in India have rioted over drought-induced water scarcity and the diversion of water from farms to cities. In sub-Saharan Africa, traditional herders are in conflict with farmers over access to scarce land and water resources.
The international community and local governments must act. Engineering, economic and political strategies are available to mitigate water conflicts. We know how to provide safe water for all, which can reduce tensions over water scarcity and access, and the cost of doing so is far less than the cost of continued water poverty. The UN has set an ambitious goal for countries to ensure 100% of their populations have access to safe and affordable water and sanitation by 2030. Unfortunately, the world is not on track to meet this goal, and efforts and investments need to be expanded.
Technologies and policies that improve water-use efficiency, cut waste and expand water recycling and reuse can enable us to grow more food and strengthen our economies while using less water and reducing environmental degradation. It must be unequivocally stated that attacking civilian water systems and using water as a weapon are war crimes. Politicians and military leaders should be constantly reminded of these laws, and violations should be prosecuted.
Currently, 4 billion people live in river basins that cross political borders, yet more than half of the world’s 310 international river basins lack international sharing agreements or joint river basin commissions. Diplomatic efforts are needed to resolve disputes and reduce interstate water tensions. And we must dramatically accelerate efforts to slow and halt climate disruptions that will worsen tensions over water.
Water must be, and can be, a trigger for cooperation and peace, not conflict and war. Let’s make it so.
Peter Gleick is co-founder and Senior Fellow of the Pacific Institute, Oakland, California, and author of the new book, The Three Ages of Water (PublicAffairs/Hachette 2023)
