World could go to war over water

World could go to war over water, says Barlow
By Francesca Allodi-Ross
The McGill Daily

Maude Barlow says water commercialization puts the human race at risk.

Stephen Davis for The McGill Daily
Water shortages are no longer the exclusive concern of poor desert countries, and unless we change course dramatically, the entire world could go to war over water.

This was the message of Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, in Montreal Monday night as part of a national tour for her new book, Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.

Americans in particular are getting thirsty, and and they want Canada’s water. For Barlow, the greatest threat to Canada’s freshwater is the possibility of losing it to the U.S. through bulk water exports.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S. cannot force any province to start selling them water in bulk.

“[But] once any province does, you can’t turn the tap off,” Barlow said, adding that although there is a voluntary provincial ban on these exports, Quebec, British Columbia, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador have all considered the idea.

The threat to Canada’s freshwater is heightened by the recent Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), which Barlow claims has reframed access to water markets as an issue of national security. Barlow credits her organization for outing a secret meeting between Canadian and American government and business officials that proves bulk water exports are up for discussion, despite denial by the Harper government, which is in the process of drafting a national water policy.

A further indication of the move towards commercialization of water is the recent interest by multinational companies, such as Lockheed Martin, Coca-Cola, ITT, and Dow Chemical.

According to Barlow, such companies see a market in the growing water shortages that are resulting from pollution and over-extraction, and are eager to capitalize, either by seeking out new sources of clean water in Canada’s northern regions or developing new technologies such as toilet-to-tap – which purifies toilet water – and desalination.

Sam Boskey, former Montreal city councillor and a moderator at Barlow’s discussion at the Best Western hotel Monday evening, echoed Barlow’s concerns about water commercialization. Boskey said that local communities will no longer be able to make decisions about issues such as water infrastructure, privatization, and fluoridation.

“If water goes into global trade, we’ll lose our sovereignty as far as water is concerned,” Boskey said.

The myth that Canada has an abundance of freshwater serves to bolster the argument of governments and multinational companies interested in water commercialization. Barlow pointed our that, although Canada has 20 per cent of the fresh water in the world, it has only seven per cent of the renewable water flow – the amount of water discharged into the ocean and the amount that can be consumed if Canada wants to preserve its current water levels.

In fact, she said, many provinces are experiencing water shortages.

Compared with the problems facing the developing world in terms of access to clean water and pollution, Canada’s looming water commercialization might not seem so terrible. But Barlow claims the problem – a failure to recognize water as a human right – is the same.

This is the basis for her book and the solution to the global water crisis: that governments around the globe recognize water as a human right and guarantee access.

“We know what we need to do. We don’t have the political will yet, but we know,” she said.

Barlow stressed the urgency of the situation, painting a miserable picture of the world in 20 years if we choose not to act. Over-extraction of groundwater and massive displacement of water are disrupting the earth’s natural hydrological cycle, while pollution is making what water is left unusable.

Barlow’s concluding remarks were ominous: “We will either listen, or we will be the species that monitored its own extinction.”