Why think about water? We play in it. We bathe in it. We float on it and fish for food that lives in it. It makes up approximately 70% of our body’s volume and covers over 70% of earth’s surface. We use it in our religious rituals and recognize it as the lifeblood of all that lives on earth.
When tranquil, it mesmerizes and soothes us. When it falls from the skies, it can be welcomed, or threatening. In either instance, it affects our wellbeing. In unexpected volumes, it can kill us. Its absence will also kill us. While some creatures have access only to contaminated water that sickens them, others thoughtlessly waste it. History tells us that wars have been waged over access to it.
Although protected by landowner laws, water cannot be owned in its entirety, just as one cannot own sunlight or air. Today, industrialized farming methods use excessive amounts of water, depleting and contaminating supplies. There are financially powerful entities that seek to own all of the world’s water and limit access to it. Profiteers withdraw it from local aquifers, far below earth’s surface, depleting available supplies. They bottle and sell it for profit, nationally and internationally, often selling it back to the very inhabitants of the area from where they have taken it. They use it as a tool to gather power and wealth. Powerful international forces finance construction of dams, displacing millions of people, to gather greater power and control of water sources. Worldwide, water, its purity and availability, is a focus for concern. It is easy for people to take it for granitite, oblivious that this life sustaining resource is at risk.
Why should we think about water? The answer is our lives depend upon it.
See the documentary film titled “FLOW – For the Love of Water”, available on DVD via the internet or view excerpts, in this six segment YouTube Presentation.
Afterwards, you may be inspired to sign a petition to add a 31st article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing access to clean water as a fundamental human right. Also, at this site, are links to the world wide organizations of citizens and corporations working against the privatization of water and to assure the community of man access to water for generations to come.
Other resources:
“Blue Gold: World Water Wars”, by Malcolm McDowell
“The Holy Order of Water: Healing the Earth’s Waters & Ourselves”, by William E Marks
“Song for the Blue Ocean”, by Carl Safina, Marine Biologist.
