Water cannot be created nor destroyed. The amount of water all over the world has been always constant for literally ages. So unless the earth contains much less water that the world population demands, the real global water challenge is allocation - getting the water to where people need it - and this is what the crisis is all about. After all, every single one of the billion world population needs eight glasses of water a day, and that is just for bodily intake. And no one survives without water for a span of days.
How does water use of the past compare/contrast with water use today?
Tracing historical origins of civilizations, it always shows, without fail, that no civilization sprung up that is not beside a body of potable water. It is always the case. The ancient glory of Egypt can give credit to being nourished by the very long, and therefore abundant, Nile River. (Mc Neill) And so in ancient times, people flourished where THERE IS available fresh water. Diamond (1994, 368) has analyzed that ancient civilizations have fallen mostly due to ecological reasons. And most that succumbed to collapse first are the ones from the dry lands, where the amount of rainfall has not been able to sustain the requirement of the vegetation. The wetlands flourished better as they had enough time to recover from any ecological constraints and shortage with the more regular rainfall.
The previous centuries have proved to be a monumental shift from the ancient manner of finding water and staying there to build a life around it, to bringing water where people are. From simple irrigation technology, to building damns to an entire city pipeline system, employing hydraulic engineering (one of the oldest sciences), people have drawn water from locations assigned by gravity, to man-made structures where it can be easily tapped wherever and whenever it is need. (McNeill p. 2)
How does our water use over time relate to the global water crisis today?
According to Kasa (p.71), however, while technology has had tremendous benefits in improving our lifestyle, addressing poverty, especially shortage of water, there have been environmental impacts that if not address, could lead to a global crisis. There are already known to be pollution, water contamination, depletion of aquatic life, climate change, and radiation, among others. Sandra Postel (2000, p.946) is alarmed that water scarcity is spreading across the world and that the rate of replenishing fresh water is being lesser than that of consumption. Postel (p.942) points out that in the next decade, city population will double to that of the previous decade's, increasing water demand accordingly. At this rate, people everywhere are eventually going to experience inaccessibility of water that will disrupt their everyday life, until such time that their most practical source of fresh water is completely depleted.
It is highly suggested, therefore, that original sources of water need to be replenished and maintained. There is need to concentrate efforts to find means to develop water sources that is ecologically sound. The most natural way of obtaining water will be beneficial ecologically thus creating a more sustainable water source. As Postel puts it, if not, we are headed for a serious water crisis that will complete disrupt our way of life as we know it. (Postel, 2000, p.946)
References
Diamond, Jared. Ecological Collapses of Past Civilizations. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 138, No. 3 (Sep., 1994), pp. 363-370
Kasa, Sjur. Industrial Revolutions to Environmental Problems
McNeill. The Hydrosphere: Depletions, Dams, and Diversions
Postel, Sandra. Entering an Era of Water Scarcity: The Challenges Ahead. Ecological Applications, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Aug., 2000), pp. 941-948
