Clean Water
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Fresh Water: An Increasingly Scarce Resource More Vital than Oil or Gold

Nepal: As the water levels underground started shrinking, people in this remote Nepali village had to resort to collecting water from small puddles in the forest for drinking. This boy was asked by his parents, who were working in the field, to fetch water from one of these puddles, but the water from these open areas is often full of germs and bacteria as animals also use them.

Increasing demand on rivers, lakes and streams, compounded by changing weather patterns, population growth and economic development, is leaving us in a world where many people are struggling to find enough fresh water to survive. (I'll develop this topic below, to add to our previous essays on water stress globally, solutions to the world water crisis, and those that are dying of thirst.)

Water is a resource that is becoming more precious than gold, according to various headlines from around the world.^[1][2] One news story included a somber prediction by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that future climate instability will create serious water shortages.^[3]

In the IPCC August 2020 report, the Geneva-based organization forecast that rising temperatures over the next two decades will spark changes in the world’s water cycle, with wet areas becoming wetter and arid lands prone to greater drought.^[4]

“There is already strong evidence that we are seeing such changes,” said Professor Mike Meredith, a lead author for IPCC and scientist at the British Antarctic Survey. “In some dry regions, droughts will become worse and long lasting. Such risks are compounded by knock-on consequences, such as greater risk of wildfires, [which] we are already seeing.”^[5]

Just after the report’s release, the Cable News Network (CNN) reported that Middle Eastern countries like Iran, Iraq and Jordan are pumping vast amounts of water from the ground for irrigation to improve food self-sufficiency. Charles Iceland, global director of water at the World Resources Institute, told the network that while this can compensate for a decrease in rainfall, it also results in falling groundwater levels.^[6]

The four-person CNN team report noted areas around the globe where that’s happening, like in Iran, where a vast network of dams sustains an agricultural sector that drinks up about 90% of the water the country uses. “Both declining rainfall and increasing demand in these countries are causing many rivers, lakes, and wetlands to dry up,” Iceland told CNN. “The consequences of water becoming scarcer are dire: Areas could become uninhabitable; tensions over how to share and manage water resources like rivers and lakes could worsen; more political violence could erupt.”^[7]

Increasing demand on rivers, lakes and streams, compounded by changing weather patterns, population growth and economic development, is leaving us in a world where many people are struggling to find enough fresh water to survive.

The situation threatens wealthier countries, too. The New York Times reported larger future cuts in water consumption are likely for 40 million people in the West who rely on rivers.

For the first time ever, last August, the U.S. federal government declared a water shortage at Nevada’s Lake Mead, a main reservoir for the Colorado River. Initially, that will mostly affect farmers in Arizona.

Western US: In the 1980s the waters of Lake Mead flowed rapidly over the Hoover Dam spillway, but after many years of drought along the Colorado River, the water level has dropped dramatically. Photo by LasVegasNevada.gov

In addition to seven U.S. states, two in Mexico draw water from the Colorado. Besides providing drinking water, it irrigates desert crops and generates hydroelectric power. Scientists say the only way to alleviate the problem is to reduce demand.^[8]

“As this inexorable-seeming decline in the supply continues, the shortages that we’re beginning to see implemented are only going to increase,” said Jennifer Pitt, who directs the Colorado River program at the National Audubon Society. “Once we’re on that train, it’s not clear where it stops.”^[9]

Water is a resource that is becoming more precious than gold, oil or gas, according to various headlines from around the world. But the consequences of water becoming scarcer are dire — as areas become uninhabitable, tensions worsen and violence could erupt.

Weeks before this news, analysts at the London-based financial giant Barclays issued a research note that identified water scarcity as the most important environmental concern for global consumer staples, affecting everything from food and beverages to agriculture and tobacco.^[10] Circle of Blue reported that major companies are increasingly concerned about water’s availability, with the average price between 2010 and 2019 increasing by 60 percent in the 30 largest U.S. cities.^[11]

Beth Burks, director of sustainable finance at S&P Global Ratings, told CNBC, “Water scarcity is really important because when it runs out you have really serious problems.”^[12]

Read the rest of the special report

Micro Solutions to the Global Water Crisis

For every macro problem there are also micro solutions. In addition to the United Nations, there are numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charities fighting for clean water, like water.org, the nonprofit founded by actor Matt Damon and Gary White. Faith-based World Vision is one of the largest NGOs and provides clean water in addition to its child sponsorship and disaster relief work.

Another active NGO is Gospel for Asia (GFA), which initiated water well drilling projects in 2000 after the Lord put a burden on a donor’s heart about the need for clean water. He contacted the ministry to ask if it would allow wells to be built in needy communities served by GFA pastors—and sponsored the first 10, known as Jesus Wells. Drilled 300 feet (91 meters) or deeper into the earth, these wells often provide clean water for 300 or more people per day.

3.4 million people die every year from waterborne diseases caused by contaminated, dirty water. A simple BioSand water filter can change that, providing water that is 98% pure after filtration.

Over two decades, the results have been phenomenal. GFA has drilled a cumulative total of more than 30,000 wells and today is completing around 4,000 each year throughout Asia.^[13] In addition to helping entire villages, Gospel for Asia (GFA) provides solutions for individuals and families through BioSand water filters, designed for home use. Capable of removing 98 percent of biological impurities, the filters can last for up to 20 years with proper care. By the fall of 2020, the ministry had distributed more than 58,000 filters.

The blessings such help provides can be seen through a number of individual stories. In one of the first villages where a Jesus Well was installed, residents used to drink from a pond also used for bathing, irrigation, and cooking. Summer droughts often evaporated the dirty pond water; a well near the village went from providing clean water to a brownish substance in a matter of months and was later abandoned.

Now, the clean well has become part of the community’s fabric. Says a Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor whose church is next to the well: “I feel very happy to know that this is one of the first Jesus Wells. It’s not easy to have a well maintained for this many years; because anybody can install a well, but maintaining it for almost [20] years, where it still gives clean and good drinking water, it is not easy. That makes me very proud and happy.”^[14]

Founder of Gospel for Asia (GFA), K.P. Yohannan, says the faith-based NGO is helping thousands of needy families, especially children. Without clean water, he says youngsters are susceptible to many diseases, which prevent them from attending school and can thereby keep them trapped in a cycle of poverty.

“We attack the water crisis globally by installation of wells in a village or BioSand filters in homes,” Yohannan says. “We did a study in our medical camps and found the No. 1 issue for children in South Asia was either diarrhea or upper respiratory infections. Our ultimate goal to give kids an education so they can get a better job is compromised if they’re sick.”

Dr. K.P. Yohannan,
GFA Founder

Waterborne diseases causing stress, sickness, and even death can be addressed and resolved with proper solutions, like BioSand water filters and fresh-water wells.

Read the rest of the special report

More Direct Aid Needed to Sustain Progress

Amid encouraging developments, a reality remains: As of 2020 only one in five countries with greater than 1 percent OD reported being on track to achieve near elimination of it among the poorest fifth of rural populations by 2030.^[15] That and the still-high numbers of OD mean direct aid is still vital in many regions of the world.

Last year, UNICEF helped nearly 19 million people gain access to safe drinking water and 10.8 million with basic sanitation. Among them were residents of Cote d’Ivoire on the western coast of Africa, where less than 10 percent of people living in rural areas have access to clean, functional toilets.

One woman who—along with her neighbors—used to defecate outdoors said that it was not only dangerous but not hygienic. While sharing her toilet with those nearby, she adds, “When they’re done, they have to clean it. I want to keep my toilet nice and clean.”^[16]

Ms Hing, 31, and her 4-year-old daughter, Than, stand outside their new latrine installed by UNICEF and partners in Namdeau village, Bolikhamxay province, Laos, where 38 percent of households have no sanitation facilities at all. Photo by UNICEF USA, Saving Lives, One Toilet at a Time

Another woman in a village in Laos – Ms Hing – said, “I have a new toilet, and I don’t need to go to the bush anymore.”^[17]

GFA World is another NGO working to eliminate open defecation. In 2019, GFA installed more than 5,200 toilets in needy communities. That boosted its cumulative total to more than 32,000 toilets installed, built in some of the world’s most underdeveloped areas.

While going to the bathroom is a privilege those in affluent societies often take for granted, for those living in out-of-the-way places, a toilet is one of the best gifts they can receive.

One example is a man named Laal and his wife, who live with four of their five children and their daughter-in-law. They are one of only three families still living in their village; many have moved away because of isolation and the lack of basic facilities, including a sanitary outhouse. The construction of a sanitation facility, facilitated by two GFA workers from a nearby community, literally changed their lives. Not only did they benefit from the health advantages of their new toilet, but they also established a new circle of friendships in the neighboring community.^[18]

In another, more densely, populated area with 1,600 families spread over eight villages, the majority of families still live in poverty. With most of their money going for survival, it leaves little for anything else, including hygiene or basic sanitation facilities. GFA workers came to their aid, collecting supplies and manpower needed to install facilities. More than 250 of the families received not only a toilet but instruction in their proper use and cleaning to keep people safe from disease.

“All the beneficiaries were ecstatic at the gift,” reported a GFA worker. “The women were especially happy; they no longer needed to put themselves in danger every time they needed to use the toilet. They finally had a safe place to privately relieve themselves. No more would they need to venture out into the fields to do so.”^[18]

The installation of an outdoor sanitation facility, like this toilet from GFA World, proved to be, in numerous ways, a life-changing blessing for Laal's family in South Asia.

Hopefully, many more such reports will surface in the months and years to come.

Read the rest of the special report