 | Water. One of the few substances without which mankind can truly not survive. It is found everywhere, and takes many forms. Frozen water crystals form the great white clouds that fill the sky. From coast-to-coast, continent-to-continent, water fills the seas. |
As the director of Tufts University’s Water: Systems, Science, and Society program, Paul works with students from Tufts University’s many graduate schools to learn how to more effectively manage worldwide water resources.
To learn more about the fragility of water resources, TIE intern Daniel Rosen sat down with Paul for a brief conversation.
Daniel Rosen: Much of your work is based on the idea that water is a
resource, but most people would not think of it that way.
Paul Kirshen: Without water humans can’t live and ecosystems can’t
function. Our societies can’t function. Water is critical for human
and environmental survival. Right now our water resources are under
stress. Even here in Massachusetts, for example, where we
have a very humid climate, some of our major rivers actually run dry
during the summer due to overuse, and some of our groundwater is too
polluted to use. It is well documented that the US west is drying out
now due to water shortages there. Water shortages are particularly
severe in the developing world. There are over a billion people
without access to safe water, over two billion without access to
viable sanitation, thousands die every day from water-bourne diseases.
So, certainly, water is a key resource. These problems are only going
to increase in the future due to population increases and climate
change.
DR: Why haven’t we heard more about problems from dwindling water
resources? Most environmental media coverage seems to focus on climate
change.
PK: I think that water problems in the US and the world are probably
as well understood now as climate change issues were in the late
1980s, in the sense that some people are aware of the problems and are
very concerned, but we have not had the local and national
institutional efforts yet to really start to address these problems.
Just like with climate change, if we don’t begin to tackle the problem
soon, it will become very difficult to manage. Additionally, most
people underestimate the magnitude of water problems in the developing
world and the hardships that they cause.
DR: What can the average person to do conserve water?
PK: In New England one of the major water stresses is outdoor use of water
in the summer. This is mainly water that is used to water lawns. This
is an incredibly wasteful use of water because it requires that water
systems provide a large amount of water during the time when it is
least available, and during the time of the year when water is most
rapidly evaporated. People should think about developing lawns and
outdoor greenery that is drought-resistant and does not require large
amounts of water. We must be very careful about the products we use.
We should attempt to use locally grown vegetables as much as we can
because they generally use less irrigation. We should also try to cut
down on consumption of meat because the production of meat requires
feeding these animals large amounts of grain, which again
requires irrigation. Most meat production in this country is done on a
large scale which creates a large amount of pollution and is generally
unregulated. We should think twice about using bottled water, which
requires an amazingly complicated and expensive delivery and
production process. Tap water quality in the United States is
generally of a very high quality, and is frequently tested to meet
high standards, whereas bottled water is generally unregulated. We
should also install devices such as like high efficiency appliances and low
flush toilets, which really help decrease water consumption.
