Water Ethics: Getting to "WHY"?
I’m attending the annual conference of the American Water Resources Association in Abuquerque and the theme of ethics, surprisingly enough, is in the air. The opening keynote address was by Cynthia Barnett, author of the just published book, Blue Revolution, who pitched ethics to her largely technical audience, in such an engaging way that no reasonable person could help but agree with her.
That was a bit of a trick, since her audience represented the professional water establishment – the very group that has watched, and profited, as the water crisis has continued to unfold. It was like talking to a gathering of investment advisors about the economic crisis and the need for a new ethic about the economy. It’s not exactly their fault, but their profession is intertwined with a dysfunctional system that needs to change.
One criticism Barnett leveled at the water profession is that they have made water too easily available; they’ve been too good at what they do. Better to have a few water shortages in major cities (Think of Atlanta a few years ago) to remind us of the value of water, and help us get more interested in knowing where it comes from.
A related criticism she was too diplomatic to press very hard was that the water utilities who provide drinking water to cities, or the US Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers that provide water for farmers and flood protection for valley dwellers, have too narrow a view of their jobs. They are rewarded for pulling water out of rivers, often destroying the rivers in the process, and telling their water customers not to worry; everything is under control.
Control is precisely the problem! Channelizing and damming rivers to tap their water is like a 19th Century plantation owner whipping his slaves to bring them under control. Within the context of institutionalized slavery, whipping served as an effective way to discipline unruly workers. Reformers who abhorred whipping realized they had to take on the whole system of slavery. There are other ways for worker to cooperate; you can invite them to become full members of society and pay them for their work. What a concept! But it requires an ethical shift.
We need a new water ethic that is not based on enslaving rivers, but on finding new ways that rivers can work for us that respect a river’s basic right to be a river. The technical expertise for building environment-friendly dams, for recycling water, for recharging aquifers, for removing or isolating toxic contaminants, is already on the market. We know how to manage water resources sustainably; we just have to learn “Why”!
That was a bit of a trick, since her audience represented the professional water establishment – the very group that has watched, and profited, as the water crisis has continued to unfold. It was like talking to a gathering of investment advisors about the economic crisis and the need for a new ethic about the economy. It’s not exactly their fault, but their profession is intertwined with a dysfunctional system that needs to change.
One criticism Barnett leveled at the water profession is that they have made water too easily available; they’ve been too good at what they do. Better to have a few water shortages in major cities (Think of Atlanta a few years ago) to remind us of the value of water, and help us get more interested in knowing where it comes from.
A related criticism she was too diplomatic to press very hard was that the water utilities who provide drinking water to cities, or the US Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers that provide water for farmers and flood protection for valley dwellers, have too narrow a view of their jobs. They are rewarded for pulling water out of rivers, often destroying the rivers in the process, and telling their water customers not to worry; everything is under control.
Control is precisely the problem! Channelizing and damming rivers to tap their water is like a 19th Century plantation owner whipping his slaves to bring them under control. Within the context of institutionalized slavery, whipping served as an effective way to discipline unruly workers. Reformers who abhorred whipping realized they had to take on the whole system of slavery. There are other ways for worker to cooperate; you can invite them to become full members of society and pay them for their work. What a concept! But it requires an ethical shift.
We need a new water ethic that is not based on enslaving rivers, but on finding new ways that rivers can work for us that respect a river’s basic right to be a river. The technical expertise for building environment-friendly dams, for recycling water, for recharging aquifers, for removing or isolating toxic contaminants, is already on the market. We know how to manage water resources sustainably; we just have to learn “Why”!
Posted by Dave Groenfeldt at 9 Nov 2011, 6:15 PM 
Categories: Water Ethics
Tags: Water Ethics Blue Revolution Cynthia Barnett AWRA
Categories: Water Ethics
Tags: Water Ethics Blue Revolution Cynthia Barnett AWRA
Comments