Risks and Threats: The Nation’s Homeland Security Leaders Speak - Excerpt: Pete Gaynor on Water Security
By Pete Gaynor
Originally Published in Homeland Security Today on January 30, 2023, under the title, “Risks and Threats for 2023: The Nation’s Homeland Security Leaders Speak” (Pete Gaynor: Water Security) © Copyright 2023 Peter T. Gaynor
In America, we don’t think twice about turning on the faucet and having clean water pour out. We take for granted that we will wake up each day and have access to clean, fresh water. But Earth has a growing water problem. Nearly three-quarters of the planet’s surface are covered in water, but our water ecosystems are being challenged. The climate is changing, and weather patterns are becoming increasingly less predictable. The demand for water is increasing as population growth means a corresponding need for more food, more energy, and more industry. Some countries are placing a much higher demand on water than others: the average American uses 156 gallons of water per day. In contrast, residents of Mali, Africa use only three gallons a day.
Any day of the week, you can read about water stress in communities, big and small, across the United States. One state experiences flooding (too much water) while another area experiences drought (too little water). Some communities are subject to water rationing or have failing water infrastructure. Other areas are dealing with reduced energy production due to a lack of water. The demand for agriculture is increasing, but reduced irrigation threatens the crops. There is even a lack of access to clean water in some communities, which directly correlates to controlling the outbreak of disease. All of these issues continue to be more commonplace and troubling, highlighting how out-of-balance and vulnerable our water ecosystems have become.
If we don’t start making changes, we’ll find ourselves living under extreme water stress. While it might be hard to imagine what that means, you don’t need a crystal ball. To see what a community under these conditions looks like, we only need to look at North Africa or to the Middle East. In the ongoing conflicts of these regions, many disputes are tied to water access. If Americans want to avoid water stress and potential disputes, we need to do more to proactively regulate and promote policies that improve the management and conservation of water in the United States. Although the current Administration has invested in water infrastructure improvement, it’s only a start. Water insecurity respects no border, physical or political. Attempting to isolate ourselves from this problem undercuts all resilience goals.
It’s imperative that we focus on minimizing both the social disruption the lack of water brings and waterrelated disasters, which come with predictable increased costs. Simply stated, water security cannot be ignored. It is fundamentally intertwined with human security.
