The Foreign Service Journal, May 2003

12 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 0 3 The Coming Water Wars Although not usually thought of in the same way as oil, gold, or other nat- ural resources, water has been at the center of conflicts for centuries. After all, the word rival comes from the Latin rivalis, meaning one using the same stream as another. According to The World’s Water , even Leonardo da Vinci was a soldier in the water wars ( www.world water.org ). Th e site’s “Water Conflict Chronology” says that during a war between Pisa and Florence in 1503, da Vinci and Machiavelli planned to divert the Arno River away from Florence. Today many believe there is real potential for conflict in the social dis- ruption caused by competition for scarce freshwater supplies — a grow- ing phenomenon in the South and West Asian region encompassing Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India and Egypt. To head off future “water wars,” a new U.N. agency, the Water Coopera- tion Facility, was set up recently. The initiative was announced at the Third World Water Forum in Japan March 16-23, according to BBC Online ( www.bbc.co.uk ). Based at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the new facility will mediate in disputes between countries sharing a single river basin. A UNESCO report identifies 17 river basins with the potential for disputes in the com- ing decade. Even when war is not a possibility, water is a critical issue. More than one billion people do not have access to adequate, safe water supplies, accord- ing to the World Health Organization. UNESCO’s World Water Assessment Program predicts that the water sup- ply available per person will be, on average, one-third smaller than it is now by 2020. In November 2002, the United Nations declared access to water a basic human right, named 2003 the international year of freshwater, and set a goal of bringing access to ade- quate water supplies to 500 million more people by 2015 ( www.water year2003.org ). But a problem that is as big and as basic as water, and the options for solv- ing it, can be difficult to break down and understand. Fortunately, there are many Web sites that can help. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Water Portal provides links to UNESCO’s World Water Assessment and International Hydrological programs, water events and celebrations, and other water resources ( www.unesco. org/water/ ). U sers can search these links by theme, geographical scope and organization type. The Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database is a project of the Department of Geosciences at Oregon State University ( www.trans boundarywaters.orst.edu ). T he site was set up to help assess the “process of water conflict prevention and resolution.” One can access data, publications and projects, including treaties and agreements, focused on water conflict. For example, the “Basins at Risk” project seeks to iden- tify the sources of past freshwater con- flict and predict future conflicts. Stefan Deconinck, a researcher at the Center for Sustainable Development at Ghent University, Belgium, edits Water and Conflict —a site mainly focused on Middle East water conflicts ( http://waternet. rug.ac.be ). T his site links to news articles, publications and government documents on the internal and foreign policies concerning water of Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Syria. The World Water Council ( www.worldwatercouncil.org ), a nongovernmental, nonprofit, interna- tional water policy think tank, offers regular news updates, links, and a free, downloadable newsletter. Other sites that have news links and calendars of upcoming events include the Global Water Information Network ( www.globwinet.org ), t he Global Water Partnership ( www.gwpfor um.org ), an d the International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network ( www.iwlearn.org ). If you make it through all these sites, you may never look at a glass of water the same way again. – Stephen E. Mather, Editorial Intern Doc.Com There is no substitute for the care of a well-trained doctor or nurse, espe- cially in a medical emergency, but carefully selected Web sites can be a useful information source for patients with routine health questions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other feder- al agencies developed Healthfinder ( www.healthfinder.gov ). T he site is easy on the eye and free of the con- fusing advertising found on commer- cial sites. Users can click on “Health Library” for health information select- ed from government agencies, non- C YBERNOTES