The world is growing and the population is booming, these signs for the advancement of the human-race are also the causes for the depletion of natural resources, most importantly water, the grounding resource for human survival. This natural resource however, is running out in parts of the world where rain has ceased to drop and the need for fresh, potable water is creating conflicts between those who need them.
Although scientists point their fingers to climate change for the change in availability of the natural resources, water shortage and crisis "mostly attribute to misuse and mismanagement" of the nations and communities, and this is especially evident in poorer and conflict prone countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya, where people mainly depend on natural resources, not man-powered resources like in the developed countries. Besides the management issues including the piping infrastructure connections, the service accountability and pricing (ORCD Briefing 2005), conflicts over the management of the water sources can include dissatisfaction on government allowances, political risks of entering certain areas containing potable water as well as any rivalry between the local tribes to gain access to water. The question of hygiene can also cause water to be inaccessible due to pollution and contamination, "around one sixth of the 6.1 million people in the world lack access to improved sources of water" ("Water, the Looming Sources of World Conflict", 2001) can furthermore fuel the tension of conflicts that may have been ignited through other means.
"Recurrent droughts and worsening climatic conditions are fuelling resource-based conflicts between pastoralists" said Nega Emiru, a program officer for Care International in Ethiopia. Figures released by the UN suggest 300 potential conflicts caused through water shortage among communities that share the same water source, such as a bordering lake and aquifers where the water is becoming scarce.
These conflicts can be caused on four different levels: local, national, international and global.("Water and Violent Conflict", OECD Briefing 2005) The conflicts caused by water shortage remains largely on the local and national levels, where neighbouring communities and tribes must fight for the right to access a shared source of water and in cases where the natural formation of grounds may allow one community more access to its water than another, resulting in disputes over the access of this water, affecting relationships between communities and even to an international scale between bordering countries.
"Strained natural resources inevitably lead to strained relations between communities that are competing for the same dwindling supply of water and pasture land" reported Ernest Waititu. ("Drought Spurs Resource Wars", Ernest Waititu, The Independent, 2008) In the same article, he reported that conflicts arose in southern Ethiopia between Guji and Borena in June 2006 where hundreds died and approximately 23,000 people were displaced from their communities.
Such conflicts may have already existed between these communities over other causes however it is when water, the most important natural resources run out do communities become desperate and re-fuel into wars over water. Without viable solutions to solve the water crisis, wars between communities and nations such as Ethiopia and Kenya will only grow heavier, involving politics into what originally is a natural resource issue and casualties will increase as better weapons are available for the purpose of destruction.
References:
"Water Wars: Ethiopia and Kenya" - Pulitzer Center
http://www.pulitzercenter.org/showproject.cfm? id=55
"Drought Spurs Resource Wars" - The Independent
http://www.pulitzercenter.org/openitem.cf m?id=915
"Southern African Water Conflicts: Are they Inevitable or Preventable" - Peter Ashton
http://www.dams.org/docs/kbase/submissions/opt 147.pdf
"Water, the Looming Source of World Conflict" - Agence France Presse
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/natres/wa ter/2001/0320cflt.htm
"Water and Violent Conflict" - OECD Report
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/26/5/35785565.pdf