Everywhere in the world, we hear about water scarcity, people are dying due to water crisis, and many people have to travel long miles to fetch water for their daily survival needs. It is becoming a threat to humans, and most of the public is blank about what small steps they can take to solve this global issue. Moreover, many people suggest that they need to apply global principles of climate change mitigation to solve the crisis of drinking water. However, this suggestion and principles made cannot sustain for long as it's tough to follow when the volumetric population is involved in something, and they all need o the same thing to make the plan work.
We all know that water is the most vital need for living beings' survival. Therefore, sitting and advocating against global climate change and ignoring the regional factors that drive the water crisis is only going to make the scene more pathetic. Moreover, ignoring the local cause of the water crisis is resulting in the loss of almost 800 children die every day globally and 790 million people not having the accessibility to safe drinking water.
Global Water Crisis Need Local Solutions
If you think that the global climate crisis can solve the global water crisis, then you need to understand that the climate crisis can get addressed by focussing on limiting global warming to 1.5°C and reducing emissions. However, these steps are not going to solve the water crisis; the water crisis is more intricate and encompasses a wide range of regional and local crises with its specific characteristics. Therefore, here are some reasons why you need to take up local solutions to solve the global water crisis.
- Water distribution on eath is inequitable. Some places have substantial underwater resources, and other regions may have running underwater resources even during regular rainy days. You cannot follow the same rule in both types of regions, and therefore, you will need a different approach to solve the water crisis for each reason.
- Earth has a vast land and weather diversity. Some places on earth face huge life and economic loss due to flood, and other area faces destruction due to water shortage and drought. Therefore, if a global step is taken to prevent the water crisis, then it is pretty evident that the same method is not going to save people from the crisis of water.
- Another most important reason for following local solutions to prevent the global water crisis is the type of soil. Every two neighboring cities on earth have entirely different soil types; therefore, the water it can hold and preserve for long also changes. Hence, taking up local solutions for every type of soil is crucial to prevent it from the water crisis.
Some Global Steps To Prevent Water Crisis
Despite the fact that only local solutions can solve the global water crisis, there are still a few global steps that you can follow to prevent the water crisis.
- Educate your children about the importance of water while they are in pre-school. By doing this, you are educating the future generation about water and helping them cultivate a good lifestyle for the future. These small habits will make them ready to preserve water locally in the future and hence preserve water globally.
- Recycle wastewater and invent new water conservation technologies. These technologies and methods will help people globally conserve water and make the best use of even used or recycled water.
- Work towards improving irrigation and agricultural practices globally because about 70% of the total freshwater is used for agricultural purposes. Improving these practices can help us preserve a lot of water and hence not get into the water crisis.
- Pass a good and structured rule book to develop energy-efficient desalination plants because, to date, it has been seen that desalination is an energy-intensive solution to water scarcity.
Conclusion
The water crisis is not a community problem; it is a global issue and needs to be addressed collectively. Unfortunately, many people lose their lives every day due to water scarcity or due to the unavailability of clean drinking water. However, every small step taken by each locality will help us solve the crisis more efficiently. If you want to move forward in helping people reach freshwater and live a healthy life, join us as a donator or volunteer for our events concerning water. We, IFE OOYE North America, organize different events for the betterment of society. You can become an IFE OOYE North America member and join us for a good cause.
Reference:
Harrison, I.A.N. 2021. Why-global-water-crisis-needs-local-solutions. 2nd Jan. Why the global water crisis needs local solutions. [Online]. [16 March 2022]. Available from: https://www.iucn.org/crossroads-blog/202102/why-global-water-crisis-needs-local-solutions
