Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

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purposes, such as fi lling the taps in our homes. What about poorer countries? There will still be a case for large reservoirs in some parts of the world. At a World Water Forum, held in Mexico City last year, engineers, politicians, and fi nanciers from round the world called for investment in more large dams to meet growing demand for water. But there are serious questions about how much dams can do. What is the point of more dams when the rivers are already drying up? A global study published last week showed that a quarter of the world’s population already lives in river basins where the water is already fully allocated or over-allocated. New developments in these areas will only take water from some users and give it to others. What else? Well, moving water from one river system to another—from wet areas to dry areas—is possible. But it is very expensive—both to build and in pumping costs. China is currently spending $60 billion on a series of vast canals to pump water from the wet south to the arid north. India is talking about trucking water from the great monsoon rivers of the north, like the Ganges, to the dry south and west. But the price tag for construction alone is a cool $200 billion. Australians discuss massive canals or pipes to bring water south from the monsoon lands of the north. Even Britain from time to time considers building a national water grid to connect the wet northwest to the dry southeast. All this could be good business for engineers, but I suspect will rarely be the answer for consumers. The Austra- lian schemes being discussed currently work out to be more costly than desalinated seawater. Farmers could never afford their product. But we do need some answers, and soon. Economists estimate that by 2025, with current water use patterns and growing population, water scarcity will be cutting global food production by 350 million tons a year. That is rather more than the current U.S. grain harvest, and the equivalent of a loaf of bread every week for every person on the planet. For hundreds of millions of people, that disappearing loaf may be the only one they get. One other thing: If the world gets into growing biofuels to reduce our reliance on oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions—say by converting a quarter of its fuels to biofuel—that would effectively double our water demand for crops. I think two things need to happen. First, we need to get better at catching the rain where it falls and before it disperses. We need a modern version of the old water butt catching rainfall off the roof for use in the garden. It’s not rocket science. In researching my book, I visited villages across India and China where they are doing just this—reviving ancient methods of capturing the rain as it falls, and pouring it down their wells. Secondly, there needs to be a massive revolution in the way we use water. Most homes can make big savings. So can most water companies, by reducing leaks. In most of the world’s cities, between a quarter and a half of the water put into distributions networks never reaches customers because it leaks away. Similarly, we need to reduce the vast losses from evaporation at reservoirs. Did you know, for instance, that more water evaporates from behind the High Aswan Dam on the Nile in Egypt than is delivered to homes and factories throughout Britain in a year? And much, much more urban waste water should be recycled to make clean drinking water. Some people have an antipathy to this. The yuck factor. But in London we have been doing it for decades. We are drinking water excreted by the people of Swindon and Oxford and Reading and all down the Thames. The fact that they put it back into the river briefl y before we take it out again doesn’t alter the fact. Most industries can use water much more effi ciently. The biggest savings globally, however, have to be in agricultural irrigation, the biggest user of water, especially in the driest countries. Tens of millions of farmers worldwide still irrigate their crops by fl ooding their fi elds. Most of the water evaporates and little, in practice, reaches the plants. But cheap, modern systems of drip irrigation—delivering water drop by drop close to the crop roots—can cut water demand by 40 or 50 percent or even, in some soils, 70 or 80 percent. The simple truth is that, to protect our rivers and ensure water supplies in the future, we have to use less water. The days of seeing the stuff as a free resource, available in unlimited quantities as of right, must surely be over. 64 VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007
“We need to get better at catching the rain where it falls and before it disperses. We need a modern version of the old water butt catching rainfall off the roof for use in the garden. It’s not rocket science.” VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007 Scientists say we need a “blue revolution” to breed crops that use water better and to train farmers to use water more sparingly. They are working on it. And of course we will all have to join in to save water as best we can, turning off taps, fi xing leaks, watering plants at night, having shorter showers, sparing the toilet fl ush sometimes. New houses should be built watersmart, plumbed to catch rainwater and recycle washing water to fl ush toilets and water gardens. It’s not, as I said, rocket science. But engineers have been so fi xated for so long on supply that they have all but forgotten the demand side of the equation. And so have we. To sum up: Water is a resource like no other. Organising its supply and distribution is a task like no other. It is a commodity, but also a human right. We have somehow to ensure universal access, while encouraging both communal efforts at conservation, and price incentives to penalise misuse and encourage more effi cient use. It is a tough ask, combining all these things. Water, they say, is the new oil. That it will be the cause of water wars in the 21st century. Maybe so. But it is more than that. We could manage without oil—but not water. Cheers. Fred Pearce is the author of Deep Jungle, Keepers of the Spring, When the Rivers Run Dry, and With Speed and Violence. 65
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VTS as our next Dean and President.
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ing this commemoration on the day o
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“I am convinced that the moral ar
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“If you continue in my Word you a
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speak—that silence was complicit.
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Page 19: A Refl ection on the VTS Racial and
Page 22 and 23: Isaiah 40:6-8, 21-24, 28-31 Psalm 7
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Page 32 and 33: A Celebration in Thanksgiving for t
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Page 36 and 37: The Water of Life 34 VIRGINIA SEMIN
Page 38 and 39: “Designer water at $100 a bottle
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Page 82 and 83: A Sermon for Maxine Shelly Turner (
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Page 100 and 101: ANNUAL GIVING Annual Giving is a co
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The Rev. Catherine M. Thompson, ‘
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The Rev. John R. Frizzell, Jr., ‘
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Anita Wheatcroft The Rev. G. Richar
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The Rev. A. Moody Burt The Rev. Dr.
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The Rev. William H. Burk The Rev. J
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The 14th anniversary of my ordinati
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Kreitler Environmental Fund The Kre
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St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Ne
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The Rev. and Mrs. Gary L. Abbott, S
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Mr. and Mrs. James C. Hamilton, Jr.
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Mr. Emil M. Sunley The Rev. and Mrs
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volume weave together the familiar,
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and in “Throwing the things away,
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and American Evangelicals: Friends
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The Center for Lifetime Theological
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