World Water Day 2024: Water and Peace. Image: “Peace Dove and Olive Branch at Flight.” by Nevit. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.
WATER: It is our natural shared element. Earth is 70% water. Our bodies are 68% water; plants as much as 90%. Water is one of our most important shared resources. Can what is shared be a passage to peace?
Civilization has advanced by sharing water. Image: “Xvolks Canal des Deux Mers (or Canal du Midi)” by Xvolks, 2005. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.
Throughout history, civilization advanced by sharing water. China’s Grand Canal carried water, and food, from the south to the northern capital. Italy’s Aqueducts brought fresh spring water from surrounding hills to the city of Rome. France joined the Atlantic to the Mediterranean via the Canal des Deux Mers. The Colorado River, water source for 40 million people, shares water with the United States, many original American tribal nations, and Mexico, while providing hydroelectric power. The Tennessee Valley Authority harnessed water to provide electricity with its guiding motto: “Power for All.” Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric is now building Snowy 2.0 that will re-use and recirculate water for pumped hydro energy. The Suez Canal has, in its founding firman, assurance that the waterway must be open to all nations in times of war and peace.
March 22, 2024 World Water Day: Water and Peace. Image: “Peace” by photographer Lindsay Ensing, 2011. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.
This year, the United Nations, convener of World Water Day adopted in 1992, offers the theme of Water and Peace. How fortunate we are that water is a renewable resource, if its wise use is designed to follow its natural system dynamics. In our time of climate change, when drought may cause water scarcity, respecting and honoring ways to sustain, renew, and share water may inspire peace. How will you honor water and peace?
How will you help the world honor water and peace? Image: “The World of Water” by photographer Snap. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation,
Brooke, K. Lusk. Renewing the World: Casebook for LEADERSHIP in WATER. 2024. Amazon and https://renewingtheworld.com
Snowy Hydro 2.0. https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/snowy-20/
United Nations. “Water and Peace.” https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/water-and-peace
United Nations. “Water for cooperation: transboundary and international water cooperation, cross-sectoral cooperation, including scientific cooperation, and water across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” 22-24 March 2024. hrrps://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n23/029/39/pdf/n2302939.pdf?token=W6ZMHooSJ2lgATSDBA&fe=true
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U
