Privatization of Water Resources

Within the broad topic of fresh water resources there is a reliance on these fresh water systems to provide the necessities of life to all living organisms. In the blog article Is the privatization of water the right thing to do? , the author states “If water distribution was privatized, prices for individual consumers would likely increase with use, which would have the positive side effect of encouraging conservation”. This statement is ambiguous in nature because it makes the reader conceptually analyze to understand what the author is trying to convey in this blog about how water privatization will bring about instant conservation if water were privatized. In this blog post I will try to examine what is meant by the authors use of this phrase and how the authors statement can be misunderstood.

The use of this phrase is trying say how if water was to be a resource at the fingertips of privately state controlled places and companies that its prices would no doubt rise. With this rise in the price of water the amount used by people, companies, states or nations would undoubtably become more conservative. Water would be conserved because people would be more scared to use it due to its economic toll it would take. This sort of scare tactic would lead people to use less water but when it comes to fresh water conservation scaring people away from using it isn’t the best way to go about conservation.

The author’s theorized system of private water management is ambiguous because it involves a system that is tremendously different in comparison to the modern world. Water has never been a resource that has never strictly belonged to a person or place because of its universal importance to living organisms. This would be such a dramatic change from the way water is currently unowned that this purposed change to the ownership of water is not achievable. The inexact nature of the authors proposition of privately owned water makes it hard to conceive and ultimately impossible to put into practice. Without the sharing of resource of water like we currently partake in all over the world water ownership would become very hostile and militarily run. This argument is misunderstood on the basis that its application is almost impossible long with its effects that include cutting off impoverished nations along with starting disputes about the distribution of water.

In the article upon which this blog is based the statement that claims that if water were to be privately owned that it would lead to conservation. This statement is very easy to misunderstand because of the complete ill-defined terms of conservation and private ownership that it is based on. Without complete understanding of those two terms this concept is hard to understand. This is because our system of water distribution is much different today than it is in theory within the article. Although the idea in the article may be valid it does not include the critical ideas of how it would be practiced and some of the possible consequences it would bring.

Reference:

"Is the privatization of water the right thing to do?" Web log post. Water In The Works. Water and Wastewater in the Canadian context, 26 Oct. 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. <http://waterintheworks.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/is-the-privatization-of-water-the-right-thing-to-do/

Written by:

Kendra Bester