Against the tide

On cyberattacks, wars for oil, and a Dutch drought that ought to have us paying attention

For no small period of time, some people have been forecasting a world of “water wars”, fought over access to the raw supply of water much like some countries may be thought to go to war over resources like oil. Thus far, at least, these wars have not come to pass, which is a good thing. We have, however, witnessed an alarming number of cases in which water has become a weapon of wars fought over other causes.

■ Desalination plants have been targeted in the Middle East. Russia has drained reservoirs and viciously attacked freshwater infrastructure in its war against Ukraine. Cyberattacks have gone after Canadian and American water systems.

■ The problem on the global scale isn’t exactly one of simple water scarcity. It’s more a problem of supply and transportation, getting the right types of water to where it’s needed and away from where it’s not, and the needs may vary considerably within a short period of time.

■ Almost no culture on Earth has better claim to that kind of knowledge than the Dutch, and their present condition may be illustrative. Low-lying Holland no longer just needs to pump water out, it also needs to be able to combat drought, which is a condition without vast historical precedent that is becoming more common.

■ This should alarm us and be a call to action. If even the Netherlands is having to reassess the meaning of water security (from too much to too little), a similar reassessment is going to be a matter for everyone, worldwide.