Water, Politics, War
Dwight Stanford, Master’s student, UNISG-Colorno
Where oil was one of the world’s primary source of conflict in the previous 20 years, it seems likely the new source will be water and it’s availability to all peoples.  Estimates from the UN predict 1/3 of the world’s population will suffer in the next 20 years from water shortages for both potable water and water for crop growth.
Presenters from five regions spoke of their battles and successes with water usage.

Romania with 22 million people who reside in a country almost entirely within the Danube river basin has experienced drastic weather changes in the last 5 years with both extremes-drought and flooding.  Steps have been undertaken to encourage composting by farmers and best water practices for irrigation with experiments to ascertain exactly the requirements of each type of planted crop: corn, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat.  Government projects to increase reservoiring are underway to prevent the damage from the flooding Danube.
Water has been at the core of battles of the legal kind in Hawaii where citizens and farmers, especially of taro have finally successfully pried the water rights from the large sugar companies, who years ago diverted most of the fresh water from the mountains and streams into their fields.  10 years in the court have finally been fruitful and old streambeds are again filled with fresh water previously diverted by drainage ditches and tunnels.
In Caliifornia, successful experimentation with land patterning have led to small series of ponds and wetlands to capture rainwater which was previouly lost to runoff.  This water can be then stored and used during the 1/2 to 2/3 of the year when rainfall is absent or insubstantial.  New forms of sewage treatment using wetlands and biological methods with bacteria and plants are also being used as are rain collection systems in third world countries.  http://www.regenerativedesign.org
In areas suffering from deforestation, which has now become savannah and desert-like can now be replanted using techniques now used in Colombia where machinery can replant 1000 hectares in 3 months and after a special fungus is added to help with growth.  The tree species is monocultural with Caribbean pine and after a few years the economic and social benefits have included creation of new jobs with resin collection, increased rainfall and fresh water available for the population and an increase in biodiversity.
Libyan agro-system has developed a new system of planting date palms using underground drip irrigation piping to prevent evaporation.  Using this technique and planting olive trees in concert with the date palm trees to extract the excesses of salt from the well water has allowed the harvest of dates in as little as 2 years versus the 5 years required in older cropping methods.  These iirrgation projects have allowed an increase in the production of olives, wheat , corn, mangoes and jojoba. 
Appropriate use of water by countries, corporations and individuals and development of new practices of water management, conservation, and preservation will be extremely important in coming years.  The basic human right to water and food should preempt all other concerns.  Water is Life! and this point cannot be forgotten as all too often as was stated by one guest, “all too often water flows uphill to moneyâ€?.