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For a long time man did not need to bother or worry about Energy or water, they were always there. The forests were pristine, firewood was there, and then came coal and lately electricity, which can be generated from inexhaustible sources such as rivers or nuclear power. For water, there has always been enough of it, in fact too much of it, from lakes to the vast oceans.
Rivers flowed to the sea and the thirsty drank to their fill, crystal clear waters
that soothed ones thirst. But that has changed, faster than expected. ?A few years ago it was unthinkable to buy water; that was stuff of fiction. Today it is the hard reality. Today water competes with soda and beer for space in the supermarkets, not just in Kenya but also in the USA, of all places. ?Showing off your bottle of water, which in Kenya costs more than imported petrol, is considered "cool."
Yet, throughout history, water has had a revered place in traditions all over the world. Most countries have holy rivers; In Israel we have the Jordan while in India we have the Ganges. It seems that even the "primitive" man was not primitive on matters of water, he knew it meant life.
In most African traditions, special forests were said to harbor spirits. You could not disturb such forests. It turns out they were sources of life-giving water.
Needless to say, the divine nature of water is revealed in the Bible where water is used for baptism - a sign of getting a pass to eternal life. Water gives life beyond today.
Few doubt that if we ever got a planet with water that would mark a turning point for Earthlians, who would most likely get an unwelcome competitor. We are not there yet. So let us talk about issues down here on Earth, on this small planet.
How did a liquid that seemed so available suddenly become a commodity to be sold? Scarcity easily put water under the spell of economics.
We should not be surprised by the emerging pattern, particularly when you realize that it is not just every Tom, Harry and Dick who are in water business; some of the key players are Coca Cola and Nestle, huge corporations. There is no doubt that water must be one of the most profitable businesses. I suspect the container is the most expensive part of the business. As to the niceties of micro-filtration and minerals, that is another story altogether. The most critical part of the water business is distribution, storage is not even a problem. Water, unlike uji (a Kenyan mixture of water and corn flour) or soda, does not deteriorate with age and it can be heated and cooled indefinitely without any problem.
Why has what is considered Nature's free gift suddenly emerged to be nature's most precious and expensive gift? Why is water becoming so expensive? Why is it that every town council in Kenya is privatizing water services? Why is what was considered naturally a public good, getting privatized?? One reason given is that too much water is wasted and privatization will reduce this waste. This might be true, because people will conserve water if they pay more for it. Really?
Maybe we could borrow from medical services. The reason medical services are so pricy in the U.S. is because of the third-party payment system. The service receivers don't directly feel the effect of the cost of medical services, they therefore tend to overuse medical services leading to artificial demand and higher prices. By the same token, higher water prices will definitely result if the water services are privatized because the supply is less than the demand. This could reduce the demand, but water is hard not to consume ...
But it seems we are addressing the wrong problem. We are so interested in distribution of water and not its supply. One reason why the move towards privatization has become so popular in Kenya is because the demand for water is more than the supply and it is envisaged that the market will ration the supply, if the market is efficient. While supplies have dwindled thanks to our short sightedness and myopia, the people who watch over the destruction of forests are not illiterate peasants but well-educated people, some who have spent years in school.
Since the demand is there, why can't we pay attention to supply? After all, if we could exceed the demand, we could start "dumping" water in the market like sugar or any other commodity. We could even export water to neighboring countries. This is why, in my opinion, supply should be the most important issue, not distribution of water and formation of water firms that will reap abnormal profits for doing nothing.
The most important question might be who owns the water sources? Apparently no one; if they were owned by anyone, they would not have been destroyed. You cannot allow anyone to come cutting trees in your ranch. Why can't we privatize water sources in Kenya? We could give private firms licenses to manage Kenya's water sources like Aberdares mountains or Mt Kenya. ?Such a firm would ensure trees are not cut, no over-cultivation and no pollution.
Then, just like power firms sell power to distributors, the firms would sell water to distributors anywhere in the country. Individuals would also be encouraged to build dams in these water sources or elsewhere. They would sell their water to the "grid system". This way, water can be distributed from areas of low demand to areas of higher demand, just like electricity. In fact, the water supply regions or districts can trade water among themselves or even export excess water.
A national water authority (NWA) would regulate this system of water sources, distribution and retailing to ensure no firm enjoys too much monopoly. Individuals with springs would also sell their water and ensure they don't run dry. There is already precedence. Nairobi city council "owns" the rivers around its waters sources in Kinangop and Maragwa in central Kenya.
The Water Authority, I am recommending here, could even be empowered to "buy out" water sources from those who cannot take care of them. Annual inspection reports would ensure water sources are maintained.
With individuals having rights over water sources, people will take care of water, demand will match supply and water will be distributed to where it is needed. We could even trade water in futures markets, ensuring that demand and supply match in future; after all we can easily predict how much water will be needed in every region from census reports.? This way, everyone will pay a fair price for water and help conserve it for those who will unwillingly come after us.
The hallmark of any advanced society is not how big the structures they build are but how much care they take of the most vulnerable members of the society, the unborn. We have let the rivers dry; it seems we must now let our pockets run dry as water prices rise. The next item to run dry will be patience. We don't need water wars, when we are not making any more water and when we have enough water on this planet.
Thinking long term, that style of thinking we have always refused to embrace, would solve most of our water problems or at least reduce the severity, including the dwindling water supply and the soaring prices. Water is one of the basic rights. Is it fair to let the market determine who gets it and who does not when we all know that supply is not equal to demand?
Every government must ensure that water is available to its citizens, irrespective of their economic status. As things are now, water bypasses thirsty villagers on its way to the cities. Water bypasses thirsty pastoralists on its way to flower farms. Money should not be the only determinant of who gets this precious liquid.
After letting the rivers run dry through deforestation, courtesy of giving politicians too much power over our resources, it is time we turned the clock back. No wonder great civilizations developed along rivers. That is not about to change. Already the fight over water in Kenya is the best evidence that we must focus more attention on water, its management and sustainability.
If you've seen the Nile from the air as it winds slowly, lazily a
nd peacefully through the desert in Sudan or Egypt, then you can ?appreciate how precious water is and why privatization of water services is not like any other business. Unlike Egyptians, we have more technology that we can use to store water and distribute it to where it is needed. We are only lacking inspiration.
Maybe Kenyan policy makers need to visit California and see her aqueduct systems and how the desert has been made to blossom. We too can do the same, if inspired not by the present but by the future that will arrive when we shall have spent enough time under the sod. Thinking and planning for those who will come long after we are gone is not a waste of time, it's a hallmark of greatness. We must make water reclaim its divine status despite the intrusion of capitalism.
Jackson, MS, USA - The amount of energy in the universe is constant, so we are told; it only changes from one form to the other. That in and of itself is good news. The same principle, applies to water. The amount of water in the universe is constant, only its form changes; some forms of water are readily available, like the mountain spring water, other forms, like salty sea water, have to be desalinated, an expensive process.
The semi-divine nature of water is reflected in the quest to get a heavenly body that has water. A space mission's great triumph would be discovering such a planet with water. Never mind how we would react.
X.N. IRAKI is a Lecturer at the University of Nairobi's Faculty of Commerce. He is currently a Fulbright Scholar in Mississippi - in America's Deep South. He is a frequent contributor to the World's Magazine.
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