MODULE: THREE
WATER ETHICAL
Introduction
Different societies have different moral codes but it seems to be worldwide the importance of water, generally valued and respected in all religions and cultures.
From the whole global resource only 3% is fresh water, and from this amount only 1% is running water, while 2% is immobilized in the Poles, although the main issue with water management is not about scarcity, but about the distribution problem of water around the world.
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Ethical values take different forms in different cultural groups. In western societies, ethical restrictions tend to take the form of behavioral rules, which ultimately are codified in law (Jerome Delli Priscoli, James Dooge and Ramón Llamas, 2004)
In recent years, the problem of differing ethnic and religious viewpoints affecting attitudes to water management problems has become apparent. One example may be cited to illustrate this point.
The International Conference on Water and The Environment held in Dublin in January 1992 to provide the input on water problems to the Rio Conference on Environment and Development based its recommendations on four guiding principles. The fourth guiding principle opens by stating (Young et al, 1994)
Environmental ethics
One contemporary western approach to environmental ethics is represented by the essay on The Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold (1949)
A water ethic should be viewed in the context of a general environmental ethic though there are some important differences. We can look to discussions and conclusions on environmental ethics over the past few decades as a starting point in attempting to develop a water ethic. The concept of environmental ethics and the term itself is relatively new compared with the general concept of social ethics.
Constructing a water ethic
As mentioned above, there are some significant differences between the ethical problems relating to water and the ethical problems relating to the environment. First, the problems of water management are perceived largely in terms of such factors as human health, food production, economic development, loss of human life, displacement of persons and economic losses
The problem of the gap between perceived risk and real risk raises problems that call for experts in science and experts in ethics to combine in an effort to produce guidelines for decision makers. A starting point for such an endeavor would be to review the work that has been done in this regard in relation to nuclear power, ecology and genetic engineering.
Water and social ethics
Water and its connection to human dignity and basic needs for life: water as a facilitator of well being of people; rights and responsibility toward water access: water and social justice: and the wealth generating and development roles of water infrastructure.
One way to look at the close connection of water to broader social ethical concerns is to look at how water management concerns relate to what many consider universal ethical principles, such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNGA, 1948)
Ethical issues and technology
Technology will change how we look at water. Some futurists are pre- ditching that in the next twenty years the cost of desalinization will fall to about one- third of what it is today. Research into genetic foods could reduce water needs significantly in the short term. The technology of dry composting now allows us to separate the need for water from sanitation.
Together, if these three trends were to come true, they would effectively eliminate much of the water supply problem often driving public ‘gloom and doom’ scenarios.
Water in agriculture
Agriculture is by far the largest user of water worldwide. Agriculture is also frequently among the least efficient users of water. However, 40% of global food production stems from irrigated agriculture. The world is dependent on irrigated water, and irrigation has been a major reason why the world can feed as large a number as we can.
Agriculture can accommodate some degree of reallocation to other sectors, and reallocations to higher value use are needed. But depriving the poor of sustenance in order to build a large reservoir is ethically not defensible. Better trade-offs need to be found which allow the general progress of the country to proceed in a more equitable manner (WCD, 2000).
Industrial use
Industries should not use more water than necessary, and users should discharge wastewater only after treating it to environmentally safe standards of quality. The water and related land use upstream should consider the propagation effects down- stream and in the sea. Polluters should pay for the remedy themselves, and pollution control should be exercised on a precautionary basis rather than waiting for damage to occur and be scientifically verified.
During the last two or three decades, in many industrialised countries, the water volumes used for industrial uses and the related pollution have dramatically diminished; no significant economic impact in the industrial sectors has been detected. In many developing countries, the same may occur if the social awareness for the need to avoid pollution is created. The hydromyth that polluted rivers or aquifers are almost a requirement for industrial development should be abolished. Moreover, poor countries today can more easily use the clean industrial technologies developed in the industrialised countries during the last decades.
Markets
Recognising water as an economic good, now part of many declarations on water and of policies of major lenders and donors, has generated heated political debate and considerable fear. These conflicts have revealed fundamentally differing values associated with water among various cultures. Some claim that fostering the notion of water as a commodity moves public perception away from the reality of water as a common good and from a sense of common duty and responsibility toward water. In other words, there are profound ethical implications in perceiving ourselves as water citizen versus water consumers. Water as a common good focuses us on the former, while private as well as public ownership rights focus us on the second.
Responsible water use depends as much on assuring equitable distribution of water as fair pricing. We should also bear in mind that in most cases what is charged for is not water itself, but the infrastructure and services necessary to bring water from its natural source to the user.
Clean and plentiful water provides the foundation for prosperous communities. We rely on clean water to survive, yet right now we are heading towards a water crisis. Changing climate patterns are threatening lakes and rivers, and key sources that we tap for drinking water are being overdrawn or tainted with pollution. NRDC experts are helping to secure safe and sufficient water for people and the environment by:
Promoting water efficiency strategies to help decrease the amount of water wasted;
Protecting our water from pollution by defending the Clean Water Act and advocating for solutions like green infrastructure;
Clean and plentiful water provides the foundation for prosperous communities. We rely on clean water to survive, yet right now we are heading towards a water crisis. Changing climate patterns are threatening lakes and rivers, and key sources that we tap for drinking water are being overdrawn or tainted with pollution. NRDC experts are helping to secure safe and sufficient water for people and the environment by:
Promoting water efficiency strategies to help decrease the amount of water wasted;
Protecting our water from pollution by defending the Clean Water Act and advocating for solutions like green infrastructure;
Helping prepare cities, counties and states for water-related challenges they will face as a result of climate change; and
Ensuring that waterways have enough water to support vibrant aquatic ecosystems.
Promoting Water Efficiency
Despite the many existing pressures on our water resources, there are cost-effective solutions that will allow us to transform our relationship with water. To address increasing water scarcity in many places in the nation, NRDC is working to promote investments and policies that increase water use efficiency and decrease water waste, such as:
Adopting sensible standards for efficient appliances, buildings, and irrigation;
Supporting cost-effective investments by utilities to help customers save water; and
Improving pricing structures to save both water and money.
Protecting Clean Water
Dirty water is the world's biggest health risk, and continues to threaten both quality of life and public health in the United States. When water from rain and melting snow runs off roofs and roads into our rivers, it picks up toxic chemicals, dirt, trash and disease-carrying organisms along the way. Many of our water resources also lack basic protections, making them vulnerable to pollution from factory farms, industrial plants, and activities like fracking.
This can lead to drinking water contamination, habitat degradation and beach closures. NRDC is working to protect our water from pollution by:
Drawing on existing protections in the Clean Water Act, and working to ensure that the law's pollution control programs apply to all important waterways, including headwater streams and wetlands, which provide drinking water for 117 million Americans;
Improving protections to reduce pollutants like bacteria and viruses, which threaten Americans' health and well being; and
Establishing new pollution limits for top problem areas, such as sources of runoff and sewage overflows.
REFERENCE LIST
http://www.nrdc.org/water/default.asp
FLORES, A. 1982. The Philosophical Basis of Engineering Codes of Ethics. In: Engineering and Humanities, J. H. Schaub and S. K. Dickinson (Eds.). Krieger, Malabar, FL. Reproduced in Engineering Ethics and the Environment, P. A. Vesilind and A. S. Gunn, Cambridge University Press, pp. 201–9.
HUGHES, E.X. 1963. Professions. Daedelus 92, Fall 1963, pp. 655–68. Reproduced in Ethical Issues in Professional Life, J. C. Callahan (Ed.). Oxford University Press, 1980, pp. 31–5.
KADOURI, DJEBBAR Y. and BEHDI M. 2000. Water Rights and Water Trade: An Islamic Perspective. In: Water Management in Islam, N. Faruqui, A. Biswas and M. Bino (Eds.). United Nations University Press.
LADD, J. 1980. The Quest for a Code of Professional Ethics: An Intellectual and Moral Confusion. In: AAAS Professional Ethics Project, R. Chalk, M. S. Frankel and S. B. Chafer (Eds.). AAAS, Washington, D.C. Reproduced in Engineering, Ethics and the Environment, P. A. Vesilind and A. S. Gunn. Cambridge University Press. 1988, pp. 210–8.
LEE, T. R. 1981. The Public Perception of Risk and the Question of Irrationality. Proc. Royal Society of London, Vol. 376, No. 1746, pp. 5–16.
LEOPOLD A. 1997. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press, 1949. Reproduced in Ethics in Practice, H. La Follette (Ed.). Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 634–43.
Drawing on existing protections in the Clean Water Act, and working to ensure that the law's pollution control programs apply to all important waterways, including headwater streams and wetlands, which provide drinking water for 117 million Americans;
Improving protections to reduce pollutants like bacteria and viruses, which threaten Americans' health and well being; and
Establishing new pollution limits for top problem areas, such as sources of runoff and sewage overflows.
REFERENCE LIST
http://www.nrdc.org/water/default.asp
FLORES, A. 1982. The Philosophical Basis of Engineering Codes of Ethics. In: Engineering and Humanities, J. H. Schaub and S. K. Dickinson (Eds.). Krieger, Malabar, FL. Reproduced in Engineering Ethics and the Environment, P. A. Vesilind and A. S. Gunn, Cambridge University Press, pp. 201–9.
HUGHES, E.X. 1963. Professions. Daedelus 92, Fall 1963, pp. 655–68. Reproduced in Ethical Issues in Professional Life, J. C. Callahan (Ed.). Oxford University Press, 1980, pp. 31–5.
KADOURI, DJEBBAR Y. and BEHDI M. 2000. Water Rights and Water Trade: An Islamic Perspective. In: Water Management in Islam, N. Faruqui, A. Biswas and M. Bino (Eds.). United Nations University Press.
LADD, J. 1980. The Quest for a Code of Professional Ethics: An Intellectual and Moral Confusion. In: AAAS Professional Ethics Project, R. Chalk, M. S. Frankel and S. B. Chafer (Eds.). AAAS, Washington, D.C. Reproduced in Engineering, Ethics and the Environment, P. A. Vesilind and A. S. Gunn. Cambridge University Press. 1988, pp. 210–8.
LEE, T. R. 1981. The Public Perception of Risk and the Question of Irrationality. Proc. Royal Society of London, Vol. 376, No. 1746, pp. 5–16.
LEOPOLD A. 1997. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press, 1949. Reproduced in Ethics in Practice, H. La Follette (Ed.). Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 634–43.
