Do You Think Water is Renewable??

Happy World Water Day!! I was recently chatting with my brother and we got into a debate over whether water was renewable or not. Isn’t that what we were all taught in school? That the water cycle is just that – a never ending cycle? Why should we conserve something that’s renewable?

World Water Day is a UN holiday observed globally on March 22. It aims to raise awareness for those living in water scarcity, celebrate the importance of water and take action against the global water crisis. A big motivation of World Water Day is the Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. 

So is Water Renewable?

So which one of us was right? Is water renewable? It’s both – Technically water is reusable – just not in the way we’re using it. And this usage creates strain on a resource everyone needs to live, which in turn creates political conflicts around who gets what water (which ties into this year’s theme – more below). About half of the world’s population is currently facing severe water scarcity for at least part of the year.

Renewable resources are those that will replenish themselves at the rate they’re used without any human intervention. Think: wind, sunlight. Non-renewable resources has a finite supply. Think: natural gas or aluminum. The tricky thing is some resources can be both. Think: water or timber, depending on how quickly they’re depleted.

The Water Cycle

While the water cycle does ensure that water returns to the earth, it does not create new water. Meaning unlike other renewable resources, where there is more wind or sunlight generated, we don’t create new water, just reuse it.

Plus, each stage of the water cycle takes a different amount of time to complete (meaning water doesn’t cycle through immediately) and a lot of water is stuck in glaciers, the salty ocean or underground.

Combining that with climate change making the water cycle and water-related weather events more extreme/unpredictable and you have a renewable resource we need to actively work to conserve.

Water for Peace

Every World Water Day has a theme. This year’s theme is “Leveraging Water for Peace”. Bodies of water cross borders. In areas where the resource is scarce, that can create conflict as either a trigger (the cause of a dispute), a weapon (water used as a means to control an area), or a casualty (where water or water infrastructure is lost as a result of conflict). I especially like that the committee addresses water at the international (they use the term transboundary), national, AND local level. Basically, the UN is stressing that water-related activities (sanitation, utilities, energy, food, industry, ect.) have to be managed at more than a national level; that it will take both local and international involvement to ensure equitable use.

Celebrating World Water Day

So what can we do? Just be mindful of how much water you’re using. There’s always so much [more] to do, but the goal is to bring awareness to an issue I think is often overlooked because most people view water as renewable. And they’re not wrong. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be mindful (even in small ways) of how we use it. Learning and being aware of (and then bringing that awareness to) problems is always the first step. You can’t do anything if you don’t know it’s happening.

Because water is a common good, it sometimes falls victim to the tragedy of the commons. Everyone needs it and uses it, but the burden of maintaining it is unfairly put on one group (e.g. consumers instead of polluting corporations). So while the list below is very consumer focused, I do think it’s important to call out that boycotting brands that are water offenders, or writing to express your displeasure or voting for stricter regulations are also really important actions.

• Participate in a stream clean up
• Lead a citizen science project
• Implement a rain barrel
• VOTE
• Advocate for water policy

How are you celebrating World Water Day?