Preface. As fresh water supplies are depleted worldwide and water crises increase, water theft is becoming more common. And damage to marine environments as well.
It is estimated that between 30% and 50% of the global water supply is stolen (Loch et al 2020).
Goundwater is a third of California’s water, but its use in California isn’t regulated, and so farmers may drain them as early as the 2030s (de Graaf et al. 2015). From 2000-2008, California used up a fifth of all the aquifer water that had ever existed there (Konikow 2013), and even more during the great drought of 2011 to 2017. There are plans to finally monitor groundwater (California is the only state that doesn’t do so), but not until 2040. So the theft of water from future generations goes unpunished.
Agriculture uses 70% of fresh water, and surprisingly, this is the area of greatest thefts.
It’s not theft, but perhaps ought to be: crops that require a huge amount of water, such as soy and corn in drought-prone California, should be replaced with more drought-tolerant crops, such as corn and soy which use more water than most other crops, even fruit and nut crops (Levy et al 2020).
Human-induced climate change will steal water as well. California’s snow banks supply half of all water, and may decline by 13 to 50% from climate change (Qin et al 2020). Since snow provides water year round for up to 3 crops a year, production may be reduced to just one crop in a state that produces a third of America’s food, raising prices for everyone.
Also in California, pot farms are wreaking destruction. Creek water is diverted to ponds to grow marijuana, rather than continuing on to the eel river, lowering water levels so much that the spawning grounds for salmon and other fish are endangered. Growers also use pesticides and other toxic chemicals that wash into streams and pollute watersheds.
Water theft isn’t always literally stealing water – farms and industry that discharge toxic wastes into water rather than treat them are also stealing fresh water by making it undrinkable, or expensive to treat. And since treatment is very expensive, it can be avoided by water fraud that alters samples to make the water look clean.
In addition, leaks from sewer lines and underground storage tanks release hazardous substances, such as sulphates, chlorides, nitrates, or petroleum products (e.g. gasoline, diesel, kerosene, oil). They contaminate not only underground and drinking water, but also rivers and oceans;
Mining and dredging of the marine environment and underwater construction of offshore wind turbines and other construction projects endanger the marine ecosystem, as does the illegal dumping of garbage offshore.
As incentives to steal water increase, so does the challenge for regulators with respect to resourcing, detection, enforcement and appropriate sanctions.
I’ve included the section on water theft from Interpol and the UN below since it is the shortest most comprehensive overview. This paper also covers environmental destruction of air and land, biodiversity loss of elephants and other trafficked animals, stealing of natural resources from illegal logging, fishing, and mining.
And here’s an amazing factoid: Humans control the majority of freshwater on earth because human-managed reservoirs comprise only a small percentage of all water bodies, they account for 57% of the total seasonal water storage changes globally (Cooley 2021).
Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com author of “Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy”, 2021, Springer; “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer, Barriers to Making Algal Biofuels, and “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Podcasts: Collapse Chronicles, Derrick Jensen, Practical Prepping, KunstlerCast 253, KunstlerCast278, Peak Prosperity , XX2 report
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INTERPOL & UNEP (2016) Strategic report. Environment, peace, & security: A convergence of threats. International Criminal Police Organization & UN Environment.
Water is one of the most plentiful resources on our planet. Although it is a key factor for development, some populations still suffer from water deprivation. As a scarce commodity, states and institutions are facing pressing challenges to ensure water security, as they aim to provide access to clean water and sanitation. The quality of water is particularly compromised by human induced pollution, such as:
- Improper waste management: until the 1970s, there was no or inadequate waste management planning to dispose of waste, which was discharged into the water. The transition towards disposing properly of waste accumulated as a result of a growing urbanization rate, the development of tourism, and the intensification of industrial activities proved challenging, as the Khian Sea episode illustrates. The main issues now concern consumer behavior, which contributes to marine litter and plastic pollution, as well as developing countries confronted with the need to adopt waste-management policies adapted to their growth;
- Marine projects: environmental impact assessments have demonstrated the detrimental effect of underwater construction projects, such as the Öresund crossing, but more importantly of ocean mining. As the seabed offers large quantities of minerals and metals, it draws considerable attention. The exploitation and extraction of the seabed’s resources, however, endangers the marine ecosystem, notably by disrupting the marine habitat of species;
- Leakages from sewer lines and underground storage: leaks from damaged and/or old sewage systems and underground storage tanks release hazardous substances, such as sulphates, chlorides, nitrates, or petroleum products (e.g. gasoline, diesel, kerosene, oil). They contaminate not only underground and drinking water, but also rivers and oceans;
- Leachates from landfills, pesticides, and fertilizers: these toxic substances eventually pollute groundwater, rivers, and oceans, as a result of infiltrations in the soil and land runoffs;
- Oil pollution: one of the most devastating sources of water pollution is oil spills, which typically involves the discharge of petroleum into the water. They generally occur through negligence or intentional non-compliance. Although the number of incidents has significantly decreased over the past years, this remains an issue for concern, as the environmental impact is considerable and long-lasting.
Criminal Activity
There is a wide variety of water-related crimes but this report distinguishes between three categories: water fraud, water pollution, and water theft.
Water fraud involves the alteration of sampling techniques or results to avoid treatment costs. The main danger from these practices is the negative health implications. For instance, when statistics are manipulated deceitfully to promote water as being clean, it poses a genuine health risk as the water supplied may not be as clean and safe as advertised;
Water pollution implies the intentional contamination of water, usually by companies or vessels (e.g. improper disposal of sewage, chemicals and waste, oil spills). The following trends can be underlined with regard to:
- Oil-pollution crimes include illegal oil discharges, false statements or records, and bypassing pollution prevention equipment. Illegally operating vessels have sailed under the national flags of countries, such as Cyprus, Denmark, Djibouti, United Kingdom, Hong Kong (China), Italy, Liberia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Russia;
- Illegal garbage discharges entail the illegal discharge of garbage and the absence or the illegal alteration of garbage record books.
Water theft is understood, here, as non-revenue water, that is the unauthorized use and consumption of water before it reaches the intended end-user. It is estimated that between 30 and 50 per cent of the global water supply is illegally purchased. Regions experiencing chronic water stress (e.g. Southern Europe, Africa) and marginalized deprived areas (e.g. slums in India, Bangladesh, or Brazil) are particularly vulnerable. Local communities are, therefore, forced to find alternative solutions to fulfil their daily needs for water. In Africa, the number of unregulated wells has skyrocketed from 2 million to an estimated 23-25 million in a decade. While this reflects poor water management, this practice is also conducive to the major degradation of water resources.
Criminal Supply Chain
In cases of pollution (e.g. illegal waste discharge and oil spill), water is not considered as a commodity, which can be traded. In other words, water pollution is not about obtaining water as a raw product and trafficking in it: water suffers collateral damage of negligence or criminal behavior. Water pollution not only affects environmental quality but it also disrupts business activities. Oil spills contaminate an area which can sometimes be very large (e.g. BP oil spill in 201438), thereby destabilizing other sectors, such as fisheries, and disrupting the supply chain of the companies active in the polluted region. Criminals involved in other water-related crimes, such as water fraud and water theft, jeopardize the integrity of the existing supply chain. The supply of water takes place in two general stages:
Production: before reaching its end-users, water is usually collected from a source point, such as lake, river, or groundwater. It is then routed, through a ground-level or underground structure, to a treatment facility. After being purified, the water is piped to a storage system, such as a reservoir, tank, or cistern. An underground network finally connects the storage facility to the end-users. To ensure the quality of the water supplied, different samples are collected and analyzed at each point (collection, treatment, and storage). However, the samples and the results provided are sometimes tainted with fraud, undermining the supply chain integrity and posing a serious health risk, as mentioned earlier.
Distribution: the delivery of water to end-users highlights two issues. On the supply side, the
public sector is sometimes involved in over-billing or imposing maintenance charges which should not be borne by the consumers. Alternatively, on the demand side, end-users are sometimes engaging in reprehensible behavior to evade costs associated with the access to water (e.g. concealing illegal connections, tampering with meter readings).
Crime Convergence
Water crimes intersect with other criminal activities. Financial motivations spur on unscrupulous individuals wishing to avoid costs. Fraud and document forgery are common practices (e.g. presenting forged or false declarations, manipulating the vessels’ records detailing their waste and oil discharges, reporting fake results of analyses to eliminate costs associated with water treatment). This is compounded by endemic corruption. In the public sector, bribery, misappropriation of funds, and fraud plague the tendering and procurement processes in creating the water-supply infrastructure. This also highlights the disregard for health and safety regulations, which put the life of consumers at risk. In parallel, corrupt practices between public and private actors can take place at several stages: some consumers engage in administrative corruption to influence the design of the water-supply infrastructure to ensure easier access to water or to benefit from preferential treatment in general (e.g. higher flow of water, repairs). This exacerbates the problem of unequal and unfair distribution of a vital resource, based on a corrupt system that relies on bribes.
Corruption in the water sector is also fueled by the involvement of organized crime, and more specifically mafia-type groups. The monopoly over the water supply underpins the power and influence that organized crime groups have over vulnerable communities living in poor and/or marginalized areas (e.g. slums), particularly in Bangladesh, Brazil, and India.
The misuse of water for terrorist purposes is not new and highlights the problem of water being exploited for criminal ends. More recently, the control of dams in Iraq by the terrorist group Daesh, (also known as the Islamic State or ISIL), has raised concerns about some populations which could be threatened by the group’s decision to flood villages or deprive them of water in regions already facing water scarcity. Similarly, the Nigerian terrorist group, Boko Haram, is believed to have poisoned water sources, resulting in the death of cattle as well as the displacement of populations. Not only do terrorist acts targeting water or the water infrastructure directly affect populations, but they can also contribute to pollution.
References
Cooley SWet al (2021) Human alteration of global surface water storage variability. Nature.
Konikow LF (2013) Groundwater depletion in the United States (1900-2008): Scientific Investigations Report 2013-U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20135079
Levy MC, Neely WR, Borsa AA et al (2020) Fine-scale spatiotemporal variation in subsidence across California’s San Joaquin Valley explained by groundwater demand. Environmental Research Letters 16.
Loch A, Perez-Blanco CD, Carmody E (2020) Grand theft water and the calculus of compliance. Nature Sustainability 3: 1012-1018.
Qin Y, Abatzoglou JT, Siebert S (2020) Agricultural risks from changing snowmelt. Nature Climate Change 10: 459-465.