In this opening discussion for the exhibition, Water Stories: River Goddesses, Ancestral Rites, and Climate Crisis, the exhibition curator and faculty director Jinah Kim engages in conversation with the art historian Yukio Lippit and Radcliffe’s curator of exhibitions, Meg Rotzel.
Water is essential to global society, for everything from drinking and growing food to producing energy and cultural practices. 40 percent of the world’s workforce works in sectors that rely on water, and water counts for $58 trillion in global economic output each year. But while the industrialized world can take water access for granted, water resources around the world are increasingly under stress. Billions of people lack access to safely managed sanitation systems and drinking water, and as this critical resource grows increasingly scarce, it is becoming a trigger for, weapon in, and casualty of global conflicts.
Our survival depends on water, yet global reserves are rapidly shrinking. It’s now replaced oil as the most likely cause of global conflict. Can technology help secure humanity’s future water needs?
The latest drought monitor shows three-quarters of the U.S. is now dealing with some level of drought or dryness. Of that, 60% falls in the D1 moderate drought to D4 exceptional drought categories, the highest level since November 2022. To put it in perspective, drought coverage has only exceeded 60% about 30 times in recent history, 25 of those during the widespread drought of 2012 and 2013.
Corporate farms are bleeding our aquifers dry. In places like Arizona and California, these massive operations guzzle groundwater without regulation. This unsustainable practice harms local residents, smaller farmers, and the environment.
Unlike individuals and small farms, corporations have the funds to drill ever-deeper wells, chasing retreating groundwater. Their unchecked extraction leads to dry wells in nearby communities, forcing people to buy bottled water or go thirsty.
Corporate farms prioritize profits, often growing water-thirsty crops unsuitable for arid environments. While fields of almonds or alfalfa may be lucrative, they deplete precious aquifers with alarming speed. We need policies that prioritize the long-term health of our groundwater. Regulations must address unsustainable extraction, particularly by large corporations. We need to champion water-wise crops and support farmers dedicated to conservation. The water crisis is real. It’s time we hold powerful interests accountable and demand a future where water isn’t solely a commodity for the highest bidder.