The Undeclared International Water Crisis

We are in the middle of an international water crisis, even though it hasn’t been declared. We’re living through an incredible amount of emergencies that demand radical action.

Earlier this month scientists declared that most rain water in the entire world is too toxic to be safe for human consumption. We’re witnessing both record floods and record droughts. Once-in-a-lifetime water crises are now occurring yearly.

Rivers are drying up, lakes are shrinking, aquifers are being polluted and poisoned. There is no resource more precious than water. There is no price that can be put on protecting and ensuring access to clean, safe water.

The time has come for us to declare an International Water Crisis, and take broad and radical action around the world’s most precious natural resource on a scale we’ve never seen before. Collectively we must take mass, radical action to ensure we have clean water, and to halt the climate change before droughts and flooding and sea level rise harm even more people.

Below are some examples of the breadth of crises happening right now, and some action you can take today. There are so many that we could never list them all, we just want to highlight some important ones right now.

• O’ahu. The U.S. Navy is poising the island’s main aquifer with jet fuel. Take action here to support the O’ahu water protectors.

• Pakistan. A third of the country is underwater. Millions have been displaced and ongoing flooding continues to displace millions of people and destroy homes, schools, and infrastructure. Lend your support here to people in Pakistan.

• Jackson. Over 150,000 people are without water pressure right now. Mississippi’s capital lacks proper water infrastructure, and the majority Black city is in a water emergency. Take action here.