Advancing U.S. Prosperity and Security in a Thirsty World

Jun 9, 2017 | Jane Harman & Carter Roberts
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The waters of Lake Chad sustain 70 million people in four countries. Beginning in the 1970s, the 25,000-square-kilometer lake began shrinking due to excessive drawdown for agriculture and mining. Now only 10 percent remains. The dwindling water supply devastated food production and fostered massive economic and political tensions. Many experts credit the worsening conditions for contributing to the rise of Boko Haram, an extremist group that has killed 20,000 people and forced 2.3 million more to flee.

Here at home, water challenges may not drive violent conflict, but they do threaten our economy. Last year, Los Angeles was parched, and strict measures to save water were imposed by Governor Jerry Brown. This year, Governor Brown declared a different kind of emergency in the wake of massive flooding – the result of record-setting rainfall exacerbated by soil too dry to efficiently absorb it.

Crises like these are becoming all too common around the world and have far-reaching consequences for U.S. interests. We rely on water to cultivate, cleanse, support energy generation, and supply the basic goods and services that keep societies stable and functioning. Meanwhile, our supply chains depend on the agricultural productivity of partner countries. Our national security in turn depends on good governance and regional stability.