A Barren Future: Not Even A Drop of Water

Looking back decades ago, people would simply dismiss the thought that water would soon disappear, that water would soon dry out from dams and there would not even be a single drop to drink or it would not even be possible to keep a flowerpot. Years ago, one would have been a laughing stock for uttering such an idea.

 People are taking water for granted, not knowing that it would soon dry out. However, no matter how unimaginable it could be, our future is slowly turning towards that end. From what I can remember, months ago, the Philippines had a glimpse of this terrible future when the dams had a shortage of water supply. It had been a scorching hot summer for us and for our dams as well due to El Niño. Around the month of July, the water levels of Angat Dam and Magat Dam as well as the other dams in the country had gone into an all time low. Based on the reports on TV and on articles from the newspapers, the Angat Dam which supplies water for Bulacan, Pampanga and NCR had steadily dropped during the El Niño phenomenon causing problems on servicing the residents of the said areas. Residents were short of drinking water. Farmers’ plants and crops were thirsty and drying. Ponds had also dried out. Strife and fear had started to set because of the possible drought. Some had lost their livelihood.

Though the drought lasted only for a few long months, it had created a buzz. People started to fear for the future. People started to contemplate how long our water sources will lasts. There’s no question on people’s fear. When were out of oil, were out of energy and our economy is down. When were out of money, were out of power. But when were out of water, were out of life. I’m not saying that water is the sole source of life. Yet I wanted to point out that much of our life depends on it. If water would run out in our dams and rivers, plants and crops would soon die out and we would soon run out of food. Lights and power will soon be out because a large part of our electricity supply comes from hydrothermal energy. Lands will barren. Flora and fauna would disappear. People would starve. People and countries would fight over water and there would be chaos. Perhaps, a single drop of water would be even be priced as high as a diamond? Not impossible. What a dreadful future it could be!

Unfortunately, there is no possible alternative for water. There are other sources of electricity such as nuclear energy and solar energy but nothing can replace water in the life of man and plants alike. Water shortage on dams could be eased by cloud seeding, water recycling, water use management and conservation of course. However, global warming is taking a toll in our planet. Compared to the droughts we had experienced on the past, the droughts we could possibly have in the future might be worse. Cloud seeding won’t be enough to replenish the future shortage on water. All we could possibly do is to start working things now. Value what we have today and take a tight grip on it so we won’t lose it. Conservation is the key. Also, we would have to value other elements of our nature because the loss of any part of it would equate to the loss of the whole. If we won’t start doing this today, we might as well pray that a miracle would just happen out of nowhere? It could be miracle wherein we would be able to live without water in the future. Or let’s say that scientist were able to discover a replacement of water. Either way, it’s our choice. Our future lies in our hands.