Future disagreements between nations could be over water

It seems like a bit of a storm in a jam pot: there is a German-led campaign to boycott Spanish strawberries, because environmental campaigners claim growing the fruit uses too much water in a region where that is an increasingly scarce resource.

Spearheaded by German consumer group Campact, the campaign urges German supermarkets not to stock strawberries grown in Huelva, a province in the southern Andalusia region, which is Spain’s biggest exporter of red fruits.

ALSO READ: DWS report reveals sharp decline in water services

What has upset the German “greens” is a plan by the right-wing provincial government to legalise illegal berry farms near Donana National Park, one of Europe’s largest and fauna-rich wetlands. The farms allegedly water the plants from illegal wells.

The issue has already caused tension between the two countries, with Spain claiming the action is putting jobs at risk.

What is interesting about the row is that it could be a portent of future disagreements between nations over water, which is becoming a dwindling resource across the planet. Use of water and access to it could well, in the coming decades, become almost as important as oil.

ALSO READ: Helen Joseph Hospital services affected by low water pressure

There are many nations prepared to start conflicts over oil – so, can water wars be far behind?