The Power to Protect
Troy, MI
2021, Senior, Creative Writing
The year is 1854.
A child falls ill, plagued with profuse diarrhea and uncontrollable vomiting. Quickly, as the body rejects the water it desperately needs, the child becomes dehydrated. Death results.
As cholera swept Britain, leaving 23,000 dead in a single year, physicians and scientists scrambled for an explanation. The early miasma theory contended that cholera arose from bad air, a product of decaying organic material. Germ theory, in contrast, asserted that cholera was transmitted through contaminated water: in 19th century London, sewage was discarded in overflowing cesspools and in the River Thames, infiltrating the water supply and spreading disease like wildfire. After John Snow’s landmark experiment on the now-infamous Broad Street Pump, it became evident that water was indeed the source of cholera. Water, depending on its purity, can be both the bringer of life and the bearer of disease.
The year is 2014.
A child falls ill, plagued with rashes and hair loss. When the child’s blood is tested, it’s discovered that their lead levels are twice as high as expected, putting the child at immediate risk for developmental and cognitive impairment.
When Flint switched the source of the city’s drinking water to the Flint River, residents immediately noticed the foul and discolored water flowing from their taps. The Flint River, as the historical heart of the automobile industry, was the unofficial dumping ground of many businesses. The river also was subjected to toxic runoff and even raw sewage. After significant amounts of testing, the contaminated water from the Flint River was found to be the cause of elevated lead levels in Flint residents.
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (UNESCO) claims that “the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life of human dignity.” Moreover, UNESCO states that “[the right to water] is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.” Water is our lifeforce. From the aqueous cytosol in our cells to the blood that travels through our veins, we are forever intertwined with water’s fate. If we dirty our water with lead and mercury, the same chemicals will poison us. If we exploit our water resources and drain them dry, we will also shrivel and desiccate. Water is more than a mere necessity; water also regenerates our spirit. With every opalescent seashell we collect on a rocky shore, with every minute spent relaxing on a boat drifting through calm waters, we heal and we transcend the struggles that trouble us.
It’s clear that we must protect our water, and government policy is a start. In 1984, the first major U.S. law to address water pollution—the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948—was passed. The urbanization and widespread industrialization after World War II caused the disposal of industrial waste in waterways, and the undeniably noxious pollution caused the federal government to finally take action. However, this act offered weak regulation. Because the task of controlling water pollution was given to the states, federal authority was limited to creating plans and providing support. With the inability of the federal government to regulate water pollution, more than 20 years passed without much improvement in water quality. Therefore, in 1972, Congress amended the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, causing the act to subsequently receive a new name: the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act regulates discharge of pollutants into United States waters and also maintains the quality of surface waters. Under the Clean Water Act, it’s illegal to discharge pollutants without a permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
However, legislation alone isn’t enough to ensure the sanctity of our water. Sometimes, as shown by the cholera outbreak of 1854, the government simply does not have the information to make the correct decision. At other times, as demonstrated by the Flint water crisis of 2014, the government blatantly ignores potential health concerns to save money. Furthermore, the government is held accountable for economic growth, and this growth often comes with overproduction and overconsumption. Pollution is labeled as a mere negative externality—an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of a booming economy.
The best way to combat water pollution, therefore, begins in our communities. For instance, the water protector movement started from Indigenous communities unified by the belief that water is sacred. Water protectors seek to create harmony—not just between living beings, but between humans and the inorganic materials that are the foundation of our planet Earth. In 2016, the water protectors rallied against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, which threatened to contaminate the Missouri River. Although the pipeline was eventually completed, the water protectors garnered international attention for their unified efforts, allowing them to shed light upon the ramifications of building pipelines without consideration of the environment. Similarly, the Flint water crisis was detected and resolved through community efforts. Without Flint residents spearheading a lawsuit against the city, it’s likely that the basic human right to clean water would continue to be ignored.
Protecting clean water begins with us, not the government, and not an organization. As individuals and as members of our communities, we must realize that clean water isn’t an unattainable dream. The state of Earth’s water is a reflection of our actions, and our actions are something that we can control.
Reflection
It's easy to isolate one's self from the big discussions of preserving nature and saving the environment. Although many of us know that Earth's waters are polluted with plastic waste and toxic chemicals, we have become desensitized to this bleak reality. Thus, when I wrote this piece, I wanted not only to highlight the history of water protection movements, but also to emphasize the importance of taking personal responsibility. As the success of historical water protection movements demonstrates, as long as we can recognize our ability to cause change, we can actually cause that change. We have the power to protect Earth's water, and nothing is inevitable.