Why we worry about feature water conflicts?

Question

What measure should have been taken in order to minimize the level of the conflicts?

Answer 1

I expect you meant "future" water conflicts.

One of the conflicting areas is that many fresh water sources are either on international (or state) borders or extend beyond those borders.

For instance, the United States has the Colorado river. It originates in Colorado, but flows out of that state. It passes through Utah and is used as part of the borders for Nevada, Arizona, and California. It then passes into Mexico before it, historically, empties into the Gulf of California, or as many Mexicans prefer, the Sea of Cortez.

If the folks in Colorado wanted to keep all their water by daming it up before it left the state, some of the river would still run because of tributaries that also feed into it, but the diminished flow would pose a problem for some folks in southern Utah and northern Arizona. If the folks in Arizona wanted to keep it all after it passed exclusively into that state, then folks in Nevada and California who use the river's water would be unhappy. There would even be unhappy people in Arizona because of folks who get their water from it further downstream. But as that water flows south, people from the other states tap it. Still they have negotiated amounts, or rights, to that water flow, so one side can't take too much. Finally, the United States can't take all of that water, and we have a treaty with Mexico protecting the amount of water that simply has to arrive in Mexico. Not only that, but with various cities taking up water and only keeping the good stuff, the water that arrives in Mexico is very salty and mineral-laden. Because of that, the US government has a desalination plant near the border with Mexico that takes some of the salt and minerals out of the water. Finally, unless we have a hurricane that dumps a bunch of rain in the Arizona and far eastern California deserts, the Mexicans take out so much water that the river no longer runs to the sea.

We have a canal in southern California (the "All American Canal") that takes Colorado river water and delivers it to Imperial Valley farmers, with the residue dumped in the Salton Sea (which was formed when an earlier canal diversion was not fully controlled). Since we started lining the canal to reduce water seepage into the soil, it has begun to dry up the underground aquafier (subterrean streams, like Arizona's famous Hassayampa river, essentially the second largest river in the state, but almost none of it is above ground, the old tale is told that if you drink water from that river you become a liar). So some Mexican farmers and communities that had begun to depend on that water are suffering.

There are similar, and sometimes more complex, water issues in other places where there are lots of people, lots of farms, but not lots of fresh water. In many of those places, it takes very little provocation to call out the troops and start shooting if one side or the other gets too ticked off. Water wars, as in bombs and shooting, are a real possibility in many parts of the world.