Bulk Water Exportation

In about 6 to 8 months, the first-ever bulk water exportation will begin. Up to 2.9 billion gallons of water is legally available for exportation from Sitka's Blue Lake Reservoir in Alaska that was specifically built to facilitate bulk exportation. Sitka will sell the water to Alaska Resource Management, LLC (ARM) for a penny a gallon. The water will be transported in huge plastic bags held in tankers from Alaska to a water hub somewhere in the world. From there, the water will be transported in smaller quantities to wherever it is needed within the region.

Recently, a water hub has been completed just south of Mumbai, India--the India World Water Hub. This hub is expected to purchase about half a billion gallons of water from ARM per year. Not only that, but there are 3 other applications that the Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources is considering for bulk exportation off of Adak Island, which is southwest of Anchorage on the Aleutian Chain. This process will take at least 1 year in order to determine if bulk water removal permits can be granted from this location. In other words, this could be the start of the global bulk water export market.

I have to admit that I am (slightly) torn on this issue. On the one hand bulk water exportation can provide clean water for people in water-starved regions. I do believe that all humans have an inalienable right to access clean, safe water...but from a water source is coming from half way across the globe? Displacing such a large quantity of water from one ecosystem to the next is not without consequence. Who knows what types of consequences could occur since this has never been done before. Not only that, but think of the carbon footprint from transporting that much water over such an expansive distance! FYI: the community of Sitka on a whole is behind this exportation since they do have "excess" water from a renewable resource. Moreover, the city stands to make $25 to $90 million annually from the sale of water for bulk exportation.

The concept of transporting large quantities of water over vast distances isn't new. There have been some rather radical ideas to provide water to water-starved regions and/or arid regions with explosive population growth. Some include towing icebergs from the North or South Pole, creating monstrous dams and reservoirs, and building massive pipeline systems that cover thousands of miles. Some of these ideas have become actualized: the Three Gorges Dam in China and the various reservoir and canal systems on the Colorado River (e.g., the Central Arizona Project, the State Water Project (CA).)

Not only that, but there have been ideas for over half a century about building massive pipelines in the US from the Columbia River, Mississippi River, and Great Lakes to provide water to the agricultural economy of California and to feed the explosive population growth in the arid Southwest. The Great Lakes States and Canada have recently reached an agreement to protect their water resources by banning any exportation of water from the Great Lakes. I applaud their efforts to keep the water in the Great Lakes and to maintain the integrity of that ecosystem. For Americans in particular, there is a lot of work to be done to streamline the efficiency of our water use and/or change our lifestyles that can stretch current water supplies before we begin building massive water projects that have astronomical financial and ecological costs.