Off-Camera Notes: On Water Bringing People Together

After a brief hiatus from shooting — the timely onset of final assignments, term lab reports, and second midterms had (albeit regrettably) left me not much time to be a TV star of any sort these past two weeks — we got back into the groove yesterday afternoon.

In my interview with UW’s Environment and Resource Studies professor Rob de Loë, we chatted about the importance of water governance and policy.  Ultimately, I was impressed to realize just how socially significant water is: beyond being something merely for us to drink, for crops to grow, or even, for the major role it plays in our ecosystem and wildlife habitats — water, as this fundamental source of life, actually brings people together.

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“We always hear that saying that, oh, ‘great wars of the future will be fought over water’,” de Loë quoted, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ve always had something against that saying.  Water is of utmost importance, and yes, we quarrel over water.  But ultimately, what water does is it brings communities of people together, to work with one another on this great quest to find the means to survive.”