Is Water a Natural Right or Is It a Commodity - Essay Example

Different civilizations throughout history considered water as a mutual property resource and not an open access resource. Hence there were different priorities over water usage. Drinking water had the highest priority; nobody who wanted drinking water was turned away. The community well dug by the community, in general, was freely used by the community. A civilization like Rome shows a typical example of how water was allocated when there was an actual allocation and sanitation system. They had an unrestricted water source recognized as the locus.

Here the Romans rich or poor could collect water for free. The use of lacus required one to transport the water to their private homes using their labor and money. Then there was another kind of executive supply of water whereby the water would be delivered to the homestead via a pipe for a fee. It was an actual right recognized by the Roman and Jewish law which was known as the “Right to thirst”. This shows that human beings since the early civilization have recognized water especially drinking water as a human right and not a commodity (Branco, 150).

In today’s world, international human rights and law have been put in place which acknowledges water as a human right and not a commodity. This was agreed on after a lot of discussion and debate by 122 countries. This decision was arrived at formally on 28 July 2010. This was done in a General Assembly (GA) resolution (A/64/292 which was established on draft resolution A/64/L>63/Rev.1.) It led to the UN Human Rights Council espousing an obligatory resolution that acknowledged that the human right to water and sanitation is an element of the right to a sufficient standard of living.

Although it is recognized in international law it cannot be imposed in the national echelon until it’s integrated into the national legislation (Gupta, 304). This resolution confirms that the human right to nontoxic drinking water and sanitation originated from the right to an adequate standard of living and is inextricably tied to the right to the highest possible standard of physical and mental health, also the right to life and human dignity. This right places several responsibilities on governments.

They are meant to ensure that all their citizens can access sufficient, uncontaminated water and affordable in an equal manner. Some of the uses that water should be availed for include drinking, personal sanitation, washing clothes, food preparation, and personal hygiene. The States should ensure that priority should go to personal and domestic uses over other uses. This water should be sufficient, cleanly affordable, and accessible. Governments should also take up secondary priorities of irrigation and availing water for manufacturing in an affordable manner (International water sanitation center, 204).

The number of people unable to access clean and improved sources of domestic and drinking water is 780 million and at least 2.6 billion lacking access to sanitation services. This shows that still, a lot has to be done to make sure water is accessible to all on the planet. Other problems that have afflicted secure and accessible sourcing of water are the cross-border conflicts in the Middle East, The Eastern Mediterranean, and other parts of North America.