Drop by Drop: Water Past and Present in America

1. Drop by Drop: Water Past and Present in America Kristine C. Harper, Department of History, Florida State University Introduction Drop by Drop is a history of water in America: a study of how scientists, engineers, industrialists, experts, and politicians utilized and exploited this most crucial of natural resources. By examining significant changes in the “hydroscape” of the United States from the start of the Industrial Revolution until the present, this research will provide more than a much-needed history of hydrology in America: it will explore how scientific, popular, and political views of water changed over time, and illuminate how choices over freshwater shaped domestic and (by the twentieth century) foreign policy issues. Let’s look at one way water played a foreign policy role in the 1960s. Humanitarian Effort or Cold War Program? While Lyndon Johnson viewed Water for Peace as an extension of his Great Society—a vision coming out of his experience representing a hard-scrabble, water-poor district as a Texas congressman—members of his national security council team and of the State Department’s Office of International Scientific Affairs, had a rather different view. For them, Water for Peace was a cold war program to encourage US allies to stay that way and fence-sitting nations to align with US interests. Draft policy guidance from February 1965—some eight months before Johnson announced the program—argued that political and economic stability of nations depended upon an adequate freshwater supply. Although small-scale desalination had been around for years, within 10-20 years it appeared that nuclear energy coupled with scientific and technology advances directly related to desalination techniques would be able to produce enough water for industrial and domestic use at a reasonable price in many water-scarce parts of the world. Since the sharing of science and technology that was beneficial to people had a good track-record in helping the US meet its foreign policy objectives, there was reason to think that desalting techniques would likewise be a good foreign policy fit. As the policy document put it, “Cooperation in desalting can provide a basic and strong link in our association with many countries seeking improved water resources.”2 Water for Peace: LBJ’s “Great Society” Goes Global 7 October 1967: the United States, Mexico, and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement at a White House ceremony to study the possible development and use of nuclear dual-purpose electric power and desalting plants in the countries’ arid shared border region. President Lyndon Baines Johnson, not one to lose an opportunity to make a public splash, invited delegates from sixty nations who were in town to attend the First International Symposium on Water Desalination to witness the signing along with the usual assortment of congressional leaders and members of the press. But this was not just any old signing ceremony. LBJ had decided to use this setting to announce his Water for Peace Program. Settling for Low Tech Nuclear-powered desalination might have made a big splash, but it carried a large price tag and was not suitable for extending fresh, piped water to the estimated 800 million rural residents of the “free world” for whom clean, readily available water was a major problem. Instead, a committee formed to advise Johnson recommended focusing on rural Latin America, turning it into a model for water resources management and delivery, and exporting the expertise gained thereby to developing nations in Asia and Africa. The Alliance for Progress had already been active in water projects in Latin America, which had a good supply of sanitary engineers and water systems technicians. The Inter-American Development Bank—established, experienced, and well-funded—could provide the financing. And the US wanted to keep Latin America within its sphere of influence. Water for Peace would perform a useful coordination function particularly on the science, technology, and foreign relations side of the projects. It pursued major objectives supported by Johnson including determining and meeting long-term water needs, developing science and technology to produce new sources of fresh water, and giving greater assistance to nations with urgent needs for healthful water. For LBJ, Water for Peace was more than a slogan. It was also an integral part of his big dreams for good food, clean water, and a better way of life for all—his Great Society gone global—based on advances in science and technology that he was sure would appear in the not too distant future.3 Conclusion In the history of America, it turns out, the availability of freshwater was not just of “local” interest. Indeed, by the 20th century it was directly related to national security. As Earth’s changing climate leads to changes in precipitation patterns, water’s relation to national security will likely increase. Consequently, deciding how to best allocate and use it will become more complicated than in the past, the lessons from which might well guide policy in the future. Using Science and Technology for Diplomacy Using science and technology to promote peace was, of course, not new. President Eisenhower had launched the Atoms for Peace Program in 1953, and a food program in 1954, which President Kennedy would dub Food for Peace in 1961. With nuclear nuclear energy holding out the hope of cheap power for all, President Johnson latched onto the apparently never-ending capability of science and technology to solve most, if not all, of mankind’s ills and turned his focus to water. A recently launched 5-year, $200 million program for research and development to lower the cost of desalting water was just a small down payment in his eyes. For Lyndon Johnson, “the hopes for a Great Society” did not stop at America’s shoreline. Science and technology needed to be used to augment water supplies in all nations where water was in short supply. His objective: water for all humanity.1 Notes: 1. White House Press Release. Remarks of the President to the Delegates to the Desalting Symposium, 7 October 1965; Charles L. Schultze to Jack Valenti, 23 September 1965. 2. Draft Policy Guidance on Foreign Desalting Programs, 26 February 1965. 3. Dean Rusk and Stewart Udall, 31 August 1966. All from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, Austin, Texas. Contact: Dr. Kristine C. Harper, kcharper@fsu.edu 04/2010