The mother of all wars still to come: Owning the “clear gold”

The third largest aquifer in the world straddles four countries in South America: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. There’s enough water under these countries to supply the planet’s population with fresh water for 200 years. Sounds like a fantastic resource, right? Unfortunately, many believe the aquifer is being used at a rate faster than it can be recharged and that it’s being polluted by reckless corporations and careless governments.
One would think that with such a large and vital body of water, we’d know quite a bit about it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s not that no studies have been done, they have. Back in 2000 the four countries directly over the Guarani Aquifer, got a loan from the World Bank to evaluate the aquifer. Research continued until 2009 when the governments denied an extension to the World Bank wanting to continue the research with their own. The World Bank published a report with a lot of unanswered questions.
The aquifer may be news to us here in the United States, but within South America, there are many conspiracy theories surrounding the Guarani Aquifer. Some say that the United States has been buying up land to control the water supply (a la the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace). Others believe that paper mills and the soy farms are polluting the water supply beyond repair.
If a couple of independent documentary film makers have their way, we’ll know quite a bit about the Guarani Aquifer soon. Annabel Symington and Vasilios Sfinarolakis have begun researching in 2010 the problems, causes, and solutions for the film.
“The Guarani Aquifer is a huge topic in South America”, said Symington. “Ask any Brazilian or Argentinean and they will have an opinion on the matter. All the people I’ve spoken to in Latin America, ...