Well-Worn Water Words, Part 1

Curmudgeon alert!

Tired of a failure to connect the dots? Maybe not, but I suspect you're tired of the expression "failure to connect the dots."

A Tweet from Robert at Watercrunch provided the impetus for this post. In response to my saying that I was getting 'burned out' on water wars he suggested that we declare a truce and eschew the use of that term. I agreed.

But then I started thinking about some other phrases and words that have been overused by WaterWonks (yo tambien - me, too) and others (especially those who have no idea what they are talking about) as well.  These have become clichés. So here's a short list.

1) Water is the new oil. How often have we heard this? Many times, for many years. Let's move on.

2) The wars of the 21st century will be fought over water. See #1 above. Enough said.

3) Integrate science and policy. How many times have you seen this as the tag line or in the title of an conference? Are the meeting convenors really going to do this or are they simply trying to broaden the attendee base? Isn't it obvious that we should be integrating science and policy?

4) Fish vs. farmers. This is a favorite term of media types and others who wish to simplify a (usually) complicated situation. It does a disservice to all involved.

5) Proclamations, principles, statements. Let's not forget those conferences and symposia that issue proclamations, principles, statements, agendas, etc. These things are usually required by conference sponsors who want to see some deliverables or outputs. In most cases, they state the obvious and are pretentious.

6) Sustainable, sustainability, etc. This has been used so frequently that it's lost meaning. We use it without defining it. As my former colleague David Brookshire (an economist) would ask whenever someone used this term, "Which of the 30 definitions are you using?" I used to think David was just being contrary, but ultimately realized he was correct.

7) Underground aquifers. Arrrgghhhh.....

8) Surface and groundwater. What they really mean is surface water and groundwater.

9) The water-energy (or water-whatever) nexus. Thanks to Gayle Leonard. This should have been first on my list.

10) Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting over.' The quote attributed to Mark Twain. Regardless of who said it, let's retire it. Thanks to Aqua Blog Maven at Aquafornia and Todd Jarvis at Rainbow Water Coalition. 

11) When the well's dry we know the worth of water. This quote, in various forms, is attributed to Ben Franklin. Good contribution from Todd Jarvis.

I will do my best to eschew the above.

Do you have some favorites? Feel free to post them and add to the list.

"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." – Isaac Asimov

Comments

[John Bass]

Not a big fan of equating national security with the travails of being a junior water rights holder, so:

“It would be a tragedy and a blow to national security if we did not have Westlands.”

[Emily Green]

"hard landing" looks fit for a comeback after the voiding of the QSA today

[Ryan]

"Toilet to Tap" is another oversimplification that only dogs appreciate.

[Dan]

These phrases are inconsequential for water professionals and academics, but they (possibly) still hold ground with water newcomers and uneducated portions of the general public.

[On the Public Record]

"lifeblood of the region"

[Emily Green]

Water is the new oil because whisky is for drinking and water is for fighting, unless you are already in a water war, in which case you are probably already in water-power nexus from which only integrating science and policy will begin to address the fish versus farmer conflict defeating all efforts toward sustainability.

You know what gets me, besides the famous remark that Twain might have made? Misspelling whisky as whiskey. From a country that gives it the alternate name "scotch." Now that's a travesty.

[Eric Perramond]

My non-favorite:
"Water connects us all." Bluh.

[Oregon Water Thorn]

While it doesn't obviously connote water, I am sick to death, and I think the earth is too, of the battle cry of "private property rights!" I think that it was kowtowing to development interests that got us into a lot of the trouble that we're seeing with water these days: too much demand, too much pollution, flashy streams that were groundwater driven...

[MIke Langston]

Thank you for listing "Water is the new oil" first! I have heard this since I was an undergraduate in 1984. If water was to become that important, I think it would have by now. I can't imagine that we will reach the point where something so essential to life will be treated the same as we now treat what for all practical purposes is a convenience, "cheap energy."

[groundwaterhegemony]

We know the worth of water when the well runs dry.
--Benjamin Franklin

[Jason Mumm]

We must not forget that that there is a "True Value" of water. Whatever that means. I spend a lot of time on my blog educating on the real cost of water, which for lack of a good definition of "value" is not a bad place to start any discussion on the subject. http://www.stepwiseadvisors.com/category/rates

Nice post - I agree with dispensing with the cliches. Most of these make me shudder.

[rainbow water]

The famous quote apocryphally attributed to humorist Mark Twain “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over”

[Aqua Blog Maven]

You forgot ... Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting....

[Gayle]

Thesaurus utilization advisory: please curtail overuse of the phrase "The Water Energy Nexus"...(is that Google's new hybrid-powered smartphone?)