Article analysis and critical evaluation

Water Crisis

In "Crossroads of a Water Crisis" Tara Lohan discusses the politics of water in California by framing the issue as part of a global water crisis. According to Lohan, California is one of the world's battlegrounds for water. California's water policy is emblematic of the larger problems facing access to clean drinking water throughout the world. In California, Lohan points out, major sources of clean water are diverted to big agriculture including ranching. The diversion of water to agro-business is problematic because there "simply is not enough water to go around," to sustain the population (p. 1). Lohan predicts that within the next fifty years or so, many Americans will not have access to clean drinking water. This is the case not only in the California-Colorado system but also in the Plains States, the Midwest, and the Southeast. The problem is not between "fishermen and farmers," as the mainstream media seems to have been framing it, either (p. 1).

Furthermore, the water crises that have hit several American states are not due to drought conditions but to water mismanagement. Herein lies the politics of water. When water is diverted to big business interests, those interests take precedence over one of the most fundamental human rights: the right to clean drinking water. Although Lohan does not cite all sources used directly in the body of the essay, the author does point readers to a valuable book resources that directly addresses the nature of the water-related problems and potential solutions.

The Lohan article is alarmist, but for good reason. The author uses California as a springboard for discussion because Lohan has first-hand experience there. Using first person in key sections of the article, the author reveals her personal vested interest in water rights and water access. Thus, both pathos and logos are used in the construction of the rhetorical argument. Essentially Lohan is saying that ordinary people like her, and her readers, might suffer unless water policy in the United States (and abroad) changes. The most fundamental assumption of Lohan's article is that access to clean drinking water is a human right. Anyone who reads the article and believes that to be the case will have no trouble agreeing with Lohan's claims; but those who do not believe that access to drinking water is a human right might disagree.

Lohan also manages to conclude the article on a positive note, thereby encouraging the reader to become involved in water politics and take action where needed. Because the audience is presumed to be primarily Americans, Lohan understandably uses American interests as one of the primary points. Yet the author also links what is happening in America with what is happening in other parts of the world. Already there are one billion people around the world, per day, without access to safe drinking water. This alarming statistic is then juxtaposed with the fact that 35 states in the United States are facing dire water shortages over the next five years. Because many states' water shortages have made the news, readers will have no trouble believing that what Lohan says is true. California, Texas, and many other states have had water shortages in the past and will again in the future unless something is done.