On long walks or in the course of driving through neighborhoods, I’ve found myself lately looking at downspouts. Suddenly I’m paying attention to the fact that some carry water away from the house and out onto the ground surface, and some shoot water directly down into the ground, or into a drain. And thoughts like "one might be more suitable where I live, in Chicago/Northern Illinois, and one might be more suitable, say, in the Texas Panhandle" cross my mind.

Sounds random, but the movement and use of water comes to mind because I’m researching how the meat supply chain is addressing the increasingly concerning issue of water stress and potential water scarcity. As part of that, of course, some places in the U.S. are worse off than others, and the management requirements are different. In more temperate climes, the ground is more likely to absorb and retain the water, and in hotter and drier places, it needs a more direct route; the need to capture as much of it as much as possible is pronounced.

That need is now. By 2025 — yes, just 4 years away — 1.8 billion people on this planet will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water-stressed conditions, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicts. In just 9 years from now, a good half of the world’s population will be living in areas under high water stress. Also by 2030, global freshwater demand will exceed supply by 40%, according to the U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment of Global Water Security. Add in a growing population and shifting climate patterns, and the challenge becomes sobering.

Living in a relatively resource-rich nation might engender a feeling of insulation from a problem that, to be certain, is more severe in faraway places like North Africa and the Middle East. But the physical problem is here; one need only to look in places like California’s Central Valley, Nevada, the beef-centric Southern Plains of Texas and even in the chicken country of eastern Arkansas to see it. All sit atop some of the nation’s most taxed aquifers, highlighting more than ever the reality that water is a finite and precious resource.

Meat and poultry processors have improved in their ability to reduce water use within the four walls of their facility. And efforts to capture and reuse it in certain processes, as well as to treat and recycle it with more sophisticated wastewater technology, are advancing. But the bigger gains will be found beyond their fence lines, using their financial wherewithal and influence as the gateway to consumers to help farmers and suppliers implement effective strategies in water conservation. They’re off to a good start in such endeavors, with the help of experts in mapping out those opportunities. Yet, there’s a long way to go and obstacles to overcome.

Sustainability is a comprehensive concept with many components that are connected, and meat companies are accelerating holistic strategies as a non-negotiable part of doing business. But perhaps no resource is as crucial to the viability of the industry and, more broadly, the sustenance of life than water. As the world’s most powerful investors and consumers increasingly demand responsible practices, the industry can’t afford the physical, financial or reputational fallout from a failure to address water stewardship in earnest.

Water use is an immediate, tangible and familiar issue — from the farm to your faucet — that doesn’t necessarily take a Ph.D to understand on a basic level. But the time is now to get a better grasp of it.

My hope is that our upcoming coverage of the issue will help.

To talk on water

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