ROBERT DAWSON PHOTOGRAPHY

THE GLOBAL WATER PROJECT

There is a growing awareness that the world is entering an era of a water crisis of global dimensions. From a war for water over the corporate take-over of water resources in Bolivia to fighting the displacement of tribal people by large dams in India local water issues are beginning to have global implications. The inspiration for this project came during the summer of 2001 when Robert Dawson traveled with writer Jacques Leslie to follow activist Medha Patkar in her effort to stop the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the sacred Narmada River in western India. Fifteen years after receiving a Goldman Environmental Prize, Medha is still struggling to improve the lives of thousands of tribal villagers who are being displaced by the dam. It became clear to Dawson that this epic battle over water was symbolic of other struggles being played out throughout much of the world. What these issues represent help define the critical water issues of the 21st century.

Without water, life as we know it ceases. We have the same amount of water on earth now as we did when our planet was new. We literally are a Water Planet. However, more than a billion people today do not have access to clean drinking water. Within the next ten years 40% of the worlds population will live in water-stressed countries. Future wars may be fought over water instead of oil. Armed conflicts have erupted over water in Californias Owens Valley in the 1920s and the Arab-Israeli war in 1967. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have come close to war over water disputes. And former U.N. Secretary-General Butros Boutros-Ghali said  the next war in our region will be over the waters of the Nile, not politics. In 2000, the populace of the third largest city in Bolivia rioted in the streets against police and soldiers over the privatization of their water. It was an ominous wake-up call from the people of Cochabamba. A recent United Nations report predicted rising demand for water is likely to threaten human and ecological health in many countries for generations to come.

In 1999, Dawson traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia to explore the site of one of the most divisive wars of his lifetime. After spending twenty years photographing water throughout the American West, Dawson used this trip to explore water in the broader international context of Southeast Asia. He began to understand that much of what he learned in the American West was relevant for much of the rest of the world as well. After his 2001 trip to India it became clear that the issue of water was global in scale and he then began his Global Water project. Dawson has made recent explorations of global water to Iceland during the summers of 2004 and 2005 where he photographed the struggle over the construction of a vast dam complex in the Central Highlands. In 2006 and 2007, Dawson has been examining where the oversubscribed Colorado River dries up in northern Mexico, battles over indigenous water rights along the Chixoy River in Guatemala and along the Klamath River in Northern California and water issues throughout South America.

Outermost house, Arctic Circle, Iceland, Japanese bridge, Iceland, Steam, rock and power plant , Iceland, Kárahnjúkar dam, Central Highlands, Iceland, Family behind Svartifoss waterfall, Iceland, Waterfall, Iceland, Pilgrims praying at the Narmada River, India, Flooded meeting tree, Domkedhi, India, Signs and students, Domekedhi, India, Drying out after rain, Narmada River, India, Homeless people living under water pipe, Bombay, India, Beggar and approaching monsoon, Mumbai, India, Woman in resettlement camp filling pots of water, India, Outdoor laundry, Bombay, India, Sitting man with yellow turban, Narmada River, India, Train crossing Narmada River, India, Tourist bus, Itaipu dam, Paraguay, Iguazu Falls, Argentina, Favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Chixoy dam, Guatemala, Mayan villagers who survived a massacre 25 years earlier, El Naranjo, Guatemala (grid), Dry well, Pacux, Guatemala, Mayan girl holding baby, Rio Negro, Chixoy River, Guatemala, Photos of Mayans that have disappeared during the civil war, Rabinal, Guatemala, Memories of a massacre - mural and names of victims, Mayan Community Center/Library, Colonia Pacux, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, "The Voice of the grandchildren and children, The terror is never forgotten". Mural commemorating a massacre of Mayans 25 years earlier, Pacux, Guatemala, Water Master, Pacux, Guatemala, Footbridge over Rio Soma, Guatemala, Mayan market, Chichicastenango, Guatemala, Former Colorado River wetlands, Sonora, Mexico, Ecotourist development in drug smuggling area near US border, Sonora, Mexico, Marsh restored from agricultural runoff near mouth of Colorado River, Mexico, Bedouin community with trucks and camels, Negev Desert, Israel, Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Terrace of Honor, Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia, The Sweeper, Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Shrimp farm in former mangrove forest, Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, Cascades, River Avon, Bath, England, Soldier guarding the Court of the Lions, Alhambra, Granada, Spain.