What is Water?? Water is largely discussed from a physical or a normative perspective. From a physical perspective, discussions are usually limited only to the terrestrial part of the hydraulic cycle, comprised of blue water,green water and gray water1 Much of the discussion focuses on blue water, differentiating between surface water and groundwater These conflicting normative views of water have practical ramifications, as each is associated with a different management approach. Thus, the often acrid arguments between these views are closely intertwined with conflicts over concrete policy measures (Bakker, 2007). A common feature in these normative discussions is their view of water as a unitary substance. That is, participants refer to all the (usually blue) water as ‘water’. Yet, this has not always been the case. The view that water is a single substance, due to its chemical composition, is modern (Linton, 2010). In the past, water was viewed in the plural term, ‘waters’, c...
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