Water is essential to all life, yet access to it is neither universal nor equitable. According to the UN World Water Development Report 2023, roughly two billion people worldwide lack safely managed drinking water, and demand continues to intensify as populations grow, climates shift, and industries expand (UNESCO, “Imminent Risk of a Global Water Crisis,” 22 Mar. 2023). In Away, Grandin Stone’s realization that water is “more valuable than oil or gas” (306) anchors the novel’s central conspiracy, but the real-world conflicts over who controls water and who suffers without it are no less dramatic than the fiction Freeman constructs.

Legal frameworks governing water vary widely, and disputes over ownership are frequent and contentious. In many jurisdictions, water rights are tied to land ownership or historical usage, creating systems that privilege established stakeholders. The Swiss-based multinational Nestlé, for example, drew sustained public criticism for extracting hundreds of millions of gallons from Michigan’s aquifers under permits costing minimal fees, even as residents of nearby Flint faced a lead-contaminated public water supply beginning in 2014 (Chappell, Bill. “Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite 80K+ Public Comments Against It,” NPR, 3 Apr.