Water crisis is a term that has been used by some
to refer to the world’s
water
resources relative to human demand. The term has been applied
to the worldwide water situation by the
United Nations and other world organizations.
Others, for example the
Food and Agriculture
Organization, claim there is no water crisis. The major aspects
of the water crisis are allegedly overall scarcity of
usable water and
water pollution.
2 billion people have gained access to a safe water source since
1990.
[303915] The proportion of people in developing
countries with access to safe water is calculated to have improved
from 30 percent in 1970 to 71 percent in 1990, 79 percent in 2000
and 84 percent in 2004, parallel with rising population. This trend
is projected to continue.
[303916]
The
Earth has a finite supply of
fresh water, stored in
aquifers,
surface
waters and the
atmosphere. Sometimes
oceans are mistaken for available water, but
the amount of energy needed to convert
saline water to
potable water is prohibitive today, explaining
why only a very small fraction of the world's water supply derives
from
desalination.
There are several principal manifestations of the water crisis.
Waterborne diseases and the
absence of sanitary
domestic
water are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. For
children under age five, waterborne diseases are the leading cause
of death. At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are
occupied by patients suffering from waterborne diseases. According
to the
World Bank, 88 percent of all
diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation
and poor hygiene.
Drought dramatizes the underlying tenuous
balance of safe water supply, but it is the imprudent actions of
humans that have rendered the human population vulnerable to the
devastation of major droughts.
A 2006 United Nations report focuses on issues of governance as the
core of the water crisis, saying "There is enough water for
everyone" and "Water insufficiency is often due to mismanagement,
corruption, lack of appropriate institutions, bureaucratic inertia
and a shortage of investment in both human capacity and physical
infrastructure". Official data also shows a clear correlation
between access to safe water and GDP per capita.
It has also been claimed, primarily by economists, that the water
situation has occurred because of a lack of property rights,
government regulations and subsidies in the water sector, causing
prices to be too low and consumption too high.
Health impacts
Best estimate of the share of people
in developing countries with access to drinking water
1970–2000.
According to recent numbers by
UNICEF and the
World Health Organization,
there are an estimated 884 million people without adequate
drinking water, and a correlating 2.5 billion
without adequate water for
sanitation
(e.g., wastewater disposal). The issues are coupled, since, without
water for
sewage disposal,
cross-contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage is the
chief adverse outcome of inadequate
safe
water supply. Consequently, disease and significant deaths
arise from people using contaminated
water
supplies; these effects are particularly pronounced for
children in
underdeveloped
countries, where 3900 children per day die of
diarrhea alone.While these deaths are generally
considered preventable, the situation is considerably more complex,
since the Earth is beyond its
carrying
capacity with respect to available fresh water. Often
technology is advanced as a panacea, but the costs of technology
presently exclude a number of countries from availing themselves of
these solutions. If lesser developed countries acquire more wealth,
partial mitigation will occur, but sustainable solutions must
involve each region in balancing population to water resource and
in managing water resources more optimally. In any case the finite
nature of the water resource must be acknowledged if the world is
to achieve a better balance.
Damage to biodiversity
Vegetation and wildlife are fundamentally dependent upon adequate
freshwater resources.
Marshes,
bogs and
riparian zones are
more obviously dependent upon sustainable water supply, but forests
and other upland ecosystems are equally at risk of significant
productivity changes as water availability is diminished. In the
case of wetlands, considerable area has been simply taken from
wildlife use to feed and house the expanding human population. But
other areas have suffered reduced productivity from gradual
diminishing of freshwater inflow, as upstream sources are diverted
for human use. In seven states of the U.S. over 80 percent of all
historic
wetlands were filled by the 1980s,
when Congress acted to create a “
no net loss” of wetlands.
In
Europe extensive loss of wetlands has also
occurred with resulting loss of biodiversity.
For example many bogs
in Scotland
have been
drained or developed through human population expansion.
One
example is the Portlethen
Moss
in Aberdeenshire
.
On
Madagascar
’s central highland plateau, a massive
transformation occurred that eliminated virtually all the heavily
forested vegetation in the period 1970 to 2000. The
slash and burn agriculture eliminated about
ten percent of the total country’s native biomass and converted it
to a barren wasteland. These effects were from
overpopulation and the necessity to feed poor
indigenous peoples, but the adverse effects included widespread
gully erosion that in turn produced heavily silted rivers that “run
red” decades after the
deforestation.
This eliminated a large amount of usable fresh water and also
destroyed much of the riverine ecosystems of several large
west-flowing rivers.
Several fish species have been driven to the
edge of extinction and some coral reef
formations in the Indian
Ocean
are effectively lost.
In October 2008, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman and former chief
executive of Nestlé, warned that the production of biofuels will
further deplete the world's water supply.
Water politics
There are approximately 260 different river systems worldwide,
where conflicts exist crossing national boundaries. While
Helsinki Rules help to interpret intrinsic
water rights among countries, there are some conflicts so bitter or
so related to basic survival that strife and even warfare are
inevitable. In many cases water use disputes are merely an added
dimension to underlying border tensions founded on other
bases.
The
Tigris
-Euphrates River System is one example where
differing national interests and withdrawal rights have been in
conflict. The countries of Iran
, Iraq
and Syria
each present
valid claims of certain water use, but the total demands on the
riverine system surpass the physical constraints of water
availability. As early as 1974 Iraq massed troops on the
Syrian border and threatened to destroy Syria’s al-Thawra
dam on the Euphrates.
In 1992
Hungary
and Czechoslovakia
took a dispute over Danube
River water diversions and dam construction to the International
Court of Justice
. This case represents a minority of disputes
where logic and jurisprudence may be the path of dispute
resolution.
Other conflicts involving North
and South
Korea
, Israel
and Palestine, Egypt
and Ethiopia
, may prove more difficult tests of
negotiation.International leaders, notably former Czech
President
Václav Havel, have
suggested that the supply of clean water for drinking and
sanitation is essential for peace in the Middle East.
In 1999,
Sun Belt Water Inc. filed a
claim against Canada under the provisions Chapter 11 of the
North American Free
Trade Agreement as a result of a changes made retroactively to
the water export policy of the Canadian province of British
Columbia
that were alleged to have been a violations of the
General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the CUSFTA. The dispute is on hold pending
Arbitration.
Overview of regions suffering crisis impacts
There are many other countries of the world that are severely
impacted with regard to
human health and inadequate drinking water. The following
is a partial list of some of the countries with significant
populations (numerical population of affected population listed)
whose only consumption is of contaminated water
[303917]:
Several world maps showing various aspects of the problem can be
found in this
graph from a
New
Scientist article.
According to the
California Department
of Water Resources, if more supplies aren’t found by 2020, the
region will face a shortfall nearly as great as the amount consumed
today.
Los Angeles
is a coastal desert able to support at most 1
million people on its own water; the Los Angeles basin now is the
core of a megacity that spans from Santa
Barbara
to the Mexican
border. The region’s population is expected to reach 41
million by 2020, up from 28 million in 2009. The population of
California continues to grow by more than two million a year and is
expected to reach 75 million in 2030, up from 49 million in 2009.
But water shortage is likely to surface well before then.
Water
deficits, which are already spurring heavy grain imports in
numerous smaller countries, may soon do the same in larger
countries, such as China
and India
. The
water tables are falling in scores of countries (including Northern
China, the US, and India) due to widespread overpumping using
powerful diesel and electric pumps.
Other countries affected include Pakistan
, Iran, and
Mexico
. This
will eventually lead to water scarcity and cutbacks in grain
harvest. Even with the overpumping of its
aquifers, China is developing a grain deficit. When
this happens, it will almost certainly drive grain prices upward.
Most of the 3 billion people projected to be added worldwide by
mid-century will be born in countries already experiencing water
shortages. Unless population growth can be slowed quickly it is
feared that there may not be a practical non-violent or humane
solution to the emerging world water shortage.
After
China and India, there is a second tier of smaller countries with
large water deficits — Algeria
, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, and
Pakistan. Four of these already import a large share of
their grain. Only Pakistan remains self-sufficient. But with a
population expanding by 4 million a year, it will also likely soon
turn to the world market for grain.
According
to a UN climate report, the Himalayan
glaciers that are the sources of Asia's biggest rivers - Ganges
, Indus
, Brahmaputra
, Yangtze
, Mekong, Salween
and Yellow - could disappear
by 2035 as temperatures rise. Approximately 2.4 billion
people live in the
drainage basin of
the Himalayan rivers.
India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh
, Nepal
and
Myanmar
could experience floods followed by droughts in
coming decades. In India alone, the Ganges provides water
for drinking and farming for more than 500 million people. The west
coast of
North America, which gets
much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the
Rocky Mountains and
Sierra Nevada, also would be
affected.
By far the largest part of
Australia is
desert or semi-arid lands
commonly known as the
outback. In June 2008
it became known that an expert panel had warned of long term, maybe
irreversible, severe ecological damage for the whole
Murray-Darling basin if it does not
receive sufficient water by October.
Water restrictions are
currently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in
response to chronic shortages resulting from
drought.
The Australian
of the year
2007, environmentalist Tim
Flannery, predicted that unless it made drastic changes,
Perth
in Western Australia
could become the world’s first ghost metropolis, an abandoned city with no more water
to sustain its population. However, Western Australia's dams
reached 50% capacity for the first time since 2000 as of September
2009. As a result, heavy rains have brought forth positive results
for the region.
Outlook
Construction of
wastewater
treatment plants and reduction of groundwater overdrafting
appear to be obvious solutions to the worldwide problem; however, a
deeper look reveals more fundamental issues in play. Wastewater
treatment is highly
capital
intensive, restricting access to this technology in some
regions; furthermore the rapid increase in population of many
countries makes this a race that is difficult to win. As if those
factors are not daunting enough, one must consider the enormous
costs and skill sets involved to maintain wastewater treatment
plants even if they are successfully developed.
Reduction in groundwater overdrafting is usually politically very
unpopular and has major economic impacts to farmers; moreover, this
strategy will necessarily reduce crop output, which is something
the world can ill-afford, given the population level at
present.
At more realistic levels, developing countries can strive to
achieve primary wastewater treatment or secure
septic systems, and carefully analyse
wastewater outfall design to miminise impacts to drinking water and
to ecosystems. Developed countries can not only share technology
better, including cost-effective wastewater and water treatment
systems but also in
hydrological transport
modeling. At the individual level, people in developed
countries can look inward and reduce overconsumption, which further
strains worldwide water consumption. Both developed and developing
countries can increase protection of ecosytems, especially wetlands
and riparian zones. These measures will not only conserve
biota, but also render more effective the natural
water cycle flushing and transport that
make water systems more healthy for humans.
A range of local, low-tech solutions are being pursued by a number
of companies. These efforts center around the use of solar power to
distill water at temperatures slightly beneath that at which water
boils. By developing the capability to purify any available water
source, local business models could be built around the new
technologies, accelerating their uptake.
Nanotechnology could also end the
water crisis by the year 2025 as water will be produced in
nanofactories at a sub-atomic level in
infinite amounts. Creating the water from the basic elements would
require no
electricity or
fossil fuels to do; providing that
green nanotechnology is used in the
process.
Desalination
As new technological innovations continue to reduce the capital
cost of
desalination, more countries
are building desalination plants as a small element in addressing
their water crises.
- Israel desalinizes
water for a cost of 53 cents per cubic meter
- Singapore
desalinizes water for 49 cents per cubic meter and
also treats sewage with reverse
osmosis for industrial and potable use (NEWater).
- China and India, the world's two most populous countries, are
turning to desalination to provide a small part of their water
needs
- In 2007 Pakistan announced plans to use desalination
- Australia uses desalination
- In
2007 Bermuda
signed a contract to purchase a desalination
plant
- The
largest desalination plant in the United States
is the one at Tampa Bay
, Florida
, which began desalinizing 25 million gallons (95000
m³) of water per day in December 2007. In the United States,
the cost of desalination is $3.06 for 1,000 gallons, or 81 cents
per cubic meter. In the United States, California
, Arizona
, Texas
, and
Florida use desalination for a very small part of their water
supply.
- After
being desalinized at Jubail
, Saudi Arabia
, water is pumped inland though a pipeline to the
capital city of Riyadh
.
A January 17, 2008, article in the
Wall Street Journal states,
"World-wide, 13,080 desalination plants produce more than 12
billion gallons of water a day, according to the International
Desalination Association."
The
world's largest desalination plant is the Jebel Ali
Desalination Plant (Phase 2) in the United Arab
Emirates
. It is a dual-purpose facility that uses
multi-stage flash distillation and is capable of producing 300
million
cubic meters of water per
year.
A typical
aircraft carrier in the
U.S. military uses nuclear power to desalinize 400,000 gallons of
water per day.
While desalinizing 1,000 gallons of water can cost as much as $3,
the same amount of
bottled water costs
$7,945.
However, given the energy intensive nature of desalination, with
associated economic and environmental costs, desalination is
generally considered a last resort after
water conservation. But this is changing
as prices continue to fall.
According to
MSNBC, a report by Lux Research
estimated that the worldwide desalinated water supply will triple
between 2008 and 2020.
Global experiences in managing water crisis
It is alleged that the likelihood of conflict rises if the rate of
change within the basin exceeds the capacity of institution to
absorb that change. Although water crisis is closely related to
regional tensions, history showed that the 37 records of acute
conflict over water are far less than the record of cooperation. In
the last 50 years 157 treaties were signed, 1,288 crises turned out
to be a co-operative opportunities.
The key lies in strong institutions and cooperation. The Indus
River Commission and the Indus Water Treaty survived two wars
between India and Pakistan despite their hostility, and was proved
to be a successful mechanism in resolving conflicts by providing a
framework for consultation, inspection and exchange of data.The
Mekong Committee has also functioned since 1957 and it survived the
Vietnam War. In contrast, regional instability resulted when there
is an absence of institutions to co-operate regional collaboration,
like Egypt’s plan for a high dam on the Nile. However, there is
currently no global institution in place for the management and
management of transboundary water sources, and international
co-operation had happened through ad hoc collaborations between
agencies, like Mekong Committee was formed due to alliance between
UNECAFE and US Bureau of Reclamation. Formation of strong
international institutions seems to be a way forward: They fuel
early intervention and management, preventing the costly dispute
resolution process.
One common feature of almost all disputes resolved is that the
negotiations had a “need-based” instead of a “right –based”
paradigm. Irrigable lands, population, technicalities of projects
define "needs". The success of a need-based paradigm is reflected
in the only water agreement ever negotiated in the Jordan River
Basin, it focuses in needs not on rights of riparians.
In the Indian
subcontinent, irrigation requirements of Bangladesh determine water
allocations of The Ganges
River
. A need based, regional approach focuses on
satisfying individuals with their need of water, ensures that
minimum quantitative needs are being met. It removes the conflict
that arises when countries view the treaty from a national interest
point of view, move away from the zero-sum approach to a positive
sum, integrative approach that equitably allocated the water and
its benefits.
See also
References
External links
- BBC News World Water Crisis Maps
- International Action: Fighting the Water Crisis in
Haiti
- World Water Council: Water Crisis
- China water crisis - Greenpeace China
- Water Wars: Multimedia coverage of East Africa's
water crisis from CLPMag.org
- Worldwide water shortages by 2080
- Water Crisis Information Guide - From Middletown
Thrall Library. Subjects include: Drinking Water, Government
Information, International Challenges and Efforts, Global Water
Issues, Oceanography, Sea Levels, Desalination, Water Scarcity,
Pollution and Contaminants, Conservation and Recycling, News and
Special Reports, and library catalog subject headings for further
research.]