LECTURE 10: GLOBAL WATER CRISIS 3 rd Nov 2011

The Dilemma Context of growing population pressures, growing competition for water, increasing water scarcity, and increasing land and water degradation How to provide water to meet the needs of people (MDGs) while providing water to meet environmental needs? Water for nature and water for food in the face of increasing scarcity Most critical problem? “On one hand, the fundamental fear of food shortages encourages ever greater use of water resources for agriculture. On the other, there is a need to divert water from irrigation agriculture to other users and to protect the resources and the ecosystem. Many believe this conflict is one of the most critical problems to be tackled in the early 21st Century.”

Concept of ‘Blue Water’ ‘Grey Water’ and ‘Green Water’ The Blue Water footprint is the volume of freshwater that evaporated from the global blue water resources (surface water) to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community. The Green Water footprint is the volume of water evaporated from the global green water resources (rainwater stored in the soil as soil moisture). The Grey Water footprint is the volume of polluted water that associates with the production of all goods and services for the individual or community. Virtual Water Virtual water also known as hidden water refers, to the water used in the production of a good or service. For example: It takes 1300 cubic meters of water on average to produce one metric tonne of wheat and 2700 litres for 1 cotton shirt. The concept of virtual water helps us realize how much water is needed to produce different goods and services.

THE CHALLENGE

More People= Less Water Global warming= much less water in arid and semi-arid regions

Past and Future 2005:6 Billions 1 billion without safe water supply 3 billions without proper sanitation 2025:8 Billions 70% of water used for irrigation 30% living in arid areas (developing areas) Demand for crops (cereals) +50% Demand for irrigated lands +30% Problems Increasing water diversions Less water (land) for ecological functioning Less water for rural areas

WATER AS AN ECONOMIC GOOD? Two of the Four Dublin Principles recognized at the International Conference on Water and the Environment : Development Issues for the 21 st century are: 1.Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good. 2.Managing water as an economic good is an important way of achieving efficient and equitable use, and of encouraging conservation and protection of water resources.

WATER AS AN ECONOMIC GOOD? As defined in the dictionary, an economic good is scarce in supply in relation to demand, and it can command a price in the market. The idea of treating water as an economic good, and pricing of water in the market has been heavily criticized by people concerned with human welfare and the environment. To understand this debate about water as an economic good it is necessary to investigate closely two interrelated issues: 1.How water should be priced? 2.Who should be in charge of its provision?

HOW TO PRICE WATER? We can consider both economists and non-economists viewpoints: Traditional Economics Economists argue that market is a more efficient institution than the state for correct determination of prices. Pricing should be based on the demand for water and the cost of supplying water. Explanation Demand for water expresses the willingness to pay on the part of the users. The cost supply on the other hand, consists of direct cost and opportunity cost. The latter is measured in terms of the value of water that could be used in alternative uses.

Who should provide water? Should water be provided by market institutions just because it is an economic good? An economic good does not necessarily have to be provided by market. Market works better for goods that are not consumed jointly, exclusive private property rights can be established and there is demand under limited supply condition. For water, market does not easily develop because of its certain unique characteristics: Property rights problems at the source Huge infrastructural costs due to lumpiness in technology Difficulties in charging and collecting water fees because of weak institutions as well as the lack of consumer awareness leading to lack of effective demand.

WATER IS A FINITE OR RENEWABLE RESOURCE? Three main ways in which people use water 1.Municipal (drinking water and sewage treatment), 2.Industrial and agricultural (mostly irrigation) 3.Farming accounts for the largest part, some 65 percent globally in million cubic kilometres water on earth and circulating through the hydrological cycle. Nearly all of this is salt water and most of the rest is frozen or under ground. Only one-hundredth of 1 percent of the world's water is readily available for human use. 5.In Malaysia 100 people share each million cubic metres of water; in India, the figure is 350 and in Israel, Water is often polluted in developing countries 7.By the year 2000, Latin America's water resources had fallen by nearly three-quarters since The water table under Beijing is sinking by 2 metres every year, while Bangkok's has fallen by 25 metres since the 1950s. The level of the vast Ogallala aquifer, which lies beneath eight US states, is dropping by nearly 1 metre a year.

SOME SOLUTIONS (OR PROSPECTS) Traditional storages Increasing water efficiency New crop breeds Local solutions (rainwater harvesting, re-use, recharge groundwater, community-based supplies

SOME POTENTIAL CONFLICTS Between regions –countries Between nature conservation–development Between urban areas –rural areas Water management issues Conflict prevention (water sharing based on water ethics and human rights, poverty eradication, democratization and gender issues) Pollution prevention (waste management, agricultural chemicals, etc) Water-related land fertility degradation prevention (soil/water/nutrient management, salinization) Water supply security (development and maintenance of urban water/sanitation infrastructure, integrating water supply/sanitation/- treatment/re-use management for both urban and rural areas) Crop security (simple drought proofing technology based on rainwater harvesting and/or local run-off collection, crop testing and breeding for tolerance to salt and drought).

Distribution of the world’s water

THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE

Water scarcity and different perspectives on the global water crisis. An area is experiencing water stress when annual water supplies drop below 1700 m3 per person. When annual water supplies drop below 1000 m3 per person, the population faces water scarcity, and below 500 cubic metres "absolute scarcity". Around 700 million people in 43 countries suffer today from water scarcity Water scarcity in some arid and semi-arid places will displace between 24 million and 700 million people. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of water-stressed countries of any region. Domestic water use amounts to only 8% of overall global consumption, tiny in comparison with agriculture at 70% and industry at 22%. The World Bank estimates that demand for water will exceed by 40% by billion people live in regions already classified as water scarce. Two thirds of the global population could experience water stress by Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet for six billion people but it is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted or polluted

ROLE OF COMMUNITY IN WATER SUPPLY Public provision versus privatization often ignores the role of consumers not only in terms of their preferences but in terms of their responsibility. Since everybody needs water it is everybody's responsibility that water is managed efficiently and equitably. One advantage of involving the local community is to make the consumers aware of the costs of water supply. Equitable access to clean water at affordable prices can only be ensured through active participation of the user community. Water should not be supplied free – but people should be given the opportunity to manage local resources to meet their basic needs.