water crisis of world

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CRISIS AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED TO: DR MANSOOR SHAHAB

SUBJECT: WATER CRISIS OF THE WORLD

DATE: DEC 2, 2011

SUBMITTED BY: NAUMAN, SAAD, ADNAN


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WATER CRISIS OF THE WORLD

INTRODUCTION: The watercoming out of your kitchen tap is four billion

years old and might well have been sipped by a Tyrannosaurus rex. Rather

than only three states of waterliquid, ice, and vaporthere is a fourth,

molecular water, fused into rock 400 miles deep in the Earth, and thats

where most of the planets water is found. Unlike most precious resources,

water cannot be used up; it can always be made clean enough again to

drinkindeed, water can be made so clean that its toxic. Water is the most

vital substance in our lives but also more amazing and mysterious than we

appreciate. As water runs our world in a host of awe-inspiring ways, yet wetake it completely for granted. But the era of easy water is over.

Water scarcity is a headline favourite of the doom-mongers, in company with

peak oil, overpopulation, climate chaos and war. It might be more

constructive to regurgitate these existential fears into political resolve to

protect the water cycle on which we all depend. If governments can observe

principles of freshwater sustainability and equitable distribution, then there

is more than sufficient knowledge, technology, and water itself, to meet our

needs.

Freshwater has been the constant and essential companion of homo sapiens

throughout our history. In modern times, we have risked even greater

dependence by adopting means of wealth creation characterised by

gargantuan thirst.

Industry accounts for 22% of freshwater use, the largest share of which is


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consumed by the energy sector. Water is used in great quantities for cooling

in thermal and nuclear power generation, as well as in the extraction of coal

and oil. Protests against new fossil fuel technologies such as gas

fracking and oil sands are inspired in part by fears of wastage and pollution

of water.

Although the relative needs of agriculture vary widely from just 3% in the

UK to 83% in India this sector currently accounts for the largest global

share of freshwater at about 70%. The dynamic expansion of food

production in Asia over the last 40 years often described as the green

revolution- has been achieved through modern farming methods which

require high input of water.

Households consume the remaining small share of

8% but demand the highest quality standards for

safe drinking. Despite considerable humanitarian

endeavour over the last three decades, almost 900

million people continue to lack access to safe

water.

The close dependence of industry and agriculture on freshwaterensures that

any scarcity is likely to impose upward pressure on food and energy prices.

This is the scenario that strikes fear into political leaders struggling to

restore economic health. Prudent stewardship of the water cycle isnevertheless a virtue honoured more in the breach than in the observance.

News headlines provide constant reminders of this failing. The drought in the

Horn of Africa demands emergency food aid for over 12 million people and

has led to the first UN declaration of famine in over 20 years.

Water Cycle

Our planet is a miserly distributor of freshwater. Most water is rendereduseless to humanity by dilution with salt in the ocean. Only 2.5% is available

as freshwater, of which two thirds is locked up in ice and snow.
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The water cycle is driven by evaporation from land

and sea, condensing into clouds which have the

potential for precipitation as rain. Again, nature is

unkind in depositing almost 80% of rain over the

sea.

Of the rain that falls over land, only 40% finds its

way as blue water into aquifers, lakes and rivers

which are accessible supply sources. The green

water balance is absorbed by the land, of great

potential value to agriculture but notoriously fickle for that purpose in

volume, timing, intensity and location.

Thanks to this natural cycle, water is a renewable source of energy and life.

However, unlike other renewable resources such as sun, wind and tide,

freshwater is not plentiful. It is a finite resource.

The current global per capita availability of freshwater from rivers, lakes,

aquifers and rainfall averages a potentially healthy 6,000 cubic metres per

annum. Availability of 1,000 cubic metres per annum within a country or

region is regarded as sufficient to meet the needs of households, agriculture,

industry - and to sustain local ecosystems.

A state of water scarcity exists below that threshold. Below 1,700 cubic

metres, short term periods of "water stress" may be experienced.

Average annual consumption in the US is just under 3,000 cubic metres; in

Syria and Jordan, availability is falling towards 500 cubic metres; in Yemen

the figure is now below 200.

Freshwater is very unevenly distributed and scarcity is normally assessed

within regions or individual river basins. Water security, the inverse of

scarcity, implies consistent and affordable access to unpolluted freshwater

for all categories of user.

Causes of Water Scarcity

Unsustainable extraction of freshwater and other human interference with

Kuang Xi Waterfall, Laos

Yip Seng Leong
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the water cycle are the immediate causes of water scarcity within a river

basin.

Over-extraction has its most straightforward

manifestation in the level of aquifers, underground

reserves charged by the passage of water through

soil and rocks. If withdrawals exceed the natural

rate of recharge, the level of an aquifer will fall,

eventually drying up altogether. In parts of India,

the water table is believed to have fallen more

than 300 metres.

Human intervention which degrades the quantity

and quality of the natural supply of freshwater

occurs in three principal ways.

Firstly, there are 48,000 large dams in place around the world, with many

more under construction. Dams alter the natural flow of a river, often

improving water and energy security for some, at the expense of others.

Secondly, soil moisture is lost in land degradation that results from poor

farming practices and deforestation. And thirdly, surface waters are polluted

by run-off of chemicals used in farming and by untreated industrial and

household wastewater in cities. This is an acute problem in less developedcountries where environmental and sanitation regulations remain

inadequate.

In many countries of sub-Saharan Africa, there is an additional category of

economic water scarcity which is caused by too little human intervention.

This occurs when natural supplies are sufficient to meet demand but fail to

reach users due to shortcomings in distribution or storage infrastructure.

Environmental Limits

Disruption of the water cycle has potentially serious environmental side

effects. Cities are known to be sinking as aquifers become empty. This factor

was one cause of the serious flooding in Bangkok towards the end of 2011.

In coastal regions, depleted aquifers increase the risk of saline intrusion.

Sahito Banbhro

tubewell, Pakistan

SAFWCO
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Agro-chemical pollution through run-off of nitrates and phosphates

causes eutrophication, the excessive growth of algae whose eventual

decomposition removes oxygen from the water, killing the aquatic

ecosystem.

A combination of dams, drought and over-extraction can restrict the

environmental flow of the river to the extent that it fails to complete its

normal journey to the sea.

A quarter of the worlds rivers suffer this fate.

Important examples include the Yellow River in

China and the Murray-Darling River in Australia.

The rich ecosystem of the deltas are at risk.

Global freshwater use is listed as one of nine

planetary boundaries in the influential 2009 study

published by the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

These can trigger abrupt system state change

when critical thresholds have been crossed, warns

the report.

An example might be Lake Chad. Misguided governance of the natural cycle

of the Lake led to its area of water collapsing by 90% in the space of 30

years, affecting 20 million people.

Future Demand

The underlying drivers for continued strong demand for freshwater are

population growth and rising incomes.

Murray-Darling River,

Australia/Neil Saunders

Flickr

Precious water resource,

Morocco Curt
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World population is projected to grow from 7.0

billion to 9.3 billion by 2050. Rising living

standards will demand higher volume of household

water use, together with richer diets and more consumer goods. All of these

changes drive water consumption.

Most of the population growth will occur in the cities of developing countries,

many of which are already logistically overwhelmed by growth and

unregulated slum development. Whilst cities were often founded in proximity

to good freshwater supplies, the benevolence of nature rarely extends to

megacity concentrations of over ten million people.

In addition to safe drinking water and sanitation, the rising pressure on

freshwater will be felt most acutely in the energy and food sectors.

The latter is already in crisis, with almost a billion people experiencing

hunger. The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that global food

production must rise by 70% by 2050.

World primary energy demand will increase by 36% between 2008 and

2035, according to the International Energy Agency. Despite the emergence

of renewable energy sources, dependence on traditional water-intensive

mining and power generation is projected to rise in coming years.

The cumulative effect of these demand drivers will lift global demand for

freshwater by 53% by 2030, according to the 2030 Water Resources Group,

a consortium of private sector interests supported by the World Bank. One

third of the global population, mostly in developing countries, will live in

regions where demand for water exceeds supply by more than 50%.

Climate Change

With projections of supply and demand for freshwater veering off in opposite

directions, global warming represents the worst possible intervention. Rising

planetary temperatures will accelerate the pump of the water cycle through

faster evaporation from land and sea into a warmer atmosphere.

Carnemark/World Bank

/ Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/http://www.flickr.com/


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The implications for rainfall are of course the

subject of intensive research. There is broad

agreement that monsoon patterns will change in

timing and intensity, that arid and semi-arid

regions will become drier, and that extremes ofdrought and flooding will become more frequent.

Rising sea levels will aggravate the problem of

groundwater salinity.

Much uncertainty remains, especially in focusing

predictions on national or regional areas that

match the scope of policy response. And the effect on the El Nino and La

Nina climate phenomena remains unclear.

Even where predictions of rainfall trends are confident, there is insufficient

understanding of the mechanics of run-off and groundwater recharge to fully

grasp the implications. This same is true for the consequences of the melting

of the worlds glaciers which together account for 40% of global irrigation.

The net impact on crop yields and soil conservation is also uncertain.

Water scarcity therefore presents policymakers with a perfect storm of

known and known unknown threats. But hesitation wins no sympathy in

nature. The 2011 emergency water relief for the Pacific island of

Tuvalu delivered a preview of water scarcity in a warming world.

According to Nature (2010), about 80% of the world's population (5.6 billion

in 2011) live in areas with threats to water security. The water security is a

shared threat to human and nature and it is pandemic. Human water-

management strategies can affect detrimentally to wildlife, such as

migrating fish. Regions with intensive agriculture and dense population, as

the US and Europe, have high threat to water security. The researcher

estimate that during 2010-2015, ca US$800 billion will be required to cover

the annual global investment in water infrastructure. Good management ofwater resources can jointly manage biodiversity protection and human water

security. Preserving flood plains rather than constructing flood-control

reservoirs would provide a cost-effective way to control floods while

protecting the biodiversity of wildlife that occupies such areas.

House buried by sand in

Mauritania Phuong

Tran / IRIN News
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The New York Times article, Southeast Drought Study Ties Water Shortage

to Population, Not Global Warming, summarizes the findings of Columbia

University researcher on the subject of the droughts in the southwest

between 2005 and 2007. The findings were published in the Journal of

Climate. They say the water shortages resulted from population size morethan rainfall. Census figures show that Georgias population rose to 9.54

million from 6.48 million between 1990 and 2007. After studying data from

weather instruments, computer models and measurements of tree rings

which reflect rainfall, they found that the droughts were not unprecedented

and result from normal climate patterns and random weather events.

Similar droughts unfolded over the last thousand years, the researchers

wrote. Regardless ofclimate change, they added, similar weather patterns

can be expected regularly in the future, with similar results. As the

temperature increases, rainfall in the Southeast will increase but because

ofevaporation the area may get even drier. The researchers concluded with

a statement saying that any rainfall comes from complicated internal

processes in the atmosphere that are very hard to predict because of the

large amount of variables.

Lawrence Smith, the president of the population institute, asserts that

although an overwhelming majority of the planet is composed of water, 97%

of this water is constituted of saltwater; the fresh water used to sustain

humans is only 3% of the total amount of water on Earth (Hoevel).

Therefore, Smith believes that the competition for water in an overpopulatedworld would pose a major threat to human stability (Hoevel); indeed, world

wars may be fought over the control of thinning ice sheets and nearly

desiccated reservoirs. 2 billion people have gained access to a safe water

source since 1990. 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.

The Earth has a limited supply of fresh water, stored in aquifers, surface

waters and the atmosphere. Sometimes oceans are mistaken for availablewater, 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.

Manifestations

There are several principal manifestations of the water crisis.
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Inadequate access to safe drinking water for about 884 million people Inadequate access to water for sanitation and waste disposal for 2.5

billion people

Groundwater overdrafting (excessive use) leading todiminished agricultural yields

Overuse and pollution of water resources harming biodiversity Regional conflicts over scarce water resources sometimes resulting

in warfare

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.[14]According to the World Bank, 88 percent of all

waterborne diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequatesanitation and poor hygiene.

Water is the underlying tenuous balance of safe water supply, but

controllable factors such as the management and distribution of the water

supply itself contribute to further scarcity.

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 humancapacity and physical infrastructure". Official data also shows a clear

correlation between access to safe water and GDP per capita.
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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.

Vegetation and wildlife are fundamentally dependent upon adequatefreshwater 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 ano 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 developed or

diminished through human population expansion. One example is

the Portlethen Moss in Aberdeenshire.

On Madagascars 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 countrys 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, such as, the disturbed Tokios, coral reefformations in the Indian

Ocean are effectively lost.

In October 2008, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman and former chief

executive of Nestl, warned that the production of biofuels will further

deplete the world's water supply.

Overview of regions suffering crisis impacts
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.

Two abandoned ships in the formerAral Sea, near Aral, Kazakhstan.

There are many other countries of the world that are severely impacted with

regard to human healthand 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:

Sudan 12.3 million Venezuela 5.0 million Ethiopia 2.7 million Tunisia 2.1 million Cuba 1.3 millionSeveral world maps showing various aspects of the problem can be found in

this graph article.

According to the California Department of Water Resources, if more supplies

arent 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 220 miles (350 km) from Santa Barbara to

theMexican border. The regions 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 surfacewell 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
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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 countriesalready 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. 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 ofAsia's biggest rivers -

Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra,Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and Yellow - could

disappear by 2035 as temperatures rise. It was later revealed that the

source used by the UN climate report actually stated 2350, not

2035. 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

ofNorth America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountainranges such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, also would be

affected.

By far the largest part ofAustralia 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, possibly 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 worlds 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
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region. Nonetheless, the following year, 2010, Perth suffered its second-

driest winter on record and the water corporation tightened water

restrictions for spring.

Outlook

Wind and solar power such as this installation in a village innorthwestMadagascar can make a difference in safe water supply.

Construction ofwastewater 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 aresuccessfully 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 minimise impacts to drinking water and toecosystems. 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 ecosystems, especially
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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 distillwater 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

Conventional Fossil or Nuclear Energy Based Desalination

As new technological innovations continue to reduce the capital cost

ofdesalination, 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 todesalination to provide a small part of their water needs

In 2007 Pakistan announced plans to use desalination All Australian capital cities (except Darwin, Northern

Territory and Hobart) are either in the process of building desalination

plants, or are already using them. In late 2011, Melbourne will beginusing Australia's largest desalination plant, the Wonthaggi desalination

plant to raise low reservoir levels.

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 m) 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 200 miles

(320 km) inland though a pipeline to the capital city ofRiyadh.

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."
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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 desalinize400,000 US gallons (1,500,000 L) of water per day.

While desalinizing 1,000 US gallons (3,800 L) of water can cost as much as

$3, the same amount ofbottled 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.

Picture show, due to record less rain in Summer 2005, and resulting to

drought occurred in Sameura Dam, which one of water supplies

to Takamatsu, Shikoku Island, Japan

According to MSNBC, a report by Lux Research estimated that the worldwide

desalinated water supply will triple between 2008 and 2020

However, not everyone is convinced that desalination is or will be

economically viable or environmentally sustainable for the foreseeable

future. Debbie Cook, the former mayor ofHuntington Beach, California, has

been a frequent critic of desalination proposals ever since she was appointed

as a member of the California Desalination Task Force. Cook claims that inaddition to being energy intensive, desalination schemes are very costly

often much more costly than desalination proponents claim. In her writing

on the subject, Cook points to a long list of projects that have stalled or

been aborted for financial or other reasons, and suggests that water-
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stressed regions would do better to focus on conservation or other water

supply solutions than to invest in desalination plants.

Solar Energy Based Desalination

A novel approach to desalination is the Seawater Greenhouse which takes

seawater and uses solar energy to desalinate it in conjunction with growing

food crops in a specially adapted greenhouse.

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 acute

conflicts over water are far less than the record of cooperation.

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, proving 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 survived the Vietnam War. In contrast, regional instability results when

there is an absence of institutions to co-operate in regional collaboration,

like Egypts plan for a high dam on the Nile. However, there is currently no

global institution in place for the management and management of trans-

boundary water sources, and international co-operation has happened

through ad hoc collaborations between agencies, like the Mekong Committeewhich was formed due to an alliance between UNICEF and the 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 resolved disputes is that the negotiations

had a need-based instead of a rightbased 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, which 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, ensuring 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,
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move away from the zero-sum approach to a positive sum, integrative

approach that equitably allocated the water and its benefits.

884 million people lack access to safe water supplies; approximately one ineight people.

3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any

war claims through guns.

People living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water thanwealthy people living in the same city.

An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than a typicalperson in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.

Children

Diarrhea remains in the second leading cause of death among children underfive globally. Nearly one in five child deaths about 1.5 million each year

is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and

measles combined.

Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. Diarrhea is more prevalent in the developing world due, in large part, to the

lack of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as poorer overall

health and nutritional status.


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Children in poor environments often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in theirbodies at any time

In the developing world, 24,000 children under the age of five die every dayfrom preventable causes like diarrhea contracted from unclean water.

1.4 million children die as a result of diarrhea each year.Women

In just one day, more than 200 million hours of womens time is consumedfor the most basic of human needs collecting water for domestic use.

This lost productivity is greater than the combined number of hours workedin a week by employees at Wal*Mart, United Parcel Service, McDonalds,

IBM, Target, and Kroger, according to Gary White, co-founder of Water.org.

Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting waterfrom distant, often polluted sources.

A study by the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) ofcommunity water and sanitation projects in 88 communities found that

projects designed and run with the full participation of women are more

sustainable and effective than those that do not. This supports an earlier


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World Bank study that found that womens participation was strongly

associated with water and sanitation project effectiveness.

Disease

At any given time, half of the worlds hospital beds are occupied by patientssuffering from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water,

inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter. Almost one-tenth of the global disease burden could be prevented by

improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water

resources. Such improvements reduce child mortality and improve healthand nutritional status in a sustainable way.

88% of cases of diarrhea worldwide are attributable to unsafe water,inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene

90% of all deaths caused by diarrheal diseases are children under 5 years ofage, mostly in developing countries.

It is estimated that improved sanitation facilities could reduce diarrhea-related deaths in young children by more than one-third. If hygiene

promotion is added, such as teaching proper hand washing, deaths could bereduced by two thirds. It would also help accelerate economic and social

development in countries where sanitation is a major cause of lost work and

school days because of illness.


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Economics

Over 50 percent of all water projects fail and less than five percent ofprojects are visited, and far less than one percent have any longer-term

monitoring.

Investment in safe drinking water and sanitation contributes to economicgrowth. For each $1 invested, the World Health Organization (WHO)

estimates returns of $3 $34, depending on the region and technology.

Almost two in every three people who need safe drinking water survive onless than $2 a day and one in three on less than $1 a day.

Households, not public agencies, often make the largest investment in basicsanitation, with the ratio of household to government investment typically

10 to 1.

Investment in drinking-water and sanitation would result in 272 million moreschool attendance days a year. The value of deaths averted, based on

discounted future earnings, would amount to US$ 3.6 billion a year.

Environment

Less than 1% of the worlds fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water onearth) is readily accessible for direct human use.

More than 80% of sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated,polluting rivers, lakes and coastal areas.


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The UN estimates that by 2025, forty-eight nations, with combinedpopulation of 2.8 billion, will face freshwater stress or scarcity. Our

Water.org High School Curriculum

Agriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater by far: about 70% of allfreshwater withdrawals go to irrigated agriculture. (14)

At home the average American uses between 100 and 175 gallons of water aday. That is less than 25 years ago, but it does not include the amount of

water used to feed and clothe us.

Conserving water helps not only to preserve irreplaceable natural resources,but also to reduce the strain on urban wastewater management systems.

Wastewater is costly to treat, and requires continuous investment to ensure

that the water we return to our waterways is as clean as possible

Governments are losing the fight to tackle the world's water crisis.The

situation, which sees 1.1 billion people with no access to safe water and 2.6

billion people without basic sanitation, is steadily getting worse, in spite of a

major pledge by the international community to improve it, according to the

UK relief and development agency Tearfund. The UN's Millennium

Development Goal (MDG) to "halve by 2015 the proportion of people without

access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation" is in danger of becoming

no more than a pipe dream, the agency said in a report released for World

Water Day, which falls today.

As the report was issued the seriousness of the water crisis was re-

emphasised with new figures suggesting that five million people in Kenya are

now facing food shortages as as result of failed rains. The drought in

northern and north-eastern Kenya has also affected areas of Somalia,

Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania and Burundi, leaving more than 11.5 million


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people in need of food aid in the next six months. The Tearfund report says

that international aid, from the European Union especially, is failing to keep

pace with the worsening water stress hitting a growing numbers of

countries. "Governments are failing to tackle a crisis in which a child dies

from dehydration from diarrhoea every 14 seconds. Half the world's hospitalbeds are taken up by people with water-borne diseases," the report says.

"Over the past decade, aid for water and sanitation from EU member

governments has been falling, despite 6,000 children dying every day from

diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water.

"Since the MDG was agreed, EU aid to water and sanitation has declined anda smaller percentage of it now goes to sub-Saharan Africa. In 1997, EU

Member States gave an average of $126m (72m) to address the global

water crisis. Today, they give on average $94m." The report alleges that the

EU Water Initiative, launched in 2002 to coordinate and improve the EU

response to the crisis, "has not changed any policy or practice to help one

single person have access to water and sanitation." It adds that money

needed to meet the water and sanitation MDG - $15bn - is "a small

proportion of the $100bn that is spent each year on bottled water, mainly as

a fashion accessory." The report says that the UK and other governmentshave failed to prioritise aid for water and sanitation in the way they have for

health and education, even though diarrhoeal diseases cause 443 million

school days to be lost each year. Is says that between 2000 and 2004 the

UK government gave an average of $327m a year to health, compared to

$86m to water and sanitation. Furthermore, more aid for water and


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sanitation in poor countries is given as loans than as grants - pushing

heavily indebted countries deeper into debt.

In 2002, governments at the World Summit on Sustainable Development

recommitted to have plans for managing water resources in place by 2005.

Tearfund says: "This date has passed and only 12 per cent of countries have

met the target. Add climate change and global warming into the equation,

and even developed countries start to feel the heat." The agency calls on

rich country governments to commit to doubling aid to water and sanitation

by 2010, focusing 70 per cent of this aid on the poorest countries and giving

particular emphasis to sanitation and hygiene promotion. It says all aid for

water and sanitation in the poorest countries should be given as grants not

loans.

Another major report issued , the UN-led Global International WatersAssessment, said that the overuse of water for farming is the biggest

environmental threat to the world's freshwater resources, and damage is

likely to worsen until 2020. The report said that more dams and deeper wells

were not the answer. It said, for instance, that dams on the Volga River had

reduced the spawning grounds for Caspian sturgeon, and 90 per cent of the

water in Namibia's Eastern National Water Carrier canal was lost because of

evaporation.

Causes

"Scarcity and misuse of fresh water pose a serious and growing threat to

sustainable development and protection of the environment. Human health

and welfare, food security, industrial development and the ecosystem on

which they depend, are all at risk, unless water and land resources are

managed more effectively in the present decade and beyond that they have

been in the past"[10]. Water is a vital element for human life, and any

human activity relates somehow to water. Unfortunatly, it is not a renewable

resource and in the future there will be lot of water problems. Moreover,some people state that future wars will be fought for water.

Water conflicts occur because the demand for water resources and potable

water extend far beyond the amount of water actually available. Elements of

a water crisis may put pressures on affected parties to obtain more of a

shared water resource, causing diplomatic tension or outright conflict.
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1.1 billion people are without adequate drinking water; the potential for

water disputes is correspondingly large. Besides life, water is necessary for

proper sanitation , commercial services, and the production of commercial

goods. Thus numerous types of parties can become implicated in a water

dispute. For example, corporate entities may pollute water resources sharedby a community, or governments may argue over who gets access to

a river used as an international or inter-state boundary.

The broad spectrum of water disputes makes them difficult to address.

Locale, local and international law, commercial interests, environmental

concerns, and human rights questions make water disputes complicated to

solve combined with the sheer number of potential parties, a single

dispute can leave a large list of demands to be met by courts and

lawmakers.

Economic and trade issues

Waters viability as a commercial resource, which includes fishing,

agriculture, manufacturing, recreation and tourism, among other

possibilities, can create dispute even when access to potable water is not

necessarily an issue. As a resource, some consider water to be as valuable

as oil, needed by nearly every industry, and needed nearly every day. Water

shortages can completely cripple an industry just as it can cripple a

population, and affect developed countries just as they affect countries withless-developed water infrastructure. Water-based industries are more visible

in water disputes, but commerce at all levels can be damaged by a lack of

water.

International commercial disputes between nations can be addressed

through the World Trade Organization, which has water-specific groups like a

Fisheries Center that provide a unified judicial protocol for commercial

conflict resolution. Still, water conflict occurring domestically, as well as

conflict that may not be entirely commercial in nature may not be suitable

for arbitration by the WTO.

Fishing

Historically, fisheries have been the main sources of question, as nations

expanded and claimed portions of oceans and seas as territory for domestic

commercial fishing. Certain lucrative areas, such as the Bering Sea, have a

history of dispute; in 1886 Great Britain and the United States clashed over
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sealing fisheries, and today Russia surrounds a pocket of international water

known as the Bering Sea Donut Hole. Conflict over fishing routes and access

to the hole was resolved in 1995 by a convention referred to colloquially as

the Donut Hole Agreement.

Pollution

Corporate interest often crosses opposing commercial interest, as well as

environmental concerns, leading to another form of dispute. In the

1960s, Lake Erie, and to a lesser extent, the other Great Lakes were polluted

to the point of massive fish death. Local communities suffered greatly from

dismal water quality until the United States Congress passed the Clean

Water Act in 1972.

Water pollution poses a significant health risk, especially in heavily

industrialized, heavily populated areas like China. In response to aworsening situation in which entire cities lacked safe drinking water, China

passed a revised Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law.The possibility

of polluted water making it way across international boundaries, as well as

unrecognized water pollution within a poorer country brings up questions of

human rights, allowing for international input on water pollution. There is no

single framework for dealing with pollution disputes local to a nation.

According to Aaron Wolf, et all there were 1831 water conflicts over

transboundary basins from 19502000. They categorizied these events asfollowing:

No water-related events on the extremes Most interactions are cooperative Most interactions are mild Water acts as irritant Water acts as unifier Nations cooperate over a wide variety of issues Nations conflict over quantity and infrastructureResponse

International organizations play the largest role in mediating water disputes

and improving water management. From scientific efforts to quantify water

pollution, to the World Trade Organizations efforts to resolve trade disputes
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between nations, the varying types of water disputes can be addressed

through current framework. Yet water conflicts that go unresolved become

more dangerous as water becomes more scarce and global population

increases

United NationsThe UN International Hydrological Program aims to help improve

understanding of water resources and foster effective water management.

But by far the most active UN program in water dispute resolution is its

Potential Conflict to Co-operation Potential mission, which is in its third

phase, training water professionals in the Middle East and organizing

educational efforts elsewhere. Its target groups include diplomats,

lawmakers, civil society, and students of water studies; by expanding

knowledge of water disputes, it hopes to encourage co-operation between

nations in dealing with conflicts.

UNESCO only just recently published a complete map of transboundary

aquifers. Academic work focusing on water disputes has yet to yield a

consistent method for mediating international disputes, let alone local ones.

But UNESCO faces optimistic prospects for the future as water conflicts

become more public, and as increasing severity sobers obstinate interests.

World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization can arbitrate water disputes presented by its

member states when the disputes are commercial in nature. The WTO hascertain groups, such as its Fisheries Center, that work to monitor and rule on

relevant cases, although it is by no means the authority on conflict over

water resources.

Because water is so central to agricultural trade, water disputes may be

subtly implicated in WTO cases in the form ofvirtual water, water used in

the production of goods and services but not directly traded between

countries. Countries with greater access to water supplies may fare better

from an economic standpoint than those facing crisis, which creates the

potential for conflict. Outraged by agriculture subsidies that displacedomestic produce, countries facing water shortages bring their case to the

WTO.

The WTO plays more of a role in agriculturally-based disputes that are

relevant to conflict over specific sources of water. Still, it provides an

important framework that shapes the way water will play into future
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economic disputes. One school of thought entertains the notion of war over

water, the ultimate progression of an unresolved water disputescarce

water resources combined with the pressure of exponentially increasing

population may outstrip the ability of the WTO to maintain civility in trade

issues

Notable conflicts

Water conflicts can occur on the intrastate and interstate levels. Interstate

conflicts occur between two or more neighboring countries that share a

transboundary water source, such as a river, sea, or groundwater basin. For

example, the Middle East has only 1% of the world's freshwater shared

among 5% of the world's population. Intrastate conflicts take place between

two of more parties in the same country. An example would be the conflictsbetween farmers and industry (agricultural vs industrial use of water).

According to UNESCO, the current interstate conflicts occur mainly in the

Middle East (disputes stemming from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers among

Turkey, Syria, and Iraq; and the Jordan River conflict among Israel,

Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestine territories), in Africa (Nile River-related

conflicts among Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan),as well as in Central

Asia (the Aral Sea conflict among Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). At a local level, a remarkable example is

the 2000 Cochabamba protests, depicted in the 2010 Spanish film Even theRain by Icar Bollan.

Some analysts estimate that due to an increase in human consumption of

water resources, water conflicts will become increasingly common in the

near future.

During World War One, the Battle of Beersheba (1917) was fought with the

expressed intention of securing water resources in Palestine.

Practical Solutions

Most of the worlds poor are dependent on small farms in developing

countries, inadequately equipped to respond to water problems. This is

where sustainable solutions are most needed and are most challenging.
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In Asia the tasks are to reduce demand for

irrigation and to restore water tables. Most

irrigation is currently performed by indiscriminate

flooding of fields, highly inefficient and

wasteful.Modern drip irrigation technologycanreduce water use by around 50% and increase

yields through its targeted application.

Underground aquifers are by nature ideal for

adaptation to variable rainfall. Groundwater

recharge can be revived by maintenance of

neglected storage tanks and drainage, supported by simple rainwater

harvesting technologies.

In sub-Saharan Africa the problems are very different. Nearly all of the

farming is rainfed but only 4% of rainfall is captured for the purpose.

Government and donors are under considerable pressure to reverse their

long term neglect of this sector of agriculture.

Integrated programmes of land and water management would upgrade

farmers' awareness of techniques to conserve soil moisture and structure.

Selection of diversified and drought-tolerant crops represents basic risk

management.

In view of the uncertain effects of climate change at local levels, most

climate adaptation strategies will focus on steps that are consistent anyway

with establishing greater resilience to variable rainfall.

Theoretical Solutions

Richer countries can in theory contribute to management of water scarcity

by leveraging the economic tools of modern consumer societies.

Drip irrigation in

Niger/Pencils for Kids

Flickr
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Measurement of water consumed throughout the

manufacturing supply chain has provided an

invaluable starting point for raising awareness

amongst corporations and consumers alike. The

figures are startling: 140 litres of freshwater arerequired for a single cup of coffee, 6,000 litres for

a pair of denim jeans and more than 15,000 litres

for a kilo of beef.

This invisible input has become known as virtual

water, a concept especially useful for illustrating

the movement of water between countries in

traded goods. The methodology can also be aggregated to quantify

the water footprint of individuals and businesses.

These ideas have inspired economists to suggest replicating the familiar

model for mitigating carbon dioxide emissions. This would involve a global

system for countries and businesses to trade the right to consume water.

Informed choices by individual consumers would be enabled by labelling

retail goods with their water footprint.

These proposals remain on the drawing board. Unlike carbon dioxide which

has the same environmental consequences regardless of where it is emitted,

the impact of water consumption varies widely according to its local

availability.

Failure to price water as a scarce environmental resource is one of the fault

lines of modern market economics. The consequences of the green

revolution in Asia were exacerbated by allowing farmers unlimited free

access to water. The worlds largest exporters of beef and manufactured

goods, Australia and China respectively, are countries which experience

serious water scarcity.

Governance Issues

Reconciling the demands of competing users of water is especially

challenging where responsibilities are fragmented between different

government departments.

Virtual water ready for

export, South

Australia/Dave Clarke

Flickr
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Governments are encouraged to focus accountability for coordinating the

water implications of goals for poverty reduction, food security and energy

security. The demanding ideal of pulling together both human and

environmental needs is often described as integrated water resourcesmanagement.

Poor governance standards in many developing countries can nevertheless

enable powerful interests to gain disproportionate access to scarce water

resources. An extreme example is the phenomenon known as land-

grabbing.

The acquisition of agricultural land in developing countries is being pursued

by foreign investors and by wealthy governments seeking to overcome their

own food and water insecurity. Displacement of the poor from land on which

they have enjoyed customary use too often equates with the loss of water

rights.

Governments are being reminded of their obligations to protect access to

water for all citizens. A resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in

July 2010 recognises the right to safe and clean drinking water and

sanitation as a human right.

At international level, there is a governance vacuum on water scarcity. UN

Water is not an implementing agency its role is to strengthen coordination

and coherence among other UN entities dealing with freshwater.

There is no UN Convention to tackle water scarcity in parallel with those for

climate change, biodiversity and desertification. A 2011 meeting of the

InterAction Council, the group of former world leaders, deplored that

"international water leadership is virtually nonexistent."

Conflict Prevention

History is replete with water conflict, from squabbles between neighbouring

farms to wars decided by cutting off or poisoning a water supply.
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Fear of water wars pervades the modern era, more so

perhaps than is justified by events. The ingredients are

certainly there the mega-dam technology to deny

supplies to downstream countries, the location of major

rivers in regions already convulsed by water scarcity andmilitary tension.

The Middle East and North Africa region is the particular

focus of concern. The River Jordan supplies water to

Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan and

Syria whose poor inter-relations in any event provoke a

high state of military readiness.

Management of a transboundary river is a zero sum

game; if one country gains in distribution rights, another loses. No fewer

than nine countries share the resources of the River Nile and they are

currently in dispute. The two major users, Egypt and Sudan, are refusing to

sign the Entebbe Agreement, a set of new regulations which would reduce

their current allocations.

There is nothing new about such disputes and water conflict resolution

mechanisms are commonplace around the world.

In Southeast Asia, the Mekong River Commission is an inter-governmental

agency formed by the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and

Vietnam to further their interests of shared water resources of the Mekong

River. The Commission maintains dialogue with China whose 21 dams on the

upper Mekong are the cause of considerable anxiety.

Deceptive calm

on the Nile at

Aswan Jeff

Black
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water crisis of world

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