Water, Water, We Need Water: Is This The New Reality Of The Word?

March 20, 2009

Martin McCauley writes: The World Water Conference in Istanbul faces a daunting task: how to convince water surplus countries to share their water with other states? The world is divided into two parts: rich countries which can buy as much water as they need and others that have to go without.

Technically speaking, there is enough water in the world to supply clean drinking water and water for sanitation for every inhabitant. The problem is that water reserves are unevenly distributed. Just like natural resources, nature is not fair. Some countries are blessed and others are damned.

About 4,000 children a day die from lack of clean water worldwide. In all, about 1.1 billion, or one in six of the world’s population, does not have access to clean drinking water. About a quarter of the population of the planet do not have adequate water for sanitation.
Water shortage is now perceived to be the greatest ecological threat to humankind. By 2025 almost half of the global population will not have access to clean water. (It was deeply ironic that on the day before the conference the Turkish police were dispersing protesters, who were demanding a fair deal for all, with water cannons.)

The astonishing thing is that 70 per cent of the world’s water is used for irrigation at present. In other words, for growing food for domestic consumers and for export. One study concluded that 70 per cent of the food imported by Britain comes from water deficit countries such as Egypt and Thailand. Is it time for the Brits to change their eating habits?

Water shortages affect rich and poor countries. The south west of the United States and California are running short of water. Can someone come up with a way of channelling the huge resources of the Great Lakes to these dry lands? Argentina has a water problem but Brazil has it in plenty. What is the most efficient way of providing water supplies across borders?

The worst situation is in Africa, especially in the north where 22 countries are running dry. Then comes the Middle East where Jordan is facing the greatest challenge.
Northern and western China are becoming dryer by the day. A solution being adopted by Beijing is to pipe water from the tropical south to the thirsty north. Another is to build a pipeline to siphon off water from the Tibetan plateau to the dry areas. The problem with this solution is that the source of the great rivers of northern India is in the Chinese Himalayas. One country’s solution creates a problem for another.

Desalination is already being used, in Saudi Arabia and Spain, for instance. The technology can be shared but it is very expensive. Yet, small island states may have no other option but to install these plants.

The selfish attitude to water is evident within some countries. In Spain, for example, authorities in the northern part that has a surplus of water are showing reluctance to share it with the parched south of Spain.

What is the best solution? Better water management. At least 30 per cent of water now escapes and is wasted. Rich countries can pioneer ways of conserving rainwater since poor countries do not have the resources to do this. More dams are not the answer. They take water away from those in other countries who need it. An example is Xinjiang, in western China. Some of the rivers of Kazakhstan and Siberia originate from there. China is building dams on its side of the border and depriving its neighbours of water.

Some people say that what is needed is a world water agency which would negotiate water rights. The aim will be to achieve an equitable and reasonable use of the world’s water resources. But the prospect of this agency coming into being and solving water disputes is slim. Rich countries will simply buy extra water if they need it.

It will probably take a serious crisis to force the international community to attempt to reach a global solution. ‘Water is now the new oil,’ claims one campaigner. Unlike oil, though, we cannot survive without water. Let us hope that we would be able to avoid the day when thirst starts provoking military conflicts.
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