Archives

No signs of looming "water wars"

(Continued from yesterday)

In the United States, 40% of water bodies assessed in 1998 were not deemed fit for recreational use due to nutrient, metal and agricultural pollution. Furthermore only five out of 55 rivers in Europe are considered pristine, according to the report and, in Asia, all rivers running through cities are badly polluted. 60% of the world's 227 largest rivers are severely fragmented by dams, diversions and canals leading to the degradation of ecosystems.

Turning to the animal life of inland waters, the report says that 24% of mammals and 12% of birds are threatened. Between 34 and 80 fish species have become extinct since the late 19th century, six since 1970. Only about 10% of the world's fish species, the majority from inland waters, have been studied in detail, yet a third are at risk.

International conflict

As demand for water grows, there is much talk of looming water wars. The report presents empirical data indicating the contrary. While water scarcity will intensify conflicts between states, there is little evidence to suggest that these situations will explode into full-fledged water wars.

The report highlights the findings of a study of every single water-related interaction between two countries or more over the past 50 years.

Of the total of 1,831 interactions, the overwhelming majority, 1,228 were cooperative. They involved the signing of about 200 water sharing treaties or the construction of new dams. There is a total of 507 conflictive events. Only 37 involved violence, of which 21 consisted of military acts (18 between Israel and its neighbours).

"Some of the most vociferous enemies around the world have negotiated water agreements or are in the process of doing so concerning international rivers," says the report.

"The Mekong Committee, for example, continued to exchange data throughout the Vietnam War. The Indus River Commission survived through two wars between India and Pakistan. And all ten Nile riparian states are currently involved in negotiations over development of the basin." There are 261 international river basins, involving 145 nations. About one third of these basins are shared by more than two countries, and 19 involve five or more. According to the report, a good part of Africa and the Middle East depend upon these shared resources for more than half their water supplies as does the southern tip of Latin America. While much attention has been paid to international rivers, groundwater supplies (aquifers) have been largely ignored, despite the massive volumes of generally high-quality water involved (estimated at 23,400,000 km3 compared with the 42,800 km-in-rivers). Many decision-makers are not even aware that they share aquifers with other countries. The report presents the preliminary findings of a UN initiative to compile the first global map and inventory of these resources.

It also presents the first map of the world's groundwater resources. Aquifers store as much as 98% of accessible water supplies. Between 600 to 700km are extracted each year, providing about 50% of the world's drinking supply, 40% of industrial demands and 20% of irrigated agriculture, according to the report. These proportions vary widely from country to country and are presented in a detailed chart. Cities

"When infrastructure and services are lacking, urban areas lacking water infrastructure are among the world's most life threatening environments," says the report.

According to a survey of 116 cities, urban areas in Africa are the worst served, with only 18% of households connected to sewers. The connection rate in Asia is just over 40%. "The poor of these cities are the first victims of sanitation-related disease, flooding and even a rising rate of water-borne disease like malaria, which is now among the main causes of illness and death in many urban areas," says the report. In South Asia, for example, the Anopheles stephensi mosquito has actually adapted its breeding habits around the ubiquitous rooftop water storage tankers.

"From a public health perspective," says the report, "It is better to provide a whole city's population with safe supplies to taps within 50 metres of their home than to provide only the richest 20% of households with water piped to their home." The report also outlines several reasons as to why cities and towns should take priority over rural areas when choices must be made. First the unit costs of the required infrastructure are lower because urban areas provide significant economies of scale and proximity.

Secondly, many cities have a more prosperous economic base than rural areas, providing greater possibilities to raise revenues for water provision. Thirdly, "urban areas concentrate not only people and enterprises but also their wastes."

Industrial use

Today industry accounts for 22% of total water use in the world: 59% in high-income countries and 8% in low-income countries. The report predicts that this average will reach 24% by 2025, when industry uses an estimated, 1,170 km3/year. Every year, 300-500 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other wastes accumulate in water resource from industry. More than 80% of the world's hazardous waste is produced in the United States and other industrial countries.

Natural disaster risk

The report outlines the need to make risk reduction an integral part of water resource management. While the number of geophysical disasters like earthquakes and landslides has remained fairly steady, the scale and number of water-related events (droughts and floods) has more than doubled since 1996. During the past decade, 665,000 people were killed by natural disasters. Over 90% lost their lives in floods and droughts. 35% of these disasters occurred in Asia, 29% in Africa, 20% in the Americas, 13% in Europe and the rest in Oceania.

Energy

Hydropower is the most important and widely used renewable source of energy, providing 19% of total electricity production in 2001. Industrialised countries are exploited about 70% of their electricity potential, compared to 15% in developing countries, according to the report. Canada is the largest producer followed by the United States and Brazil. Untapped hydro-resources are still abundant in Latin America, India and China.

"By developing half of this potential, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 13%," says the report. However, it also points to the many negative impacts of dam construction, including displacement of local populations and environmental damage (like loss of biodiversity and wetlands). World water portal

WWAP, together with other partners, is developing the World Water Portal, to provide seamless access to a wide body of water information to decision-makers, water managers, technicians and the public at large.

Before going global, a prototype water portal has been developed for the Americas to test ways of sharing information among local, national and regional water organisations. http://www.waterportal-americas.org

For the WWAP Secretariat, contact Amy Otchet,

UNESCO Bureau of Public
Information, Editorial Section,
Telephone: +33(O) 1 45 68 17 04,
Fax: +33 (O) 1 45 68 57 59,
Email: a.otchet@unesco.org.

(UNESCO Presse) (Concluded )

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager