Unit 3.10 - WATER CONFLICTS & SUSTAINABLE WATER USE

Only about 3% of the Earth’s water is potable (useful to drink or for agriculture and industry). Three factors determine supply.

1-Climate is critical in determining water supply.

2- Rivers move water around. But they experience seasonal flow and water balance variation; both factors determine water supply

possibilities.

3- Geology a country with little permeable rock (sedimentary chalks and sandstone for instance) will have no storage of groundwater.

Shortage, scarcity and stress (SSS)

Shortage - Shortages of water have become common place in many areas of the world – too many areas receive low levels of water supply relative to basic needs. Sahel, South America, China, India and Pakistan all experience SSS.

Case study: 

Sucking India dry - Water from rainfall is only available from surface supply from July to September in many parts of India. Competing demands for water causes scarcity. In Kishangarh, Rajasthan in India the operations in a marble factory is sucking the ground dry (over extracting water causing shortages of drinking water), but in the fields crops die through lack of water and people die through starvation.

Scarcity and stress

When water supply falls below 1000m3/year a huge imbalance between supply and demand can occur. The world is said to be ‘water bankrupt’ and that the water scarcity crisis is a bigger threat to the world than the financial crisis. Scarcity of water and hydrological shock (where suddenly there is no rain and no replenishing of groundwater and river water) brought on by climate change, will increase the risk of major international and national security threats – the water wars.

Poor water quality increases disease. Stored water harbours mosquitoes – two-thirds of countries by 2025 will live in water stress. 

WHERE WILL THE WORLD'S WATER CONFLICTS ERUPT?

The map displays nearly 2,000 incidents, involving conflict and collaboration alike, over shared river basins from 1990 to 2008. The circles in the sidebar compare about 2,200 events—including another 200 disputes over resources other than shared rivers—from the same period.

Data Visualization by Pitch Interactive; River locations courtesy The Global Runoff Data Centre, 56068 Koblenz, Germany

[Source:https://www.popsci.com/article/science/where-will-worlds-water-conflicts-erupt-infographic]

For most of the two hundred thousand years or so of human existence, we used but a small fraction of the earth’s freshwater resources. It has been only a few thousand years since humans first learned to exert any control over water by channeling it for irrigation and supply for cities. In a geological heartbeat, however, we have reached the point where we now use half of the world’s freshwater for our own consumption, leaving minimal amounts for ecosystem functioning. Agriculture uses the most water—about 70 percent globally—with population growth, shifts to higher meat consumption, and the use of grain in biofuels driving increased demand.1 It is fairly common in some areas to use 70 percent of annual flows and, in a few cases, to use as much as 120 percent or more by drawing on fossil groundwater. By extracting groundwater, reducing lakes and rivers beyond the rate of replenishment, and polluting the freshwater that we do have, we are quickly depleting our available supplies.

About a third of the world’s current population lives in water-scarce conditions, and this situation is projected to get considerably worse. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that, by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living under conditions of absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the globe’s people will be living under stressed conditions, which means there will be less than 1,700 m3 of available water per person.2 This translates into a lack of access to clean drinking water, which, in turn, causes diarrhea and a variety of other waterborne diseases. About 1.6 million people die from diarrhea every year, 90 percent of whom are children under the age of five, the most vulnerable. More children die from diarrhea than malaria, measles, and HIV/AIDS combined. Most of these children live in Asia and Africa.

RIVER WATER DISPUTES IN INDIA

SUSTAINABLE WATER USE in INDIA

For sustainable use, we must know the present situation on water use. Out of total water use, irrigation accounted for nearly 78% followed by domestic use 6%, industries 5%, power development 3%, and other activities claimed about 8% including evaporation losses, environment and navigational requirements.

Therefore, for sustainable agricultural and industrial the following reforms must be taken:

(i) Irrigation Sector Reforms: State Governments may restructure the Water Resources Departments to bridge the knowledge gap in planning, development and management of water resources in a sustainable manner as also making it more professional. The water rates being charged at present are very low and are not able to meet even the operation and maintenance costs of the irrigation projects. Farmers on the other hand, who otherwise may not be averse to paying increased water charges refuse to do so unless the quality of services is first improved and there sets a vicious circle. Micro Irrigation system should be encouraged.

(ii) Domestic use of water can be made more efficient by taking steps like metering, market determined tariff and by public awareness about more efficient water use in everyday activities.

(iii) Industrial Sector: Unlike in Irrigation the industries require water on regular basis throughout the year. Therefore, to ensure reasonable availability of water for industries even during the lean periods, the industries will have to inculcate the habit of efficient water use. Besides this, industrial water management has to address a major issue of water quality of effluents which can also be tackled to some extent through efficient water use.