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dam-l Shift in Water Management approach/LS
> ENVIRONMENT: Signs of Shift in Fresh Water
> Management
>
>
>
>
>By Danielle Knight
>WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (IPS) - Global policy makers, responding to the
>growing scarcity of fresh water
>throughout the world, are beginning to shift their approach to managing
>water resources, says a major new report.
>
>''The very nature of water management and use is changing quite
>dramatically from the way it was last century, when the stress
>was on building large dams and large irrigation systems,'' says Peter H.
>Gleick, author of 'The World's Water 1998-1999 -
>Biennial Report of Freshwater Resources.'
>
>''This focus on large scale infrastructure will be seen less and less
>into the next century as development planners shift to a new
>focus on how we use water and on water efficiency and productivity,''
>says Gleick, president of the California-based Pacific
>Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security.
>
>There still remains, however, serious challenges to managing a resource
>that is in increasing demand, and therefore becoming
>increasingly scarce, he says.
>
>Alarming statistics in the biennial report show that half the world's
>population lacks basic sanitation services and more than one
>billion people lack potable drinking water.
>
>''The failure to provide basic sanitation services and clean water to so
>many people takes a serious toll on human health,'' says
>the report. ''In many developing countries, cholera, dysentery, and
>other water-related diseases are on the upswing.''
>
>Nearly 250 million cases of these diseases are reported each year, with
>between five and 10 million deaths and, as the world's
>population increases, the demands for fresh water for industry,
>agriculture and urban areas also will increase, the report says.
>
>More water to meet these demands also means less available water for
>natural ecosystems, including wetlands and forests,
>Gleick warns.
>
>Changes in climate, caused by global warming, will make water supplies
>even more uncertain in the next century, he says. As
>heat- trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - caused by the
>burning of fossil fuels - send temperatures up, the rates of
>water evaporation, soil moisture, storm intensity and melting of snow
>are all expected to change.
>
>Increased demands on water resources may lead to conflict, says the
>report. Where countries share water resources in such
>areas as the Middle East, Southern Africa, and South Asia, water
>scarcity is expected to complicate already fragile agreements.
>
>During this century, most governments and international financial
>institutions, like the World Bank, have believed the solution to
>water management is through mammoth irrigation and hydro-electric dam
>projects, Gleick observes.
>
>As the social and environmental consequences of such large projects -
>including the disruption of natural ecosystems and the
>displacement of large populations of people - become more apparent,
>governments and institutions are starting to move away
>from investing in such infrastructure, he says. ''Large-scale projects
>can no longer be expected to provide the answer to most
>water problems.''
>
>The decline in the economies of countries in Asia, Russia and other
>regions means that governments have an added incentive to
>steer away from large projects costing billions of dollars in favour of
>smaller water efficiency and conservation programmes,
>says the report.
>
>''The need to develop new sources of water supply can be avoided,
>largely by implementing intelligent water conservation and
>demand management programmes, installing new efficient equipment, and
>applying appropriate economic and institutional
>incentives to shift water among users,'' says the report.
>
>Smaller scale low-cost projects, including shallow wells, low- cost
>pumps, water-conserving land management methods and
>''rain water harvesting'' approaches are now being considered, instead
>of large dams and irrigation systems.
>
>''The cancellation of the massive Arun III dam project in Nepal recently
>led to a focus on providing the same benefits at lower
>economic, environmental and social costs with a series of smaller scale
>systems,'' says the report.
>
>In developing countries, large losses occur in distribution systems,
>faulty or old equipment and poorly designed or maintained
>irrigation systems, says Gleick. In Jordan for example, at least 30
>percent of the domestic water supply never reaches user
>because of flaws and inadequacies in the water supply network.
>
>Part of the problem stems from governments artificially maintaining the
>price of water at very low levels that do not reflect its
>scarcity.
>
>''We underpay for water almost everywhere,'' says Gleick. ''It's one of
>the biggest problems with water worldwide.''
>
>Some countries are starting to use market incentives to encourage the
>efficient use of water. In China's dry regions, many cities
>and provinces are raising prices - sometimes by a factor of three to try
>to recover the true cost of water supplies.
>
>In Shanxi province of north-central China, where factories must
>periodically shut down because of water shortages, industry is
>now recycling about 84 percent of its water. By using the same amount of
>water as it was in 1980, factories in this area are now
>producing 3.5 times as many goods as it was then. China, however, is
>slow to let go of its large dams. It is still forging ahead,
>despite opposition, with its Three Gorges project- destined to be the
>world's largest dam.
>
>Australia recently reduced public subsidies for water, forcing farmers
>to use water more sparingly and freeing supplies to meet
>the increasing demand in urban areas.
>
>Reflecting this trend toward efficiency, the World Bank adopted a policy
>in 1993 to help countries better manage water resources where scarcity
>and efficiency are a problem.
>
>''We are beginning to rethink the way we look at water issues,'' Ismail
>Serageldin, vice president of special programs at the World Bank, told
>IPS. ''We are not there yet, but we are on the right path.''
>
> Some environmental groups still think the Bank has a long way to go
>due to its ongoing support of water projects like the Lesotho Highlands
>Project in Southern Africa. This project, which plans to divert water
>flows from Lesotho into a industrial area of South Africa, has faced
>strong opposition for its environmental and social impacts.
>
>''Part of the problem lies in the prevalence of old thinking among water
>planners and managers,'' says Gleick. ''Rapid changes in
>water policy worldwide have not occurred because most economic and
>institutional structures still encourage inefficient use of
>water.''
>
>Water-resource planning must involve more than simply deciding what big
>project to build next or evaluating which scheme is
>the most cost-effective from a narrow economic perspective, he says.
>''Planning must provide information that helps people to
>make judgments about which ''needs'' and ''wants'' can and should be
>satisfied.'' (END/IPS/dk/mk/98)
>
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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