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http://www.sciencealert.com.au/opinions/20100609-21297-2.html


Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World's Water Problems
Monday, 06 September 2010
By Colin Chartres and Samuyuktha Varma

The extensive flooding in Pakistan and intense drought in Russia this summer exemplify why we need to better manage the world’s water resources. Climate change is forecast to bring greater variability and increase the frequency of extreme weather events so we can expect more dry spells and deluges in the future. If we are to successfully adapt to climate change, we must find innovative ways to store rainwater when it arrives in abundance for times when it is in short supply, as well as reforming how we govern and manage water use.

World leaders, scientists and campaigners have spent 15 years arguing about whether climate change was caused by humankind. As a result, the small window of opportunity governments had to cut greenhouse gases and prevent climate change passed by without them taking any effective action. With many nations now appearing to be experiencing the weather extremes forecast by climate change scientists, adaption is our only remaining choice. And whereas mitigation was all about reducing harmful gases, adaptation is all about how we manage wate

Rethinking how we store water will certainly help us overcome the anticipated increase in rainfall variability. Large dams are one option; China’s Three Gorges Dam was recently credited with having prevented catastrophic flooding following the heaviest rain in 100 years. But there are also other, much cheaper and smaller-scale options. For example, providing the millions of smallholder farmers in Asia and Africa with access to ponds, tanks, small reservoirs and groundwater, or helping them retain soil moisture, could make the difference between their crops failing or thriving.

We will not be able to rely solely on better water storage to meet the challenges of the future, however. Climate change is just one of many factors presently putting the world’s water supplies under pressure. Global population rise, the expansion of cities, dietary changes, and the emerging biofuels industry are all contributing to make water scarcer than it once was. What is needed, as we seek to feed more people, satisfy industrial developments, cope with increasing urbanization and adapt to climate change, is a new holistic approach to water management.

In our book Out of water: From abundance to scarcity and how to solve the world’s water problems, we lay out a six-point plan for overhauling water use to meet competing demands from agriculture, industry, cities and the environment. Our recommendations are that water planners: 1) gather high-quality data about water resources; 2) take better care of the environment; 3) reform how water resources are governed; 4) revitalize how water is used for farming; 5) better manage urban and municipal demands for water; and 6) involve marginalized people in water management.

Action stations

‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’, so having high-quality data on rainfall, river flows, and areas potentially at risk from floods is essential for effective water management. Meanwhile, understanding how climate change is affecting water availability requires long-term datasets. Fortunately, advances in technology are making the tasks of gathering and querying data much simpler. For example, information technology now enables us to remotely monitor gauging stations, while Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing allow planners to effectively map and analyze large quantities of spatial data.

We need to value the natural environment much more than we have in the past. This is because healthy ecosystems, such as rivers and wetlands, provide useful services including dispersing pollutants, ameliorating floods and nurturing fish. To sustain these valuable functions, authorities must limit the amount of sewage and pollution they allow to enter waterways, and create productive agroecosystems that maintain valuable, regulating services while sustainably producing food. If not, we risk facing more cases of catastrophic land degradation such as those caused by overexploitation of water in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin and many other basins around the world.

An overhaul of how water resources are governed is long overdue. In the developing world, many of the governance models operating today were designed in the colonial context of delivering water to irrigate vast monocultural crops. Today’s farmers often manage smaller plots and grow a wide range of cereals, fruits and vegetables. Because they require more flexible access to water than the old surface irrigation systems can deliver, many have begun pumping groundwater, often to the detriment of the environment. Future governance models must clearly define water rights and empower farmers in water management, while ensuring they use water sustainably.

Governance reforms need to go hand-in-hand with action to revamp aging irrigation schemes. Old, surface irrigation infrastructure is often poorly maintained, and underperforms because it is no longer in sync with modern farming. New approaches could help us make better use of this costly infrastructure. For example, surface irrigation schemes could be used to recharge overexploited groundwater supplies. There are also opportunities to invest in new irrigation technologies in rain-fed parts of Africa and Asia to help farmers adapt to climate change. Taking such actions to revitalize agriculture will assist farmers in raising the amount of ‘crop per drop’ produced.

With a third of the world’s inhabitants facing water scarcity, all sectors need to use water more efficiently. A good example that demonstrates how cities can do so is that of Sydney, where ‘water wise rules’ now restrict times at which gardens can be watered, ban sprinklers and only permit car washing at facilities that recycle water. New design principles are helping to reduce storm water runoff and increase the amount of water recycled, while a desalination plant is putting seawater to use. Meanwhile, industries are beginning to embrace the concept of ‘water footprinting’, where water use from ‘crop to shop’ is calculated to highlight where savings are possible.

The most important action needed if we are to provide enough food for a growing population, support industry and enable cities to function is to empower the world’s poor and marginalized people. Providing water has been proven to reduce poverty but more needs to be done to improve equity in access, control, and participation in water management to ensure that the most vulnerable communities are reached. As climate change increases rainfall variability, developing simple water storage facilities, improving soil quality and giving women in agricultural communities the chance to contribute to decision-making about water use could prevent millions of deaths from starvation and malnutrition. And if these simple actions are taken in conjunction with those outlined above, we will all have a better chance of surviving the extreme weather events that climate change unleashes in the future.

Colin Chartres is a world authority on water issues and Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka. He has 35 years’ experience in R&D and policy areas related to water and natural resources, and served as Chief Science Advisor to the Australian Water Commission. He has published over 120 papers, book chapters and reports on soil, water and agricultural management issues.

Samyuktha Varma is Executive Officer to the Director General and Communications Specialist at IWMI. She focuses on issues of water, equity and poverty in developing countries, ensuring that women's voices are heard in the development of water management solutions. A social scientist, her background has led to her work on issues ranging from human rights to urban governance.

 

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