Issues Facing Global Water Supply CGR4M: Environment and resource management

Learning Expectations Overall Expectations analyse environmental and resource management issues and explain their global implications; Specific Expectations explain how growth in population and economic activity around the world increases pressure on natural resources and natural systems evaluate the effectiveness of the efforts of individuals, groups, organizations, and agreements (e.g., United Nations, Kyoto Protocol) to implement solutions to global environmental concerns;

Water Scarcity Two types of water scarcity: Physical scarcity: when there isn’t enough water to meet our needs. This type of scarcity is associated with arid areas. Economic water scarcity: when various institutes (govt., businesses, etc.) and finances limit access to available water

What Happens when Water is Scarce: Mexico City 20 million people in Mexico City Founded on a cluster of ancient lakes (had lots of freshwater) 1800s – discovered groundwater – created wells 1930s – had to dig deeper wells = sign of problem Groundwater supplies 80% of Mexico City’s usable water Old, rusty, leaky pipes waste 25% of the water

Water Trucks Arid / rural areas In slums (unplanned neighbourhoods) If no infrastructure for water delivery, then truck delivery Trucks also serve displaced communities (refugee camps), areas with intermittent supply Could be public or private In slums (unplanned neighbourhoods) Water is only supplied by privately owned trucks Quality varies Sometimes better quality Sometimes the same thing Sometimes unsafe to drink

How can Mexico City Help Itself? What are some things Mexico City can do to mitigate (to make less severe, to alleviate) the water crisis ? - Ration the water Make government building toilets water conserving Improve pipes so not leaking Provide pump so communities can get water not have to pay private companies Educate Make certain things against the law – for ex sidewalk watering

Water Uses Naturally, as population grows, so does the need for more food – and the need for more water.

Trends Since the dawn of irrigated agriculture at least 5000 years ago, controlling water to grow crops has been the primary motivation for human alteration of freshwater supplies. Today, principal demands for fresh water are for irrigation.

Timeline of Human Water Use 7000 years ago: water shortages spur humans to invent irrigation 1,100 years ago: collapse of Mayan civilization due to drought Mid 1800s: fecal contamination of surface water causes severe health problems in major North American cities (Chicago) 1858: “Year of the Great Stink” in London 1900s: The green revolution strengthens human dependency on irrigation for agriculture The Green Revolution = 1940s – 1960s, research + technology + development = increased agricultural production worldwide WW2: water quality impacted by industrial and agricultural chemicals 1972: Clean Water Act passed; humans recognize need to protect water

Conflict over water is likely to increase because of… Population Growth Economic Development Increased Agriculture Industrial Growth Global Warming Water Pollution Groundwater Depletion Shared Resources

Population Growth – as population increases, so does demand for water, for drinking, for bathing, for washing… Economic Development – generally more developed countries use more water, so as countries get more developed, they will have flush toilets, showers, dishwashers…

Link to Millennium Development Goal 7 (Ensure Environment Sustainability) Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation World has met the target 5 years ahead of schedule ! Between 1990 and 2010, more than 2 billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources. Despite progress, 2.5 billion still lack access to improved sanitation facilities.

Increased Agriculture – estimated that it takes 10 000 litres of water to produce 1 beef steak Industrial Growth – demand for cars, televisions, computers…

Global Warming – affects different regions differently – some become wetter others suffer drought Water Pollution – polluted groundwater affects supply of water Groundwater Depletion – unsustainable extraction (removing faster than can be replenished), can cause saltwater intrusion (makes aquifer unsuitable for drinking)

Contaminated Aquifers How does an aquifer get contaminated ? What happens if an aquifer is contaminated ? Landfills Industrial waste sites Oil storage tank leak Septic tank leak Accidental spills Infiltration from farm land with pesticides and fertilizers

Naturally Contaminated Overabundance of naturally occurring iron, sulphides, manganedes Seawater can seep into aquifer to make it salty

Consequences of Contaminated Aquifer Loss of water source Aquifer may not be used for decades or ever Risk migration of contaminants – it is, after all, a water cycle Contaminants go to nearby lakes, wetlands..

Shared Resources: as supply decreases and demand increases, countries get in conflict about who the resource belongs to - Less water going down the river if Turkey diverts some via dam Turkey has proposed a series of dams. What does this mean? What are the effects of this?

The Nile River Problem The Nile River is the longest river in the world 10 countries share the basin of the Nile Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Congo, Uganda Covers about 10% of the African continent 160 million people depend on the Nile River for their livelihood Within the next 25 years, the region’s population is expected to double… Except for Kenya and Egypt, all of the basin countries are among the world’s 50 poorest nations (vulnerable to disease, famine) Egypt & Sudan (technically) hold absolute rights to use 100% of the river’s water under agreements reached in 1929 between Egypt and Britain (colonial power in Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda at that time)

"Ethiopia is killing us," taxi driver Ahmed Hossam said, as he picked his way through Cairo's notoriously traffic-clogged streets. "If they build this dam, there will be no Nile. If there's no Nile, then there's no Egypt."

Conflict at the Local / National Scale Case Study: The Nile River The Ethiopian Government is planning to build a dam near Lake Victoria

Conflict at the Local / National Scale

Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water Video: The Cycle of Insanity Urban development -- Pollutes our rivers and oceans Reduce our water supply (salt water instrusion) Paved area = rain washes cities and flows to ocean picking up pollutants Creates sewage

Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water How can wells reduce flows in nearby rivers and streams? What are some ways communities get water? What is the issue around agricultural water use? Why are wetlands useful? What have we done to them? What is salt water intrusion and how does it happen? Issues with Urban Development … What’s desalination? What’s the problem? Urban development -- Pollutes our rivers and oceans Reduce our water supply (salt water instrusion) Paved area = rain washes cities and flows to ocean picking up pollutants Creates sewage

World Water Crisis : Conflict Zones http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2000/world_ water_crisis/default.stm

‘Huge’ Groundwater supply found beneath Africa Video: Huge Groundwater Reserves in Africa What implications could this have on health and well-being in Sub Saharan Africa? Think of access to freshwater, waterborne diseases, agriculture