Expert explains a world suffering from water shortage

This is a very interesting video about the water situation in the World and in the US, with some useful recommendations at the end.

Sounding the Alarm Bell on Water

By: La Marguerite

I know, I know, the economy and partisan politics have taken over our conversations, leaving little room for anything else, let alone problems that are still removed from the reality of our lives. Huge global issues such as the water crisis. A chance business meeting with a friend, about to launch a new water efficiency venture, got me thinking about water. Just as with deforestation, and biodiversity loss, I am shocked by the magnitude of the problem, and the corresponding relative inaction to curb it.

The water crisis raises some critical questions about water economics, water ethics, water technology, water efficiency, water conservation, water waste, water inequities, water rights, water laws, water politics, water awareness . . . all of which need to be addressed at the various appropriate levels.

As with other global environmental issues, it is easy to feel lost as an individual citizen. Yet, there is lots one can do to favorably impact the situation:

* boycott bottled water
* conserve water at home, and other places
* blog about it, and also comment on other blogs
* support watchdog organizations such as Food and Water Watch
* support legislation to encourage water conservation and efficiency
* share problem and possible solutions with friends

You may also want to go see “Flow”, Irena Salina’s recently released documentary on water.

Planet is running out of clean water, new film warns

(CNN) — One sixth of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water. More than 2 million people, most of them children, die each year from water-borne diseases.

Water-related problems aren’t restricted to the developing world. A harmful pesticide, banned by many European countries, remains widely used in the United States, where it runs into rivers and streams.

And one expert estimates California’s water supply will run out in 20 years.

These sobering statistics come from “FLOW,” a new documentary film about the world’s dwindling water supply. The filmmakers and their sources argue a combination of factors, including drought and skyrocketing demand, have created a looming global crisis that threatens the long-term survival of the human race.

After premiering in January at the Sundance Film Festival, “FLOW” opened September 12 in New York and Los Angeles, California, and expands to more cities this week. The New York Times called the documentary “less depressing than galvanizing, an informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests.”

As the film shows, some nations are banking on controversial technology, such as desalination plants that convert seawater into freshwater, to meet future water needs. Meanwhile, water has become a commodity that supports a $400 billion global industry — the third largest behind electricity and oil.

Read full article

Source: CNN

For more information about water conservation, visit our LEARN section

The world has a water shortage, not a food shortage

MOST people may drink only two litres of water a day, but they consume about 3,000 if the water that goes into their food is taken into account. The rich gulp down far more, since they tend to eat more meat, which takes far more water to produce than grains. So as the world’s population grows and incomes rise, farmers will—if they use today’s methods—need a great deal more water to keep everyone fed: 2,000 more cubic kilometres a year by 2030, according to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a research centre, or over a quarter more than they use today. Yet in many farming regions, water is scarce and likely to get scarcer as global warming worsens. The world is facing not so much a food crisis as a water crisis, argues Colin Chartres, IWMI’s director-general.

The solution, Mr Chartres and others contend, is more efficient use of water or, as the sloganeers put it, “more crop per drop”. Some 1.2 billion people, about a fifth of the world’s population, live in places that are short of water (see map). Farming accounts for roughly 70% of human water consumption. So when water starts to run out, as is happening in northern China, southern Spain and the western United States, among other places, farming tends to offer the best potential for thrift. But governments, whether to win votes or to protect the poor, rarely charge farmers a market price for water. So they are usually more wasteful than other consumers—even though the value they create from the water is often less than households or industry would be willing to pay for it.

Read full article

Source: The Economist

For more information about water conservation, visit our LEARN section

Palestine: Israeli water policies leave West Bank dry

Per capita water consumption in Palestine is far below the minimum recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The chronic water shortage in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, resulting from an unfair distribution of water resources shared by the Palestinians and Israel, will be much graver this summer because of this year’s drought.

In the northern West Bank, water consumption has fallen to one-third of the minimal amount needed.

The 2008 drought, the most serious in the area in the past decade, aggravates the built-in, constant shortage of water in the West Bank. Rainfall this year in the northern West Bank was 64% of the average, while in the southern sections, it was 55%.

As a result, the water stored from rainfall has already been used. The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) estimates this year’s water shortage in the West Bank at 42 to 69 million cubic metres. The total water consumption in the West Bank is 79 mcm.

The PWA has already requested Mekorot — the Israel Water Company — for an emergency supply of eight mcm.

According to the WHO, the per capita minimal amount of water needed for household and urban needs is 100 litres a day. Due to the chronic water shortage, water consumption in the northern West Bank has dropped to one-third this amount.

In Tubas, per capita consumption is 30 litres; in Jenin, it is 38 litres. In Nablus and the Southern Hebron Hills, the figure is slightly higher than 50 litres a day.

Average per capita consumption throughout the West Bank is 66 litres, two-thirds of the minimal amount needed according to the WHO. These figures include water for livestock, meaning that the water consumed for personal use is even less.

In comparison, average daily water consumption in Israeli cities is 235 litres, and 214 litres in local councils, 3.5 times higher than Palestinian consumption in the West Bank.

A total of 227,500 Palestinians in 220 towns and villages in the West Bank are not connected to a water network at all, 75% of them in the northern West Bank. Another 190,000 Palestinians live in villages that are only partially connected to a water network.

Some 20% of Palestinians in the West Bank are not connected to a water network.

Even in Palestinian towns and villages that have a water network, water supply is not regular most of the year. Water is supplied only some hours of the day, and sometimes on a rotational basis. In distant areas, water supply may be disconnected for days or weeks.

Residents of communities with water networks hooked up to Mekorot report that the company discriminates against them, reducing water supply to Palestinian residents to enable it to meet the increased demand in the Israeli settlements.

Lacking regular water supply, many Palestinians have to buy water on the private market. Last year, the price for a cubic metre of water ranged from 15-30 shekels, three to six times higher than Israeli households pay.

It is expected that prices will be even higher this year. The high rate of unemployment and poverty in the West Bank has made water purchases an economic burden for a substantial portion of the population.

Israel holds complete control of the water sources shared by Israel and the Palestinians, primarily the Mountain Aquifer, and prohibits by army order any Palestinian drilling of wells without a permit. At the same time, Israel draws from the West Bank some 44 mcm — five million more than it supplies to the Palestinian Authority.

Israel allocates to Palestinians only 20% of the water from the Mountain Aquifer, and prevents the PWA from developing additional sources to enable greater water supply for Palestinians in the West Bank.

As the occupying power, Israel is required under international law to ensure public order and safety in the occupied territory, without discrimination. In addition, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Israel ratified, ensures access to clean drinking water without discrimination.

International human rights law also ensures the Palestinians’ right to utilise and enjoy freely their natural resources.

B’Tselem calls on the government of Israel to ensure, immediately and without discrimination, adequate, regular water supply to all residents of the West Bank. B’Tselem also urges the government to allow the Palestinian Authority to develop new water sources.

Source: Green Left Online

For more information about water conservation, visit our LEARN section

Afghanistan: Groundwater Overuse Could Cause Severe Water Shortage

The excessive use of groundwater for a variety of purposes has significantly depleted water tables and aquifers throughout Afghanistan and if the trend is not reversed soon the country will face a severe shortage of drinking water, the Ministry of Water and Energy said. Recurrent droughts, low precipitation and poor water management have exacerbated the country’s water crisis, ministry officials said.

“Our assessments indicate that due to several factors, mostly drought and excessive use, about 50 percent of groundwater sources have been lost in the past several years,” Sultan Mahmood Mahmoodi, general director of the water management department at the Ministry of Water and Energy (MWE), told IRIN in Kabul.

Almost 70 percent of the country’s estimated 26.6 million people are dependent on agriculture, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL). Limited access to surface water has prompted many farmers, mostly in the drought-stricken south and north, to increasingly use groundwater to irrigate agricultural land or dig deep wells.

Read full article

Source: The Environmental Expert

For more information about water conservation, visit our LEARN section

Tension Grows as Pakistan claims India closed water flow in Chenab river

Islamabad, Sep 15 (PTI) Pakistani authorities have said that India has closed water flow in the Chenab river which it claimed was making a water shortage in the country more severe.
The alleged “water blockade” by India could adversely affect kharif crops, particularly cotton and sugarcane which are in maturity stage and require final watering, and the sowing of rabi crops early next month, sources told the Dawn newspaper.

They said Pakistan’s Indus Water Commission had taken up the matter with the federal government. It has also convened a meeting tomorrow to take stock of the situation and to try to reach a diplomatic solution with India.

If the issue is prolonged, the sowing of rabi crops, particularly wheat, would be hit severely, the sources said.

Pakistan had to import over two million tonnes of wheat this year despite a record production of more than 23 million tonnes.

The water shortage could force Pakistan to import more wheat next year, adding to foreign exchange pressure and worsening its balance of payments crisis.

The Indus River System Authority has convened a meeting of its technical committee on September 20 to ascertain the overall water availability for the rabi season that begins on October 1. PTI

Source: Press Trust of India

For more information about water conservation, visit our LEARN section

Why Water Could be Worth Fighting For

Over one billion people - 18% of the world’s population - lack access to safe drinking water worldwide. Only 56% of Africa’s 800 million population have access to clean water. About 700 million people in 43 countries are affected by water scarcity, according to the UN.

In another few years - in 2025 to be precise - the number could swell to 3 billion driving back gains in the fight against poverty and under-development, otherwise known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

For many people around the world, safe drinking water is a scarce resource and out of necessity, they resort to what’s available - polluted water.

But contaminated water isn’t just dirty—it’s deadly. Some 1.8 million people die every year of diseases like cholera, caused by poor sanitation. Tens of millions of others are seriously sickened by a host of water-related ailments—many of which are easily preventable.

A child dies of a water-related illness every 15 seconds. This translates to 2 million children dying each year due to a lack of clean water and inadequate sanitation, a situation that can be changed by just providing access to clean water and sanitation. If this was done, it would reduce the risk of a child dying by as much as 50%.

Africa is one continent caught squarely in the middle of potential conflicts over this precious commodity among other scarce resources. Africa has two of the world’s longest rivers - the 6,400-kilometer Nile River and the 4,370-kilometer Congo River, but it suffers from a perennial shortage amidst potentially plentiful supplies. It also has 21 of the world’s most arid countries, in terms of water per person.

Water scarcity is defined as less than 1,000 m3 of water available per person per year, while water stress means less than 1,500 m3 of water available per person per year.

According to a 1999 UN Development Program report, the possible African ‘water wars’ flash points are the Nile, Niger, Volta and Zambezi basins. The report says that by 2025, another 12 African countries will join the 13 that already suffer from water stress or water scarcity.

Yet UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, admits that the state of the world’s waters remained fragile, with the need for an integrated and sustainable approach to water resource management pressing as ever.

Read full article

Source: Eco Worldly

For more information about water conservation, visit our LEARN section

The Water Front

We received an email from Veronica Segovia, she is the on-line media intern for Food & Water Watch, and wanted to share with us a documentary called The Water Front.  I must admit that I was shocked by what I saw just in the trailer of this documentary. I had heard of a lawsuit that the residents of a black neighborhood in Detroit had recently won that was related to water supply and discrimination, but I had no idea of the suffering these people were put through.

I encourage everybody to see this film, to blog about it, to talk about it with your friends and remember that this kind of abuse is possible not only in third world countries, but here in the US. So listen, dig deeper into the news, don’t just trust what you see on mainstream media.

Thanks Ms. Segovia for sharing this with us along with another interesting project called Take Back the Tap. You can rest assured that Nuprana.com will always support initiatives like this one.

Our focus is water conservation and we are committed to creating awareness about this issue and protecting our watersheds. Our ultimate goal is to prevent water shortages that have the potential to create situations like this, where people are abused by the ‘owners’ of their water. How can this be happening when we haven’t yet reached a real water crisis? The only explanation possible is CORRUPTION. We must make sure this kind of situation doesn’t happen again, particularly as water becomes more scarce and hence more valued.

Nuprana.com, the water conservation resource, now opens bloggers’ opinion section

Nuprana.com, dedicated to promote water conservation in the US recently opened its Water Conservation News site to publish what bloggers are writing about the issue.

Albuquerque, NM-The on-line source for water conservation news, Nuprana.com just launched a new section called ‘Blogger’s Opinion’ aimed at giving bloggers who address water related issues more visibility and a broader audience. “We believe in the power of information and education, we believe that that power must be shared by everyone, not only by large corporations. That’s why in addition to the traditional media news that we post, we decided to open our publication to the bloggers’ community.” explained Osvaldo Gomez, co-founder of Nuprana.com.

Water conservation is rapidly becoming a top priority of governments around the world due to the increasing threat of water shortages triggered by years of overuse and stronger droughts caused by climate change.

This new section will enrich its content via original articles submissions sent by bloggers to the Nuprana’s editorial team as well as various news feeds that dig the web for interesting articles published in blogs all over the world.

Bloggers interested in getting their articles published need only to send an email to Nuprana’s Editorial Team (news_nuprana[at]nuprana[dot]com) with their articles, a brief bio and how they want to be linked back by Nuprana.com. Nuprana LLC reserves the right to select which articles will be published and to reply with suggestions that might improve the chance of getting an article published.

About Nuprana.com

Nuprana.com is a family-owned, on-line green company dedicated to promote water conservation that offers affordable, user-friendly water conservation products for green homes and businesses, in addition to water conservation information, news and advocacy recommendations. It was founded by Elizabeth Beachy and Osvaldo Gomez with the vision of conscious water use, cleaner waterways, safe drinking water, and pristine freshwater sources preserved and revered for their natural beauty. The couple resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They started Nuprana after the birth of their son inspired them to help improve the world awaiting his generation.

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