Water: Worldwide Issues - Asia & Western USA

Here is the second in a series of three articles from the Water Team giving you information about real water problems in real places.

While America is probably not the first place you think of for water problems, the US government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages in the coming 5 years.  Available freshwater supplies are dwindling across the country due to rising temperatures, drought, increasing sprawl, increasing population and ineffective water usage.  More than ½ of the western USA is experiencing drought conditions, especially California and Arizona, and ground water resources are reported to be diminishing.

Climate change is a big factor in reducing the water supply: if average temperatures are higher, the amount of water that evaporates increases.  The Colorado River provides fresh water to 7 western states (part of CA, Wyoming, Nevada, AZ, CO, Utah & NM), but an increase in evaporation has resulted in a decrease in the flow of the river. The Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster every year.  This will cause droughts to be longer, more severe and occur more frequently.

There are varied paths to resolving water issues in the developed world and solutions fall into one of two categories:

• The “hard path” is to focus on ways to develop new supplies of water, (supersize dams, aqueducts, and pipelines) but most authorities agree this will not resolve all the issues.
• The “soft path” is to develop a comprehensive approach to water issues that includes conservation, efficiency, community- size infrastructure changes and the protection of water ecosystems.

An example of a “soft path” approach was carried out by the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  They noted that their aquifer was being depleted faster than rainfall or snowmelt could replenish it.  The city revised its water usage codes, paid homeowners to take classes on how to reduce outside water usage, offered rebates for installation of low flow fixtures (toilets, etc.), drip-irrigation systems, or those who replaced non-native grass and planted native, arid plants.  Other cities funnel rainwater into barrels and underground cisterns.  Some cities have started to collect wastewater, filter and disinfect it and pump it back into the local aquifer.

Climate change is hitting Asia hard and it is projected that over one billion people in Asia will face climate related water problems by 2050. The growing Asian population already accounts for more than half the people living on the planet, yet the continent has only 3,290 cubic meters of water per person (only Antarctica has less water!) As a greater demand to feed the increasing population is placed on the land, unsustainable water withdrawal and deforestation threaten to spiral more and more out of control. As the standard of living increases in South Asia and China, the path toward high consumption lifestyles will further strain the water problems.

In 2003, the first major study using clear criteria and indicators to assess watershed was done.  Even without factoring in climate change, the results were alarming for Asia. Factors such as high population density, low GDP, proposed dam construction, lack of freshwater treaties and poor, antagonistic communication about water as a shared resource were used to pinpoint “at risk areas” worldwide.  Nine out of the twelve “basins at risk” are located in Asia!  One of the important concerns for Asia is climate related glacial melt. Since glacial melt replenishes Asian rivers, as this melt threatens to disappear, so too will the river flow. It is likely that many important rivers in Asia - including the Mekong, Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra - will become seasonal rivers.

The main water related health threat to the population of Asia comes in the form of inadequate waste water management. Lakes and waterways across Asia are used as illegal or informal dumping grounds and populations are forced to use unsafe water sources. In the Philippines, lakeside slums experience epidemic outbreaks since toilet facilities in their shanties empty directly into the lake beneath them. In some areas, attempts to buy in safe drinking water have been successful, but bought water is not always properly tested and has been the cause of health epidemic outbreaks all over Asia. The presence of Arsenic in improperly drilled or maintained wells has caused a widespread threat of chronic Arsenic poisoning. In addition to being a cause of cancer and death, chronic poisoning causes a blackening of the feet, which leads to stigmas and stereotypes that threaten the health and safety of women. They are often cast out by their husbands and families.

Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest nations and also one of the countries which stands to be most negatively impacted by climate change. Millions of people's lives are at risk due to climate related disasters. For a nation that is already desperate for water security, floods/sea level rise and increased monsoon activity, threaten to decimate the nation's water resources further. While pressure is intensifying on the country's valuable water resources, women face increased domestic violence and pregnancy related deaths.

Water problems…they are everywhere!

Water Team members: Beth Molnar, Kara Fairchild & Anne van Oorschot