World water day
Though two thirds of the world is covered by water only 2.5% of the water is fresh. If you consider that most of this is locked up in ice caps and glaciers the amount available for man’s use drops dramatically to only 0.08%. This is a precarious position given that demand is set to rise over time given the increase in populations around the world. Today one in five across the world has no access to safe drinking water and one in two lacks safe sanitation. The result is that every day more than 30,000 children die either due to hunger or easily preventable diseases a situation closely associated to the lack of safe drinking water.
The UN brought the crisis to the fore when in 1992 the World Water Day was initiated and since 1993 has been recognized annually on the 22nd of March. This followed the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development contained in chapter 18 (Fresh Water Resources) of Agenda 21. The recommendations clearly set out to highlight the protection of the quality and supply of fresh water resources through the application of integrated development, management and use of water resources.
Maji week
In Tanzania the Ministry of Water in conjunction with Provincial and District administration, together with the other stakeholders, celebrated the local version of the event dubbed ‘Maji Week’, with the intention of information the public of the government’s initiatives in water availability and distribution. The event was also an opportunity for the government to educate the people on safe water use and environmental conservation. This is in a bid to achieve the 2010 goal of making clean water available to 90% of the urban dwellers and 65% of the rural population. The Tanzanian government has an even more ambitious plans of providing clean and safe drinking water to 100% of the urban dwellers and 95% of the rural populace by the year 2025
In Tanzania, the shared water bodies include Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa, Jipe, Rivers Ruvuma, Mara, Umba and Songwe. Official celebrations were held at the Gymkhana Grounds, in the Northern City of Bukoba. The rest of the Provinces and Districts conducted their own celebrations to ensure that as many nationals as possible took part in this events. Relevant TV and radio programmes were also be aired in the course of the week. There were also seminars for adults and children across the country.
Solutions
If the world does not stop using up irreplaceable groundwater this will not only mean the depletion of a once-and-for-all resource but rivers, wetlands and lakes that depend on it can dry out. Saline seawater can flow in to replace the fresh water that has been pumped out.
And the emptied underground aquifers can be compressed, causing surface subsidence - a problem familiar in Bangkok, Mexico City and Venice.
There are some ways to begin to tackle the problem. Irrigation systems which drip water directly onto plants are one, precision sprinklers another.
There will be scope to plant less water-intensive crops, and perhaps desalination may play a part - though it is energy-hungry and leaves quantities of brine for disposal.
Climate change will probably bring more rain to some regions and less to others, and its overall impact remains uncertain.
But if we are to get through the water crisis, we should heed the UNEP report's reminder that we have only one interdependent planet to share.
Transboundaries
The world’s 263 transboundary lake and river basins include the territory of 145 countries and cover nearly half of the Earth’s land surface. Great reservoirs of freshwater also move silently below our borders in underground aquifers. With every country seeking to satisfy its water needs from limited water resources, some foresee a future filled with conflict. But history shows that cooperation, not conflict, is the most common response to transboundary water management issues.
Over the last 60 years there have been more than 200 international water agreements and only 37 cases of reported violence between states over water. There is need to continue to nurture the opportunities for cooperation that transboundary water management can provide. All must share the responsibility for managing the world’s transboundary waters for current and future generations.>>content | cover story | International project |web extras <<