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Conserving Life
Having access to safe and sufficient water and sanitation are now recognised as basic human rights. Being able to wash one’s hands and drink clean water can have a major impact on the family hygiene and health. Because people who are poor are the most likely to get sick, and ill health perpetuates poverty, it triggers a vicious cycle that hampers economic and social development.
The United Nations has declared March 22 as World Water Day commencing from 1993. Celebrated annually it is a unique occasion to remind everybody that concrete efforts to provide clean drinking water and increase awareness worldwide of the problems and of the solutions, can help make the difference. The UN proclaimed the period from 2005 to 2015 the International Decade for Action, "Water for Life". The youth, especially, should know what the challenges are, and how can these challenges be tackled effectively.
Securing the food supply
The challenge here is to increase food production and security by getting ‘more crop per drop’, while also devising ways to ensure a more equitable allocation of water for food production. Better ways to enhance the productivity of rain-fed agriculture must also be developed. Poor populations are the most vulnerable, and the strain will only increase in the face of demographic pressure.Water and industry
Industry is both a major user of water resources and a major contributor to economic and social development. To move towards sustainability, industries must be assured of having an adequate supply of water. In return, industries should undertake to see that water used in industrial processes is used efficiently and not returned to nature as untreated waste that pollutes the environment. Technology is important for recycling of water, and a variety of economic and legislative measures can also provide incentives for responsible management.
Water and energy
Tremendous increases of energy and water will be required in the near future as the world’s population increases from six to over nine billion. Even now, some two billion people do not have access to a reliable supply of electricity. Somehow capacity must be increased to meet this demand, and at the same time production and use of energy must be made more efficient. To be sustainable, however, these objectives should be achieved without energy production having any negative impact on either human health or the environment. As for industry, the tools available include technological fixes, development of alternative or renewable energy sources, and a judicious blend of management options that include economic incentives.Water and cities
By 2030, over 60 per cent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas. As a result, competing demands from domestic, commercial, industrial and semi-urban agriculture are putting enormous pressure on freshwater resources. In their bid to meet this soaring demand, cities are going deeper into ground water sources and farther from surface water sources, at costs — including environmental costs — which are clearly unsustainable. Cities also face the challenge of securing access to safe water for the urban poor, and of cutting down on wasteful and illegal uses. The urban water crisis can only be met by changes in management and governance that lead to more sustainable use of the shared resource.
Managing risks
Water related hazards, such as floods, droughts, tropical storms, erosion and various kinds of pollution should be factored into any integrated approach to water resource management and policy. Although it is the world’s poor who suffer the most when exposed to such dangers, everyone’s security is at stake. One way to minimise risk is to develop more capacity in the monitoring and forecasting of extreme events. With this information, appropriate early warning systems and infrastructure can be installed, and new planning strategies devised. It is also necessary to ensure that climate variability and change have their place in the total picture.Sharing water resources
Competition over scarce or poorly allocated resources can lead to tension and insecurity. Therefore decision-makers, communities, governments and regions must strive to develop policies that allow for sharing among all stakeholders. Many different interests are at stake and equitable solutions must be found: between cities and rural areas, rich and poor, arid lands and wetlands, public and private, infrastructure and natural environments; mainstream and marginal groups, local stakeholders and centralised authorities. At the regional and international level, many river basin and aquifer authorities are developing integrated approaches that stress cooperation of the shared resource.
Valuing water
This whole question is among the most controversial of all the challenges identified. In many societies the whole notion of putting a price tag on something as intrinsically valuable as water is unacceptable. Yet services must be paid for. There is also much disagreement about how to balance the costs of provision and wastewater treatment with the goal of equity and finding ways to meet the needs of poor and vulnerable populations. Creative new partnerships between the public and private sectors should be developed, along with accounting and taxation systems that take full account of environmental and social factors.Ensuring knowledge base
This target takes account of the whole range of technical and non-technical information and knowledge, and seeks ways for all societies to benefit from their development, exchange and dissemination. National authorities and resource managers need sound scientific data on which to base their projections and decision-making. Stakeholders need access to other kinds of information and educational opportunities if they are to understand and participate in the process as responsible citizens. With the development of modern telecommunications and the global marketplace, it is more than ever necessary to ensure that every community and country play a role in building a more sustainable future.
Governing water wisely
This challenge area is particularly complex and sensitive. It moves the debate about sustainability beyond water management issues and into processes of political, social and institutional change. Many countries agree that good governance means allowing every sector of the society to participate in the decision-making process and that the interests of all stakeholders should be taken into account. However, mechanisms for doing so are not always in place, even if decentralisation and the increasing involvement of civil society are worldwide trends. International cooperation and assistance may play a crucial role — particularly in developing countries — by helping to strengthen institutional capacity.
The possible negative impact of human activity on the environment must be considered when managing water resources in a sustainable way.It is not enough to draw water from nature for use in agriculture, industry and everyday life without also taking account of nature’s needs. Animals and plants, landscapes and wetlands need clean water too. Wastewater must be recycled so that pollution is curtailed. Special areas like estuaries, which play an important part in supporting the delicate and complex food chain of many birds and fish, may require total protection. Human beings must learn to respect the resource base on which life ultimately depends and to see land and water as two sides of the same coin.
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