⛈⛈⛈ Water crisis ⛈⛈⛈
This article discusses the global freshwater crisis, highlighting the increasing demands on freshwater sources due to rising populations and temperatures.
It illustrates various consequences of water scarcity such as depletion of aquifers, sinking of cities, and the potential for conflicts over water resources. It also presents examples of successful water management strategies implemented in countries like Australia and Israel, including water pricing, recycling, and desalination. Moreover, it explores alternative solutions such as rainwater harvesting and efficient irrigation techniques. The article emphasizes the urgent need for effective conservation measures to address the freshwater crisis.
The main factors contributing to the global freshwater crisis include increasing populations, rising temperatures leading to changes in precipitation patterns, and unsustainable water usage practices such as agriculture and energy production.
The depletion of aquifers impacts water availability by causing groundwater levels to drop, leading to decreased access to water for irrigation and domestic use. This is particularly evident in regions like India and California where aquifers are being drained faster than they can be replenished, resulting in water shortages.
Australia implemented successful water management strategies during the Millennium Drought, including putting a price on water and making it a tradable commodity. This incentivized efficient water usage and allowed for the transfer of water rights between users, helping to mitigate the impact of the drought.
Israel employs innovative methods such as recycling effluent water for agricultural use and desalination to address water scarcity. These measures have significantly increased water availability for agricultural purposes and reduced dependence on freshwater sources.
Desalination is considered a limited solution to the freshwater crisis due to its high cost, large energy footprint, and potential ecological impacts such as marine ecosystem disruption. While it may be feasible in wealthy regions, it is not a viable option for most of the world's population.
Rainwater harvesting contributes to water conservation efforts by capturing and storing rainwater for various purposes, including irrigation and domestic use. Examples provided in the article include efforts in cities like Singapore, Melbourne, and Manchester to incorporate rainwater harvesting into urban infrastructure.
Businesses can play a significant role in promoting water efficiency by implementing measures such as drip irrigation techniques, investing in water recycling technologies, and supporting policies that incentivize sustainable water usage.
If effective measures to conserve freshwater are not implemented globally, the consequences could include worsening water shortages, increased competition for limited water resources leading to conflicts, and negative impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity. Additionally, communities reliant on agriculture and other water-intensive industries could face economic hardships.
Increasing temperatures and populations threaten a precious element and pose a serious problem. What can we do about protecting our most vital resource?
The next time you open a can of soft drink, consider where the water inside it came from.
Given that 70% of the Earth’s surface is water, and that volume remains constant (at 1,386,000,000 cubic kilometres), how is a water shortage even possible? Well, 97.5% is seawater unfit for human consumption. And both populations and temperatures are ever-rising, meaning that the freshwater we do have is under severe pressure.
Water demand globally is projected to increase by 55% between 2000 and 2050. Much of the demand is driven by agriculture, which accounts for 70% of global freshwater use, and food production will need to grow by 69% by 2035 to feed the growing population. Water withdrawal for energy, used for cooling power stations, is also expected to increase by over 20%.
Of the world’s major aquifers (gravel and sand-filled underground reservoirs), 21 out of 37 are receding, from India and China to the United States and France. The Ganges Basin in India is depleting, due to population and irrigation demands, by an estimated 6.31 centimetres every year. Senior water scientist at Nasa, has warned that “the water table is dropping all over the world. There’s not an infinite supply of water.”
Meanwhile, Mexico City, built on ancient lake beds, is now sinking in some areas at a rate of nine inches a year. As the city draws on the aquifer below, the effect is like drinking a milkshake through a straw. Once horizontal streets now undulate like BMX tracks. The city imports 40% of its water, and Ramón Aguirre Díaz, director of the Water System of Mexico City, has blamed “heavier, more intense rains, which mean more floods, but also more and longer droughts.”
Much of the same is happening in California. From 2011 to 2016, the state suffered its worst drought in 1,200 years. Its major aquifers receded at a combined rate of 16 million acre-feet per year, and roughly 1,900 wells ran dry. Then, in the first three months of 2017, rain fell at 228% more than its normal level, thanks to climate change, scientists say. Lake Oroville in the northern part of the state swung from being at 41% of capacity to 101% in just two months, causing dams to be overwhelmed and 188,000 local residents to be evacuated.
Some hypothesise that increased water shortages around the world will lead to wars. The current Syrian civil war has been cited by many, including Dr Peter Engelke, senior Fellow at Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, as a recent example. “Between 2007 and 2010, Syria experienced one of the worst droughts in recorded history, the effect of which was to decimate rural communities and drive hundreds of thousands off the land and into Syria’s cities, where they were marginalised," he says.
Anders Berntell, executive director of 2030 Water Resources Group, a multi-sector water resources body, also suggests a link to Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab, whereby young people “realise that, as a result of the lack of natural resources, degraded land and lack of water there are no livelihood opportunities… There is no future for them. They become easily targeted.” They are more easily radicalised.
All of which would predict a bleak future – but some nations have worked out solutions. And they’re impressive ones that the rest of the world can learn from.Anders Berntell, executive director of 2030 Water Resources Group, a multi-sector water resources body, also suggests a link to Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab, whereby young people “realise that, as a result of the lack of natural resources, degraded land and lack of water there are no livelihood opportunities… There is no future for them. They become easily targeted.” They are more easily radicalised.
All of which would predict a bleak future – but some nations have worked out solutions. And they’re impressive ones that the rest of the world can learn from. For example, Australia survived its “Millennium Drought” from 1997 to 2009 by rapidly implementing measures that halved business and residential water use.
“Australia is the gold standard," says Richard Damania, global lead economist in the World Bank's Water Practice, and formerly of the University of Adelaide. The key was putting a price on water and making it a tradable commodity.
“[Suppose] I had water, but I'm only growing wheat. Whereas you’re growing grapes or something of higher value [than wheat, but don't have water]" he explains. "Then I can sell you that water instead of irrigating my lower value crop. This way… Australia survived the Millennium Drought extraordinarily well.”
Another ‘gold standard’ is Israel, which views water availability as a national security issue.
By recycling effluent water, including household sewage, the Shafdan Wastewater Treatment Facility near Tel Aviv supplies approximately 140,000,000 cubic metres of water per year for agricultural use, covering 50,000 acres of irrigated land. Over 40% of Israel’s agricultural water needs are now supplied by effluent water. The waste sludge is also sent to an anaerobic digestion plant, which uses the methane as a fuel to produce renewable energy.
“If Israel can do it," says Anders Berntell, executive director of 2030 Water Resources Group, a multi-sector water resources group, “a country located in a desert, it proves that with the right technology, economic resources and political determination, you can make it happen."
Even more mind-blowing? Israel’s water treatment systems recapture 86% of the water that goes down the drain – the next-best performer, Spain, recycles just 19%.
Israel is also a global leader in desalination – turning seawater into potable drinking water. Over half of Israel's drinking water now comes from desalination.
So can the world simply desalinate its way out of the freshwater crisis? It’s unlikely, says Damiane: “On average it's about five to seven times more expensive. The energy footprint is huge, and you've got to do something with the salt. If you look at aerial images around the coasts of Kuwait and Dubai [areas that are highly reliant on desalination] you’ll see the havoc that is caused to marine ecosystems.” Given the costs, both economic and ecologic, “it is only a boutique solution in very rich places”, he says.