Water scarcity and stress: Leaving no one behind

Dr B K Mukhopadhyay & Dr Boidurjo Mukhopadhyay

(Dr B K Mukhopadhyay, a noted management economist and international commentator on ongoing economic and business affairs, can be reached at m.bibhas@gmail.com; Dr Boidurjo Mukhopadhyay is an international development and management economist based in the UK.)

A snapshot from the World Health Organizations’ report on global water scenario:

* In 2017, 5.3 billion people used a safely managed drinking-water service (i.e. one located on-premises and free from contamination)

* 6.8 billion people used at least a basic service. Basic service is an improved drinking-water source within a round trip of 30 minutes to collect water.

* 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water service, including 144 million people who are dependent on surface water.

* About 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faecal matters.

* Contaminated water can transmit diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause 4,85, 000 diarrheal deaths each year.

* By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas.

* In the least-developed countries, 22 per cent of healthcare facilities have no water service, 21% no sanitation service, and 22 per cent no waste management service.

Water use has been increasing globally by about 1% every year since the 1980s, contributed by population growth, socio-economic development and changing consumption patterns. Global water demand has been set to continue rising at a similar pace until 2050, accounting for an increase of 20-30 per cent above the current level of water use, with increased demand from both industrial and domestic sectors. About 2 billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress, and 4 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least a month every year. Water stress is defined as the ratio between water withdrawals (i.e., domestic, agricultural, and industrial water uses) and available renewable water supplies. Water scarcity means scarcity in availability (i.e. physical shortage) due to the failure of institutions to ensure a regular supply or due to a lack of adequate infrastructure. Safe drinking water and sanitation are basic human rights, they are indispensable to sustaining healthy livelihoods and fundamental in maintaining the dignity of all human beings.

International Human Rights law obliges states to work towards achieving universal access to water and sanitation for all, without discrimination, while prioritizing those most in need. Fulfilment of these requires that services be safely available, physically accessible, equitably affordable. Water availability depends upon the amount of water physically available, and also how it is stored, managed and allocated to various users. It, therefore, relates to surface water and groundwater management, alongside water recycling and reuse. Water management for smallholder family farmers needs to consider both rainfed and irrigated agriculture. Approximately 80% of the global cropland is rainfed, and 60% of the world’s food is produced on rainfed land.

The 2019 UN-Water initiative called ‘Leaving No One Behind’ suggested how improvements in water resources management and access to water supply and sanitation services are essential to addressing various social and economic inequities. Water scarcity is entwined with environment protection, poverty alleviation and promoting development; globally more than 2.5 billion people live in the most abysmal standards of hygiene and sanitation. Wastage of water and absence of regular clean water supply not only to the burgeoning metropolis but to huge rural regions also simultaneously co-exist. The mighty Colorado River, North America, seldom meets the sea. One-third of the US and one-fifth of Spain still suffer from water stress. Central Africa’s Lake Chad, supporting the very life of 30 million-plus people has already shrunk one-tenth of its former size, the negative contributory factors being climate change, drought, poor management and overuse, among others.

In India, accessibility to drinking water has increased considerably during the last decade in particular. However, around 10 per cent of the rural and urban population still does not have access to regular safe drinking water. The available annual utilizable water in our country (surface as well as ground) stands at 1100b cubic metres. World Bank data shows that the total cost of environmental damage in India mounts to 4.5 per cent of GDP and of this 59 per cent results from the health impact of water pollution! What is more, a cause of anxiety is the fact that the adequate availability of safe drinking water is far from being satisfactory. Though water contains organic and inorganic impurities, the main source of diseases are the organic impurities entering into the water through the soil from cesspools, through manure, or through sewers emptying their contents into the rivers - from which many cities, in particular, get their drinking water supply.

Additionally, the very piping system into the home, unclean water tanks, improper drainage, and waste disposal systems also contribute to impure or contaminated water. Again, the presence of excessive inorganic matters (iron, lead, salts, etc) leads to diseases like constipation, dyspepsia, colic, paralysis, kidney disease and sometimes even death. Dangerous bacteria produce deadly diseases of jaundice, cholera, typhoid, diphtheria, kidney problems, nervous system problems and even lead to increased risk of cancer. Contrary to popular perception, the hardness of water is not a risk to health so long it does not contain disease-causing pathogens and bacteria. Especially, during summer and rainy seasons, the position goes from bad to worse-water-borne diseases become rampant. Extreme hot and humid environment is favourite bacteria breeding seasons. The immediate need is thus there to invest in timely, reliable, proven and advanced water purification system that guarantees the public-in rural and urban areas -safe and pure drinking water at all times. Efforts to enhance drinking water supply must move at a greater speed so as to cover all of villages with adequate potable water connection and supply. Technology plays a colossal role in such contexts to meet people’s basic needs in a sustained manner. Naturally, protecting freshwater reserves, watershed development, chemical treatments following the safety norms, tackling the arsenic and fluoride contamination, among others, could give rich dividends.

Ban Ki-moon once said, “We need to begin thinking about better strategies for managing water – for using it efficiently and sharing it fairly. This means that partnerships involve not just governments, but civil society groups, individuals and businesses as well”. True. A realistic approach-obviously not by hiding in conference rooms and observance of world water day – could mitigate the incidence. The responsibility lies equally with the Government as well as the private sector – checking the unrestricted exploitation of groundwater, encouraging planned urbanization, optimization of use, restricting the flow of effluents from industrial units to the rivers, with stricter governance.

Nurturing new scientific knowledge is must understand the evolution of water systems that involve the relationship between man and nature; to integrate local knowledge into scientific research to address user needs, and to put in place more effective mechanisms to translate scientific knowledge into societal action. The challenges in addressing the water-food-climate change nexus could be mitigated if collaborative approaches are taken up backed by political will, market mechanisms and innovative technology. For example, market forces could work well under a cap-and-trade approach similar to those applied to carbon dioxide. Favouring market forces to play a role in the management of scarce water-defining the value of water-positively aids to take a big leap forward. Developing an inclusive institutional structure to establish multi-stakeholder dialogue and cooperation is essential to ensuring equitable access to sustainable water supply and sanitation services. When governments’ role is geared towards policy setting and regulation, the actual provision of services is carried out by non-State actors or independent departments. Well-functioning accountability mechanisms help institutions with sufficient capacity fulfil their mandates to monitor and enforce the obligations of a service provider.