Emerging Asia Hits a Wall of Water

                                                                                                   India's Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam 

It’s often said that people are a nation’s greatest resource. That can be true, especially with their knowledge and creativity, which can supplement physical resources. But one basic must is hard to think your way around: water.

So it is that the great emerging nations of Asia–China, India, Indonesia–face a wall in their development. All are confronted with either a scarcity of moisture in key regions, or an inability to contain the water that sometimes pours and deliver it in potable form to millions for daily life. The results can be barren fields, destructive floods or sickened populations from exposure to contamination.

Usually the water problem is a natural one of scant rainfall or the absence of topographical means of collection and retention, such as mountains for snowpack or lakes and flowing rivers. Thus you can have monsoons and still be dried out. (Some challenge the notion that this is any longer “natural” by contending that man-made climate change is involved.)

However, even tropical states can be water-constrained when the public infrastructure is so poor that inundation causes bacteria to run off from sewage and other sources and spoil the vital supply. This is the case in booming Indonesia, according to a currently featured article in the country’s fine Strategic Review quarterly.

India has both natural and man-made problems. A recent feature in the licensed edition Forbes India said the country has only 4% of the “total world resource” of water but 18% of the population. It noted: “Deficient monsoons often lead to shortage of drinking and irrigation water. Groundwater is polluted due to poor land practices, atmospheric deposition of pollutants and direct discharge of sewage into water bodies.” Quite a bill of particulars. And then there is controversy when dams have ultimately been attempted.

Forbes India cited a similar predicament in China, with 7% of “resource share” and 19% of global population. The Chinese government, of course, is more proactive on this front, at least in terms of damming and other diversions intended to route precious fluid from the mountainous south to the populous north. What this is doing or will do to areas like the Tibetan Plateau is debated, and it is now difficult for many foreigners to enter that sensitive zone to investigate. China has stumbled on an attempt to dam northern Burma.

(Dams are also a growing issue in the strategic battleground of Central Asia, where the major powers are plying for mineral wealth, whose extraction also takes water.)

So, mere expenditure for mass public works–even if done honestly and efficiently, and not riddled by graft–is not necessarily an easy response to water scarcity. (Few would object to basic water containmentl and purification projects.) There is also, for most nations, the option of the vast sea, if desalination can be afforded. Countries in North Africa and the Middle East have chosen this course as a palliative. It takes a well-stocked Treasury.

A supremely logical approach is to curb waste and misallocation by pricing water. Yet, failure to do so is common, nowhere more egregiously than in India. But this is understandable: where democracy is most rampant, the interests favored by currently free or cheap common water, if numerous, will be most able to keep their booty. Moreover, some who grasp the environmental aspects of water misuse nonetheless have a mental block on invoking the market as a remedy.

So we have a fundamental problem amid rising affluence, one that software code largely cannot solve, especially if politics blocks better allocation. Indonesia should be able to marshal its abundance, given honest government. But unless science somehow can muster rain clouds, much of Asia cannot affordably get “more” of something it needs to grow–and live. At some point, if the policy riddle of unpopular allocation is not solved, this becomes a Malthusian knot. That could trump the wisdom of the “people resource” and sidetrack a very promising growth story.

By Tim Ferguson@forbes.com

Water in a Climate Change World

In the 2008 book, Dry Spring – the Coming Water Crisis of North America, Chris Wood detailed the scope of impacts we could anticipate as more volatile and extreme weather patterns become the norm. Wood, who continues to track climate change as a research collaborator, author and journalist, revisited the book in a recent interview, and noted that climate change impacts projected at the time of publication have largely proven true.

Some geographic areas continue to receive more water than they need, and it’s easy to imagine transferring surplus water to drought regions, especially north to south. Wood cautions that this is largely fiction – the scale and cost of infrastructure to make these connections, as well as the political ramifications are apt to be insurmountable. In particular, Wood cited the common misperception in the US that Canada has a uniform over-abundance of water that could potentially be shared in a worst-case scenario; in fact, precipitation is greatest in the northern provinces, further from the US.

If the water can’t be transferred, population and jobs will naturally migrate over time from areas of water scarcity to areas of relatively greater abundance.

Wood asserted that a key to water management will be to think more broadly about landscapes – urban and non-urban – as potential hydrologic resources that warrant protection.

While some communities already incentivize low-impact development and other stormwater management practices, the capacity for water retention, runoff, and groundwater recharge associated with all kinds of land uses and land covers (including rooftops) warrant scrutiny. In other words, water management will need to become a stronger driver in land-use planning.

Considering that roughly 70 percent of all water use is agricultural, current efforts to achieve water savings through urban conservation may be misguided. The need for more efficient irrigation has created a market opportunity for green tech companies. The Cleantech Group, a market research firm, tracks 53 companies globally that are identified as “smart irrigation” providers.

However, a decrease in irrigation and agricultural runoff can also have the unintended consequence of reducing groundwater recharge, creating challenges for adjacent landowners.

Wood anticipates that farmers will ultimately need to rethink their crop choices to maximize food production using the least water.

Research is currently underway at the University of British Columbia to evaluate the food value per unit of water input for globally traded commodities. As drought affects more and more of the countries that currently provide the bulk of the global food supply, careful crop selection will be imperative to meet the growing demand of an expanding population.

theenergycollective.com

Evolve Regional Strategy on Drinking Water Supply, Sanitation

As unclean water and sanitation is the world´s second biggest killer of children, the World Bank official on Wednesday urged countries in South Asia to evolve out a common strategy to tackle this problem in the region.

"Policy priority, insufficient funding, rapid urbanization and lack of public awareness have mainly impeded attainment of long-term sustainability of water supply and sanitation in South Asia," said Tahseen Sayed, World Bank country manager for Nepal. 

"Weak institutional capacities are other problems for us in the region to attain our goal of reducing number of people who do not have access to drinking water and sanitation," she stated 

Sayed was speaking at the South Asian regional conference on drinking water and sanitation, which kicked off in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

The three-day conference is being attended by more than 100 experts and officials from the different countries of the region. Through the conference, they hope to identify a common strategy to mitigate challenges seen in access to drinking water and sanitation in rural areas and also identify the workable institutional models for the region. 

According to the World Bank, more than 500 million people do not have access to sanitation and 250 million people to drinking water in South Asia, which is home to 1.6 billion people. 

"Despite its economic success, South Asia, now, represents the largest concentration of the world´s poor, as well as those lacking access to safe water and sanitation," said its statement.

According to the Bank, the conference will discuss on identifying sustainable ways of water supply, increasing sanitation access and reducing challenges -- challenges of declining water quality and quantity. "It will also focus on developing partnership between public and private sector to advance rural water and sanitation," Sayed said.

Janak Raj Shah, member of the National Planning Commission (NPC) said that the inadequate coordination among major players in the field of water supply and sanitation, weak implementation of the program and lack of proper approach to handle the projects were major hurdles of water supply and sanitation in Nepal. “

"We are lagging behind to achieve our targets under millennium development goals on sanitation and water supply," Shah said. The government has targeted to increase access to water supply and sanitation to 53 percent of the total population by 2015.



myrepublica.com

Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure: Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment? (2012)

Over the past century, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has built a vast network of water management infrastructure that includes approximately 700 dams, 14,000 miles of levees, 12,000 miles of river navigation channels and control structures, harbors and ports, and other facilities. Historically, the construction of new infrastructure dominated the Corps' water resources budget and activities. Today, national water needs and priorities increasingly are shifting to operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, much of which has exceeded its design life. However, since the mid-1980s federal funding for new project construction and major rehabilitation has declined steadily. As a result, much of the Corps' water resources infrastructure is deteriorating and wearing out faster than it is being replaced. This report explores the status of operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of Corps water resources infrastructure, and identifies options for the Corps and the nation in setting maintenance and rehabilitation priorities.

Key Findings

• Today, national water needs and priorities increasingly are shifting from new construction to operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, much of which has exceeded its design life. Since the mid-1980s, dwindling federal resources have limited funds available for water infrastructure operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation, and there is a considerable backlog of deferred maintenance.
• Over the years, the Corps' mission areas have diversified considerably. An original mission to ensure navigability of the nation's rivers was broadened in the early twentieth century to include flood risk management. Other Corps mission areas now include ecosystem restoration, hydropower generation, water supply, hurricane and storm damage reduction, and recreation. Each of these areas differs significantly in terms of enabling legislation, taxation and revenue sources, clients, and relations with the private sector. In an earlier era, it was easier to integrate a smaller number of missions, and to share expertise among them. Today, the Corps' large number of responsibilities makes agency-wide integration difficult. The Corps faces challenges in its operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation duties given that its roles, partnerships, and successes in one mission area are not transferred easily to other areas or activities.
• Greater private sector involvement is often raised as one option for increasing efficiencies and revenues for public agencies or works. Opportunities for greater public sector involvement in Corps infrastructure operations and maintenance activities vary by mission area and economic sector. In general, these opportunities are greater for flood risk management, port and harbor maintenance, and hydropower generation, and less for inland navigation. Congress and the executive branch should commission an independent investigation of opportunities for different kinds of partnership for Corps water infrastructure operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation.
• The main process for authorizing new federal water projects is through the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). The Water Resources Development Act was developed in an earlier era when new water project construction was a high national priority, and maintenance and rehabilitation were lower priorities. The Water Resources Development Act was not designed to identify and establish priority actions for existing Corps water infrastructure. Congress provides annual appropriations for maintenance and rehabilitation of existing federal water infrastructure, which represents a de facto process for setting priorities. Higher congressional and administration priority on operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation issues will require some reorientation away from the present strong focus on the Water Resources Development Act.
• Wise infrastructure investments will not necessarily repair Corps infrastructure to the same configuration that existed in the 1940s or 1950s. Future operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation investments should be guided by principles based on economics of infrastructure investment.
• Due to insufficient funding, many portions of the Corps of Engineers' water infrastructure are not being maintained at acceptable levels of performance and efficiency. There is, however, no single, obvious path forward for alternative funding mechanisms to maintain or upgrade existing Corps infrastructure, or to decommission portions of that infrastructure. The report's authoring committee considered the range of options available to the Corps, the U.S. Congress, the administration, and Corps project beneficiaries, identifying several potential future paths that might be taken. These options are summarized in the report.
• More specific direction from the U.S. Congress regarding priority maintenance investment needs will be crucial to sustaining the agency's high priority and most valuable projects. The executive branch also could play a more aggressive role in promoting dialogue between the Corps and the Congress on existing infrastructure investment needs and priorities.

Does China Have Enough Water to Keep Building Three Power Stations a Week?

                                                                        A farmer in drought-stricken Yunnan province, south-west China, March 2012. 

China builds an average of three new power stations a week; by 2030 it plans to add more power capacity than exists in the US, the UK and Australia today. This will require huge amounts of water for cooling and driving steam turbine generators. The country’s water resources are already stretched and climate change is making conditions even tougher.

So what does this mean for investors and companies?

We believe that water and power risks must be a top priority when planning capital expenditure. It is vital that the availability of water and the potential effect on supply chains is taken into account for the life of the investment.

Forty percent of China’s total agricultural output is produced in water-scarce regions. We believe five provinces – Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu – and three municipalities, Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, are most at risk of water shortages. The industrial sector is doubly exposed because it consumes well over 80% of all electricity.

Given the investment implications, it’s important to look at how China is attempting to deal with the twin challenges of generating sufficient power to drive its giant economy and protecting its precious water supplies.

In 2010, thermal power represented 74% of China’s total installed capacity and hydropower 22%. This means that almost all power generation relies on water. The nation’s industrialisation, urbanisation and rising affluence will increase demand for electric power and with that comes the further depletion of limited water resources.

China’s annual renewable-water resource per capita averaged slightly over 2,000 cubic metres in 2003-2010, just above the water stress level of 1,700 cubic metres. On closer examination, this water is not evenly distributed throughout the country’s 31 provinces and municipalities. Eleven provinces are already water scarce (meaning they have less than 1,000 cubic metres per capita per year) and climate change, caused mostly by carbon-dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, exacerbates existing water stresses. The Chinese government recognises this and has responded by setting tough new water quotas as well as pollution reduction targets.

Coal and hydro expansion
We estimate China’s power sector uses approximately 10% of the nation’s water, relatively low compared to the UK’s 34% and 49% in the US. However, China plans to add 1,212 gigawatts of water-reliant power capacity by 2030, equivalent to almost six times India’s current installed generation capacity. Coal-fired power will continue to dominate: in the decade to 2020, China plans to add 453 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity, equivalent to double Russia’s entire 2009 power generation capacity.

China’s coal-fired power capacity expansion will also involve an increase in coal mining, which consumes an abundance of water for extraction and processing. We estimate that 47% of coal reserves are located in water-scarce regions. Water scarcity could also lead to a greater reliance on coal imports; for example, 30% of China’s ensured coal reserves are in Shanxi, a province suffering from extreme water scarcity.

Changes in water availability also threaten hydropower. Although hydro-capacity is usually built in water-rich areas, the effects of shortages can be felt more quickly in the event of drought. Some hydropower stations have operated at below capacity in recent summers due to droughts in southern China.

The government plans to expand hydropower from 216 gigawatts in 2010 to 568 gigawatts by 2030. Unfortunately, the damming of rivers upstream has the potential to generate tensions with countries further downstream, so hydropower in China comes with geopolitical risk.

We believe the expansion of China’s installed thermal and hydro capacity will further stress water resources. Even with a change in fuel mix, we expect that 87% of power capacity will still require water. That means efficiency needs to be greatly improved.

Capping water use
Energy efficiency is as important as water efficiency. Using less energy would reduce demand for power, alleviating some of the water stress. China has improved both water and energy efficiency in recent years, although much more must be done to achieve national targets.

Stricter energy-efficiency targets have already been imposed on the industrial sector after they missed 2011 targets. We think industrial water targets could follow suit, though more efficient expansion may also require more upfront capital expenditure.

Water scarcity puts the metals and mining, utilities production and supply, and manufacturing segments at risk. No water means no electricity, and no raw materials such as iron and steel. As mentioned earlier, some 40% of agricultural output is produced in water-scarce regions, mainly in the country’s north. Climate change will also affect agricultural productivity through increased temperatures and altered water availability. Moreover, since agriculture is of prime importance to China in terms of food security, competition for water could become fiercer.

The central government set national water quotas in 2011. In response, provincial administrations have set and released 2015 water caps. Since the total of the 31 provincial caps actually exceeds the national total for 2015, some inter-provincial planning or collaboration will have to take place. We believe this further highlights the problem of enforcement in China. Moreover, some of the most water-scarce provinces have been given the toughest water pollution-reduction targets, making it extra hard to balance growth with water quantity and quality.

Since 45% of China’s GDP originates in water-scarce provinces, we think provincial water caps could force a change in the economic mix. Facilities may have to relocate, and water quotas and pollution-reduction targets could be enforced more strictly than in the past. In addition to the five provinces and three municipalities that are most at risk of water shortages, three borderline stressed provinces – Guangdong, Zhejiang and Inner Mongolia – are also vulnerable as they fluctuate in and out of water stress.

China’s planned economy is taking water and other resource stresses into account, however, the growth profiles of power and water in certain provinces seem to reveal a planning mismatch. Although water tariff hikes are also a concern, we believe the greater risk lies with water shortages. Improving both the water and energy efficiency of operations is crucial.

Water and power risks need to be considered as a core feature of capital expenditure plans. Project financiers should consider these resource shortages before funding assets, ensuring that water availability has been taken into account, and somewhat assured, for the life of the asset. Investors should examine the effects of potential water shortages on facilities located in water-scarce provinces and whether direct operations or supply chains could be affected. Companies should be more conscious of water quotas and pollution targets as they strive to make operations more efficient, as water targets may be more strictly enforced than in the past.

Finally, we believe that water constraints will provide an additional driver for industrial energy efficiency, already a priority of the 12th Five-Year Plan. Without upfront action now, we believe the risk remains and future assets could be left stranded high and dry.



By Wai-Shin Chan@chinadialogue.net

Blue Planet Network

About Us

Our mission is to exponentially increase the impact of safe drinking water programs for people around the world.

What We Do

Blue Planet Network connects funders, NGOs, the public and communities in need to improve the planning, selection, management and monitoring of water and sanitation programs.  This leads to more lasting impact at lower costs.

Our Results

The growth of our network and the impact it has had on the global safe drinking water crisis speaks to the strength of our approach and collective results:

• One million people in 1,600 communities have access to safe drinking water and the chance for more productive lives.
• 94 expert organizations working on water and sanitation access in 27 countries use our services to improve their impacts.
• Nearly 900 member water and sanitation programs, representing $40 million, being tracked and improved on Blue Planet Network

Recognition

• 2012 World Summit Award
• 2011 World Bank Water Hackathon Prize
• 2010 Intel Environment Tech Award
• 2009 California Association of Non-Profits Innovation Award

“I’ve seen nothing else like this network. It offers serious potential for improving transparency, information available to users, and the ability to understand what really works in the real world. This is a break-through technology useful for solving one of our most fundamental human issues.”
– Dr. Peter Gleick, President, Pacific Institute; MacArthur Fellow; Author/Editor, “The World’s Water”

“Blue Planet Network has created a real breakthrough approach, providing the coordination, information & evaluation critical for the success of water improvement projects. This community also provides easy access to best practices, helping water groups grow stronger & more effective through collaboration & peer review.”
– U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, 3rd District, Oregon; Co-Sponsor of the Paul Simon 2005 Water For The Poor Act and 2009 Water For The World Act

“My strong hope is that other organizations see the potential of this network so that we all can do a better job.”
– Joe Madiath, Founder, Gram Vikas, Blue Planet Network member

“Blue Planet Network has transformed the global water sector through its award-winning technology. SV2 selected Blue Planet Network as its international grantee and will continue to support its long-term efforts.”
– Dave Meader, Board Member, Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2)

Our Story

Since our founding in 2002, it has been Blue Planet Network's ambitious goal to ensure that 200 million people in need gain access to safe drinking water. But gaining access to water is just the first step. Keeping it is as important.

In its early years, Blue Planet Network worked to build awareness and funds for water projects through epic undertakings. Blue Planet Run 2007, the first global relay run for safe drinking water, and Blue Planet Run: The Race To Provide Safe Drinking Water To The World, a powerful book that tells the human story of water through photos and essays, connected people around the world to the water crisis and what they could do to solve it.

Along the way, however, we realized that all the water crisis awareness in the world wouldn’t help if people couldn’t easily find great implementing organizations and water project plans, and be able to easily track the impact of their support. Likewise, the experience of those capable implementers would be wasted if they didn’t have a way to continuously improve through learning best practices and sharing their work with the world.

We saw that we could add real value to the fight for clean water by creating a scalable platform to 1) connect water project funders and implementers to create new, effective partnerships; and 2) manage the planning, funding, implementation and tracking of tens of thousands of water and sanitation projects for greater impact. We always work to be catalysts for positive change across the entire water and sanitation sector.

We launched Peer Water Exchange, our original online technology platform, in 2006 with five member organizations. This has grown into a vibrant community delivering real improvements to water and sanitation programs and projects around the world.

We changed our name to Blue Planet Network in 2010 to emphasize our mission and to welcome funders, as well as implementers, as members to help us expand our reach and collective impact.

blueplanetnetwork.org

2011 Reed Elsevier Environmental Challenge 1st Prize Winner

Recipient of the $50,000 first prize, the Tagore-SenGupta Foundation installed an arsenic groundwater removal system using locally available chemical compounds and reusable sand filters in remote villages and schools in Cambodia.

USAID and Coca-Cola Provide Safe Water and Latrines Poor Communities

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation on Wednesday celebrated the handover of water, sanitation and hygiene projects to three communities in the Greater Accra Region.

The communities are Nsakina and Manhean in the Ga West District, and two clusters of schools in the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly.

A statement from the Public Affairs Unit of the U.S. Embassy in Accra said the projects are a part of a $1.5 million Water and Development Alliance between USAID and The Coca-Cola Foundation to provide safe, clean drinking water, improved sanitation facilities and hygiene education to 46,000 people in six communities in the Greater Accra and Volta regions.

The alliance has also educated the beneficiary communities to encourage them to maintain and use the facilities appropriately.

In the Greater Accra Region, the alliance completed two water centres, six latrines for schools (some of which produce biogas and manure rainwater harvesting systems), 120 household toilets and basic hygiene education to improve the living conditions of 15,000 people.

In collaboration with the school children, USAID and the Coca-Cola designed, produced and distributed comic books to teach basic hygiene education in schools.

These facilities are in support of the Government of Ghana’s policy of addressing the Millennium Development Goal 7 of ensuring environmental sustainability.

The water centers built in Manhean and Nsakina are structures housing water purification equipment to treat locally available water through sedimentation, pre-filtration, and Ultra Violet technology.

It said each centre produces safe drinking water for a nominal fee, and is pumped to additional distribution points.

The centers are managed by Waterhealth Ghana, which has signed a 10-year contract with the communities to provide ongoing operation, maintenance support and regular water quality monitoring to each community.

According to the statement, the alliance also built four modern toilet facilities to add to the existing toilets, and biogas production facilities. The facilities generate bio-gas to be used by the schools for lighting, cooking, and other purposes.

“Effluent from these systems will also be filtered and used to irrigate the school landscape. The bio-gas sanitation facilities are in two LEKMA school clusters composed of a total of 19 schools.”

The Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, C. Patricia Alsup, and the Director of Public Affairs and Communications of the Coca-Cola Company, Philippe Ayivor, handed over the facilities to the three communities at Ledzokuku Krowor Municipal Assembly South Cluster of Schools in Teshie in the Greater Accra Region.

vibeghana.com

In Jakarta Water Comes From a Bottle, Not From the Tap

                                                         Many residents of Muara Baru depend on vendors for clean water even in the midst of floods and tidal waves

More and more Jakartans are buying drinking water in galon (19-liter plastic containers) and ditching the old way of boiling and filtering tap water. Some do it for convenience reasons, while others do it for health reasons.

Herlina, a 30-year-old housewife in Palmerah, West Jakarta, for example, said that she had been buying drinking water in galon for six years because it was more practical than boiling tap water.

“The tap water in my house smells like bleach,” she said. “I have to store it for two to three days to get rid of the smell before boiling it. This is too much of a hassle.”

Meanwhile, Meilina, a 40-year-old resident of Harapan Mulya in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, said that she did not mind shelling out the extra money for a galon every two days for her family of four because she could not stand the taste of tap water.

“Even after I boil it, I can still taste the bleach,” said Meilina, who has been buying drinking water in galon for four years.

While both Herlina and Meilina do not use tap water for drinking, they said that they still used it for cooking.

Herlina, however, said that she still stored the water before using it for cooking.

“I also look at the color of the tap water first. If it is dirty, like it has been for the past few days, I use galon water to cook,” she said.

While Herlina stores tap water first to make it safe for cooking purpose, Rendy Chang, 39, uses a water purifier.

“I don’t drink tap water because it is too dirty, unlike Japan’s tap water, which is safe for drinking,” said Rendy, who lived in Japan for 10 years.

Not all Jakartans, however, are afraid to drink tap water.

“There’s nothing wrong with drinking tap water. I’ve never gotten sick from drinking tap water. Even today, I use it to make tea,” said Sofyan Sulaeman, 67, who lives in Bungur, Senen, Central Jakarta.

According to the Indonesian Association of Bottled Drinking Water Companies, Greater Jakarta and environs consumes a lot of bottled water, including galon, compared to other cities: 20.5 million liters per day. 

That’s more than a million galon, and 39 percent of the total national consumption.



thejakartapost.com

Experts Warn of Water Bankruptcy for Many Regions

A study of almost 200 major international water-related projects over the past 20 years has identified a suite of existing and emerging challenges and how science can offer remedies.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment and promote sustainable development, partnered with the United Nations University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to extract lessons from a portfolio of major transboundary water projects involving investments of more than US$7 billion.

Insufficient and disjointed management of human demands on water and aquatic systems has led to situations where both social and ecological systems are in jeopardy and have even collapsed, says the report.

River basins in particular are set to experience growing pressures due to urbanization, rising water scarcity and poor water quality.

Investing in science, in order to identify emerging issues and track trends relating to the use of water resources, can help to reduce such risks, according to the study. Links between science and policymaking also need to be strengthened.

Several success stories of research investments that paid rich dividends are also highlighted in the report.

These include efforts to rid Lake Victoria of alien water hyacinths, where an unsuccessful project using harvesting and chopping machines was replaced with biological control of the hyacinths using a weevil. The GEF-backed approach yielded immediate positive results for biodiversity and local communities.

The new report, Science-Policy Bridges over Troubled Waters, synthesizes findings of over 90 scientists worldwide assigned to five GEF International Water Science (IW:Science) working groups focusing on groundwater, lakes, rivers, land-based pollution sources, and large marine ecosystems and the open ocean.

According to the report: "The consequences of poor decision-making are dire: we face a 'water bankruptcy' in many regions of the world with implications for food and energy security, adaptation to climate variability and change, economic growth and human security challenges."

The report was launched on the opening day of the GEF International Waters Science Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference aims to set priorities for international waters science over the next decade and to enhance the use of science in GEF projects and beyond.

Other key findings include:

• Levels of dissolved oxygen levels in marine areas (a critical ecological indicator) have dropped significantly over a relatively short time. In 2008, over 400 marine dead zones were known to span a total area of more than 245,000 square kilometers.
• The report also highlights a major increase of stored heat in oceans. Such changes could have negative impacts on ecosystems, sea levels and human livelihoods.
• The management of groundwater remains isolated from other ecosystems, and the limitations in recharge capacity of aquifers are not well understood by decision makers.

Zafar Adeel, director of the United Nations University International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), and a report co-author, said: "This study underscores how often early 'alarm bells' with respect to emerging issues can be heard and must be heeded. The report offers helpful recommendations to the GEF to foster this process."

Ivan Zavadsky, GEF's International Waters Focal Area Coordinator, notes that over 20 years GEF had catalyzed the largest investment of its kind in human history. GEF's $1.3 billion catalyzed a total of $7 billion of investment in managing shared waters - fresh and marine - in almost every part of the planet, above and below its surface.

"One of the principal lessons from this review is that science must play a more central role in determining the nature and priority of these investments," he said. "This examination of work in the recent past contributes significant insights into the challenges ahead."

"World leaders agreed at the Rio+20 summit in June to strengthen the science-policy interface and to foster international research collaboration on sustainable development. This is especially important in respect to water resources at a point in time of unprecedented pressures from climate change and urbanization to pollution and over extraction," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

"Some positive steps are being made, however. UNEP's recent Global Environment Outlook-5 report analyzed progress on 90 key environmental goals. It found that significant progress is being made in improving research to reduce pollution of the marine environment. These achievements need to be registered across the water management challenge including lakes, rivers and aquifers in order to bring water into the centre of development plans en route to an inclusive Green Economy", added Mr Steiner.

allafrica.com/

The Water-Rich vs. the Water-Poor

Infographic

Wrong Climate for Damming Rivers

Hundreds of large dams are proposed in areas where climate change could bring great hydrological uncertainty, including the Amazon, the Mekong, Africa, China, and the Himalayas. While there is uncertainty in hydrological forecasts, one thing is clear: it's the wrong climate for damming rivers. First, big dams are at huge risk from climate change's impacts on river flows. Equally important, healthy rivers are also key to successful climate adaptation, especially for the world's poorest, who are also at greatest risk of climate change. Finally, large reservoirs can be significant sources of greenhouse gases. International Rivers is working to raise capacity on this critical issue globally and in dam-building regions, and promoting an energy revolution that allows us to dramatically cut our use of fossil fuels, while also preserving life-giving water resources.

Explore the following resources to learn more:

• Watch the Google Earth video below (available in English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Hindi, Chinese, Turkish, Spanish)
• Read our Fact Sheet "Wrong Climate for Big Dams" (available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, German, Hindi and Bangla)
• Explore our Educator's Toolkit on Climate Change, Rivers and Dams (available in English, Spanish and Portuguese)
  

Raising Awareness with a global information campaign

International Rivers is working to create awareness about these issues, through a Google Earth 3D tour and video that  narrated by Nigerian activist Nnimmo Bassey, winner of the prestigious Right Livelihood Award and chair of Friends of the Earth International. The production was launched at the COP 17 climate meeting in Durban, South Africa in November 2011. The video and tour allow viewers to explore why dams are the wrong answer to climate change, by learning about topics such as reservoir emissions, dam safety, and adaptation while visiting real case studies in Africa, the Himalayas and the Amazon.

internationalrivers.org

Improving Women's Access to Water

                                   Women walk carrying metal pitchers filled with drinking water to their homes in Nani Shinoli village in the western Indian state of Gujarat. 

As factors from droughts to urbanisation add to the dire global watercrisis, the ensuing misery falls even more on women and girls in the world's poorest countries. The statistics are staggering: around the world, women and girls expend a total of over 200m hours daily collecting and hauling water. In sub-Saharan Africa, 71% of the water fetched and gathered for household use falls under the responsibility of female family members.

As Lakshmi Puri of UN Women told an audience at last month's World Water Week in Stockholm, water scarcity leaves women particularly vulnerable. Subsistence agriculture in much of the developing world is dominated by women, and tenuous land rights can quickly lead to the loss of access to water and then more abject poverty and hunger. The precarious legal status of women in these countries exposes them to further risk. Add the burden of carrying water for household chores or to prepare food that women sell to help their families scrape by, and the daily struggle for water becomes a harsh barrier to women's equality and economic empowerment.

Girls who must spend time carrying water instead of studying in class then find themselves caught in the same cycle of poverty as their mothers and grandmothers. Finally, policymakers often exclude women from local decisions that have an impact on women's rights to water, pushing them outside the margins of discussions over water usage when in fact, they should have a seat at the table and be at the centre.

Companies that search for business opportunities in emerging markets now realise that water must be at the core of their long-term planning and strategy. But water remediation and conservation projects are not enough. Despite their untenable legal status in much of the developing world, women often make many of their family's purchasing decisions. So efforts to ensure women's access to clean water are not just about checking a box on a corporate responsibility to-do list: companies that implement such plans will improve the health and economic security for millions of women.

Well-planned initiatives create a chance to lift women out of poverty and can avert social unrest should water shortages increase in the coming years. As a Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) report last year outlined, improving women's access to water can free up to hundreds of hours annually that they can instead devote to more lucrative economic activities. Families and communities will not only strengthen as they have access to adequate water supplies, but businesses will also eventually gain customers and engaged local stakeholders where they commit to a sustainable development plan with water at its core.

Beverage companies have been among the most proactive in working with NGOs to improve women's rights to clean water. Understanding that they must partner with local communities to build trust and share diminishing water supplies in regions from Africa to south Asia, the makers of soft drinks and beer have the core competencies that can help solve some of the world's most pressing water problems.

Coca-Cola, for example, is attempting to solve water and sanitation problems that adversely affect women and girls, in several African nations. The bottling company's philanthropic arm dedicated $6m toprogrammes that they claim will benefit 250,000 girls and women, and in turn should provide a total of 2 million people with access to clean water by 2015.

Water is the foundation for security and strong communities, so bolstering access to this precious resource is critical to enabling companies to take the next step and undertake initiatives that focus on skills and job training. Strangely, we live in a world where more people have access to a mobile telephone than safe drinking water. But without water, both health and wealth for women and girls are almost impossible to secure, and business must step in where local governments have failed girls and their mothers.

By Leon Kaye is founder and editor of GreenGoPost.com@guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/hubs-water

Indian-American filmmakers Abi Devan and Sudhi Rajagopal return to their homeland to document life in the desert communities of Rajasthan. Their journey leads them to the Panihari (women who fetch water). The film centers around one woman, Paru, a shoemaker's wife, as she struggles against nature and society to attain self-reliance for her family and herself.

Paru's story coveys the richness and complexity of desert life as well as the extreme obstacles women in India still face today. Vibrant imagery, music, and folklore combine to paint a vivid picture of life as a Panihari.

Agua para la Vida: Providing Potable Water and Sanitation to Rural Nicaragua

Since 1987, Agua Para La Vida has been helping rural Nicaraguan communities build their own drinking water and sanitation systems. As of this year, we have helped bring clean water to over 20,000 people.

Our projects include gravity flow drinking water systems,  latrines, community health education and watershed conservation.  This short video explains the mission of APLV. 
 

Our Mission

• To help small, rural communities of Nicaragua develop and maintain access to safe drinking water. We do this by providing engineering, technical expertise, and materials for development of a potable water system. The community does all of the unskilled labor.
• To help these communities derive maximum benefits from safe water through higher standards of hygiene. We do this by providing the materials for high-quality outhouses, or latrines, that families construct themselves.
• To preserve and protect the watersheds that provide water to these communities.
• To provide training and education to local people in all aspects of designing, building, and maintaining drinking water systems so that they can achieve autonomy in rural drinking water development.
• To measure the impact of safe water and hygiene education on the health of infants and children.
• To develop design tools and teaching methods for use by other groups involved in village water system construction.

aplv.org