Groxie

This is the second part in a series (here are the first and third parts.)

Across the globe, water quality and quantity are being degraded. Booming population growth is accompanied by excessive water withdrawal and pollution. In developing areas women and girls are primarily responsible for water collection; water scarcity exacerbates gender inequality. Lack of access to safe water promotes the spread of infectious disease and hygiene related illness. Even in developed countries with complex modern water infrastructure, water conservation and management lags behind the amount of effort necessary to maintain a safe water supply.

China

China provides a harsh example of population skyrocketing beyond what the country’s natural resources can sustain. China’s per capita water resources are less than 1/3 of the global average, while the population of China makes up 20% of the world population. Infrastructure improvements have not kept pace with rapid population growth, especially in urban areas. In rural areas, poor agricultural practices are utilized in an attempt to keep food production in step with population growth.

On top of this, China is experiencing high temperatures and low rainfall, so
areas of southwestern China are experiencing the worst drought in 50 years Lakes, rivers, and wells are running dry, and the government is relocating thousands of farmers to less arid regions of the country. The cost to the economy is in the billions.

Africa

In Africa, water scarcity affects daily life more than in any other area of the world. Over 300 million people in Africa lack access to safe water. This affects women and children more harshly than men. Women tend to do more of the water gathering, child rearing, and agricultural work—all of which requires access to water. They often need to travel long distances to find the nearest well or pump; in some areas of Africa women travel an average of three hours each day to procure water for their families. Some girls are unable to attend school simply because they are needed to help fetch water.

Water quality is directly tied to the spread of many diseases in Africa, especially diarrhoea and malaria. Kofi Annan summed up the crisis when he said “We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care.”

U.S.

Even in the U.S., the wealthiest nation in the world, water problems are on the rise. Our culture of consumption and our refusal to treat water as a precious commodity stand as barriers between us and adequate freshwater management. We use more water than any other area of the world—about 350 litres per day per person, compared to less than 5 in some parts of Africa. To put that in perspective, each person needs about 50 litres of water per day to stay clean and healthy.

Historically we have had relatively abundant freshwater supplies in this country, but this advantage has allowed us to avoid developing comprehensive water conservation and management policies. Now groundwater is at an historic low as we withdraw water faster than our aquifers can recharge. Some of our rivers no longer even run to the sea. Overconsumption and pollution are finally taking their toll on our freshwater.

Water policy in the U.S. is confusing at best. There are a few major laws and programs that regulate water across the states. Each of these programs are adminstered by a combination of federal, state, and local agencies, so they are plagued by inefficiencies and underfunding. Because there is a lack of ultimate accountability, these programs are less than ideal in terms of effectiveness.

• The Clean Water Act—The CWA is the mother of all water regulations. Unfortunately, it does nothing at all to protect groundwater. It does not adequately address non-point source pollution, like runoff that cannot be traced to single origin. Instead, the EPA relies on voluntary programs to control non-point source pollution.
• National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System—The NPDES also fails to adequately address non-point source pollution. Most states are responsible for the implementation of the program, but funding is often inadequate to actively monitor discharge sites and enforce the regulations. As more freshwater bodies are polluted by non-point sources, this hands-off approach is being challenged.
• Safe Drinking Water Act—This act set standards for drinking water by setting legal limits for contaminants. Later amendments enhanced the program to include requirements for “source water protection, treatment, distribution system integrity, and public information,” but this act doesn’t provide specific, enforcable regulations to protect groundwater.

Water is priceless.

Water is absolutely essential to life, and it is a basic right of every living thing. There is plenty of water on this planet to support all of us fully, and then some, but we are not doing enough to care for it. If we do not become better stewards of our water supplies, we will be faced with increasingly devastating consequences. Already there are armed conflicts over water; it is not hard to imagine a future where countries go to war over water.

Still, the situation is not hopeless. We know the problems, and the solutions do exist. We just need to work together to implement them. Population will continue to grow, and along with it all of the problems with resources. We must plan for growth acccordingly. If we really want to alleviate hunger, poverty, disease, and illiteracy in the developing world, we need to start by providing access to safe water. Developed countries have the opportunity to be water management models, but we must recognize the dire importance of our freshwater supplies.

On the bright side, there are ways you can help. I’ll go over those next time. Until then, start educating others!