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International water cooperation
Kitty van der Heijden, Ambassador, Sustainable Development and Director,
Department for Climate, Energy, Environment and Water, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands
L
ook at poverty, one of the persistent disgraces of our time,
and you will see water. Still today, 1.1 billion people
lack access to clean, safe drinking water, using less than
5 litres (1.5 gallons) per day, and over 2.5 billion people are
living without adequate sanitation. Lack of safe water and
adequate sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness,
and 5,000 children die every day from diseases from tainted
drinking water.
1
Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of
water-stressed countries of any region. Growing out of poverty
requires increases in food, manufacturing and energy – all of
which in turn depend heavily on sound water management.
But water scarcity isn’t just poverty related. In 2008, the tanker
Sichem Defender arrived at the port of Barcelona carrying something
far more precious than its usual cargo of chemicals.
2
The nearly 23
million litres of drinking water – enough for 180,000 people for a
day – was the first delivery in an unprecedented emergency plan to
help Spain, suffering its worst drought since records began 60 years
ago. After months without adequate rainfall its reservoirs were down
to just over a quarter of normal capacity. A year ago they stood at
almost double that.
The above is a grim reminder of what a world
without water can look like – and how a lack of
water destroys ecosystems, causes economic distress
and aggravates poverty. The water that exists today
on Earth is roughly the same as the water present at
the time dinosaurs roamed the Earth, though its form
and location have shifted constantly across the global
hydrologic cycle. Yet pressures on water resources are
mounting. And as pressing as water issues are now,
they will become even more important in the near
future. Experts predict that by 2025, less than 15 years
from now, nearly two thirds of the world’s popula-
tion will experience some form of water stress. With
the existing climate change scenario, some estimates
suggest that by 2030 demand for water could be 40 per
cent greater than current sustainable supplies. Nearly
half the world’s population will live in severely water
stressed areas, to the point at which a lack of water will
impede and even reverse social and economic develop-
ment. Fragile states in northern Africa and the Middle
East are most likely to experience water shortages, but
China and India are also vulnerable.
3
About 70 per cent of the water used in develop-
ing countries goes to agriculture. Without proper soil
management, watershed management, and integrated
management of water supply and demand, sufficient
clean water will not be available to meet the needs
of people, agriculture and ecosystems. Water with-
drawal by the energy sector is expected to rise by one
fifth through 2035, while the amount consumed (not
returned directly to the environment) increases by a
more dramatic 85 per cent.
4
Higher rates of urbani-
zation will increase demand for drinking water and
industrial use with consequent higher waste disposal
and treatment, also requiring greater energy use.
Collection of used water, separation of polluted
water from less polluted waters, and prevention
and management of wastewater pollution including
treatment of used water, are becoming increasingly
important to protect populations and ecosystems as
well as to facilitate economic development. In the face
of the growing demands on finite water resources, it
will become necessary to consider wastewater as an
additional resource.
Adapting to climate change is largely about water.
More frequent and heavier rainfall will flush more
pollutants into water systems, for example due to over-
W
ater
C
ooperation
, S
ustainability
and
P
overty
E
radication
A sand dam in East Ethiopia which creates enough groundwater to supply the
nomadic population and its cattle with safe water the whole year through
Image: Paul van Koppen