WATER CRISIS IN ARID AND SEMI-ARID REGIONS - AN INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE -

Meike Balon1, Farshad Dehnad2

ABSTRACT

The world wide water situation is increasing continuously. In 2000 about 1.1 billon people had no access to clean water and about 2.4 billion people had no access to basic sanitation. One reason is the extreme unbalanced water distribution in the world depending on regional climes. Especially in the arid and semi-arid zones, which are mostly located in Africa and Asia, there is a chronic and sensible shortness of water which will be additionally increased by future climatic change. The decreasing water availability in these regions will be also intensified by anthropogenic factors like high population growth, economic and ecologic progress and no efficient use of water.

To counteract these water problems, at Millennium Summit of the United Nations in New York in 2000 and at the World Summit of Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, the goal was set to half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and without access to adequate sanitation until 2015.

To achieve these Johannesburg Goals, sustainable water management is the only solution with taking into account the various sectors affecting water use, including political, economic, social, technical and environmental considerations in collaboration of governments, scientists, water industry, investors and society. Especially the Industrial Nations with their technical know-how and experience have a high duty to support the arid and semi-arid regions to improve the water situation by transfer of know-how and well-proved technologies adapted to local conditions.

1 FACTS

The following facts clarify the seriousness of the water crisis in the world:

About 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean water, what is about 18 % of the world population.

About 2.4 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation, what is about 40 % of the world population.

Figure 1 shows that about 90 % of these people are living in Asia and Africa.

1 Dipl.-Ing. Meike Balon; WETECH Institute for Water and Environmental Protection Technology, Beim Strohhause 27 Ost, 20097 Hamburg, Germany, phone: +49 (0)40-765005-76, fax: +49 (0)40-765005-72, balon@wetech-institut.de, www.wetech-institut.de 2 Dr. Farshad Dehnad; WETECH Institute for Water and Environmental Protection Technology, Beim Strohhause 27 Ost, 20097 Hamburg, Germany, phone: +49 (0)40-765005-70, fax: +49 (0)40-765005-72, info@wetech-institut.de, www.wetech-institut.de

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Figure 1: Distribution of unserved population [source: WHO/UNICEF 2002]

Each 15 seconds dies a child (over 2 million per year) because of polluted water and lack of basic sanitation.

80 % of diseases in developing countries are caused by contaminated water.

5 million people die from waterborne diseases each year – 10 times the number killed in wars around the world.

Figure 2 shows the most occurring water-borne diseases and the data of affected people.

800 million people are malnourished.

20 % of world‘s freshwater fish species are endangered.

In average 20 litre of water a person in the developing world uses for a whole day’s washing, drinking, cleaning and cooking, whereas the UN recommends that people need a minimum of 50 litres of water a day.

In developing countries, more than 90 % of waste water is discharged without treatment.

Losses of water through leakage and waste amount to 50 % of drinking water in developing countries.

Figure 2: Most occurring water-borne diseases [source: VanLoon, 2005]

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2 WATER SITUATION WORLD WIDE

To clarify the existing water situation in the world, in the following the water availability in the several regions on earth is shown.

2.1 Water on Earth

71 % of earth’s surface is covered by water. But 97 % of this amount are oceans and seas which are to salty to be used for drinking water without desalination. The other 3 % are fresh water in form of surface and ground water, whereof 2.5 % are unavailable because they are bounded in glaciers, ice caps, rocks or soils. Another 0.497 % is polluted water, so that only 0.003 % of the whole water on earth is usable for drinking water (Figure 3).

Oceans and Seas; 97%

Freshwater; 3%

Usable; 0,003%

Polluted; 0,497%Unavailable;

2,5%

Availability of Fresh Water on Earth

Figure 3: Availability of Fresh Water on Earth

2.2 Water Distribution in the World

The remaining 0.003 % of usable water mentioned above are extreme unbalanced distributed in the world, as Figure 4 clarifies: Especially North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia are very short of water. Even in some areas the water availability is less than 1000 m³ per capita and year, what the UN defines as water scarcity.

For comparison:

To serve one person with sufficient food, in average 1200-1500 m³ water per capita and year is needed. [Cornel, 2005]

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Figure 4: Water availability in the world measured in terms of 1000 m³ per capita/ year [source: UNEP.org]

In future, the regions which are faced to water scarcity will be enlarged, as Figure 5 shows. Today 1/3 of the world’s population lives in water-stressed countries (< 2000 m³/capita/a) and it is predicted that it will rise to 2/3 of the population by 2025.

Figure 5: Prediction of water distribution in the world

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3 WATER SITUATION IN ARID AND SEMI-ARID REGIONS

Looking at Figure 4 and 5, regions which are faced to water stress and water scarcity are primary arid and semiarid regions. Therefore in the following the factors are shown which strongly influence the water availability especially in arid and semi-arid regions.

3.1 Definition of Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

The climes “arid” and “semi-arid” are defined as following:

Arid regions: - max. about 200-250 mm precipitation/ year

- evaporation > precipitation

Semi-arid regions: - about 250-600 mm precipitation/ year

- usually evaporation > precipitation

Figure 6: Arid (black) and semi-arid (grey) regions in the world [source: VanLoon, 2005]

The arid and semi-arid regions cover 30 % of the total area in the world and 80 countries occupy these regions. That means that 40 % of the world’s population live in these areas. Especially countries in Africa and Asia, where almost a quarter of the population lives in arid and semi-arid regions, are concerned (Figure 7). [Sivakumar et al., 2002]

Africa

76%

24%

World

40%60%

Americas and Carribean

17%

83%

Europe

89%

11%

Asia

23%

77%

Australia and Oceania

94%

6%

arid and semi-arid regions

remaining regions

Figure 7: Population who lives in arid and semi-arid regions

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3.2 Influencing Factors of Water Situation

Besides the natural conditions, there are several anthropogenic factors which increase water stress:

3.2.1

3.2.2

3.2.3

High Population Growth The world’s population is growing immensely, which results in reduction of the ceiling for water usage. The world’s growing population is predicted to rise from about 6 billion people today to about 8.9 billion people by 2050 (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Global population growth [source: UN Populations Division]

Economic Progress

Continuous economic progress implicates a higher standard of living world wide which is accompanied by higher water consumption, too. This again implicates [Kinzelbach et al., 2003]:

Drying up of rivers

Drying up of wetlands with losses of important habitats (since 1900 the area was reduced by 50 %)

Heavy pollution of surface water and groundwater

Soil salination (80 million of 260 million ha irrigated land is in some way affected)

Depletion of aquifers (25 % of withdrawals are non-renewable)

Irrigation Water

A main problem in arid and semiarid regions is the water use for agriculture. Figure 10 shows that in a lot of countries the most proportion of fresh water is used for it. For example, Iran, which has mainly an arid and semiarid climate, uses 92 % of its fresh water withdrawal for agriculture.

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In average in the world 70 % of water withdrawal is used for irrigation of 18 % of earth’s cropland; the other 30 % are for industrial and domestic use.

For example: 1 t of grain requires 1,000 t of water.

Figure 9: Distribution of Fresh Water Use [source: Sorooshian, 2001]

3.2.4

3.2.5

Climate Change

A major factor for the increasing water problems is the climate change, by what the temperature rises and with it also the sea-level. Especially for coastal regions the sea-level rise is hazardous, because salty seawater can infiltrate in groundwater basins and contaminate drinking water resources.

Furthermore the climate differences will become more extreme: the distribution of precipitation will change and therefore on the one hand there will be more droughts and on the other hand there will be more floods.

A great risk is the desertification caused by high variability of rainfall, soil erosion (by wind or water) and also human beings by overuse of land or insufficient irrigation. Today 1/3 of earth’s land surface is already affected.

Due to climate change arid and semi-arid regions will increase and water availabilities will decrease. It is predicted that water scarcity will more than double over the next 30 years.

Groundwater Depletion

As already noted in chapter 3.2.2, a resulting problem is groundwater depletion. Overpumping groundwater for drinking water and irrigation has declined water levels by tens of metres in many regions, forcing people to use low-quality water for drinking. About 160 billion m³ of non-renewable groundwater are extracted every year [VanLoon, 2005].

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For comparison:

160 billion m³ water are equivalent to 160 million tonnes of grain which can feed 800 million people per year [VanLoon, 2005].

Figure 9 shows the average water discharge in the countries (between 1961-1990). It emphasises that generally in arid and semi-arid regions the internal renewable water availability is very low. It clarifies that people in most of these countries are living in water stress (< 1000 m³/capita/a, UN-definition) without using non-renewable groundwater resources.

Figure 10: Availability of renewable water resources within a country per capita and year

[source: University of Kassel, Germany]

4 ACTIONS OF THE NATIONS

The nations realised that they have to act to counteract the increasing water crisis. In important international conferences they seriously discussed the problem of water shortness.

4.1 World Conferences

Since 1992 four important international conferences took place with the aim to commit the nations and their governments to care about the development of solutions to improve the critical water situation.

4.1.1 Dublin, 1992: International Conference on Water and Environment: Development for the 21st Century

At the International Conference in Dublin in 1992, recommendations for action at local, national and international levels were set out, based on the following guiding principles:

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Principle 1: Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment.

Principle 2: Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy-makers at all levels.

Principle 3: Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water.

Principle 4: Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good.

4.1.2

4.1.3

Rio de Janeiro, 1992: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit)

At the UN conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 the water availability as requirement for sustainable development was emphasised.

New York, 2000: Millennium Summit of the United Nations

At the Millennium Summit in New York in 2000, the UN established 8 Millennium Development Goals, whereas the importance of water issue for sustainable development was confirmed in Goal No. 7:

Millennium Development Goal No. 7:

Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015.

4.1.4 Johannesburg, 2002: World Summit of Sustainable Development

In Johannesburg in 2002, a common declaration of the participating heads of states and governments was formulated including the extension of

Millennium Development Goal No. 7:

By 2015 reduction by half the proportion of people

without sustainable access to safe drinking water

and

without sustainable access to adequate sanitation

The participating countries agreed to undertake massive efforts to reach this goal by signing the Agenda.

4.2 Duty of Industrial Nations towards arid and semi-arid countries

In regard to the above mentioned goals, it is the duty of the Industrial Nations to support especially arid and semi-arid countries to decrease the water poverty, for example by political, economical, scientific and technical support in Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Thereby profitable but not adapted projects, which solve water problems only for a short time, have to be avoided. Also freshwater conflicts have to be avoided by international commissions for fair use of water with involvement of all actors. In

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addition an important point is an adequate sensibility in contact with foreign mentalities and culture specials.

4.3 Measures of BMBF for Implementation of the Johannesburg-Agenda

To achieve the Johannesburg goals, BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) is focusing on different measures, because BMBF takes the conformance of the set goals seriously. To improve the water situation in the world, BMBF tries to help with its available possibilities of an Industrial Nation (e.g. technology).

BMBF, as Ministry responsible for research, development of innovative technologies and education in Germany, is looking for international partners in the arid and semi-arid regions to get to know the problems on site, to react to it and in conclusion to implement R&D-projects and adapted technologies in medium term.

In short term, BMBF tries to exchange the existing German knowledge and technology with partners from countries in these regions by know-how transfer in the form of workshops, conferences, etc.. Furthermore BMBF tries to promote important projects in arid and semi-arid regions by financial support. BMBF devised and carried out the action concept “Sustainable and Competitive German Water Economy” for bundling of strengths by means of implementation of education and research programs in order to intensify the German contribution for solving the global water problems.

Additionally the BMBF network project “Export oriented Research and Development” was designed with the aim to adapt procedures for treatment of drinking water and wastewater well proved in Germany to the regional conditions of arid and semiarid areas (climate, culture etc.).

Furthermore the BMBF fellowship program “IPSWaT” (International Postgraduate Studies in Water Technologies) allocates master and PhD fellowships in the frame of international oriented post graduated studies in the field of water technology.

In this regard BMBF cooperates with several partner countries in the Near and Middle East of Asia, South East Asia, Africa and Middle America.

5 HOW SHOULD THE WATER PROBLEMS IN ARID AND SEMI- ARID REGIONS BE MINIMIZED?

To minimize the water problems in arid and semi-arid regions there is no patent remedy, because many factors have to be considered (like climate, technology, special social, cultural and financial conditions, etc.). Because of many variables it is very difficult for experts to provide a direct solution.

In the following some important fundamental approaches to solve the problems are mentioned.

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5.1 Sustainable Water Management

Fact is that one consequence of the water scarcity is the non-sustainable use of water resources. Therefore to solve the water problems sustainable water management is essential.

A Principle of Sustainability

The water resources must long-term not be attacked stronger as they are naturally renewable. [Die Gruenen, 2005]

The UNESCO-IHP (International Hydrological Programme) noted:

“It is recognised that water problems cannot be solved by quick technical solutions, solutions to water problems require the consideration of cultural, educational, communication and scientific aspects. Given the increasing political recognition of the importance of water, it is in the area of sustainable freshwater management that a major contribution to avoid/solve water-related problems, including future conflicts, can be found.” [UNESCO-IHP]

In detail sustainable water management means:

Securing of access to clean water resources (chapter 5.1.1)

Fair and Efficient use of drinking and irrigation water to conserve the long-term ability of the resources (chapter 5.1.2)

Avoidance of irreversible damage to the resource water

Water management with taking into account the various sectors affecting water use, including political, economic, social, technical and environmental considerations

5.1.1 Access to clean Water Resources

To achieve access to clean water one point is:

1. Protection of ground and surface water:

Secure collection of all wastewater in sewers: minimisation of leakage in wastewater pipelines

Consequential and sufficient treatment of wastewater before discharging in water bodies

Special pre-treatment of industrial wastewater before discharging in public sewers

Efficient use of pesticides, insecticides and herbicides to minimise the entry of toxics in soil and groundwater

Controlled disposal of solid waste (e.g. sufficient packing of landfills to avoid discharge of leakage water)

Also an important point is:

2. Secure water supply:

Treatment of drinking water

Minimisation of leakage in drinking water pipelines (e.g. in Iran there are about 40 % water losses caused of leaky pipelines)

Dispreaded network as far as possible to serve as many people as possible with save drinking water

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5.1.2 Efficient Use of Irrigation Water

Essential is an efficient use of irrigation water. This could be achieved due to relative simple technical solutions:

Drip Irrigation

Low-pressure sprinklers

Growing of plants which are adapted to local (dry) climate

Building of earth walls to catch rainfall

Wastewater reuse

Desalination of seawater (more complex technology)

5.2 Practical Approach to meet the Demands

To avoid or solve water problems in arid and semi-arid regions it is essential to transfer necessary technology and know-how. This can be achieved by multilateral discussions, intensive training of engineers, technicians and trainers on-site and by workshops, symposiums or panels.

During implementation of technologies in arid and semi-arid countries, following important points have to be considered:

Analyses of specific local conditions (climate, culture, etc.)

Adaptation of well-proved water technologies to local conditions → development of modified technologies and equipment

Development and Implementation of mostly simple methods for simple and steady operating control of the equipment.

For successful improvement of the water situation every human being can and has to contribute in a way, because everyone is responsible for its environment. Essential is teamwork of the several responsible groups. This means collaboration of

Governments, which have to formulate policies and plans to improve the water situation in their country

Experts, who research and develop technical solutions

Industries, which develop the equipment

Users, who have to be made attentive to the seriousness of the water problems because their self-responsibility is important to reduce the consumption

Strong Investors, who finance the projects

Thereby the main task is to find ways to finance the target projects. Potential investors are national and international governments, NGO’s, banks and private investors, aid agencies and international organisations (e.g. UN).

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6 CONCLUSION - IS THE WATER CRISIS AN INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE?

Since the Millennium Development Goal (MDG 7) was set, the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and to basic sanitation respectively did not decrease significantly. Today still about 1.1 billion people have no sustainable access to safe drinking water and about 2.4 billion people have no sustainable access to basic sanitation.

These numbers and allowing for the expected population growth (about 20 %) mean that to meet the Millennium Development Goal until 2015 every day

120,000 people have to get access to safe drinking water and

260,000 people have to be connected to basic sanitation.

The UN notices in its MDG-Report 2006: “With half of developing country population still lacking basic sanitation, the world is unlikely to reach its target.”

According to UN, until 2004 only in developing regions another 300 million people should have been served with sanitation to keep the world on track toward the 2015 goal.

Regarding to drinking water issue UN notices: “World targets for safe drinking water are in sight, but coverage remains spotty in rural areas.” [MDG-Report, 2006]

Considering the initial water situation, especially in arid and semi-arid countries, and considering the intermediate results of the world wide measures to meet the MDG, it is a big challenge for all states in the world to decrease the water crisis in adequate time.

But nevertheless the only suggestive way is sustainable water management with taking into account the various sectors affecting water use, including political, economic, social, technical and environmental considerations. In this regard the industrial nations began to fulfill their duty to face up the challenge to implement sustainable water management in arid and semi-arid regions by providing their technical know-how and experience.

7 REFERENCES

Cornel P., 2005: “Reuse of treated wastewater – microbiological aspects-“, 3. Int. BMBF- UNESCO-RCUWM Workshop on Innovations in Water and Wastewater Technology, 28.11-01.12.2005 Berlin, Germany

Dehnad F., Heidborn J., 2005: “German-Iranian Cooperation in the field of Water Technology”, Wirtschaftsforum Nah- und Mittelost, No. 6, 2005, p.16-17, Germany

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