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RSS FeedState of the World 2004: Boosting Water Productivity
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Worldwatch Live Online Discussion
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers
March 19, 2004 - 3:00pm EDT
As world population and consumption continue to surge, the global demand for water is greater than ever. The good news is that our planet holds more than enough water to meet the basic household needs of every inhabitant. What lacks, however, is the political will and financial commitment to ensure equal access to this vital resource by all.
Submit your questions now and join State of the World 2004 authors Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers on March 19 to discuss what governments, industry, and individuals can do to curb humanity's water intensive habits, and to lessen our impact on one of the world's most important natural resources.
Washington DC: Currently, Washington, DC, is ripe for a private water company to take over the public water and sewer system. The infrastructure is ancient and inefficient. The water has lead levels many times higher than the acceptable 15 ppb. (My water at home is at about 350 ppb.) It is tempting to want a private company to swoop in and fix things. However, everything I've read indicates that prices tend to go sky high after privatization and long-term maintenance is not always assured. In addition, I think natural resources like water should be held in common trust by the public. What's a city to do in a situation like this one? Rose Berger
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : This is a situation where there is no simple ìquick fix,î and I agree that privatization is a mixed bag that too often results in higher prices, lower maintenance, and fewer services. (Our chapter shows this for the UK; despite over a decade of privatized water systems, leakage levels there are still high - over 20%. Last year, the new mayor of Atlanta canceled that cityÃs contract with a private water management company because the companyÃs services where not found to be as cost-effective as promised. On top of that, there were also increased customer complaints and rising leakage levels.)
From my experience working with water systems in the U.S. and overseas, the best-run and most responsible utilities are those with strong public oversight. Active and vocal citizen watchdog groups ñ with good media coverage - can be the tipping point to force mayors, city councils, and the like to clean up mismanaged water utilities. I encourage you to get involved in helping to change your water system for the better. Groups like Public Citizen's Water For All Campaign are leading these types of campaigns and offer practical advice for activists. See http://www.citizen.org/cmep/
Seabrook Island SC USA: Why the continued disinterest or prejudice against bulk shipped water in intellectual circles? No longer in the proposal stages, this movement by tanker from surplus to scarcity areas of irrigation, manufacturing or (retreated locally) drinking water is addressing the 177.5 thousand million US gallons yearly need in 40 nations projected from Worldwatch and Population Institute figures. Yet it is hardly mentioned in World Bank, AID, institute or other treatments, despite its obvious role in peacekeeping while water is widely predicated to be supplanting oil as the crisis precipitator.
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : I donÃt think there is disinterest or prejudice. Economics largely drive this question (and in some areas politics, too). Bulk water shipments would need to be cost-competitive and politically as palatable as desalination and other supply options before they are the supply method of choice. Some countries (e.g., Canada) also have concerns about commodifying water under international trade agreements, which could open up a nationÃs water sources to exploitation and sale by foreign companies. ItÃs important to remember, too, that in many cases, conservation measures can save water at far less cost than supplying the same quantity via a tanker crossing the ocean.
Washington, DC: What do you two think of the recent USGS report that shows total water use in the US to have been stable since 1985? http://www.usgs.gov/public/press/public_affairs/press_releases/pr1866m.html
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : The USGS does a great job at collecting data from the states, but the fact is most water use - specifically agriculuture - is not measured. One of the things I note in the new data is that municipal water use increased at a higher percentage of population, indicating that that sector is using more water than before on a per person basis. Much of this is for lawn watering - a nonessential use that keeps going up in many communities (Amy Vickers)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Your bald statement that the good news is that there is sufficient water for everybody if..... seems to me to be misleading. The population and growth boosters in Australia, for example, love to use comments like this to say that growth is limitless and anybody who disagrees is a doomster. But there are signs here that water limits are being hit everywhere - for cities, for rivers in distress, for farming crops, etc. Is Australia to look to other countries for its future water supplies? By boat, as 'virtual water'? Surely the central message should not be one of false optimism but of the hazards associated with population growth and runaway affluence?
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : I completely agree that unconstrained population and consumption growth will lead to unsustainable use and depletion of water. As you correctly note, and as we describe in our SOTW chapter, there are many signs of unsustainable water use today ñ falling water tables, rivers running dry, numerous species at risk of extinction. However, it is possible to sustainably meet the water needs of the projected global population (9 billion by 2050) if we work toward equitable, efficient, and ecologically sound water use and management. To paraphrase a famous line: There is enough water to meet everyoneÃs need, but not to satisfy everyoneÃs greed (or wasteful use). Drip irrigation, which often cuts water use in half while increasing crop yields, is used on only 1 percent of irrigated area worldwide. Diets heavy on meat and animal products (such as those in the U.S.and Australia) take twice as much water to produce as nutritious low-meat diets. There are many ways to satisfy our food and water needs while using less water -- the potential to boost water productivity has barely been tapped. While optimistic, I also recognize that our response to the scale of water problems so far pales in comparison to the challenge. (Postel)
CH-1053 Cugy VD, Switzerland: How to keep big business out of water?
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : Get involved! You can fight big business and win - Atlanta and Stockton are two examples. Read the list of Actions Individuals Can Take in our "Boosting Water Productivity" chapter (p. 63). Groups like Public Citizen's Water For All Campaign offer much practical advice for activists. See http://www.citizen.org/cmep/
Also, the People's World Water Forum, held in Delhi, India (Jan. 2004) included representatives from 63 countries on six continents. To learn more, go to: <
(Amy Vickers)
Rochester, MI: What is your opinion of the South-North water transfer project in China? Will it make a significant difference alone? And if I am interested in going over to research it further, what are your suggestions in terms of strategy and finding the best, most objective information possible?
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : China is responding to its serious water shortage problems in the North China Plain much the way California responded to its water constraints -- by reaching out farther and farther for more water. We have learned that these big water projects are often uneconomical and environmentally damaging. It seems, however, that China is following the same path -- and on a much bigger scale. Agriculture is the biggest user of water in the North China Plain (the region produces about 25 percent of China's grain) It would seem to make more sense to invest in greater irrigation efficiency, to shift some land out of irrigation entirely (this is beginning to happen in some areas), and to increase urban and industrial water efficiency as well, before looking to an expensive and ecologically harmful water transfer to fill the water deficit in the north. (Postel)
New Haven, CT: Aside from attempting to reduce my own consumption of water, what can I, as an American youth (I'm a 21 year old college Senior), do to promote equitable and sustainable use of the earth's freshwater resources? How can I (or youth in general) participate in decisions made at international meetings or behind closed governmental doors?
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : Actively educating people - your friends, family, and community - about how consumer and behavior choices affect their water supplies can be one approach. Has your school conducted a water audit and implemented water efficiency measures? Many institutional buildings and facilities can reduce their water use by at least 15-20% through the installation of simple water conservation measures and repairs.
You can participate in public policy discussions and decisions by going to meetings and conferences and making your voice heard. Don't accept closed doors on matters that affect the public; exercise your right to freedom of information and open meetings.
Remember, the squeaky wheels gets the grease! (Amy Vickers)
Florence, Italy: How Climate change will affect water availability? Which countries will suffer the most from water shortage?
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : Climate change will greatly affect water supplies and availability. We will see marked changes in the annual pattern of river runoff as more precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, and as glaciers and mountain snowpacks melt earlier and faster. We will likely see increased flood runoff in the early spring and then less runoff in the late spring and summer, when water demands for irrigation and hydropower are greatest. These changes in runoff patterns will greatly affect many rivers and water users around the world ñ think of all the rivers dependent on the snowpacks and glaciers of the Himalayas, Alps, Andes, Sierra Nevada, Colorado RockiesÖ Recent studies suggest that summertime streamflows in parts of the western US will decrease by 20-50%. And we think we have competition for water now! In addition to these changes in runoff patterns-- which almost certainly will occur from the rise in temperature-- we will also see shifts in rainfall patterns. Some areas will get more precipitation and some less. (postel)
Ottawa: 60% of Canadian renewable freshwater supplies run North away from densely populated areas of Canada left unused. Therefore, I am interested in hearing your perspective on bulk water diversion from the Canadian North to parched states of America.
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : Such diversions would be difficult to justify in light of the fact that only 4% of U.S. agriculture uses water-thrifty drip irrigation, with the bulk of ag water used for inefficient flood and sprinkler methods.
Comprehensive and large-scale water efficiency projects targeted at each major use sector - water utilities, farms, industries, homes, and golf courses - if implemented, would "produce" more water to help meet our current and future needs. Too many people are having water conversations - talking about efficient water use is not going to solve our dwindling supply problems. Implementing the 100-plus efficiency technologies and practices that are available is the key to a more sustainable water future. (Amy Vickers)
Fairfax, California: 1)Don't nations downstream of China protest its damming of the major Asian rivers? 2)What progress is being made in coming up with serious alternatives to the evil of privatizing the rivers of the earth?
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : China has the hydrologic advantage as the most upstream country in many important international river basins -- including the Salween and the Mekong, a major water source for Southeast Asian countries. These downstream nations cooperate via the Mekong River Basin Commission , but China is not a member and has plans to unilaterally build several big dams on the upper Mekong. China was one of just three countries (Turkey and Burundi were the other two) to vote against the United Nations Convention on Transboundary Waters, which called for equitable and reasonable use of international rivers. China so far has not shown much interest in cooperating with its downstream neighbors and abiding by these international principles. Given that it is the most powerful nation in the region and that it has the hydrologic advantage, there is not a great deal the downstream countries can do. Perhaps some encouragement from the international community would be helpful. (postel)
New Haven, CT: Have any governments considered requiring labels that list the amount of water that went into making the product so that consumers could consider water use when deciding which products to purchase? (for example, I read somewhere that bagels require more water to bake than some people use over the course of the whole day -- since i heard that i've tried to reduce how many bagels i've been eating)
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : You make good points, but the amount of consumptive water in bagels and other products is relatively small compared to total water use (agriculture being the largest). Like excess packaging, pumping water into products gives some consumers the illusion of lots for little. I think this would be a hard thing to regulate since there are bigger water waste issues (i.e., infrastructure leakage, wasteful irrigation, and inefficient industrial water use at the top of my list).
Good news: the U.S. EPA is working on the development of a water efficiency market enhancement and labeling program for certain products such as appliances, fixtures, and irrigation. Like the Energy Star program, water labels will help guide consumers to make water-wise choices when it comes to big ticket purchases.
To learn more about the EPA's Water-Efficient Products Market Enhancement Program, go to: http://www.epa.gov/owm/water-efficiency/products_program.htm
Another good source of information is: www.waterwiser.org
(Amy Vickers)
Steve Conklin, Worldwatch Institute: Thank you Sandra and Amy for joining us in today's discussion, and thank you to everyone who submitted questions. Join us April 30th on Worldwatch Live to discuss "Purchasing for People and Planet" with Worldwatch Researcher Lisa Mastny.
Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers : And thank you for all those great questions!
Sandra & Amy
