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WATER - A PATH OUT OF THE DISASTER

BY GER BERGKAMP
IUCN'S WETLANDS AND WATER RESOURCES PROGRAMME OFFICER

Where are we heading if we continue our water use and management practices around the world as they have developed during the last decades?

Human water resource appropriation is leading to dried up, polluted rivers, lakes and groundwater resources, scarcity of potable water, destruction of freshwater ecosystems, extinction of species, and degradation of coastal areas. Corrupt governments contribute to large scale resource degradation by selling water, forests, and mineral resources to (multi-)national corporations at nothing like their true value. Declining resources and unequal access to the remaining resources form the basis for conflicts from local to regional levels, at times erupting into violence.

Looking at the new millennium a dismal scenario portrays a world society that continues to rely heavily on hardware engineering, industrial technologies, global market mechanisms and (multi-)national corporations to solve existing and new problems. Governed by opportunistic consumerism, weakly organised civil societies and paralysed governments, societies are unable to develop coherent social and political responses to unbound water resource extraction and degradation. Under this scenario humankind will fail to address the major driving forces of freshwater ecosystem decline: human population expansion, rising per capita consumption and increasing poverty. The result will be a further increase in consumption and free human appropriation of water resources, and increasing inequity in water resource access and use. At the start of a new millennium the world has to choose a new development path for water resources.

Developing world: rising population and consumption

Population growth will remain an important driver of environmental degradation in the developing world. Population will grow at a rate of 2-3%, with the result that 80% of the world population will live in these countries by 2025. About 50% of these people will live in urban areas, mainly located in coastal regions and near rivers. Increasingly, westernised consumption patterns will aggravate the inequitable allocation of resources. Total water abstraction will increase by 47 % to 3,851 km3/year by the year 2025. Most water will be abstracted for agricultural purposes. Crops such as cotton, flowers, bananas and soy beans increasingly will be produced for export. The growth in agricultural production will stimulate pesticide use. Together with the untreated sewage from (mega)-cities, the pollution of surface and groundwater systems will sharply increase.

These pressures will change the state of many of the developing world's freshwater and related ecosystems. No longer will many of these ecosystems be able to provide goods and services essential for societies to survive. Wetlands and forests make way for agricultural land, and at the same time for new problems. In Latin America and South East Asia, for example, upper catchment degradation is foreseen to lead to floods and a less reliable water supply. Degraded ecosystems, such as wetlands, will no longer provide flood abatement. The loss of species and habitats will dramatically reduce the world's biological diversity.

The poorest people and nations especially feel the impacts of degradation. They will become increasingly vulnerable to fluctuations on the global markets. Floods and droughts impact the poorest people most severely as they often live in vulnerable areas and have no financial resources to cope. At the same time, floods provide resources for millions of floodplain inhabitants that depend on the maintenance of flooding for sustaining their livelihoods. Increased pollution from cities, industries and agriculture will cause illness and rising prices for safe drinking water and human health care. The loss of freshwater biological diversity threatens the economic basis of fishermen and flood recession farmers, and indirectly affects whole societies through eroding the basis of essential ecological foodwebs.

Industrialised countries: rising consumption and exploitation

In the next century, population growth in industrialised countries is expected to remain low. Consumption patterns and economic growth, however, will continue to cause environmental degradation. Economic growth, consumption patterns and lifestyles will pressure freshwater and related ecosystems. Total water abstraction will increase by 18 % to 1,385 km3/year. Dam construction for hydropower and irrigation will take place in only a few countries (e.g. Spain, Turkey), as fossil fuel prices are projected to remain low. Under a 'business-as-usual' scenario, insufficient investments are made in water-related infrastructure, such as dams and dikes, and the rehabilitation of degraded freshwater and related ecosystems, such as upper catchments, wetlands, floodplains and deltas. Over-extraction of water resources continues to cause severe damage to natural habitats and infrastructure and causes seawater intrusion in coastal areas. Contamination of surface and groundwater resources with nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilisers and manure renders many of these resources useless.

The augmenting pressures will affect many of the developed world's freshwater and related ecosystems. They will no longer perform essential functions, such as provision of clean drinking water. In temperate areas connected to mountain areas, such as parts of North West Europe, increasing late winter flooding is projected as a result of climate change. Floodplains, disconnected from their rivers, will no longer be able to provide even a minimal flood water storage and flood peak attenuation. In many areas contaminated soils and sediments will form chemical time bombs that pollute surface and groundwater resources for many years after their original release or deposition. Pollution will affect human health and induce animal deficiencies. Invasive plant and animal species will increasingly proliferate and affect water ways and bodies, disrupt entire ecosystems and cause a severe decline in freshwater biological diversity. The decline of many freshwater and related ecosystems will have direct, large-scale social and economic repercussions. For example, investments in water pollution abatement and control will most likely double to US$ 250 per capita per year. The destruction of natural freshwater habitats will also impact other economic sectors such as tourism. Powerless social groups and natural environments will increasingly be deprived of water if their requirements are not protected.

The required response: ecosystem management within drainage basins

Societies and individuals have to respond. That response should be based on the management of ecosystems (forest, rivers, wetlands, lakes etc.), within river and drainage basins. This approach respects the intrinsic values of ecosystems and aims to maintain the ability of ecosystems to continue to provide goods and services to humankind. People have to 'learn to care' about their rivers, lakes and wetlands that provide them with many benefits. This means that the focus of water managers will be on reconciling the water requirements of different economic sectors, while maintaining and conserving nature. Restoration of degraded rivers, lakes or entire catchments are essential to establish a sustainable water world. A more equitable distribution of water resources can become the force that binds instead of divides peoples and nations, and reduces conflicts and the number of environmental refugees.

Experiences from around the world indicate that this alternative approach to water management is not unrealistic. The ongoing restoration of a river floodplain in northern Cameroon shows that some damage can be repaired and ecosystems are the basis of human livelihoods. Water companies are willing to invest in upper-catchment ecosystem management and protection as ecosystems form the source of the drinking water they sell. To achieve a society that cares for its resources we need to establish a fundamentally different paradigm for the use, development and conservation of water resources - an ecosystem approach. In this approach, quality and quantity are equally valued and long-term sustainability is preferred above short-term profits. Based on local empowerment and adaptation to local conditions, activities are focused on the ongoing provision of goods and services by freshwater and related ecosystems.

IUCN calls upon politicians, water managers, decision-makers and local groups to develop a strategy for change and start implementing required actions. Priority themes are:

1. Care for, conserve and rehabilitate freshwater and related ecosystems as they are the sources of water and life; their basic water needs is a right, equal to the basic needs of humanity.

2. Plan and manage all land and water use within basins using an ecosystem approach, taking into full account the intrinsic, cultural, ecological and economic value of ecosystems' goods and services.

3. Empower local groups to develop responsible water use, equitable access to water resources and include ecosystems as an equal partner.

4. Create political will and good governance to build collaboration and consensus amongst all stakeholders about the conservation and use of freshwater and related ecosystems, on the basis of informed participation that forms the basis of avoidance and mitigation of conflicts.

5. Raise awareness about the need for ecosystem protection and sustainable water resources use and and stimulate a change in behaviour, build capacities and develop training to make this happen.

6. Develop, maintain and exchange knowledge and information on the role that freshwater and related ecosystems play in maintaining water resources and a healthy environment and the way for their sustainable management.

This strategy is no dictate. Different nations, peoples, cultures and institutions will have to employ a diverse set of actions to make desired changes. Wealth, quality of life, and environmental conditions are different across the globe and will continue to change in time. However, where conservation and sustainable use of water resources are concerned immediate action is required. Not by a single group of water managers or a single nation. No, all individuals, peoples and nations together have to reconsider their relationship and behaviour with water resources. If water resource use is developed and managed, taking into account all functions of water, it is likely to be sustainable, non-disruptive and efficient.

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