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Chapter 2: Theoretical Issues in Water Resources Management

Introduction

Land and water constitute two of the basic resources in the life support system on which man depends. With increasing standards of living, and the geographical concentration for human activities, the pressure on these resources is being intensified at an alarming rate in large parts of the world. There is rapidly growing concern about the environmental hazards associated with this development if it is allowed to continue unchecked. The concern is related both to a depleting resource base as well as a deprivation of the long-term carrying capacity of our environment.(Lundqvist et al., 1985:1)

Today, 80% of the world’s countries do not have an adequate supply of water and that number is increasing (World Water Forum, 2002). More than two billion people lack access to safe drinking water, according to World Health Organization estimates. Dr. David. Brooks, of Canada’s International Development Research Center, estimates that “within the next 25 years, fully one-third of the world’s population will experience severe water scarcity.”(Brooks, 2004) “Most of these people live in the poorer-hotter-countries of the South where disparities in the availability of fresh water are truly a matter of life and death.”(Hibler, 2004) The problem, however, is not limited to developing countries. No region of the globe is immune to water problems.

The withdrawal rate of water is increasing to such an extent that it is expected that if it continues unchecked at this rate two thirds of the world will be “water stressed”, according to Kofi Annan, by 2025.(Annan, 2000) Michelle Hibler, in an International Development and Reconstruction Committee Report, (Hibler, 2004), noted that the Middle East already withdraws close to 60% of its available water. In Eastern Europe the withdrawal rate stands at 41%. As more people require increasing amounts of water, conflict over this scarce resource, between nations, states, and local communities are on the rise. Scarcity is increasing by level and reach. Competition for water within and amongst countries is a reality. Nonetheless, with 263 countries around the world sharing river basins there is not a single treaty to define water rights and responsibilities.(Postel, 2004) Most importantly, the effects of our water crisis are felt around the globe.

Water is crucial for human health and well-being it is, as well, essential for economic development, political security, environmental preservation, and the alleviation of poverty and hunger. Due to the wide-ranging impact of water problems around the globe finding effective solutions has become a central international concern. While there is consensus as to the existence of the crisis, there is no common solution, thus a call to action requires a new understanding of the problem and a new approach to addressing the current realities. The UN-backed World Commission on Water estimated, that an additional $100bn a year would be needed to effectively address the water scarcity problem worldwide (World Commission on Water, 2006). International investment, however, lags far behind the required budgetary requirements to tackle the crisis as estimates suggest. While there are variations as to the level of commitment of various countries and regions, there is increased momentum among private, public, and civil actors at local, national, regional and international levels to tackle our global water crisis.

The international concern is perhaps best illustrated in the consensus built in the United Nations General Assembly that resulted, in 2003, in the adoption of’ resolution A/RES/58 designating the period from 2005-2015 the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life” in response to the UN World Water Development Report ‘Water for People, Water for Life.” Additionally, Agenda 21-Global Programme of Action, 2000 on Sustainable Development, The Rio Declaration on Environmental and Development, the Johannesburg Declaration, and Documents related to Earth Summit 5, supported by representative bodies of the UN have acknowledged and committed themselves to take action to preserve our natural environment with particular emphasis on water and sustainable development.(UN, UNDP)

The global acceptance of the need for effective water management systems is further supported by the United Nations Human Rights Declaration stating that every individual should be guaranteed “secure access to water”.(UNHRD) While this declaration does not specify how to secure access to water, it adds a legal, political and human framework to the problem of water management.(UNHRD) This declaration also resulted in a cascade of international organizations undertaking the problem of water, including UNDP, FAO, WHO, UNICEF, WMO, UNESCO, UNDESD, UNEP to name a few.

Science & Technology

Water, Neal Lane emphasizes, may be one of the most “solvable problems of the problems we face”.(Lane, 2004) However, he further argues, “science and technology cannot solve the problem of water in the world.” The problem of water scarcity must be a central, public issue that includes science through an integrated approach to water resources management. Whereby science is not enough, he further asserts, “education is also not adequate.” (Lane, 2004) The solution to effective water resources management requires input from a broad range of human activities. Accordingly, Lane posits that water resources management requires an interdisciplinary process that includes legal, political, social, cultural, scientific and technological inputs, with economic development considerations that effectively balance the influence of stakeholders and decision-makers.(Lane, 2004)

“The world’s water crisis is simple to understand, if not to solve,” argues Alex Kirby.” (Kirby, 2005) There is more than enough water available for everyone in the world to have the UN recommended 50 liters a day for drinking, washing, cooking, and sanitation, but still one third of the world’s population lives in a water stressed world. Many technologies are available to alleviate water shortages at varying degrees. Pollution control and cleanup measures, drought resistant plant development, low-pressure sprinklers, desalinization techniques, and even “virtual water” contained in transportable crops have great potential to help supply our world population with water.” (Kirby, 2005) The problem, however, is that science and technology alone cannot effectively address the increasing demand for water. Rather, it demands a solution that addresses today’s inefficiencies relative to social, political, economic and cultural realities and a commitment to change.

While water resources management is a phenomenon that finds traditions spanning hundreds of years the industrial revolution and economic expansion have created greater stress on our natural environment in the past decades than in any period in human history.(Brown, 2001) In the post World War II era, many governments took the position that water resources systems development was key to stimulating and subsequently sustaining modern economic development. Centralized government planning and investment resulting in large scale water projects to support industry and new agricultural technologies created rapid development. The finite capacity of our water supply was deluged. According to the World Bank, “governments have often misallocated and wasted water, as well as permitted damage to the environment, as a result of institutional weaknesses market failure, distorted policies, and misguided investments” leading to increasing water problems.(World Bank, 1992:9) The large scale diversions to industrial zones have, thus created our current crisis. We have not increased our water supply to serve communities more efficiently, but simply reallocated resources. The World Bank has taken the position that much of the failure of centralized systems is a result of fragmented public investment programming and sector management, that have failed to take into account the interdependencies among agencies, jurisdictions, and sectors.(World Bank, 1992, p9)

Independent governments’ development priorities in the twentieth century, and particularly in the past 50 years, created a vacuum of decision-making that resulted in centralized management of national water systems with large scale projects that often undermined local social, environmental, economic, and cultural needs. As these took off around the globe they changed the ecological and social fabric of nations, regions and the world as a whole. Since 1950 we have seen the number of large scale dams grow from 5000 to 25000 in 2004.(Postel, 2004) Dams and other large-scale projects now affect 60% of the world’s largest rivers and provide millions with water. But in many cases the costs, in terms of population displacement and irreversible changes in the nearby ecosystems, have been considerable.

“While dams created benefits for billions of people, they had serious and often unanticipated social, economical, and ecological costs for the long-term”.(Lane, 2004) While generating hydro-power, controlling floods, supporting economies, and supplying cities, etc. ultimately, dams sever ecological connections that a river has with its environment. The unintended negative consequences of these dams on local communities and the national social, economic and ecological fabric of countries and regions have been devastating.(Postel, 2004) These assertions are validated by the many examples of failed macro-level technological solutions to water problems with limited consideration of the unique proximal-social, political, cultural, and environmental factors.

A Report on dams and development commissioned by the United Nations Environmental Programme Dams and Development Project issued in 2000 cited that dams have made an important and significant contribution to human development, and the benefits derived from them considerable. However, there are too many cases where an unacceptable price has been paid to secure those benefits, especially in social and environmental terms, by people displaced, by communities, by taxpayers and by the natural environment. Further, it is argued in the report that the lack of equity in distribution of benefits has called into question the value of many dams in meeting water and energy development needs when compared with the alternatives.(UNEP Program on Development, 2000)

The Gland Forum in Switzerland in 1997 set up an independent commission to assess the dam issue in response to continued protests over large-scale dam development. The commission, sponsored by the World Bank, World Conservation Union (IUCN) and other institutions and governments, had 12 members and was chaired by South African Education Minister Kader Ismal. The Commission examined 125 dams, examining social, environmental and economic questions. It further included information from 947 submissions from persons and organisations involved with dams and consultation through four regional forums in Colombo, Sao Paulo, Hanoi and Cairo.

It included an in-depth examination of eight dam cases, including the Aslantas dam, Turkey; the Glomma - Lagen dam, Norway; the Grand Coulee dam, USA/Canada; Kariba dam, Zimbabwe/Zambia; the Pak Mun dam, Thailand; the Tucurui dam, Brazil; and the Tarbela dam, Pakistan, completed in 1976; and the Gariep and Vanderkloof dam, South Africa. On completion of its work, the Commission produced a report against the background of sustainable human development, referring to the following basic documents: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948; the United Nations Declaration on the right to development, 1986; Stockholm declaration on the environment, 1972; the Rio declaration on the Environment and Development, 1992. The Comission concluded that while large dams have proved successful on a number of fronts they have serious negative impacts on the environment and society.(UNEP, Dams and Development Project, 2001)

. The Commission further concluded, based on this research, that the world's large dams have been unable to achieve the technical, economic and social objectives for which they were designed. Further, the impacts of large dams on ecosystems are more negative than positive and in many case have led to serious irrecoverable loss of species and ecosystems. It also concluded that it is impossible to mitigate many of the effects of new reservoirs on ecosystems and terrestrial biodiversity, and efforts to 'save' wild species have not been conclusive in the long term. Finally, the Commission found that large dams have had serious consequences on the living conditions and culture of populations, especially national minorities. They have displaced large numbers of people (40 to 80 million according to the Commission) who, when resettled, have been unable to recover acceptable conditions of existence.(UNEP, Dams and Development Project, 2001)

Importantly, it is thought that funding aid for large dams in the developing countries (more than $4 billion p.a.) has helped promote the construction of large dams. Such support, combined with pressure from industry and high population growth with the associated needs have greatly weighed on these choices. Moreover, involvement and transparency are often absent from the planning process for large dams and the available options have not always been evaluated on the basis of technical parameters and by strict application of cost/benefit analysis. .(UNEP, Dams and Development Project, 2001)

By rerouting our water supply we are challenging untested environmental systems with technological solutions to meet increasing demands for water. The current level of demand, “is moving toward a final supply limit.”(Postel, 2004) As major rivers around the world are running dry the problem of water scarcity has become a proximal reality. Sandra Postel cites numerous examples of river basin ecosystems challenged by modernization. The Rio Grande, in 2002 ran dry for the first time because it was overtapped.(Postel, 2004) The Indus River in Pakistan is routinely dry. The Yellow River in China has had water for approximately 60-90 days of each year since 1990. In 1997, for example, it was dry for 226 days of the year.(Postel, 2004) The diversions of the Ziz River in Morocco now blends into the desert landscape leaving oases throughout the Northern Sahara in economic, and social ruin.

While technological solutions held theoretical potential they have since become central to important lessons learned: science and technology are not adequate, alone, to provide for a sustainable water management system. In fact, the application of technology without an appropriate understanding of its proximal consequences often leads to waist and inefficiency that it is put in place to alleviate. These technology-oriented systems lack the coordination of effective laws and regulations, oversight, and expectations of the local actors, while undervaluing the social and cultural norms as well as economic factors in a specific natural environment.

The Burdwan district of Bengal, India in the Damodar river basin illustrates the dramatic repercussions of imposing a centralized water management system while ignoring the legacy of important water traditions and established technologies.(Shiva, et al., 2005) The water resources management system that survived more than 2,000 years and provided a single solution to a host of interlocking projects was destroyed by engineers during the British colonization period. Rather than incorporating the local infrastructure and systems that stood the test of time the new water system was imposed while railroad construction was underway. This placed the needs of industry and a new government in conflict with those of local individuals and communities. The result was ecological devastation. Expensive engineering pursuits eventually led to a system of levies that created more points of conflict.(Shiva, et al., 2005) Perhaps more importantly, the ancient water resources management system that survived for so many years, effectively supporting local needs, was devastated by these new and costly technologies.(Shiva et al., 2005) The cost to the ecosystem in this region is significant.