Water scarcity is a global problem. This is how some countries are fighting back
Climate change, coupled with poor civic infrastructure, is causing more world cities to experience periods of ‘water stress’. Here’s how governments are planning to deal with it
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evere water shortages in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, in July highlighted once again an intensifying global water crisis that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has called “one of the greatest challenges of our time”.
Following prolonged drought in the country, the taps ran dry for two million Harare residents – 50% of the city’s population. This left people in the affected districts dependent on private water merchants, or streams, open wells and boreholes that are often highly polluted.
The southern Indian city of Chennai has also been experiencing acute water scarcity since early June. The government has been forced to import 10 million liters of water daily by train.
As global temperatures rise and rainfall patterns become more erratic, cities around the world are becoming increasingly vulnerable to such episodes of “water stress”. Cape Town, South Africa, was forced to restrict its citizens to 50 liters of water per day in 2018, with local dam reserves near depletion.
Nor is the West immune. In 2008, Barcelona, Spain, was forced to import from France after its reservoirs were running low following a record dry summer. Demand for water is expected to exceed supply in London within the next decade.
The potential for conflict
Water scarcity is a pressing issue for over 1.2 billion people who struggle for access to drinkable sources. “It could exacerbate divisions,” warns the WEF in its Global Risks Report 2019. “Conflict might erupt over access to whatever water was still available, or wealthier residents might start to import private supplies.”
Many major world metropolises such as Beijing, Sao Paolo and Karachi are situated in water-insecure regions, dramatically increasing the potential number of people facing such issues in future. By 2025, two-thirds of the world population may experience water shortages.
What solutions are being tabled by governments and international organizations to ensure continued access to water supplies?
While climate change is exacerbating the problem, inefficient civic infrastructure is often equally to blame. In Harare’s case, the water system was only designed to service a population of 350,000; due to Zimbabwe’s ongoing economic woes, the last upgrade was in 1994.
In an age of water scarcity, cities must ensure their infrastructure is fit for purpose and minimizes waste. New technology is currently available to this end, such as the smart-water management system used by K-water to monitor South Korea’s supply.
Innovative management methods can also be put in place. China’s “sponge city” initiative, introduced in 16 flood-prone cities in 2015, aims to re-use 70% of rainwater in 80% of urban areas by 2020. “Living buffers” such as wetlands and permeable pavements filter runoff for reabsorption back into the groundwater system.
Green not grey
The initiative is in keeping with the more ecological approach to water management recommended by the UN. “For too long, the world has turned first to human-built, or ‘grey’, infrastructure to improve water management,” writes Gilbert Houngbo, chair of UN Water, in the preface to the World Water Development Report. “In doing so, it has often brushed aside traditional and indigenous knowledge that embraces greener approaches.”
Sand dams – reinforced stone walls built across seasonal riverbeds – are one such approach, able to store millions of liters of water beneath sand for communities of up to 100 people. Harvesting water from fog, an ancient method, is being taught to 13 villages in the drought-stricken Western Sahara.
Whatever the individual solutions put in place, addressing the global water crisis may ultimately depend on more wholesale shifts in thinking – especially as agriculture, already by far the biggest freshwater consumer by sector, continues to be increasingly thirsty.
Governance structures that managing water across entire river basins may be needed. Such integrated approaches have worked successfully in areas such as Australia’s Murray-Darling River, but can cause political problems when they cross state and international boundaries.
Himalayan disputes
The so-called “Third Pole” – the freshwater bound up in the Himalayan ice-pack, a key source for both India and China – is a particular zone of contention. International treaties, such as the UN’s 2014 International Watercourses Convention, will be needed to regulate water rights on a geopolitical scale.
Major nations are currently reluctant signatories, but the convention has great potential, says Srinivas Chokkakula, water issues researcher at New Delhi’s Center for Policy Research: “It offers legitimate and effective practices for data sharing, negotiation, and dispute resolution that could be followed in a bilateral or multilateral water-sharing arrangement.
The ideas presented in this article aim to inspire adaptation action – they are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Global Center on Adaptation.
