Scientific American: Facing the Freshwater Crisis

The August 2008 issue of Scientific American features an article by Peter P. Rogers 'Facing the Freshwater Crisis'.

I was unaware of this article until yesterday morning, when the author, Dr. Peter P. Rogers of Harvard University, gave one of the keynote addresses at the UCOWR/NIWR Conference here in Durham and brought along some copies.

Rogers is Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Engineering and Professor of City and Regional Planning at Harvard University, from which he received his PhD in 1966. Rogers is a senior adviser to the Global Water Partnership, an organization devoted to improving global water-management practices, as well as a recipient of Guggenheim and Twentieth Century Fund fellowships. He is the UCOWR 2008 Warren A. Hall Medal recipient.

Here are some key concepts from the article:

• Global freshwater resources are threatened by rising demands from many quarters. Growing populations need ever more water for drinking, hygiene, sanitation, food production and industry. Climate change, meanwhile, is expected to contribute to droughts.
• Policymakers need to figure out how to supply water without degrading the natural ecosystems that provide it.
• Existing low-tech approaches can help prevent scarcity, as can ways to boost supplies, such as improved methods to desalinate water.
• But governments at all levels need to start setting policies and making investments in infrastructure for water conservation now.

Okay, so how do we fix the problem? Here are six items Rogers lists as ways to avert crisis:

1. Water is underpriced, which encourages waste. Price it appropriately to manage demand
2. Supply 'virtual water' in the form of food and other goods to dry regions
3. Ecosanitation - decouple water and sanitation; use dry or nearly-dry techniques to treat waste.
4. Conserve irrigation water. A 10% increase in irrigation efficiency would free up more water than is evaporated by all other users.
5. Maintain and modernize infrastructure
6. Advanced desalination

The last paragraph of Rogers' article:

The international community can reduce the chances of a global water crisis if it puts its collective mind to the challenge. We do not have to invent new technologies; we must simply accelerate the adoption of existing techniques to conserve and enhance the water supply. Solving the water problem will not be easy, but we can succeed if we start right away and stick to it. Otherwise, much of the world will go thirsty.

Note that we do not need new technologies. We can fix the problem. It takes money, but more importantly, political will. I think the latter is sorely lacking.

For example, take item (2). Many nations consider food security a big deal, especially with an uncertain future looming ahead. I remember talking to a farmer in the Albuquerque area, who admitted that some of the ag practices and crops were inappropriate for the high desert environment, but told me, "We need to be able to grow our own food and be as self-sufficient as possible." So was he expecting Texas and California to go to invade New Mexico and cut off food?

One of my colleagues emailed this to me after reading Rogers' article:

This article, like many, misses the major point of the one-to-one connection of water use and food production. Until somebody figures out how to wrestle inefficient water use by agriculture out of existence we will always have water shortages. Worrying about the other water uses is basically not important.

What do you think?

“If you end the oil supply, motors stop. If you end the water supply, life stops.” – Turkish government minister

Comments

[Barrie Harrop]

Refer to this disturbing story about the gravity of the situation in Australia with River Murray ,the main fresh water source for over 2.5m Australians http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=455698

We soft launched Windesal at the CEDA forum on water in Adelaide(massive interest over 60 systems), our global engineers/project managers http://www.arup.com/australasia/skill.cfm?pageid=6282 Windesal® although it seems most Govts want to buy our water/power under contract, we can do up to 40m liters per day per system from sea/ground water to fresh

There has been much talk about climate change, but not much about where we will see its first impact.

Flooding ,Drought, water is the vector of climate change, we already have seen in recent times in where there is intense competition for water, Windesal® can sustain many areas of these regions of Aust/Worldwide that will be impacted by this issue, that may suffer physically or economically from this lack of fresh water shortage and could benefit from sustainable energy.

Windesal® can deal efficiently in way to lead the greatest single issue of the 21st Century: Sustainability.

[David Zetland]

Although ag uses a lot of water, over 50 percent of "residential" water in SoCal goes to outdoor use (i.e., lawns and pools). There is some scope for urban conservation (via prices, obviously :)

OTOH, ag uses MUCH more water for services of MUCH lower value, so ag-urban transfers are low-hanging fruit. As I've said on my blog, the solution of NOT to take farmers' rights but facilitate market-based transfers.