October 21, 2024 | 12:00am
As if the problems arising from wars and pandemics are not worrisome enough, we now have to live with the growing fear that the world is also running out of water. Even though about 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth’s water, the water we need to grow our food and sustain life is in short supply in more and more places.
A new study by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water reports that “for the first time in human history, human activities are fueling a growing water disaster that will wreak havoc on economies, food production and lives. A global water crisis could ‘spiral out of control’ due to overconsumption and climate change.” Data analyzed by this study concludes that half the world’s food production is in areas where water availability is projected to decline.
Quoting the study, CNN reports that “decades of destructive land use and water mismanagement have collided with the human-caused climate crisis to put ‘unprecedented stress’ on the global water cycle… Disruptions to the water cycle are already causing suffering. Nearly 3 billion people face water scarcity. Crops are shriveling, and cities are sinking as the groundwater beneath them dries out.”
CNN explains that “the consequences of this water crisis will be even more catastrophic without urgent action. The water crisis threatens more than 50 percent of global food production and risks shaving an average of eight percent off countries’ GDPs by 2050, with much higher losses of up to 15 percent projected in low-income countries, the report found.”
“For the first time in human history, we are pushing the global water cycle out of balance,” said Johan Rockström, co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water and a report author. “Precipitation, the source of all freshwater, can no longer be relied upon.”
The crisis is made more urgent by the huge need for water. The report calculates that, on average, people need a minimum of about 4,000 liters (just over 1,000 gallons) a day to lead a “dignified life,” far above the 50 to 100 liters the United Nations says is needed for basic needs, and more than most regions will be able to provide from local sources.
Urban and industrial growth and agriculture are compounding existing shortages, with agriculture alone using up 70 percent of the world’s water supply. Extreme and prolonged droughts, made more frequent and severe by the climate crisis, are also putting pressure on ecosystems, which could have “dire consequences” for plant and animal species, the report’s authors said.
For Filipinos, the question can be asked: What else is new? With a population of 115 million people, access to safe water in the Philippines has long been a big challenge for most of the population. According to UN and UNICEF data, 53 percent of households in the Philippines lack access to a safely managed water supply, and 39 percent lack safe sanitation. Some 55 percent of schools lack access to a safely managed water supply, and 26 percent lack safe sanitation.
Back in 1995, the Water Crisis Act was passed, recognizing the need for the government to adopt urgent and effective measures to address the nationwide water crisis, which adversely affects the health and well-being of the population, food production and the industrialization process. Not much has happened because our leaders believe they have done their job after debating and passing a law.
Shortly after he was sworn into office, BBM said the Philippines is facing a water crisis, with some 11 million families lacking access to clean water as the dry season approaches. Speaking during the sixth Water Philippines Conference and Exposition in Manila, BBM said: “I call it a water crisis because it is.”
Thereafter, BBM certified a bill that will create a Department of Water to enable the government to pull our efforts and resources together to better address our water problems. Not sure at what stage the bill is now. The only thing certain is we are doing nothing to sufficiently address the water crisis.
Mega Manila is very water-insecure. We are 85 percent dependent on Angat Dam, down from 95 percent as Manila Water and Maynilad Water have built water purification facilities along the shores of Laguna de Bay, and Ricky Razon’s Wawa Dam is getting completed ahead of schedule.
The problem with using water from Laguna de Bay is pollution. Manila Water and Maynilad Water have set up water treatment facilities along the lake shore because it was necessary to augment the water provided by Angat Dam. The treatment cost is roughly one-tenth the cost of using desalination to treat seawater. The water from Maynilad’s side of the lake is more polluted and more expensive to process than water from Manila Water’s eastern lakeshore.
What is critical now is the completion of the Kaliwa Dam project. It took MWSS ten years to get most, but not all, of the permits from DENR and the LGUs. The project will supposedly be completed in three years, but no MWSS official will confirm that. In the meantime, the water concessionaires will have to better manage water loss or non-revenue water (NRW). A 10 percent reduction in consumption will provide a 300-400 million liters/day security buffer that should help in a serious drought situation.
So much of the rainwater is wasted without water catchment infrastructure. The World Bank reported that the Philippines has about 50 cubic meters per person of storage. Vietnam has 500, while Thailand has 1,500. If we invested in building visible water storage all over the country rather than ghost flood control projects, that should help, especially outside NCR.
The creation of the Department of Water is urgently needed so responsibility for handling this crisis can be readily pinpointed.
Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco.
Be the first to comment