12. Supplying Water
Dwindling water supplies
The subject of water is very topical, mainly because usable water is
in short supply. Predictions are now common that wars will be
fought over access to water. It is easy to see why. Countries that con-
trol the headwaters of important rivers can restrict their flow down-
stream, like Turkey with Iraq, Israel with Jordan, Syria with Israel,
Sudan with Egypt, India with Bangladesh. Twenty per cent of the
world's population does not have clean drinking water; nearly half
the world does not have sanitation. One hundred cities in northern
China now ration water, and Beijing's future as China's capital has
been under review because its growth has outstripped its water
resources. Even those countries which have sufficient water treat it
so badly that, when delivering it to homes, kill it with chlorine, flu-
orides and other chemicals, ostensibly to prevent disease; instead
this depresses our immune systems and makes us more open to
infection.
How has this come about? Water is in great abundance on this
marvellous planet, but less than 0.5% is available as fresh water. The
rest is salt water, inaccessible groundwater, or frozen in polar moun-
tain ice. While the world's population is increasing by 85 million a
year, cities are expanding at double that rate due to urbanization.
Cities and industries consume the most water (industrial water
consumption is to double by 2025).l Twenty-four countries, mainly
in Africa, will not have enough water to meet 2025 projected needs.^2
And, if that is not critical, according to a recent UN report, world
population could rise from 6.1 billion in 2000 to at least 8.2 billion
by 2050.^3 Today, 1.2 billion people drink unclean water, and 2.5 bil-
lion lack proper toilets or sewerage systems.^4 And what will be the
situation in ten years' time?
Globally, about 70% of water diverted from rivers or drawn from
aquifers is used for irrigation. This is hugely wasteful; leaking pipes
and channels, evaporation from reservoirs and from irrigation sprays
means that about 60% of the water does not reach the plants' roots.
China's greatest river, the Yellow River, has run dry and in several
- SUPPLYING WATER