Water: The forgotten crisis

[Guest guest]

Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own

opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic. If you do not wish to

receive these posts, set your email filter to filter out any messages

coming from @nutritionucanlivewith.com and the program will remove

anything coming from me.

---------------------------------------------------------

Public release date: 10-Jul-2008

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/iwmi-wtf070908.php

Contact: Dawn

d.rodriguez@...

94-112-787-404

International Water Management Institute

Water: The forgotten crisis

How do we find more water to feed a growing population?

This year, the world and, in particular, developing countries and the

poor have been hit by both food and energy crises. As a consequence,

prices for many staple foods have risen by up to 100%. When we examine

the causes of the food crisis, a growing population, changes in trade

patterns, urbanization, dietary changes, biofuel production, and climate

change and regional droughts are all responsible. Thus we have a classic

increase in prices due to high demand and low supply. However, few

commentators specifically mention the declining availability of water

that is needed to grow irrigated and rainfed crops. According to some,

the often mooted solution to the food crisis lies in plant breeding that

produces the ultimate high yielding, low water- consuming crops. While

this solution is important, it will fail unless attention is paid to

where the water for all food, fibre and energy crops is going to come from.

A few years ago, IWMI (the International Water Management Institute)

demonstrated that many countries are facing severe water scarcity,

either as a result of a lack of available fresh water, or due to a lack

of investment in water infrastructure such as dams and reservoirs. What

makes matters worse is that this scarcity predominantly affects

developing countries where the majority of the world's under-nourished

people-- approximately 840 million -- live.

The causes of water scarcity are essentially identical to those of the

food crisis. There are serious and extremely worrying factors that

indicate water supplies are steadily being used up. Essentially every

calorie of food requires a liter of water to produce it. Thus those of

us on western diets, use about 2500-3000 liters per day. A further 2.5

billion people by 2030 will mean that we have to find over 2000 more

cubic kilometers of fresh water to feed them. This is not any easy task

given that current water usage for food production is 7500 cubic

kilometers and supplies are scarce. According to the recent report

" Water for Food, Water for Life " of the Comprehensive Assessment of

Water Management in Agriculture, which drew on the work of 700

scientists, unless we change the way we use water and increase " water

productivity " (i.e. more crop per drop) we will not have enough water to

feed the world's growing population (This population is estimated to

increase from 6 billion now to about 8.5 billion in 25 years.) Compared

with the lengthy agenda to combat climate change, this is a very short

time indeed and yet the impacts of water scarcity will be profound.

However, very little is being done about it in most countries.

Since the formulation of the UN Millennium Goals in 2002, much of the

water agenda has been focused around the provision of drinking water and

sanitation. This water comes from the same sources as agricultural water

and as we urbanize and improve living standards there will be increasing

competition for drinking water from domestic and other urban users,

putting agriculture under further pressure. While improving drinking

water and sanitation is vital with respect to health and living

standards, we cannot afford to neglect the provision and improved

productivity of water for agriculture.

There are potential solutions. Better water storage has to be

considered. Ethiopia, which is typical of many sub-Saharan African

countries, has a water storage capacity of 38 cubic meters per person.

Australia has almost 5000 cubic meters per person, an amount that in the

face of current climate change impacts may be inadequate. While there

will be a need for new large and medium-sized dams to deal with this

critical lack of storage in Africa, other simpler solutions are also

part of the equation. These include the construction of small

reservoirs, sustainable use of groundwater systems including artificial

groundwater recharge and rainwater harvesting for smallholder vegetable

gardens. Improved year- round access to water will help farmers maintain

their own food security using simple supplementary irrigation

techniques. The redesign of both the physical and institutional

arrangements of some large and often dysfunctional irrigation schemes

will also bring the required productivity increases. Safe, risk free

reuse of wastewater from growing cities will also be needed. Of course

these actions need to be paralleled by development of drought- tolerant

crops, and the provision of infrastructure and facilities to get fresh

food to markets.

Current estimates indicate that we will not have enough water to feed

ourselves in 25 years time, by when the current food crisis may turn

into a perpetual crisis. Just as in other areas of agricultural research

and development, investment in the provision and better management of

water resources has declined steadily since the green revolution. I and

my water science colleagues are raising a warning flag that significant

investment in both R & D and water infrastructure development are needed,

if dire consequences are to be avoided.

###

Notes to Editors:

1. Australian soil and water scientist, Dr. Colin Chartres is Director

General of the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute

(IWMI), a non-profit research organization focusing on the sustainable

management of water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment.

IWMI is one of 15 research centers supported by the Consultative Group

on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Chartres has 30 years of

experience in driving research and policy reform in natural resources

management. Prior to his appointment, he was Chief Science Advisor to

Australia's National Water Commission where he led a baseline assessment

of Australia's water resources and development of a science framework

for the Commission. He also worked in various capacities with the

Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO),

and chaired the Global Research Alliance's Water Action Council.

2. To read the summary of 'Water for Food, Water for Life', visit:

http:// www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Assessment

127, Sunil Mawatha, Pelawatta, Battaramulla. Sri Lanka Telephone: +94-11

2880000 Fax: +94-11 27868

E-mail: iwmi@...

Website: http://www.iwmi.org

--

ne Holden, MS, RD

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/