|
Water? |
- Fresh water, that is
- Potable, drinkable, vital for life
- The lifeblood of civilization
|
|
Isn’t water everywhere? |
- Water, in solid (ice), liquid, gaseous (vapour) is everywhere
- But
- The water that we use & consume is only FRESH WATER
- It is relatively scarce & precious
|
|
Relatively rare? |
- According to studies, 97.5% of all water resources are salt water, thus not potable
- 2.24% is locked up in polar icecaps (Antarctica, Greenland, etc.), glaciers and deep groundwater
- only 0.26% of all water is fresh water is available to life
|
|
So, are we running out of water for tomorrow? |
- Not really yet unless all of us start using precious water conscientiously
|
|
How much do we consume anyway? |
- It has been estimated that the water consumption by different water users will raise from 1250 km3/year in 1960 to about twice this amount in 2010 and to about 2800 km3/year in 2025
- Effectively we are using 2.5 times the amount of water as our grandparents
- Remember, our bodily needs are basically the same
|
|
Why such an increase? |
- Human wants are insatiable
- With a fixed 0.26% of water available on Mother Earth, we have to use it for all of our activities:
- Physiological, industrial, recreational, etc.
- Manufacturing, air-con, filtration, cleaning, transport
- Increase population
- Increasingly volatile weather mood swings
- Pollution of precious water
|
|
Wow, how do we do anything? |
- Emphasis: environmental and developmental considerations & integrated approach to water resources management
- Governance
- Enforcement of regulations
|
|
What actions exactly? |
- The call is therefore for Governments to provide the necessary funding and legislative support and for relevant regional and international organizations to enhance their collaboration
|
|
Major concerns |
"Water for the Twenty-first Century":
The national Hydrological Services will be called upon to provide vital assessments of the water that is available, including its variability;
- will be under increasing threat from pollution
The national Services will also need to monitor water quality and be prepared to warn local communities if dangerous limits are exceeded;
- may suffer from increasingly severe periods of flood and drought
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services will need to cooperate even more in future to provide advance warnings of major floods and advice as to the future occurrence of droughts. Potential impacts of climate change on the environment and the predictive power of climatological forecasts will be important in this work;
- should be the concern and responsibility of all
National Hydrological and Meteorological Services will have a key role to play, with WMO assisting at regional and international levels. However, all policy and operational decisions should be based on a broadly representative consultative process that ensures that the entire community joins in safeguarding its sources of fresh water.
|
|
Sounds like a conflict spark plug? |
- Exactly, water is considered a major source for international conflicts
- Besides, race, territorial, religious and social conflicts
|
|
Danger? |
- Yes, any careful person would recognize the strategic implications for water in the present & future
|
|
What strategy? |
- A long-term perspective and plan to reach a well-defined goal towards water resources
|
|
What? |
- Know what we have or need for water
- Make sure there is enough water for everyone
|
|
How to strategize water? |
- We need to be aware of the 5 aspects of water strategy:
- Plan: action
- Ploy: witty tactic
- Perspective: vision, ideology towards water
- Position: geographical, social, international
- Pattern: characteristics of water interests in the country, region and world
- Then, using this analysis, formulate strategy for water preservation and use
|
|
What’s the criteria for a good water strategy? |
- It enables us to reach our goals for water resources: adequacy, preservation and protection
- Adaptive, flexible and robust to differing and complex environmental and social conditions
- Enforceable by the authority (a strategy without implementation is like a bull without horns)
|
|
What strategy suits which country? |
- Inland nation without large water sources: Likely to be allied with adjacent nations with abundant water through other cooperation and linking of interests
- Inland nation with water: Seek to maximize water preservation, reduce wastage, secure sources of water for defense and protection, allied with adjacent
- Peninsula without freshwater: unlikely, but may build artificial facilities for water trapping & retention, water preservation, sourcing water from adjacent nations / allies, seawater conversion for technological advanced nations
- Peninsula with water: water preservation and maximization of use, reduce wastage, protect sources
- Island: water-trapping, preservation, conversion to potable for advanced nations
|
|
Preserving water along with development? |
- Yes, with proper education, training, enforcement and ideology of the importance of water to everyone
- Myths of limitless water must be challenged
- Respect for water and treatment of its use
- Technology for optimizing water usage made widely available & communal
|
|
Consequences of neglecting water strategy? |
- Heavy fluctuations of water resources
- Poor preparation for emergencies: wars, floods, droughts, disasters
- Immediate competitive disadvantage in conflicts
- Reduced water available due to pollution and wastage
|