Troubled Water—The Global Perspective

By John Yewell, 4-19-05

	Caption: Former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus

"I was lost in the desert for a week and all I had to drink was water," W.C. Fields once said, "and I nearly died of thirst."

That old joke could serve as the theme for the opening remarks at a conference underway today and tomorrow at Boise State University entitled "Troubled Water -- Exploring Solutions for the Western Water Crisis." The conference is sponsored jointly by the Andrus Center for Public Policy and the Idaho Statesman newspaper.

The conference opened with remarks by former Idaho governor and Andrus Center Chairman Cecil Andrus, Boise State President Robert Kustra, and Idaho Statesman Executive Editor Carolyn Washburn. But before getting to the Western water crisis, keynote speaker Dr. Richard A. Meganck, rector of the UNESCO Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, gave a global perspective on the water crisis.

Dr. Meganck, an Oregon native, told the 300 attendees that water is at the very top of the international agenda, and especially that of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development. "You can’t talk about health without talking about water -- ditto that for agriculture, by far the largest water user."

The world has 42,000 cubic kilometers of renewable water available annual -- that’s 7,000 cubic meters per person per year -- twice what is needed to sustain life and power the global economy for the foreseeable future. The Achilles heal is its uneven distribution. Asia, for example, has over half the world’s population but only 36 percent of the water.

This is combined with long-term global climate change and a huge deficit in trained professional and investment by wealthy countries in improving the infrastructures of poorer nations.

Here are a few examples to frame the problem: A third of the world’s population is likely to face a serious water crisis by year 2025. Two to three million people die every year of water related diseases -- mostly children. The country of Yemen is drawling down its water table by 6 meters a year and will exhaust its water by 2010. Whole villages in Northern Mexico and China will have to relocate in the coming years. The Nigerian desert is growing by 3500 sq. kilometers per year.

Without a huge investment in basic water systems by developed nations, the water crisis could put the brakes on development in developing nations worldwide population of environmental refugees will grow in the years ahead as choices

Reducing poverty is not possible without more water. The United Nations has reported that the single most important step for reducing poverty would be to eliminate the four hours everyday that women and girls spend hauling wood and water.

"Water can either divide us, or help form bonds and agreements that make us better neighbors," said Dr. Meganck.

He cited press reports that say predict that water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th -- the commodity that determines prosperity.

But the real culprit in this crisis bad management. "We have to think in terms of a Marshall plan for water," he said, stressing that developing countries "definitely have an obligation" to provide expertise and financial assistance. [End of article]