As the worlds population reaches the 7 billion mark, the
need to secure water supplies grows in equal measure. 1.4 billion people lack
clean water already so projects to sustain water supplies are incredibly
imperative in order to sustain life on earth. Many projects are tackling this
issue such as Water aid in Mali and Clear Water in Australia however despite
there being a multitude of projects their success could be debated.
The Himalayas have been experiencing water shortages due to
various factors such as pollution in China’s Yangtze River and India’s swelling
population. In Nepal, poverty plays a big part in providing water security, a
non-governmental organisation called SWASTHA (strengthening water, air,
sanitation and hygiene treasuring health) has been implemented by Practical
Action. Using advancements in technology they aim to improve water quality,
availability and provide sustainable methods of irrigation. A benefit of using
technology such as solar powered water pumps to increase access to water is
that it does not harm the local environment as it uses natural sun energy
rather than large dams and allows a fairly quick fix. However it could be
argued this is not appropriate technology for Nepal’s poorest as they will not
be able to fund maintenance or replacement panels and must be dependent on the
intermittent sun, instead of gaining control over their own water security they
are dependent on Practical Action to provide these panels. Despite this flaw of
one element of the project it must be remembered that SWASHTHA is also teaching
effective irrigation techniques to farmers to enable them to not only control
their use of water and protect them from wastage but also increase their food
security as they can grow their own crops.
Across from Nepal, Pakistan is situated, facing increasingly
worse water scarcity. The government has created the WAPDA (Water and Power
Development Authority) scheme to store and replenish water supplies by
investing in extensive dams. WAPDA was created in 1959 to undertake the task of
planning schemes for irrigation and water development and has since built
various dams including the Diamer-Bhasha on the River Indus. The dam does not
only store 10km3 acres of water but generates 4,500 megawatts of electricity
for Pakistan helping to aid development in industry. WAPDA plans to make the
dam a tourist spot as well to further boost economic turnover however the cost
of the construction will reach over $20million and take a further 12 years to
complete. This scheme is a long term project and not a fast solution for
Pakistans water security suggesting it’s benefits will not be reaped anytime
soon. As well as the cost, the scheme has had to resettle thousands of
residents whilst building work takes place, uprooting and disrupting
livelihoods and homes. Despite the schemes overwhelming negative outcomes there
are potential benefits such as the creation of 15,000 jobs and the ability to
secure large quantities or water and store for devised and gradual use to
sustain Pakistans water.
These are two examples of both bottom up and top down
projects that aim to secure future water by acting now. The benefits of a bottom
up such as Practical Action is it works with communities and educates safe and
sustained water management to produce generations of people who will use their
water effectively and have access to it. Bottom up projects are usually controversial
as they tend to overlook residents as highlighted by WAPDA’s resettlements,
however they have the power of money to secure large amounts of water. When it
comes to water security there is no simple solution to protecting future
supplies but as scarcity increases more schemes will have to take place perhaps
leaving the door open for other issues such as conflict, strain and disruption
as the water war continues.
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