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Inept Use Making World's Waters Very Scarce, and Expensive

by Paul Icamina
Growing food needs land and water. But land for agriculture Is getting scarce. Only about a third of land in Southeast Asia and Africa is capable of growing rain-fed. non-irrigated crops.
Is the world running out of waler as well? Not really, but it could use this precious resource a lot more wisely and efficiently.
The world — those who have piped water anyway — takes it for granted so much that a lot of water Is wasted.
Irrigated agriculture accounts for over 80 per cent of the total water withdrawals In developing countries. Only a small part of this water (typically 25-30 per cent) reaches the plqnt. Irrigation becomes very expensive when more than half the water is wasted.
The rest seeps underground. causing waterlogging, or evaporates, causing salinity waterlogging and salinity are particularly serious In arid and semi-arid regions like the Euphrates Valley, the Lower Indus Plain and the Nile Delta.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that none 125,000 hectares of irrigated land become uncul-llvable throughout the world each year as a result of water logging and sallnlsation.
In Australia, production losses from land sallnlsation and waterlogging in major irrigation areas of the Murray Darling Basin are estimated at US 8 65 million a year. Without Intervention, the area affected by high water tables could increase by 5000,000 hectare*. Lost production could cost US S 95 million annually by the year 2015 and cost to water users could reach US $ 57 million a year.
"Mismanagement of water resources had major Implications for economic performance through huge subsidies — over billions of dollars — which contribute to the ubiquitous national budget deficit*," says a sjudy made by Ramesh Bhatia, a water specialist at the World Bank, and Malin Falke-nmark, a professor of international hydrology, Swedish Natural Science Research Council.
The study, prepared as a
background paper for the International Conference on Water and the Environment, argues that conservation and recycling would release enough water so that a significant part of the urban poor can be given adequate and clean water supplies without additional cost.
Water is expensive. From 1981-90. Malaysia spent about US 8 3 billion on water resource* development. About US 8 1,740 million wa* spent on water supply, or six time* more than was spent In 1966 80. For 1991-95. US 81.91 M Hon was allocated for water development. 60 per cent of it for water supply.
From now to year 2000, Mongolia expects to spend about US 8 16 bllhon on water resources, including irrigation systems and waste water treatment plants. Two-thirds of the cost would come from internal sources. Until 1990 when the government shifted into market economy, all water expenditures were paid by the government. Now about 60 per cent of expenditure* will be shouldered by private enterprises, corporations and local authorities.
Messrs Bhatia and Falkcn-mark note that "water use in agriculture has been characterised by large subsidies where revenues cover only around 10 per cent of the total operation, maintenance and capital co»ts."
A separate study made for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) by Daniel A Okun and Donald T Lauria of the University of South Carolina at Chapel Hill observes that 89 per cent of 124 World Bank assisted Irrigation projects In Asia were considered satisfactory in 1974. By 1988, performance dropped lo 41 per cent Only about 50 per cent of 124 irrigation project* evaluated worldwide achieved even short term sustainability.
The UNDP study notes that except for the deaalinjsation of seawater, which is beyond the financial capabilities of all but a few countries, "there are no new sources of water. Even tapping existing sources, where available, require* transmission of water over long distances at high cost. Studies have shown that the most economical sources of additional water for the Beijing and Tianjin region of China would be the reclamation • of wastewater to be reused for agriculture. Industry and non-potable domestic use.
In India, serious conflict* in water-use between agriculture and municipal uses have occurred. In the cities of Pune. Bombay. Hyderabad. Madras and Vizag, the phenomenal growth in water demand has caused water to be transported over tong distances to urban and Industrial centre* from its existing use in irrigation.
The urban poor also pay much higher price* for water In Jakarta, Indonesia, only 14 per cent of households In a city of 7.9 million In 1988 had direct connections lo water supply. Another 32 per cent bought water from street vendor* who charged, according to distance from the public tap. around US 81 to US 8 5.2 per cubic metre. In some cases, households paid vendors as much as 50 60 times more per unit of water than household* connected to a water system
Providing water services to about 3.5 billion people in urban areas of developing coun tries would require US 8 340 billion during year 2000 2020. Thi* mean* US 811 to US 814 billion per year in the next three decade*. The*c aggre gated investment* are about twice the Investments made during 1980 1990
"Funding in thi* ordey of magnitude I* not likely to be available." notes Messrs Bhatia ■nd Falkenmark
— Depthnews Asia