('09.10.10) Topic

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Water Shortage.rtf

Water Shortage- World Crisis Requiring Attention

Background

Water crisis is the world’s water resources relative to human demand. The major aspects of the water crisis are overall scarcity of usable water and water pollution. 2 billion people have gained access to a safe water source since 1990. The proportion of people in developing countries with access to safe water is calculated to have improved from 30 percent in 1970 to 84 percent in 2004, parallel with rising population. However, we do not believe this aspect will continue its rise.

The Earth has a finite supply of fresh water, stored in aquifers, surface waters and the atmosphere. Sometimes oceans are mistaken for available water, but the amount of energy needed to convert saline water to potable water is prohibitive today, explaining why only a very small fraction of the world's water supply derives from desalination.

There are several principal manifestations of the water crisis.

• Inadequate access to safe drinking water for about 884 million people
• Inadequate access to water for sanitation and waste disposal for 2.5 billion people
• Groundwater overdrafting (excessive use) leading to diminished agricultural yields
• Overuse and pollution of water resources harming biodiversity
• Regional conflicts over scarce water resources sometimes resulting in warfare

Waterborne diseases and the absence of sanitary domestic water are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. For children under age five, waterborne diseases are the leading cause of death. At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from waterborne diseases.

Drought dramatizes the underlying tenuous balance of safe water supply, but it is the imprudent actions of humans that have rendered the human population vulnerable to the devastation of major droughts. There is enough water for everyone and water insufficiency is often due to mismanagement, corruption, lack of appropriate institutions, bureaucratic inertia and a shortage of investment in both human capacity and physical infrastructure.

The issues are coupled, since, without water for sewage disposal, cross-contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage is the chief adverse outcome of inadequate safe water supply. Consequently, disease and significant deaths arise from people using contaminated water supplies; these effects are particularly pronounced for children in underdeveloped countries. While these deaths are generally considered preventable, the situation is considerably more complex, since the Earth is beyond its carrying capacity with respect to available fresh water.

Often technology is advanced as a panacea, but the costs of technology presently exclude a number of countries from availing themselves of these solutions. If lesser developed countries acquire more wealth, partial mitigation will occur, but sustainable solutions must involve each region in balancing population to water resource and in managing water resources more optimally. In any case the finite nature of the water resource must be acknowledged if the world is to achieve a better balance.

Vegetation and wildlife are fundamentally dependent upon adequate freshwater resources. Marshes, bogs and riparian zones are more obviously dependent upon sustainable water supply, but forests and other upland ecosystems are equally at risk of significant productivity changes as water availability is diminished. Other areas have suffered reduced productivity from gradual diminishing of freshwater inflow, as upstream sources are diverted for human use. There are approximately 260 different river systems worldwide, where conflicts exist crossing national boundaries. In many cases water use disputes are merely an added dimension to underlying border tensions founded on other bases.

There are many other countries of the world that are severely impacted with regard to human health and inadequate drinking water. The following is a partial list of some of the countries with significant populations (numerical population of affected population listed) whose only consumption is of contaminated water:

• Sudan 12.3 million
• Venezuela 5.0 million
• Zimbabwe 2.7 million
• Tunisia 2.1 million
• Cuba 1.2 million

Now let us look at Korea. The Korea Water Resources Corporation’s inadequate water management is contributing to a water shortage in the Nakdong River. According to analysis of data the five multi-purpose dams along the Nakdong River can supply 560 million tons of water, including expected rainfalls, until June 20 when the rainy season begins. But the actual amount residents and facilities along the river need is as much as 730 million tons, indicating a crisis in the making even if water is used sparingly.

According to the corporation’s own regulations, when dams are short of water, it is necessary to reduce supply needed for the maintenance of the eco-systems at streams first; then for irrigation; and finally for people and industrial use. Unless Korea has more rain than in previous years, Korea will experience shortage of irrigation water from April. Then the southern regions will suffer severe crop damage, and the damage will become worse in May.

According to a UN climate report, the Himalayan glaciers that are the sources of Asia's biggest rivers - Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and Yellow - could disappear by 2035 as temperatures rise. In India alone, the Ganges provides water for drinking and farming for more than 500 million people. The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, also would be affected.

World-wide, 13,080 desalination plants produce more than 12 billion gallons of water a day, according to the International Desalination Association. However, given the energy intensive nature of desalination, with associated economic and environmental costs, desalination is generally considered a last resort after water conservation. But this is changing as prices continue to fall.

Points to Consider

1.       World water Irrigation System

2.       Water diseases and its effect on human life

3.       Korea water crisis: its seriousness

Discussion Questions

1.       How much do you know about water shortage in the world?

2.       What is causing water pollution? Explain with details

3.       How can you reduce water pollution? Details.

4.       The Korean government is planning to privatize the water system. What is your opinion regarding it?

5.       Do you believe citizens need to pay more tax for water? Why or why not?

6.       It was said in the past that the only resource Korea has is water. Can we still use this term?

7.       Do you know any water-contagious diseases prior to the reading?

8.       What other options do we have to produce water?

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