Cool, fresh water- that most precious resource
There is growing recognition globally that perhaps the most immediate and pressing issue facing humanity, and of course the rest of the planet, is a critical shortage of our most precious resource – fresh water.
Cool, fresh water- that most precious resource
There is growing recognition globally that perhaps the most immediate and pressing issue facing humanity, and of course the rest of the planet, is a critical shortage of our most precious resource – fresh water.
There are few places in the world where the situation is more critical than in sub-Saharan Africa, and all predictions in relation to climate change and other macro changes, such as industrial development, population growth and urbanisation, indicate that it is going to get much, much worse.
The idea of wars being fought over access to water is no longer just in the domain of science fiction, but increasingly likely to become a desperate reality.
Water wars will have enormous implications, beyond the immediate death and destruction which they will cause, and perhaps the most troubling of these will be mass human migration in search of safety, food, and, of course, water itself.
This was illustrated graphically and disturbingly in the film Blue Gold: World Water Wars, screened at Eden Grove last week.
Almost inevitably those living in areas where these essential rights are relatively secure, and where there is sufficient water, will resist such mass immigration, leading to yet further conflict.
Avoiding doomsday
Yes – this is a real doomsday scenario and we need to act immediately in order to have some chance of avoiding, or at least mitigating the worst consequences.
The question – as usual with these enormous environmental challenges- is: what exactly can we do? And again, as usual, the answer is that action needs to be taken at all levels.
Firstly we need to recognise, wherever we are in the world, that water is one of the three most precious resources (along with air and soil) that we have, and start to treat it with the care and respect it deserves.
What this means in the broadest sense is that we need to both vastly reduce our demands for water in all sectors and avoid polluting any and all water sources.
In South Africa, agriculture accounts for some 40% of water usage, industry (including mining) some 55%, with just 5% used for domestic purposes.
So the macro shifts need to be made in the agricultural and industrial sectors with the development of both new understandings and new technologies.
Water neutral?
The WWF-SA Living Waters Unit through its Water Neutral programme is working with major industry players to develop mechanisms through which they can replenish the water they use in their processes.
Another programme which is concerned with the protection of our wetlands is the critical storage and filtering components in our catchments.
In agriculture more farmers are using low-flow irrigation systems to reduce their water demands, and, of course their costs, with the added bonus of reducing salination in soil.
So, real things are happening, but this is just the very start, and there is a long way to go before these sectors reduce their water usage to sustainable levels.
The reality is that even now we are not leaving enough water in most of our rivers to sustain their ecological functioning.
Closer to home
On the local level, we know there are serious problems here in Makana. We are neither managing our existing water resources well, nor planning effectively for future demands.
One of the critical challenges is that more people are understandably demanding the same access to water that some sectors in our society have taken for granted for a long time.
The expectation is that every house should have an uninterrupted supply of clean water for all domestic uses, including water-borne sanitation. The simple reality is that this is never going to be possible. So what can be done?
From the municipality’s perspective, we need to manage all our local supplies and storage facilities effectively and efficiently.
Reliance on long-distance supplies, such as the Orange River (actually from the Senqu in Lesotho, via the Orange), makes us extremely vulnerable, and believe it or not, we can source enough from our own catchments if we are prudent and manage the supplies well.
Contacts for Makana Enviro-News:
Nikki Köhly: nkohly@yahoo.com, 046 636 1643 / Lawrence Sisitka: heilaw@imaginet.co.za, 046 622 8595 / Jenny Gon: j-gon@intekom.co.za, 046 622 5822 / Dan Wylie d.wylie@ru.ac.za, 046 603 8409 / Nick James: nickjames@intekom.co.za, 046 622 5757 / Strato Copteros strato@iafrica.com, 082 785 6403
