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WASHINGTON, DC, United States (OOSKAnews Correspondent) — Water is not in itself a cause of international conflict, but it has a “multiplying effect” on other stresses, like government failure, according to panelists at a Water Security Plenary in Washington, DC last week.

“Simplifying” water’s role in international violent conflict down to a “yes-or-no situation is limiting,” said Kent Hughes Butts, professor of Political Military Strategy and director of National Security Issues Group at the U.S. Army War College.

“When we put labels on it (water stress) we may take a silo view and keep certain solutions off the table,” added Sandra Ruckstuhl, senior specialist for sustainable development at Group W Inc., who also spoke at the 12th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Environment & Security.

However, Butts added, “violent conflict (as a result of water stress) should not be ruled out completely.”

One reason for that is because “stress of water is affecting more and more people in every region” both in terms of lack of access to freshwater and overabundance of water, such as flooding, said Jaehyang So, manager of the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program.

“We haven’t seen conflict (water wars) yet, but we are all working hard to keep it from happening,” So said.

Paul Faeth of CNA Corp., a DC-based research and analysis organization, pointed out that water can also be a “cause of peace for nations.”

Areas where nations have been able to successfully share a water basin and establish treaties and organizations that manage the water have actually eased tensions, he said. Ruckstuhl agreed with Faeth, citing water as an “opportunity to bring people together to find solutions to long-term issues” and an “environmental peace builder.”

However, “conflict over water at the local level is something that has been happening for awhile,” she added.

One reason is water’s cross-sectoral uses, which increase competition, said So. When there is a finite amount of water available for a community, all users must come together to determine how it will be divided in an equitable manner, she said.
Read the rest of this story and other stories on the WASH sector here.

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While World Water Day (March 22), marks only one day on the calendar, the importance of conserving and safeguarding our water resources is an unending task. World Water Day 2012 focuses on water & food security – highlighting the importance of water in food production and combating global hunger and malnutrition. So what’s the big concern?

-          People drink about 2-4 liters of water per day, but it takes 2,000 to 5,000 liters to produce one person’s daily food. (Source: FAO)

-          By the year 2050, the world’s water will have to support agricultural systems to feed and create livelihoods for an additional 2.7 billion people. (Source: FAO)

-          Due to climate change, Himalayan snow and ice, which provide vast amounts of water for agriculture in Asia, are expected to decline in volume by 20% by 2030. (Source: FAO)

-          Poor drainage and irrigation practices have led to waterlogging and salinization of approximately 10% of the world’s irrigated lands. (Source: WWAP)

These statistics highlight the importance about understanding your water footprint! Start reducing yours today!

As we count down to our DC World Water Day Happy Hour event, we invite you to tackle our Challenge #2!

The average US citizen consumes almost four times the amount of protein compared to the global average. In general, meat-based diets have a larger water footprint compared to a vegetarian diet (FAO, 2009). Shifting to a vegetarian diet can reduce an individual’s water footprint by as much as 58%!

Challenge #2:  In order to consume less water intensive foods, Water for People DC challenges you to go vegetarian for 1 week!  Those who rise to the challenge during the month of January are eligible for a free raffle ticket at our World Water Day Happy Hour.  Simply join our Facebook group, Water For People DC, and post a short description on our wall of the actions you took to rise to the challenge! Pictures are fun too! Please send any questions/comments to stacy.a.boyles@gmail.com.

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Water For People is about more than just bringing clean drinking water to communities. They are about making sure that clean water remains in communities; that new wells do not break down. That if they do, they are replaced in a manner that ensures they will not fail in that same way again. That sanitation facilities do not creep into decay once the cameras leave.

It’s all about making sure that clean water is brought to a community in a sustainable manner. Check out “Water Services that Last,” an IRC-led initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Water Services that Last maps out the critical components that agencies need to build into their water projects to ensure long-term service delivery.

The site includes tools, case studies, news, and videos to help agencies working to bring water to communities do so sustainably. Here are some particular highlights to check out:

- Their country specific information on bringing water to communities in Uganda

- Their case-study of Water For People monitoring to ensure accountability

- And their case-study of Honduras’ monitoring system that links monitoring to improved action

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Water For People celebrated a milestone in Honduras early November. The municipality of Chinda became the first to achieve 100% water and sanitation coverage. This means every house, every school, every clinic, everyone. To learn more about how this was achieved and what it means for the community, see this video:

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For Uganda and Rwanda, two of the countries Water For People works in, the Nile river is a significant source of local water resources. Cooperation with the additional countries to manage water resources and mitigate decreasing water levels, will be crucial as these countries develop sustainable infrastructure and expand clean drinking water to 100% of their population.

“Our water resources specialists have predicted that most of the basin countries will be facing chronicle water stress by the year 2025. These statistics strengthen further the need for us to continue on the path of cooperation to plan at a basin-wide scale on how best we can develop and share the benefits from the invaluable resources of the Nile, for not only our generation but also for generations to come after us. …. Uganda, being both an upstream and downstream country and with about 98% of its water resources lying wholly in the Nile River Basin, attaches a lot of importance to trans-boundary cooperative management of shared water resources.” Hon. Maria Mutagamba, Minister of water and Environment of the Republic of Uganda. (Read additional statements from the Nile River Basin Ministers stressing the need for cooperation.)

The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was formed on Feb. 22, 1999 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by the Ministers responsible for Water Affairs for each of the nine member states (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda – Eritrea has an observer status). NBI shares a goal of “achieving sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of and benefit from the common Nile Basin water resources.”

On Oct. 28th, 2011, the NBI members signed the Kigali Declaration at the close of their 3rd Nile Basin Development Forum. The discussion and subsequent document focuses on mitigating the effects of climate change by respecting wetlands and biodiversity in the management of land and water resources. The Kigali Declaration further calls for increasing integrated planning and decision making and including civil society and NGO organizations in national and regional efforts to address climate change and eradicate poverty.

 

 

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A recent article by Joppe Cramwinckel, Director of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Water Project, lists three immediate recommendations to improve water, energy, and food security worldwide. As Cramwinckel notes, theses three areas are interconnected – producing more food, requires greater inputs of water; desalination to create more freshwater requires huge inputs of energy, etc.

The need to minimize inefficiencies in the system is huge as by 2030 (less than 20 years), the world will require 40% more freshwater and 50% more food and energy.

The Three Recommendations:

1) Increased planning and policy interactions – particularly between water, energy, and food sectors.

2) Find new ways to boost resource efficiency (ie: improvements to use less water in agricultural production) while simultaneously decreasing waste.

3) Find new ways to effectively manage demand and to educate consumers to change wasteful behaviors to conserve these resources.

Cramwinckel’s research highlights the importance of the theme for World Water Day: water and food security. These resources are intrinsically linked. While we need to increase food production for increasing populations, we must be careful to do so using new techniques and innovations which decrease our water use and wastage, preserving our finite natural resources.

100 gram Vegetables = 19.5 L, 1 Tomato = 8 L, 1 Potato = 25 L, 150 gram meat = 2025 L TOTAL = 2077.5 L embedded WATER

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35 African governments have pledged themselves to developing improved sanitation plans over the next two years, following the AfricaSan 3, hosted by President Kagame of Rwanda and the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW). Held in July, 2011, AfricaSan 3 was attended by over 900 people from 67 countries. Discussion centered on the lack of progress many African countries have made on meeting the MDGs – particularly meeting the target that 0.5% of GDP will go to sanitation projects.

This call to action was praised by civil society leaders (ANEW, FAN, NGO WaterAid, WSSCC, & End Water Poverty) attending the conference as a possible turning point in Africa’s sanitation crisis.

Water and sanitation infrastructure have long been a problem for development in Africa; however, it was not often made a focus by governments. Long-standing opinion believed that access to water and sanitation facilities would correlate with increasing GDP. A recent report by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) proves this view incorrect. Through case studies in 32 African nations, Senior Financial Specialist Dominick de Waal found that low-income, stable countries often outperformed fragile, low-income, resource rich countries in developing water and sanitation improvements. The key was political stability and will. In light of these finding, we may have good reason to be optimistic that governments are pledging to address these issues!

(Read “Pathways to Progress” report by World Bank WSP.)

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How much water do you use everyday? Estimates say around 80-100 litres per person per day, and the E.P.A. estimates 400 litres per day for a family of four.

But is that really all? When you thought of the water you use, what did you include? Showers? Drinking water? Washing machines? Toilets?

Did you include the amount of water required to grow the food you eat?

Agriculture consumes a large percentage of water resources. Just to throw out one statistic, Thomas Donlan estimated in 2008 that in California 80% of the water used in the state goes towards farming. (“To Save Water, Sell It”, Barron’ss, 2008.) Yet, we often do not include the water used to produce our food in estimates of how much water we consume.These imbedded water costs are often overlooked.

The United Nations has chosen the theme of “Water for Food Security” to bring attention to this imbedded water. By becoming aware of the amount of water it takes to produce food choices, and by adopting a diet that is less water hungry, each of us can reduce our ‘water footprint’ and help conserve needed fresh water around the world.

Check out the UN’s World Water Day 2012 Facebook page for more information and stay tuned for their official website launch. Water for People DC will be hosting a WWD event, details to come soon. We look forward to celebrating responsible water consumption with you!

‎2 cup tee = 60 L, 1 glass orange juice = 170 L, 1 glass apple juice = 190 L, 1 banana = 120 L, 3 slice bread = 80 L, 1 tomato = 8 L, 1 egg = 135 L, 1 portion cheese = 250 L TOTAL = 1013 L

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There are 28 days left in Water For People’s Donate 2 Drink $2 Million Challenge! Last week, Crowdraise founder and Academy Award nominee, Edward Norton, added his support to our cause.

Why? Because he drank what 1 in 7 million people drink everyday: unsafe, dirty, sickening water. Check out the video to see what happens next and learn what you will earn from donating to build the solution.

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Love OK GO? Wanna meet them backstage?

Donate TODAY (Sept. 26th) or TOMORROW (Sept. 27th) to WFPDC Team in the Donate 2 Drink Challenge and be entered to win 2 tickets to see OK GO live and meet the band backstage at a venue near you!