WATER: Wasteful Farming Leaves Little for Drinking

Stephen Leahy

BROOKLIN, Canada, Mar 22 2006 (IPS) – Agriculture poses the biggest threat to the world s freshwater resources, while over-fishing threatens the oceans, according to the first global assessment of fresh and salt water resources.
Human pressures on water are weakening aquatic ecosystems, which is having a negative impact on human health and sustainable development, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global International Waters Assessment warned on World Water Day, Mar.. 22.

Freshwater shortages are likely to trigger increased environmental damage and social unrest over the next 15 years, concluded the review, which was compiled by 1,500 experts. The Global International Waters Assessment (GIWA) is the final synthesis report of detailed studies of the current and future trends in the freshwater and coastal waters of some 66 transboundary water areas, mainly linked with developing countries.

Irrigated agriculture accounts for 70 percent of freshwater used globally, with only 30 percent of this returned to the environment, said Nick Nuttall, a UNEP spokesperson.

The report notes that more than 90 percent of the water in Namibia s Eastern National Water Carrier canal is lost through evaporation, Nuttall told IPS.

The huge waste of water in agriculture can be dramatically improved with simple technologies like drip irrigation, he said.
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Agriculture is also responsible for the biggest transboundary pollution problems in terms of sediment and fertiliser run-off into lakes and seas, particularly in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Such pollution is creating vast dead zones oxygen-depleted waters where little can live in many coastal areas, and harming fisheries, the report notes.

Between 1960 and 2001, the global amount of farmland doubled but the cost in terms of damage to aquatic ecosystems has been high, writes Sandra Postel of the Global Water Policy Project and an expert on international freshwater issues.

Converting existing forests, grasslands and wetlands into more farmland is no longer an option because that will further damage the ecosystems that provide essential services such as clean air and water. Damaged ecosystems and overuse is already reducing water availability in many parts of the world. Nearly 25 percent of India s wells that pumped groundwater for irrigation are now dry.

With 1.7 billion more mouths to feed by 2030, the only way to grow the additional food is by doubling agriculture s water efficiency, says Postel. If it can be done at all, it will take major improvements in irrigation efficiency, higher yields from rain-fed crops and significant reduction in meat consumption. It takes 20 times more water to supply 500 calories from beef than rice.

We re heading for a fundamental conflict between water for food and water for other uses, says Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, an environmental NGO based in California.

That conflict can t be resolved without growing food using a lot less water, Gleick said in an interview. And that won t be achieved if everyone wants to eat as much meat as North Americans, he added.

China s rising meat consumption is cause for concern, he says, and the problem is made worse by the fact that China has badly damaged its aquatic ecosystems and polluted its freshwater limiting how much food it can grow.

That s why it is now importing large amounts of grain, pushing up world grain prices, he says, calling it a disturbing trend for developing countries .

Gleick advocates a fundamental shift to growing food, living our lives and running our economies on as little water as possible. Most importantly we need more action and less talk about water .

Water is commonly underpriced and undervalued, especially in agriculture, and that is at the root of much of the waste problem and lack of investment efficiency, the GIWA report noted.

There are many important messages emerging from this pioneering study, said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP s executive director.

One that rings loud and clear is the economic one that our collective failure to value the goods and services provided by international waters, and to narrowly price the benefits in terms of the few rather than the many, is impoverishing us all, Toepfer said in a statement.

Among the most egregious examples is blast fishing, where a one-dollar investment in dynamite can generate an immediate 200-fold return for local fisherman but leaves a coral reef devastated for the next 50 years, the report observed.

Over-fishing has severely depleted fish stocks and damaged habitats in many of the world s coastal regions. Fisheries in Southeast Asia and South America are particularly wasteful and destructive, with 90 percent of the catch taken by shrimp trawlers thrown away.

Overexploitation of fish is expected to worsen the world over by 2020, with some exceptions such as Northeast Asia and Central America as more sustainable fisheries practices are adopted, the report notes.

Overshadowing this global snapshot of the world s water is the spectre of climate change, says Nuttall. Climate change will be a major, major threat, he explained.

It is already a threat with the ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa is being made worse by climate change, he said. Major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed, along with helping developing countries adapt.

But with climate change it s even more important to preserve forests and wetlands and to improve water management to help buffer us from extreme weather events, Nuttall said.

Despite the worrisome news, many governments and other stakeholders are taking heed. The Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City, which ended Wednesday, drew 11,000 people from 130 nations, including representatives of government agencies, non-governmental organisations and the private sector, to address the growing strains on the world s clean water supply.