And now Iran.
The World Resources Institute warned this month of the rise of water stress globally, “with 33 countries projected to face extremely high stress in 2040.” A water shortage can spark street protests: Access to water has been a common source of unrest in India.
Iran is the latest example of a country where a water crisis, long in the making, has fed popular discontent.
Millions moved to provincial towns and cities, and joblessness led to mounting discontent among the young.
Climate change is projected to make Iran hotter and drier.
“Water is not going to bring down the government,” he said.
But as the Iranian water expert Kaveh Madani points out, it meant that the government encouraged farmers to plant thirsty crops like wheat throughout the country.
The result: “25 percent of the total water that is withdrawn from aquifers, rivers and lakes exceeds the amount that can be replenished” by nature, according to Claudia Sadoff, a water specialist who prepared a report for the World Bank on Iran’s water crisis.
That includes Lake Urmia, once the region’s largest saltwater lake, which has diminished in size by nearly 90 percent since the early 1970s.
Its drought, stretching from 2006 to 2009, prompted a mass migration from country to city and then unemployment among the young.

Lahja Nashuuta and Jeremiah Ndjoze Windhoek-Residents of Goreangab informal settlement on the outskirts of Windhoek have resorted to using untreated seepage water from the heavily contaminated nearby dam, which flows into surrounding riverbeds, for domestic use, a New Era investigation can reveal.
Issues raised by residents include the scarcity of potable water in the area, the unaffordability of municipal water cards, lack of awareness on the health implications and the sheer ignorance among some of the residents of the sprawling settlement next to the Goreangab Dam.
Rosalia Athingo, a resident in the area for the past six years, told New Era that people use the dam’s downstream water in their households – for bathing, laundry and washing dishes only, but not for drinking purposes.
Athingo maintained that although she has a municipal card that she recharges monthly, it does not guarantee she has enough clean water to cater for all her domestic requirements.
She lamented the fact that her residence is located some five kilometres from the water points and she does not have a vehicle that could carry sufficient containers.
Athingo said some residents have resorted to using ash that they collect from the fire as a water purification agent.
She said the ash is sprinkled in the water and left to settle down, after which the residents assume that the water is clean enough to use.
“Through this formalisation we will then address issues such as the lack of potable water and sanitation,” Kazapua said.
“As a short-term plan we have identified areas in the most affected informal settlements where we will erect toilets and taps for potable water in order to counteract the current spread of the hepatitis E virus,” Kazapua added.
It contains faeces and now that we are trying to mitigate the spread of the hepatitis E outbreak, we are strongly discouraging people from getting anywhere close to this water,” Shiwedha said.

Kinango MP Benjamin Tayari has threatened to storm the anti-corruption office in Nairobi to ask for the audit of Kwale’s water officials.
"Why is Mombasa getting water throughout while Kwale has none yet we are the main supplier?"
Tayari, who addressed the press accompanied by Senator Issa Boy, said they will have top officers questioned on why water bills have been a persistent problem yet the firm receives revenue.
He added: "We are tired of hearing excuses that power was disconnected and that there is no water in Kwale.
We can persevere with the poor roads, but not water scarcity."
Boy said he was disappointed by the manner in which county officials work with other leaders.
"We have come to discuss water issues in Kwale but the county executive for water is leaving yet he has seen us.
The two spoke at Kwale water offices where they went to seek explanations for the lack of the commodity.
An outstanding power bill of Sh10.5 million is yet to be settled by the firm.
We will restore services soon," Marere Hassan said.

Increasing the share of renewable energy sources in India’s electricity mix and implementing changes in cooling technologies for thermal power plants could serve not only to reduce the country’s carbon emissions intensity, but could also substantially reduce water consumption, mitigating or outright eliminating electricity supply risk due to water shortages.
Specifically, WRI determined that 40% of India’s thermal power plants are located in high water-stress areas, and 14 of India’s 20 largest thermal utilities experienced at least one shutdown due to water shortages between 2013 and 2016, resulting in costs of $1.4 billion.
70% of India’s thermal power plants will face high water-stress by 2030 due to climate change and increased demands from other sectors if direct action isn’t taken soon.
According to WRI, freshwater consumption by thermal power plants grew by 43% between 2011 and 2016, from 1.5 to 2.1 billion cubic meters per year.
Nevertheless, water shortages cost India approximately 14 terawatt-hours (TWh) of potential thermal power generation, which resulted in cancelling out 20% of the growth in the country’s electricity generation from 2015.
The WRI report, Parched Power: Water Demands, Risks and Opportunities for India’s Power Sector, was accompanied by a joint report between WRI and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Water Use in India’s Power Generation – Impact of Renewables and Improved Cooling Technologies to 2030, which outlines a suggested pathway to mitigate water shortage by increasing renewable energy capacity and implementing changes in cooling technologies.
“Scaling up the use of renewables, especially solar PV and wind, will yield further benefits, in particular long-term reductions in the dependency of the power sector on freshwater.” “Renewable energy is a viable solution to India’s water-energy crisis,” said Deepak Krishnan, Manager, Energy Program, WRI India and co-author of the report.
“Solar PV and wind power can thrive in the same water-stressed areas where thermal plants struggle, so accelerating renewables can lower India’s water risk while meeting our NDC.” “India’s move towards renewable energy is essential, especially as water stress puts increasing pressure on India’s thermal power plants,” added Dr Agarwal.
“Water risks to thermal power plants cannot be ignored when considering the cost of thermal energy.
Renewables, especially solar PV and wind energy, present a win-win solution for both water and climate.”

So there we were, on our December holiday, with only very sporadic water.
For some reason I could never quite make sense of, it often came on late at night and then vanished by about seven in the morning.
Having experienced taps running dry first-hand, I am now in a position to comment on what it will be like if the same thing happens in Cape Town.
I am aware that the challenges I faced on my water-scarcity-tourism experience are the realities that some people live with their whole lives.)
Every day, we went to fill two 20-litre cannisters at the collection point to flush the loos and for general household usage.
But some nights, it didn’t come, and as a result our sheets became gritty and greasy.
The three flushes worth of water we had in our cannisters were quickly used up on the times she managed to vomit in the loo.
The last drips were used to clean the floor from when she didn’t quite make it.
You can only collect so much water at the collection points, and when you use it up and things go wrong, life gets disgusting fast.
The horror is real; I have lived it.

The residents blame water scarcity in the area for her condition.
Sara Begum, according to her relatives, had gone out to fetch water in her native Mazhama, as there has been no water supply to the village from last two months.
“She slipped, resulting in serious injury to her head,” said Manzoor Ahmad, Begum’s relative who was nursing her in the hospital.
“We have kept her on ventilator,” said Dr Farhat.
Residents of Mazhama are aghast over the incident and termed it as the government’s “callousness”.
“It’s really unfortunate incident and shameful on part of Public Health Engineering (PHE) department as women have to come out of their homes to fetch water,” they said.
However, authorities are denying that there is any water shortage in the village.
“There is no such problem.
It has happened some three to four days back, but we have resolved it,” said Nazir Ahmad, junior engineer of PHE in the area.
An organisation representing Kashmiri Pandits today asked Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to take up with the Centre the issue of pilgrimage to the ancient Sharda temple in Pakistan-adminstered Kashmir (PAK).

The Pune-Secunderabad Shatabdi Express train was supposed to offer the latest in passenger comforts.
But a recent journey on the train and interviews of passengers uncovered numerous complaints regarding quality of food, dirty headrests, smudgy windows, snack trays that don’t fold and worst, scarcity of water in the train’s toilets.
"There have been complaints of water scarcity in most of the train’s coaches.
"Water for passengers is filled at Pune and Secunderabad railway stations.
Regulars say they would love to use the Shatabdi more if services are improved.
"I boarded the train at Secunderabad, but no water was available in the washroom until the train reached Pune.
"There is no system that can refill water in the storage tanks at railway stations in Vijayawada, Wadi, Gulbarga or Solapur.
Incredibly, he later received an SMS saying his complaint did not concern South Central Railway.
But I will look into the water scarcity complaints.
Damaged foot rests, snack tables and windows will be repaired too."

The City of Cape Town will step up the roll-out of pressure management technology to the various parts of the city’s water supply network, in response to one of the worst droughts the city has ever experienced.
Mayoral Committee Member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services; and Energy, Councillor Xanthea Limberg said: “The first planned works in this regard will take place in Paarden Eiland, in the area bounded by the Marine Drive Service Road to the north, Duncan and Lower Church Roads to the west, Paarden Eiland Road to the east and FW De Klerk Boulevard (N1 freeway) to the south.
Some 367 customers will be affected.” Work on this programme by the City’s Department of Water and Sanitation will begin on Friday, from 8pm to 4am on Saturday, and any disruptions will be communicated to all other areas in due course.
“Not only does pressure management generally lower consumption by reducing the rate at which water flows to properties, it also reduces leaks and pipe bursts by better ensuring that pressure remains within levels that the pipework can tolerate, and reduces the rate of loss from leaks and bursts,” Limberg added.
Across the city, 25 areas were identified that could benefit from this technology over the next three months.
Limberg said contractors have been brought on board to speed up the programme.
However, consideration to ensure minimal disruptions to water supply in affected areas will be given at all time.
“We thank residents for their co-operation in reducing water consumption thus far, and regret any inconvenience this will cause, these are part of our efforts to avoid Day Zero,” said Limberg.
– African News Agency (ANA)

Over 41 per cent of the villages in this region of central Maharashtra have reported ‘paisewari’ (average yield) below 50 paise.
A data compiled by the revenue department revealed that more than 3,500 villages in Marathwada have reported paisewari less than 50 paise.
This means the scarcity of basic resources such as food grain production and water is less by 50 per cent of its actual capacity.
Erratic showers are generally the main cause of less paisewari, a senior revenue official said.
“There are 8,535 villages in Marathwada — the biggest region in the state.
Of these, 3,577 villages (around 41 pc) have reported less than 50 per cent paisewari.
“It means the state will (have to) prioritise water and foodgrain supply to these villages,” he said.
This clearly means there were more dry days in the monsoon season then wet.
The other parts of the state such as Vidarbha, North and West Maharashtra and Konkan, are comparatively in a better condition, the officials said.
PTI

Pics: Spoorthi Ullal Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru ( SB) Mangaluru, Jan 10: "Last year we succeeded in storing water to a height of 5 meter in Thumbe dam and it helped us to avoid water scarcity in the city.
With the help of district administration and concerned authorities, this year we have succeeded in getting approval to store water to a height of 6 meter in the dam.
She was addressing the media at her office on Wednesday, January 10.
Currently Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has taken this land on lease from the villagers.
We are giving Rs 19 lac to the landlords per year as compensation.
"We have already acquired the land which is required for storage of 5 meter water.
Government has already released Rs seven crore as compensation and have distributed the same to the landlords.
"I am thankful to the district administration, District-in-charge minister and government authorities for their help and support on the water issue.
Giving warning against the convention and wedding halls she said, "We have noticed that there are many convention and wedding halls in the MCC limits that are functioning without trade licence.
Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.