Opinion: Why Lagos must face up to its water crisis.
Akinbode Oluwafemi is the Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of The Earth Nigeria, a Nigerian NGO that tackles environmental human rights issues in Nigeria.
Lagos (CNN)Lagos is a city surrounded by water, yet there is none to drink.
Access to formal clean water is abysmally low, with the majority of Lagos residents relying on the informal sector comprised of wells, boreholes, rivers and rain water.
In 2016 daily demand in the state stood at 724 Million gallons while production was 317 million gallons, leaving a gap of 407 million gallons.
Worse still, some of the water never reaches households due to perennial fracture from dilapidated transmission pipes and old trunk lines.
As water is essential to both physical and economic well-being the lack of it causes numerous problems.
In Lagos it is a major public health threat because of the interconnectedness of water access to sanitation and public health.
As far back as the 1980s, the Lagos state government has implemented loans provided by and financed by the World Bank as solutions to the water crisis.
The draft law enraged civil society groups and the international community.

After last year’s drug-related deaths, Tampa’s Sunset Music Festival says it’s stepping up safety, security.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn said then that the Sunset festival should not return to Tampa, that the two-day electronic dance music festival’s promoters were more interested in profit than safety.
Shannon Rhea, 23, has a group of friends that plan to gather in the stadium’s northern parking lots for the start of the festival Saturday.
Rhea, who won’t be going, is a close friend of Haynes.
She hopes this year, all her friends stay safe.
Aleguas said drug users can get so overheated that they can end up drinking a life-threatening amount of water in an effort to cool down.
"I really hope this year’s festival goes better," he said.
Josko said the festival’s organizers have worked with Tampa police to increase the number of officers, police dogs and medical teams that will be on hand this year.
Officers made 25 felony arrests last year, including an 18-year-old found with nearly half a pound of MDMA.
"You don’t have to be a drug abuser to lose your life, all it takes is one mistake, just one slip up and that could be it," she said.

Company Behind Dakota Access In Spotlight for Numerous Pipeline Incidents.
And it appears that at least one of the developer’s pipeline incidents may be worse than originally thought, according to The Guardian.
In a story published today (May 25), The Guardian reports on the Texas-based energy company’s natural gas Rover pipeline in Ohio.
ETP spilled a reported two million gallons of non-toxic mud-like drilling fluids, which is used to lubricate and cool equipment, during the construction process of the 710-mile long natural gas pipeline.
ETP was first in the headlines last year after its 1,172-mile long Dakota Access Pipeline received worldwide attention from indigenous groups in opposition of it.
The pipeline is now complete, and it’s become increasingly clear that its opponents were right to warn about leakage.
The pipeline has already seen three spills.
Though the spills have been relatively small (ranging from 20 to 100 gallons of oil), they have caused further concern within the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which led resistance efforts against the $3.78 billion project in North Dakota.
The first reported spill of 84 gallons led to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II to issue a statement May 10 saying: “The Dakota Access pipeline has not yet started shipping the proposed half million barrels of oil per day and we are already seeing confirmed reports of oil spills from the pipeline.
Activists filed a lawsuit yesterday related to the Rover incidents with hopes to block the natural gas pipeline, per The Guardian.

This Simple Water Bottle Innovation Just Might Save Your Life Someday.
Caption Settings Dialog Beginning of dialog window.
Follow us this month as we highlight how STEM is shaping the culture of NOW.
Check out an exclusive Uproxx video about Yash Balaji along with stories about other STEM innovators here.
An innovator in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) will take a problem and tackle it head on — using innovative thinking to create new solutions.
Balaji invented CleanBottle in 2014, as a way to purify and decontaminate water using only the heat of one’s hands.
The amazing device provides clean drinking water without the use of disposable filters or solar power, and it just might streamline the way we help people access water – from natural disasters to war zones.
“It’s so simple to use,” Balaji says.
His answer was CleanBottle.
By killing the microorganisms present in the water through this simple process, Balaji hopes to save many lives.

Government of Canada Improving Water Infrastructure at Enoch Cree Nation.
Today, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, on behalf of the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, joined Chief Billy Morin of Enoch Cree Nation at a sod turning ceremony to announce construction on a project that will connect Enoch Cree Nation to the City of Edmonton’s water system and ensure the growing community has access to safe and reliable drinking water now and into the future.
The project includes construction of a new water supply line and a new water reservoir and pumphouse to provide a sustainable drinking water supply.
Working in partnership with Enoch Cree Nation, our government is supporting sustainable solutions to address water infrastructure on-reserve while ensuring water system operators have the training they need to succeed."
In addition to bringing clean water to our core village, this expansion will support business development and create partnerships with the County of Parkland."
Quick Facts The Enoch Cree Nation’s old water treatment plant will remain in service to provide the community with a source of non-potable water for uses such as fighting grass fires.
Budget 2016 is providing $1.8 billion over five years to significantly improve on-reserve water and wastewater infrastructure, ensure proper facility operation, maintenance, and support the training of water system operators, in addition to $141.7 million over five years to improve drinking water monitoring and testing on reserve.
Committing investments over five years allows for long-term planning to improve on-reserve water and wastewater systems.
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This Simple Water Bottle Innovation Just Might Save Your Life Someday.
Caption Settings Dialog Beginning of dialog window.
Follow us this month as we highlight how STEM is shaping the culture of NOW.
Check out an exclusive Uproxx video about Yash Balaji along with stories about other STEM innovators here.
An innovator in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) will take a problem and tackle it head on — using innovative thinking to create new solutions.
Balaji invented CleanBottle in 2014, as a way to purify and decontaminate water using only the heat of one’s hands.
The amazing device provides clean drinking water without the use of disposable filters or solar power, and it just might streamline the way we help people access water – from natural disasters to war zones.
“It’s so simple to use,” Balaji says.
His answer was CleanBottle.
By killing the microorganisms present in the water through this simple process, Balaji hopes to save many lives.

When one combines all of the cuts that would be made to EPA grants to states – cuts that target basic program implementation, beach pollution monitoring and notification, contaminated runoff control, and wetlands protection – the cut to water grants to states amounts to a whopping 59% cut.
=================== President Trump announced his proposed budget on Thursday.
This post examines President Trump’s budget with respect to water programs.
Second, the budget proposes to cut nearly half a billion dollars from a Department of Agriculture program that supports improvements to water and wastewater services for small rural communities, meaning the federal commitment to water systems actually would be cut.
Short-Changing State Water Programs Not satisfied with cutting the heart out of the federal government’s ability to implement public safeguards, the Trump budget also proposes to make a 45 percent cut to the “categorical grants” which enable state-run water protection programs to operate effectively.
“Non-point” pollution management – EPA provides grants to states to implement control programs for "non-point" sources of water pollution, like agricultural runoff, which are often poorly controlled but which also can be significant contributors to water bodies’ degradation.
The Bay’s health has slowly improved, however, as states have begun to implement the Chesapeake Bay cleanup blueprint EPA and watershed states established in 2010.
The blueprint, as EPA explains, “is designed to ensure all nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution control efforts needed to fully restore the Bay and its tidal rivers are in place by 2025, with controls, practices, and actions in place by 2017 that would achieve 60 percent of the necessary pollution reductions.” Despite the progress brought on by the state-federal collaboration, the Bay fares no better than the Great Lakes under President Trump’s budget.
Other Geographic Programs: In addition to singling out the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay, the proposed budget says that the administration intends to eliminate funding for “other geographic programs.” It’s unclear whether that includes all such programs, but if so, it would affect federal investments for restoration efforts in San Francisco Bay, Long Island Sound, the Gulf of Mexico, Puget Sound, South Florida, Lake Champlain, and a handful of other important resources.
The administration did not explain why it thinks these projects don’t warrant federal support, and it’s hard to imagine how it could, given the program’s achievements: The EPA investments in these wastewater projects are protecting public health from waterborne diseases and have been a key factor in significant water quality improvements in U.S. waterbodies, such as the Rio Grande (Texas and New Mexico), Santa Cruz River (Arizona), New River (California), and Tijuana River and Pacific Ocean (California).

Honeywell India and Safe Water Network on Tuesday launched their 75th safe water station, providing safe water access to more than 200,000 people in Telangana districts affected by groundwater contamination, including from fluorides.
This treated water complies with the Bureau of Indian Standards’ and World Health Organization’s water quality standards.
Unique technology interventions such as solar power, water ATMs, and remote monitoring system ensure uninterrupted and sustainable supply of clean drinking water.
Additionally, pressurised and automated can washer improves can washing leading to water safety.
Kurt Soderlund, CEO, Safe Water Network, said, “We are committed to ensure that communities have access to safe water, especially the poor.
This is an important step towards scaling-up safe water stations in Telangana.” Bharathi Hollikeri, IAS, District Collector, Medak District, Telangana, said, “Safe water stations in Medak district is empowering local community by providing safe drinking water access to over 50,000 people for their good health.
The price is affordable and the program is sustainable.
I appreciate Safe Water Network and Honeywell India for their commitment towards Medak community.” A series of activation events, including door-to-door consumer awareness, village-level meetings, live demonstrations of water quality, and the use of audio visuals, help raise awareness and drive safe water adoption.
Engagement at all levels of the targeted community for social, financial, and environmental sustainability ensure the continued success of the program.
It allows children to go to school every day, parents to work and improve living standards – it can transform lives.” Over the last two years, Safe Water Network and Honeywell India have set up safe water stations across Karimnagar, Adilabad, Warangal Rural, Warangal Urban, Jayashankar, Mahabubabad, Jagtiyal, Peddapalli, Badradri, Mancherial, Suryapet, Khammam, Medak, and Nalgonda districts.

Steps to water sustainability.
Equality and equity in the distribution of safe water is a basic human right every state needs to protect.
There are an estimated 16 million Pakistanis who don’t have access to clean drinking water.
The country was also recently declared ‘water scarce’ to which the government has yet to take any substantive measures for conservation or sustainability.
Here everyone is in contract with some private water company or another for regular cash on delivery-bottled water.
Much like the ‘milkman’, here in urban Pakistan, households have their very own ‘waterman’.
Our most common source of water exists in absenteeism of strong government legislation or ecological responsibility from individual citizens, naturally paving the way for exploitation from private companies.
In Pakistan, the issue of water is dominated by politics and mismanagement.
There is a dire need for monitoring mechanisms, and conceivable apparatus to ensure every citizen has access to safe water, and learns to use it responsibly in sync with government policy.
If we leave water conservation to the “waterman”, then their modes of extraction will not be based on the building of a sustainable water supply for all, but on the desire to constantly increase profit margins.

Steps to water sustainability.
Equality and equity in the distribution of safe water is a basic human right every state needs to protect.
There are an estimated 16 million Pakistanis who don’t have access to clean drinking water.
The country was also recently declared ‘water scarce’ to which the government has yet to take any substantive measures for conservation or sustainability.
Here everyone is in contract with some private water company or another for regular cash on delivery-bottled water.
Much like the ‘milkman’, here in urban Pakistan, households have their very own ‘waterman’.
Our most common source of water exists in absenteeism of strong government legislation or ecological responsibility from individual citizens, naturally paving the way for exploitation from private companies.
In Pakistan, the issue of water is dominated by politics and mismanagement.
There is a dire need for monitoring mechanisms, and conceivable apparatus to ensure every citizen has access to safe water, and learns to use it responsibly in sync with government policy.
If we leave water conservation to the “waterman”, then their modes of extraction will not be based on the building of a sustainable water supply for all, but on the desire to constantly increase profit margins.