by Neal Simpson, originally posted on October 26, 2016

 

QUINCY – School officials have shut off four drinking fountains at three Quincy schools after water quality tests found lead levels that exceed state limits for drinking water.

The results from the four fountains – three of which were already broken and weren’t being used – were among the first to be released as Quincy school officials continue testing the more than 360 sinks and other water fixtures across the department’s 20 school buildings for contamination from copper or lead. Prolonged exposure to the heavy metal can have long-term effects on health and physical and mental development, particularly for children under the age of 6.

In addition to shutting off the four drinking fountains at Bernazzani, Parker and Atlantic schools, officials have posted “for hand washing only” signs above sinks at eight schools that tested positive for elevated levels of lead, which cannot be absorbed through skin. Quincy officials are still awaiting results from tests at 10 other school buildings.

Quincy school officials launched the department-wide water testing project this fall after the discovery of elevated levels of lead in drinking water in Boston schools prompted Gov. Charlie Baker to put up $2 million to help local school departments test their water. Under state law, school departments are only required to test two of their schools each year.

Quincy school officials have chosen to take a different approach to the lead contamination than officials in Boston, who this summer ordered that all water fountains in a school be shut down and bottled water be trucked in if just one fountain in the school tested positive for elevated levels of lead. 12 Boston schools have been taken off tap water since April, 2016, and officials found that in some cases just replacing water fountains themselves wasn’t enough to fix the lead problem.

Chris Walker, a spokesman for Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, said Quincy officials decided to shut off only the affected fountains because the water from all other fountains tested fine. At Bernazanni Elementary School, for example, two fountains tested positive for elevated levels of lead and 14 did not, leading officials to believe that the problem was with the fountains themselves, not the pipes leading to them.

Officials say lead likely got into the water samples from pipes or soldering installed before 1986, when the use of lead in plumbing equipment was banned. In a letter to parents, Superintendent Richard DeCristofaro said officials expected the tests would would turn up some lead contamination “given the age of the housing stock and some of the school buildings in Quincy.”

“Our expectation is that the system city-wide is in very good shape,” Walker said. “That’s not to say we didn’t expect, based on taking more than 600 samples, that we weren’t going to gets some hits.”

Koch has made it a priority of his administration to eliminate lead from the city’s water system even outside of the schools and has directed his staff to identify privately-owned service lines, which connect home faucets with city pipes, that may be made of lead. The mayor plans to use a $1 million no-interest loan from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to replace the lead lines.

“The end game is a 100 percent lead-free environment,” Walker said.

Last year there were 133 water advisories on reserves; today there are 132.

by Hilary Beaumont, originally posted on October 26, 2016

 

One year after the election that swept Justin Trudeau to power, the new Liberal government has failed to make a dent in the prime minister’s promise to end boil water advisories on First Nation reserves across the country within five years.

In July 2015, there were a total of 133 drinking water advisories on 93 reserves. As of the end of August this year, the situation was largely unchanged, with 132 advisories on 89 reserves.

The agency responsible for the issue, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, claims progress has been made, and provided VICE News with a list of 15 water advisories on 11 reserves it says have been resolved since the Liberals took power.

Of the 11 reserves on the agency’s list, six are still considered by Health Canada to have undrinkable water. Of the eight reserves who responded to request for comment, four said the water remains undrinkable.

When VICE News asked why there was a discrepancy, Indigenous Affairs blamed Health Canada’s website for not being up to date, and said it is working to solve new, short-term water issues on some of the 11 reserves. It declined to make Carolyn Bennett, the minister responsible, available after repeated requests for an interview.The agency said the improvements it did achieve were mostly due to new or upgraded water systems it funded.

But the fact that the needle has barely moved on the list underscores the staggering problem confronting both the government and reserves. Just because one boil water advisory has been resolved doesn’t mean the water is clean across an entire reserve—often reserves are battling multiple advisories, which can cover just a single building or an entire community. These water advisories blink on and off, often for years, ultimately eroding trust in the safety of water coming out of the taps. There is also confusion over which advisories are active, thanks to competing lists from Health Canada and Indigenous Affairs.

These difficulties cast doubt on the prime minister’s ability to deliver on his promise, to which he has dedicated big dollars. In March, the Liberals announced $1.8-billion over five years for water infrastructure on reserves, and another $141.7-million to monitor the quality of water. Of that, $618-million is earmarked to flow in the first two years. Earlier this month, the Liberals spent $4 million of that budget to expand a successful water treatment plant training program to 14 reserves. The Liberal budget for First Nations water, however, falls short of the $5-billion over 10 years a government report in 2011 suggested would be required to end the water access crisis for good.

“If I made promises it’s because I intend to keep them,” Trudeau told Sarain Carson-Fox, host of the new VICELAND show RISE earlier this year, while visiting Shoal Lake 40, an isolated reserve that straddles the Manitoba-Ontario border and has been on a boil water advisory for twenty years.

Potlotek, a small First Nation in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, made headlines across Canada last month after residents reported filthy black water flowing from its taps. But Indigenous Affairs included the First Nation on its list of success stories—claiming it ended a long-term water advisory there in May, only to recommend a new one in September.

Band manager Lindsay Marshall said the band had advised its members not to drink the water.

“They haven’t solved anything yet,” he said. “My chief came in this morning and he said that his water, when he turned it on, was black.”

Indigenous Affairs claims that elevated levels of iron and manganese resulted in the September advisory, but said “there are no identified health impacts associated with the presence of those two minerals in the [Potlotek] drinking water.” Health Canada has said the water on the reserve is “esthetically unsuitable” for drinking, but wouldn’t cause any harm if consumed. The government did not immediately provide specifics on what the “elevated” levels of iron and manganese were.

According to Health Canada, manganese, which is dark in colour, has long been regarded as “one of the least toxic elements.” More recently, though, it has been discovered to be harmful, but its toxic effects have been documented more frequently as a result of chronic inhalation, not in drinking water, Health Canada says. Together, iron and manganese can cause dark, discoloured water.

Potlotek has a water treatment plant, but they don’t use the water from it, Marshall said. “It’s only good for firefighting and toilets. Dogs won’t even drink it.”

Indigenous Affairs said design work on a new water treatment plant that can filter out the iron and manganese is starting “as quickly as possible.”

But according to Marshall, the new plant will be next to the old one, and will draw water from the same lake. No one trusts the water from that lake, he added, because the reserve’s sewage lagoon sits only 55 feet away, and spills over into the lake during storms.

Marshall said the band is drilling wells to find a new source of water, and Indigenous Affairs is providing bottled water as an interim solution.

It’s a similar story on a small reserve on the other side of the country.

Indigenous Affairs claims a 16-year boil water advisory in Nazko, a reserve in northern British Columbia, came to an end on November 20, 2015.

Lena Hjorth tests the reserve’s water and rebuffs the government’s claim that it’s safe.

“I don’t trust it either myself,” she said. “I don’t drink it. Because there’s still arsenic in there.”

She said the filter at their treatment plant, which was built a few years ago, stopped working about a month ago. The band ordered a new filter, but it hasn’t arrived yet.

“We went through years of manganese and arsenic,” added band member Terrence Paul. “We’ve gone through some very terrible water, and could literally see the darkness in it, debris floating around in it, bugs. So people are still trying to get back into utilizing the water.

“It’s going to take a while to build that trust back up again,” he said, adding that the government is providing bottled water to the reserve.

Indigenous Affairs also says it has solved water advisories on four reserves in Ontario, such as one in place on Constance Lake First Nation since April 2014. But when pressed for details, Indigenous Affairs admitted the water advisory has flickered on and off over the last year. After lifting one advisory on August 1, the agency says another advisory was ordered and then lifted on September 16. Health Canada still lists the advisory because its list is not up to date.

It’s a similar story with another reserve, Pikangikum. Indigenous Affairs said it revoked an advisory in February that was first set in January 2006. However, another boil water advisory on the reserve also set in 2006 is still in place.

Pic Mobert, another Ontario reserve, is also still on Health Canada’s list of boil water advisories, though Indigenous Affairs said it has revoked an advisory there. That’s because a new water treatment plant is only hooked up to one side of the reserve so far, explained Orville Ncwatch, the reserve’s water operator. The new $12 million plant is “state of the art,” he said, and has been under construction for a year and a half. He wasn’t sure whether the Liberals contributed funding to it.

Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek, also known as Rocky Bay First Nation, is also listed as still having a water advisory in place as of August 31, but Indigenous Affairs said it was resolved. Harley Hardey, the water treatment plant operator for the reserve, said their boil water advisory has indeed ended after one year, and that it was just a matter of replacing broken equipment.

Cumberland House, a Saskatchewan First Nation, still has four water advisories listed as of August 31, although Indigenous Affairs said it ended two water advisories there. Indigenous Affairs said it is working to address the ongoing water issues.

Indigenous Affairs included Nekaneet, another Saskatchewan reserve, on its list of successes, saying it ended one long-term advisory there. But when pressed to explain why Nekaneet still appeared on Health Canada’s list of boil water advisories, the department admitted it was funding a new system for the reserve to resolve another advisory that is still in effect.

A woman at that First Nation who answered the phone but didn’t give her name said the water on Nekaneet has “always been drinkable” but that it was a “paperwork issue” that has now been solved. When VICE News asked additional questions, she said the Nation had no comment and hung up.

Other than Potlotek, Indigenous Affairs said it has fixed the water on two other reserves in Atlantic Canada: Abegweit and Pabineau no longer appear on Health Canada’s list.

Band councillor Terry Richardson said the advisory on the New Brunswick reserve of Pabineau is still in place, but is expected to end soon.

Abegweit Chief Brian Francis happily confirmed that the water on his Prince Edward Island reserve is now clean and drinkable after upgrades to their system that began under the Conservatives.

In BC, Indigenous Affairs ended one other water advisory on the reserve of Esk’etemc. Deidri Jack in the reserve’s operations and maintenance office confirmed the water there is now drinkable after a “very lovely” water treatment plant was completed this year, and people are happy.

Construction on the plant began before the Liberals were elected, she said.

“We’re still going to continue to monitor to ensure the safety of the community, but it’s just been absolutely awesome that we’ve been able to completely remove the boil water advisory,” she said.

US Should Address Issues in North Dakota, Flint, and Beyond

-By Antonio Ginatta, originally posted on November 2, 2016

 

Since August, over 400 people have been arrested protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline – 140 in the last week alone. This after the tribe sued the federal government in July, stating that they were not properly consulted about the construction project.

One underlying reason for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s opposition to the construction of the oil pipeline is the tribe’s concern about safe drinking water. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe lawsuit argues that the US government failed to properly consider the potential risks of the pipeline construction to the source of the Tribe’s drinking water.

Courts have twice denied the tribe’s request to stop the pipeline construction for now, agreeing with the government’s position that the Tribe was not sufficiently able to show that they were likely to win their lawsuit.

Then there’s the broader context of the situation  — that government at all levels has too often done a poor job of ensuring that everyone has access to safe water.The 1,172-mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline is slated to cross under the Missouri River, less than a mile upstream of the reservation’s boundary. Pipeline breaches can risk water sources. Earlier this month the breach of a different pipeline near the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania prompted warnings to consumers to reduce their water usage. The Dakota Access Pipeline itself was rerouted because of concerns that a spill could affect the drinking water for the city of Bismarck.

The dispute over the Dakota Access Pipeline is one of a number of water-related controversies currently facing the US. This includes the issues around tainted water in Flint, Michigan, and in the aging water systems in municipalities beyond Flint that are yet to be resolved.

All around the world, when water is at risk, it is often marginalized populations—like indigenous people—who suffer the most. But for indigenous communities like Standing Rock, what’s at risk if water is tainted goes beyond the impact on health. Dave Archambault II, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, spoke before the United Nations Human Rights Council last month, noting that by putting their drinking water at risk, the “pipeline threatens our communities, the river, and the earth.”

Elders in the community and those who have traveled to support it speak about the relationship of water to life. Human Rights Watch research in Canada looked at First Nations communities that recognize a similar relationship to water. Indigenous women we spoke with detailed not only their constant worry that contaminated water would make their families sick, but the ways their spiritual relationship to water – part of their heritage as indigenous women – is altered when water is too filthy to consume.

Any resolution of the protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline needs to, at minimum ensure that all people living along the pipeline’s route have a say in continued access to safe, clean water.

Originally posted on November 2, 2016

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Charlotte Water is asking its customers to begin voluntarily conserving water as the region’s drought has intensified.

News outlets report that dry weather and above-average temperatures prompted the Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group on Tuesday to place Catawba-Wateree river basin in Drought Stage 1, the second of five drought stages. The region has not seen rain in 24 days.

The utility says customers should irrigate only between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays, if they must irrigate at all.

Charlotte Water also requests that residents refrain from operating fountains or using outdoor water during the day.

National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Krentz says rainfall at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in October was 0.62 inches below normal, even with Hurricane Matthew.

By Robert Salas, originally posted on  November 2, 2016

 

As tribal members dig in their heels to prevent construction of an oil pipeline they say threatens their water supply and damages sites sacred to them, a growing police action in North Dakota over the weekend has landed many of them in jail.

Since the summer, thousands of Native Americans, including New Mexicans, have converged on North Dakota, heeding the call of the Standing Rock Sioux to protest against the pipeline construction.

Liz McKenzie of the Diné Nation (Navajo Nation), for one, felt a sense of unity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe when she visited North Dakota in September, she said.

The 2015 Gold King Mine Spill that contaminated the San Juan and Animas Rivers and affected agricultural communities in New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation made water contamination concerns raised by the Standing Rock Sioux more than a political call to action.

”It’s not even like we are standing in ‘solidarity’,” McKenzie said. “We are all in the same fight as a people.”

The Texas company building the pipeline, Energy Access Partners, has repeatedly touted the thousands of jobs the 1,172-mile pipeline would produce once completed.

However, Travis Miller, the political campaign coordinator for the Native American Voters Alliance, questioned the morality of emphasizing economic profits over “human well being.”

Like McKenzie, Miller traveled to North Dakota in September.

“We only have x amount of water and, if you destroy that water, then what are future generations going to have?” Miller said. “Every living organism in the world needs water to survive, we don’t need oil to survive.”

Miller also felt strongly about disturbance of sites held sacred by the Standing Rock Sioux. That tribe’s chairman, David Archambault II, lamented in a press release that “The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings there cannot be replaced. In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground.”

“They would never go through and knock down a cathedral because it was in the way of a road or a pipeline,” Miller said.

The widespread support for the “No DAPL” movement among Native American tribes has led tribal officials to call the protests the largest gathering of Native Americans in more than a century, according to published reports.

The size of the protest, and the passion it has generated among protesters, has led some to question, Why now?

Professor Tiffany Lee, Associate Director of Native American Studies at The University of New Mexico, offered an answer.

Environmental degradation and pollution are common issues for tribes across the country, including in the Southwest United States. As an example, she cited a uranium mill spill that took place in Church Rock, N.M. in 1979.

A dam on the Navajo Nation near Church Rock, N.M. broke at an evaporation pond, releasing “94 million gallons of radioactive waste to the Puerco River, which flowed through nearby communities,” according to a May 2014 report from the U.S. General Accountability Office.

The spill happened three and a half months after Three Mile Island in which a nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania partially melted down and produced “small radioactive releases” that “had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public,” according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Yet Three Mile Island generated much more news coverage than the spill in New Mexico.

“These sites, these open mines, obviously they toxify (the environment). It’s decades before they can be resolved,” Lee said. “They are still dealing with the effects on the communities there (Church Rock).”

With the protesters and company and law enforcement officials continuing to face off over the pipeline, it’s unclear how long the situation in North Dakota will last. However, signs are that protesters aren’t leaving anytime soon.

And local solidarity efforts like an Albuquerque fundraising event in September called Hip-Hop for Water will likely continue. That event raised almost $1,300 at Low Spirits, a local bar. Local artists showcased and auctioned their work, according to Christopher Mike-Bidtah of the Diné Nation, the event coordinator.

“They can use the money for whatever they need, such as winter supplies or food or, anything,” Bidtah said.

Robert Salas holds NMID’s 2016 fellowship for student journalists of color at the University of New Mexico. 

by Bera Dunau, originally posted on October 26, 2016

 

FOXBORO — A number of residents had their water cut off on last Friday, some of whom were given as little as three hours notice.

“The plan that we had got extended to an area that we didn’t expect,” Water and Sewer Department Superintendent Bob Worthley said. “We are very apologetic about that.”

Worthley said Onyx Construction has been contracted by the town to reline the cast iron water main on Chestnut Street, an operation that should help to eliminate the brown water problem in that area of town, and required that water be cut off to some houses on Chestnut Street and Ridge Road on Friday.

Notices were given out to residents on Wednesday.

However, on the day of the relining, the contractor discovered more houses on Ridge Road would be effected than had originally been anticipated. Those residents were phoned to warn them of the shutoffs, but that gave them only about three hours of warning.

“There were about an extra 20 people without water that day,” Worthley said.

He said the reaction of residents ranged from acceptance to anger.

“Some people were really irritated,” Worthley said. “I don’t blame them.”

“This chunk of Ridge Road should have been notified and it didn’t happen that time,” Worthley said.

by Raul M. Grijalva, originally posted on October 25, 2016

 

We’re nearing the end of a congressional session that saw Native American sovereignty rise to the greatest national prominence it’s had in decades. From the Dakota Access Pipeline to nationwide efforts to protect sacred land and historic sites, Indian country is finally getting a portion of the political and media attention it’s long deserved.

Unfortunately, the Republican majority in Congress hasn’t been interested. Over the past two years, the House has failed to fulfill one of its most fundamental responsibilities to Indian country: approving and funding Indian water rights settlements. These settlements are a crucial tool used by Congress to provide tribes with water to which they are legally entitled. Without congressionally approved settlements, many tribes lack the water resources to maintain public health and educational quality.

As my staff documented in a recent report titled “Water Delayed is Water Denied,” clean water access and sanitation figures on numerous reservations across the nation more closely resemble developing countries than they do the rest of the United States. Thousands of Native families continue to lack basic services like clean running water and flush toilets. As a result, Native families often end up drinking unclean water that increases disease risks and impairs tribal economic development.

The Navajo Nation, to take just one example, lacks access to running water for 30 percent of residents. For these families, obtaining water is often a daily struggle. The Navajo Nation estimates that 54,000 Navajos have to haul their water from backyard wells and stock ponds. Federal testing of current water sources has consistently found these water supplies do not meet federal drinking water standards for uranium or other radioactive particles that cause cancer and other serious illnesses.

Such conditions are common in Indian country – much more so than is widely understood. On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, 58 percent of the wells tested are contaminated by arsenic, lead, and other sources of radiation. For the Santee Sioux Nation and the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, more than a quarter of the wells on both reservations are contaminated with high levels of nitrate-nitrogen and coliform bacteria – two toxins that cause blood disorders and intestinal issues. On the Crow Reservation in Montana, university researchers have found drinking water contaminated with high levels of arsenic, manganese, uranium, and bacteria that causes pulmonary disease, pneumonia, and Legionnaire’s disease. In the richest country in the world, such living conditions for our Native American brothers and sisters are frankly unacceptable.

Since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Winters v. United States more than a century ago, American Indian reservations have had explicit legal rights to enough water to fulfill a reservation’s purpose as a permanent homeland. Indian water rights settlements help quantify a tribe’s water rights and provide the funding needed for tribes to exercise their rights and bring water to their communities.

While Congressional Republicans have historically been less supportive of Indian water settlements – over the past 40 years, only 17 percent of settlements have been enacted when Republicans controlled Congress, while 72 percent were enacted when Democrats controlled Congress – the failure of the current GOP House to fund settlements is bad even by their standards. Over the past six years, since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 election, Congress has failed to fund a single Indian water settlement despite numerous settlement bills being introduced.

Two years ago, when Representative Rob Bishop (R-Utah) became Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, some in Indian country expressed hope that the 114th Congress would be different. They continue to wait. A do-nothing GOP Congress still has yet to fund a single settlement.

As the 114th Congress draws to a close, there’s still time for Congress to do right by Indian country. The House of Representatives will return for a “lame duck” session before the end of the 114^th Congress. Native Americans have already waited patiently only to see their valid, legal water rights ignored by a congressional majority that considers their needs unimportant. Further inaction would be an insult.

originally posted on October 25, 2016

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — The Home Ministry has to disclose what actions it will take to stop the contamination of the country’s water source as it is a matter of “national security”, DAP MP Gobind Singh Deo said today.

Gobind pointed out that the recent disruptions of water supply in Selangor were actually caused by contamination of sources in several states, which he said indicated that it is not a problem localised to Selangor alone.

“I call upon the Home Minister Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to state what steps his ministry will take to assist in efforts to overcome the water problem which is now affecting thousands of people in Selangor,” the Puchong MP said in a statement today.

Gobind said initial findings on the water supply disruption clearly pointed to contamination originating from Negri Sembilan’s Sungai Buah which then flowed into Sungai Semenyih, noting that Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali has also indicated that initial problems of contamination were found to have originated from Pahang.

“It would appear therefore that the problem is not localised but extends across various states,” Gobind said.

He stressed the severity of the matter with the health and daily routine of Selangor residents affected by the water supply disruptions, also noting that the chemicals allegedly involved are “severely toxic” as they reportedly caused charring of green grass on river banks.

While the Selangor government has identified the contamination source and is “doing everything it can to deal with it”, the Home Ministry had not publicly reveal how it would dealt with the problem, he said.

“Despite the severity of the allegations, which extend to sabotage and so forth, there appears to be absent in all this a public announcement on part of the Home Ministry on measures it proposes to take to deal with the problem.

“To me, this is a matter of national security which demands the attention of all parties concerned be they state or federal agencies,” he added.

Gobind cautioned that the future of the entire country was at stake.

We must find the root cause of it and work towards ensuring that it does not occur again. If we don’t, the problem will continue not just here in Selangor but throughout the country in future. It will affect thousands of Malaysians, society and the economy,” he said.

Originally posted on October 21, 2016

 

With the North East monsoon starting, it would be a good time to reflect again on water and we hope it would not be like the cliché of pouring water on a duck’s back. President Maithripala Sirisena disclosed this week that while about 40% of Sri Lanka’s people did not have access to fresh drinking water, a shocking reality was that in cities and urban areas about 45% of the fresh water supplies were being wasted. The President assured that with hundreds of millions of rupees being allocated for irrigation and fresh water projects all the people would have access to fresh water within two years.

While we hope for showers of blessings on this mission we need to consider ways in which we could help save fresh water because world experts have predicted that within the next few decades many countries would face major shortages of fresh water and may even go to war to gain control of supplies, as they did in Afghanistan and Iraq to gain control of fossil fuel supplies.

Sri Lanka has been blessed with 16 major rivers in addition to canals and streams. But besides wasting fresh water supplied on taps we have been polluting some of our rivers with industrial companies being among the main offenders.

Just as little drops of water make the mighty ocean every eco-friendly citizen or family could make a contribution towards saving water which is essential for life, for instance while washing our hands or utensils we need not open the tap fully but halfway or less. We could also cut down on our shower bath time by about five minutes. Water used for washing food items could be collected in pans and used to water the plants. If each eco-friendly citizen could save about 10 litres of fresh water daily then thousand citizens would be saving 10,000 litres and 10,000 citizens could save 100,000 litres.

Some enterprising citizens have gone to the extent of installing equipment for rain water harvesting. Yesterday the Daily Mirror published an article by a veteran agriculture academic Dr. C.S. Weeratne on “Rainwater Harvesting” and how the world relied on it for centuries. According to him and Sociologist Prof. Siri Hettige rain is the primary source of water. The mean annual rainfall in the south-west of the island varies from 2,500 to 5,000 mm, and in the north-west and south-east, it is around 1,250 mm. Some of the rainwater goes into the soil. Depending on the nature of the soil surface and its depth, a portion of this water is retained in the soil, and the rest percolates down into the ground water. The water that does not percolate runs off and enters water bodies such as lakes, rivers and reservoirs

Dr. Weeraratne says Sri Lanka receives around 100 billion cubic metres of rain and around 40% of it runs-off. Around 35% of the run-off is used for irrigation and generation of hydro-power and the balance which is about 65% of the run-off escapes to the sea. Thus, nearly 26 billion cubic metres of water is wasted.

Water that falls on a roof of 1,000 sq. metres in Colombo (average rainfall is 2,000 mm), during one year would be around 2,000 cubic meters. The actual cost of this amount of water would be around Rs.90,000. The rainwater that falls on the roofs of extensive buildings such as hospitals, schools, and housing complexes could be collected in tanks in the premises itself. Water thus collected could be used for numerous domestic purposes. Instead of using chlorinated water suitable for drinking to wash vehicles, water plants and clean toilets, using rainwater for these activities would reduce water bills and save purified water, which could be used for drinking purposes. Once the collection system is installed there is no additional cost involved except on pumping of collected water to the main water supply system.  So let us save water before one we might have to say, we do not have even a drop to drink.

This is the first of a three-part series on the impact of water shortages around the world.

originally posted on October 25, 2016

 

Every year during the wet season, millions of Cambodians are surrounded by water as the Mekong River floods. Yet the water is unsafe to drink, fouled by sewage and agricultural and industrial pollution.

Living in villages on stilts, Cambodians bathe, fish and defecate in the flooded Tonle Sap, South-east Asia’s largest freshwater lake. Storage of clean water is difficult and traditional forms of sanitation, such as pit toilets, are not possible. This leaves children especially vulnerable to water-borne diseases.

According to Unicef, about 6.3 million Cambodians, or about 40 per cent of the population, lack access to safe water. Their plight mirrors a broader global crisis in which one in nine people does not have access to clean water and one in three lacks improved sanitation. Many live in the developing economies of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

While governments and non-governmental organisations have worked hard to bring clean water to millions of people, demand for water is spiralling. Rapid population growth is fuelling more demand for food and goods, meaning agriculture and industry are using ever greater amounts of water.

In Asia, about 70 per cent of water is used for agriculture, particularly for thirsty crops such as rice.

“By 2050, agriculture will need to produce 60 per cent more food globally, and 100 per cent more in developing countries,” says the United Nations World Water Development Report 2015.

Water demand for manufacturing is expected to increase by 400 per cent between 2000 and 2050 globally, it adds. Climate change is another growing risk, triggering worse droughts, floods, storms and rising sea levels.

The issue of water scarcity is complex. In some areas, there is abundant water but the water is polluted by agricultural run-off, such as fertilisers, or by industry. In others, the water is wasted by inefficient crop-growing practices.

Some areas such as the Middle East, northern India and northern China around Beijing are water stressed because of large populations living in arid regions – water demand far exceeds supply.

According to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), 21 of the world’s 37 largest aquifers have passed the sustainable tipping point. What this means is that water levels have plunged and cannot recover fast enough.

The aquifers include those that Beijing and its surrounding areas rely on as well as those in the Ganges Brahmaputra Basin in northern India.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, another major rice-growing region, is facing falling water levels because of dams built on the Mekong upstream by China and on tributaries in Laos, Vietnam and elsewhere. Salt water intrusion caused by rising sea levels is further threatening water supplies and livelihoods.

There are solutions, but they require investment, better policies and better enforcement.

China has spent about US$80 billion (S$111.5 billion) on a controversial aqueduct system that ships water from the south to the parched north. Some farmers are switching to less thirsty crops and using water-efficient practices, while China and other governments are cracking down on polluting industries.

Water-recycling and desalination, as used in Singapore, are also effective.

For poor Cambodians, simpler solutions have proven successful.

Lien Aid, a Singapore-based international non-profit organisation, has installed more than 50 community water enterprises in Cambodia and southern Vietnam, benefiting more than 300,000 people. Lien Aid builds water treatment and bottling plants within communities which are subsequently owned, operated and maintained by the communities upon completion.

Such simple systems can have a dramatic impact by cutting illness, reducing health costs and improving the local economy.

According to the World Health Organisation, by investing in clean water alone, young children around the world can gain more than 413 million days of health.