MEDlT N° 2198

ENVIRONMENT AND WATER RESOURCES

ATEF HAMDY (*) - COSIMO LACIRIGNOLA (**)

ater is the life- countries suffering from

W blood of the bio-

sphere, constan-
ABSTRACf water scarcity. Staggering
as these figures are, the re-
tly moving across borders Nowadays, water pollution is already a serious problem in the majority quirements of water for
between the atmosphere, of developing countries: a large percentage of wastewater is untreated, food and biomass security
and this is directly discharged into water courses, irrigation canals and
the land, the ocean and drainage ditches. are even greater. Risks of
back again. Increased pollution from industrial and domestic sources, if allowed to increasing competition for
Today the most easily ac- grow unchecked, is likely to reduce the amount of water available for the available water re-
various purposes in future. Protection of water resources, if not receiv-
cessible parts of renewable ing a priority consideration, will be a major cause for water scarcity in sources include: deteriorat-
freshwater resources - in some regions, the total economic and health costs to the country due to ing public health; food and
unchecked pollution would be unbear.tble. biomass insecurity; politi-
rivers, in lakes and in The present situation calls for str.ttegies based on a new water aware-
aquifers - have already ness, founded on basic understanding of the particular role played by cal conflicts; environmen-
been a subject of exploita- water for life and civilization. 1110se strategies have to adress the multi- tal degradation; further
tion. The total amount of cause environmental challenges emerging from water scarcity, water
pollution and water - related - land fertility degradation respectively
constraints on socio-eco-
water available for human and have to be multi-sectorial in chamcter with and integmted approach nomic development. To
development and welfare to land productivity and water resources. limit and cope with these
and ecosystem function- risks we need to adopt
ing, is the same today as it RESUME new policies on a global
has been throughout histo- scale. In the past, the rela-
ry - only much is now of Aujourd'hui, la pollutioll est deja utI probleme serieux dans la plupart tionship between popula-
poorer quality and differ- des pays en developpemellt: un grand pourcentage des eaux ne solll pas
traitees et elles sont dechargees directement dans les cout'S d'eau, darzs
tion-environment-develop-
ently distributed. The les canaux d'irrigation et les fossees de drainage. ment was generally ad-
amount of water will basi- Si I'on perm et que la pollutioll des sources illdustrielles et menageres dressed in a manner con-
cally remain the same also augmente d'une maniere itlCOlllroiee, elle V(l probablement reduire la
qualllite d'eau dispotlible pour les di,fferellts objectift a I'avenir. Faute
strained by one-dimension-
for future generations. In d'une attention adequate ala sauvegarde des ressources en eau, la pol- al approach. We must mo-
sharp contrast to the limit- lution sera la cause prima ire de la pen u rie ell eau, les couts sanitaires et ve beyond conventional
ecotlomiques pour le pays seraie1ll illsotllellables.
ed amount of available wa- La situation actuelle requiert des strategies basees sur la pollution inCOtI-
water management and
ter, the rate of withdrawal troiee, qui presuppose la comprehension de base du role joue par I'eau adopt a multi-disciplinary
has accelerated. Over this pour la vie et la civilisation. Ces strategies doivelll relever des de.fzs etzvi- approach where the poten-
ronnmetllaux d'origine mUltiple lies ala pellurie de I'eau, a la pollution
century the withdrawal has et ala degradation de la fertilite liee al'eau et a la terre, respecitivemelll, tial benefits and the re-
increased by a factor five et elles doive1lt etre multi-sectoriels suiva1ll mle approche i1ltegree a la sponsibilities are shared
whereas the population in- productivite des terres et des ressources ell eau. between all the stakehold-
crease has been only a fac- ers.
tor of three during the Lessons from experience
same period. The major reasons for this increased de- indicate that we must fundamentally change the way
mand are industrial growth, increased urbanization and we think about and manage water. We must embrace
change in life-style and the population growth. The new policies that are comprehensive, participatory and
amount of water needed and demanded by ecosystems, environmentally sound. This will require difficult deci-
where humans are an essential part, has reached such sions and actions on the part of all of us. But, one fun-
proportions that a serious water scarcity situation has damental point is clear: we have no choice. At stake are
arisen. Over one billion people lack access to an ade- our health, our economies and sustainable future.
quate supply of safe water for household consumption
and 1.7 billion people do not have adequate sanitation. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
By 2025, more than 3 billion people will be living in Before addressing the specific problems related to envi-
ronmentally sound water development and manage-
ment, it is useful to review briefly the concept of sus-
C-) Director of Research, CIHEAMlIAM-Bari, Italy. tainability in development.
C**) Director, CIHEAM/IAM-Bari, Italy. Interest in sustainable development has arisen as a con-

6
 MEDlT ND 2/98

sequence of national, regional and, subsequently, glob- make the existing water management processes signifi-
al concern about environment and in particular its nat- cantly more efficient than they are at present, and the
ural heritage. It began to be articulated in Europe and issue of utilization of various international water bodies
North America in the 1960s and 1970s. Key events was is amicably and quickly resolved, the impending water
the U.N. conference on Human Environment in Stock- crisis has the potential of becoming more pervasive and
holm in 1972 and UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere affecting adversely more lives than the energy crisis
Projects. The latter have a good claim to be forerunners ever did at its peak.
of "sustainable development thinking" (Adams,1990). There are many interrelated reasons which had con-
In 1983, the U.N. General Assembly established the tributed to this crisis and the major one will be dis-
World Commission on Environment and Development cussed herein.
and received from it its report, the so called "Our Com-
mon Future" (Brundtland Commission, 1987). Good de- Population trends and explosive urban growth
velopment will protect and enhance the environment; The global population is continuing to increase steadi-
attention paid to environmental concerns will strength- ly, with attendant implications for water quantity and
en developmental progress and projects. quality. Estimates indicate that the current world popu-
The FAO defmition adopted by its council in 1988, in lation is likely to double to 10.64 billions by the year
the context of agriculture, forestry and fisheries is: "Sus- 2050. Developing countries, which are all in tropical
tainable development is the management and conserva- and semi-tropical regions, will account for some 87% of
tion of natural resource base and the orientation of this population, or 9.29 billions.
technological and institutional change in such a manner While there is no one-to-one relationship between pop-
as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction ulation growth and higher water requirements, it is evi-
of human needs for present and future generations. dent that with a substantial increase in world popula-
Such sustainable development (in the agriculture, tion, total water requirements for various uses will in-
forestry and fishery sectors) conserves land, water, crease as well. This contributes to two contradictory
plant and animal genetic resources, is environmentally trends which further complicate the water-management
non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically process. On one hand, a country's water requirements
viable and socially acceptable". steadily increase with higher levels of human activities,
In the run-up to the UNCED "The Earth Summit 92", the on the other hand, per capita water available declines
International Conference on Water and the Environ- steadily since the total amount of freshwater available is
ment (ICWE), concluded with the Dublin statement on limited (table 1).
Water and Sustainable Development: "Scarcity and mis- The increase in per capita water requirements is an im-
use of freshwater pose a serious and growing threat to portant consideration for estimating future water needs
sustainable development and protection of the environ- by the planners of developing countries, whose water
ment; human health and welfare, food security, indus- demands are accelerating at a very rapid and alarming
trial development and the ecosystems on which they rate. So far this aspect has received very limited atten-
depend, are all at risk unless water and land resources tion by the countries concerned as well as the interna-
are managed more effectively in the present decade tional organizations.
and beyond they have been in the past". Rapid population growth is always linked with fast ur-
banization and will substantially increase pressures on
THE WATER CRISIS the supply and quality of water. Between 1950 and
Most of the countries located in arid and semi-arid re- 1990, the number of cities with population of more than
gions are already facing a water crisis, though the in- one million nearly quadrupled from 78 to 290. They are
tensity and extent of that crisis could vary from one expected to more than double and exceed 600 by 2025
country to another, and with time. If the current trends (figure 1). By 2025, 90 percent of population growth
continue, the water crisis will become widespread and will have taken place in urban areas, increasing the de-
more pervasive in nearly all arid and semi-arid coun- mand for suitable quality for domestic, municipal and
tries by the early part of the 2P' century. industrial use and for treatment of waste.
It is now evident that within the present decade, water
would undoubtedly become a most critical resource for Water scarcity
the future development and survival of the arid and se- The amount of fresh water available on an economic
mi-arid countries, so much so that all the indicators basis to any country on a long-term basis is limited.
point to increasing tensions between neighbouring Since in arid and semi-arid countries nearly all the eas-
countries over the use of international rivers, lakes and ily available sources of water have already been devel-
aquifers. Like the energy crisis of some two decades oped or are in the process of development, the unit
ago, a serious water crisis is now looming over the hori- costs of future projects in real terms can only be higher.
zon. Unless every attempt is made simultaneously to For example, recent review of domestic water supply

7
 MEDIT N° 2198

Table 1 Population and per capita water availability tor selected countries (*).
Population Annual Per capita freshwater availability (1000 m')
renewable freshwater
MIllions Growth rate % available (km')
per annum
1985-1994

1994 2025 2050 1994 2025 2050

Argentina 34.2 46.1 53.1 1.4 994 29.06 21.56 18.71

Bangladesh 117.8 196.1 238.5 2.0 2,357 20.00 12.02 9.88
Brazil 150.1 230.3 264.3 1.8 6,950 46.30 30.18 26.30
Canada 29.1 38.3 39.9 1.3 2,901 99.69 75.74 72.7
China 1190.9 1526.1 1606.0 1.4 2,800 2.35 1.83 1.74
Egypt 57.6 97.3 117.4 2.0 59 1.02 0.60 0.50
India 913.6 1392.1 1639.1 2.0 2,085 2.28 1.50 1.27
Indonesia 189.9 275.6 318.8 1.6 2,530 13.32 9.17 7.94
Japan 124.8 121.6 110.0 0.4 547 4.38 4.50 4.97
Mexico 91.9 136.6 161.4 2.2 357 3.88 2.61 2.21
Nigeria 107.9 238.4 338.5 2.9 308 2.87 1.29 0.91
Turkey 60.8 90.9 106.3 2'.1 203 3.34 2.23 1.91
United Kingdom 58.1 61.5 61.6 0.3 120 2.07 1.95 1.95
United States 260.6 331.2 349.0 1.0 2,478 9.51 7.48 7.10
(*) The 1994 population estimated and population growth rates are from the World Bank Atlas (1996). Population projection (medium variant) for 2025 and 2050 are from the United Nations (1994),

NO~ ____________________________________~ Water scarcity can equally be induced by man, as a re-

sult of an increase in population and/or per capita con-
sumption associated with social and economic devel-
opment, or as a consequence of incorrect water use
(over-exploitation of water resources, pollution, deser-
tification, etc.). One relevant case is the excessive use
of groundwater which tends to take place in some
--Actual countries, leading to a decrease in water levels and con-
- - PIoJected sequently increasing the cost of pumping, and therefore
the cost of the water supplied, to levels which are like-
ly to generate non-competitive economic activity, par-
ticularly in the case of irrigated crops.
Nowadays issues of scarcity have put water at top po-
litical agenda. Agreement on access to water is an im-
100 portant part of the peace accords between Israel and its
neighbors. A water treaty has also helped to maintain
o peace between India and Pakistan. But water policies
J950 1960 19110 1990 1995 2Qll 2010
are not confined to historical conflicted or dry areas.
Soura: World Bank data. Today, nearly 40 percent of the world's people live in
more than 200 river basins that are shared by more than
Fig. 1 - Projected growth in the number of cities with more than 1 million inhabitants, two countries. Even within countries, conflicts over wa-
1950-2025 (Source: World bank data).
ter are often bitter. As population and demand for lim-
ited supplies of water increase, interstate and interna-
projects supported by the World Bank indicates that the tional frictions over water can be expected to intensify.
cost per cubic meter of water for the next generation of
projects is often two to three times higher than the pre- Water quality
sent generation (Biswas, 1991a). An assessment of water resources is incomplete without
In many cases, water scarcity is the basic problem pre- knowledge of the quality characteristics as assessed by
venting a sustainable development of water resources. their physical, chemical and biological constituents.
Water shortage can be the result of natural conditions These constituents may originate naturally from the en-
related basically to low average amounts of available vironment (e.g. soils and geological formation) or from
water resources, i.e. aridity, or related to extreme wastes discharged as a result of agriculture, human set-
events, i.e. droughts, both creating difficulties to normal tlements and industrial activities. They are introduced
water supply and limiting the length of growing season. either from point sources (mostly industrial and munic-
Future climate changes due to global warming can also ipal), which are manageable, or from non-point sources
become a cause for water scarcity in certain regions. (mainly agricultural), in which easy management is

8
 MEDlT N° 2/98

more difficult. especially for groundwater and lakes and for some
The concentrations of the constituents simply express rivers as well. It should be noticed that, once the
the status of the water in physical, chemical and bio- groundwater is contaminated, it cannot be easily de-
logical terms, but quality can only be discussed mean- contaminated.
ingfully when it is related to a specific use. In such cas-
es, guidelines must be given on the concentrations of Water degradation and water pollution
various constituents which should not be exceeded in The annual world water withdrawal in 2000 is expected
order to avoid impairing the water for any particular to be approximately 5,200 km3 which corresponds
use. roughly to 13% of the natural runoff (39,000 km3) and
Until 1987 no attempt had been made to assess global- 250/0 of the stable runoff foreseen for the same year
ly the quality status of regional fresh waters. This was (20,000 km3). If one considers effective water consump-
due to lack of data from most countries, particularly tion instead of water withdrawal, these percentages will
from the developing ones, where water data were not be reduced to approximately half of these values, Le.,
collected on a regular basis. 7% and 13%.
In the remainder of this century, water issues will be- These figures, as presented, give no evidence of reason
come increasingly important. Monitoring and environ- for special concern, but the situation changes drastical-
mental ~anagement measures to preserve the quality of ly if pollution is taken into consideration. According to
existing groundwater and surface water resources will Lvovich 1979, the annual volume of wastewater reject-
take a prominent place on the agenda of global water ed in water bodies in 2000 is expected to be approxi-
resources use planning. Recently, different views have mately 6,000 km3, these wastewaters mobilizing ap-
been expressed concerning the relative importance of proximately 38,000 km3 of river runoff to absorb the
water quantity versus water quality for health environ- corresponding pollution. Considering that this last fig-
ment, and this on-gOing discussion will have to result in ure corresponds approximately to total natural runoff
a balanced view on the issue, taking into account local and is twice the stable runoff in 2000, and considering,
epidemiology, ecology and economy. furthermore, the marked differences in the world geo-
New technologies will need to be applied to detect and graphical distribution of water, this situation seems to
monitor water resources in an integrated manner. Water be a reason for serious concern.
quality is being checked through the Global Environ- These estimates are of course only approximate, but
mental Monitoring system by a network of national in- they illustrate a very unfavorable trend and draw atten-
stitutions. These data may be complemented by Remote tion to what appears to be a potentially alarming situa-
Sensing (RS) observations of watersheds and river tion threatening the sustainable development of water
basins, and they will be increasingly analyzed with the resources, unless the future evolution of water re-
use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It is of sources management and particularly of wastewater
great importance to create intersectorial networks in treatment technologies is very favorable and its applica-
which countries can apply these new technologies for a tion largely diffused.
sound and integrated management of their natural re- Water pollution can be direct or indirect. Direct pollu-
sources. Ministries of health will have to set up their tion is that resulting from rejecting pollutants directly in
health monitoring and epidemiological assessment ac- the water courses or the aquifers, and is usually the re-
tivities to provide such systems with adequate data so sult of routine activities or accidental events. Pollution
as to elucidate the linkage between environmental resulting from routine activities can be of two different
change and human health status. types: point source pollution, which is generated main-
In nearly all the developing countries, including the ly by municipal and industrial water use and can be
Mediterranean ones, water quality programs are either controlled by adequate sewage treatment technologies
in their infancy or even non existent. A reasonable clear which are well known but usually expensive (these
and detailed picture of environmental issues con- technologies cover primary and secondary treatment
fronting the land and water sectors does not exist, nor and in some cases tertiary treatment, e.g., when eu-
any accurate estimates on the cost of land and water trophication problems are important); diffuse pollution
degradation to the national economy. The cost is al- (or non-point-source pollution) which results from
ready significant at present, and if no drastic actions are farming, forestry, urban discharges, transportation, con-
taken, the existing trends show that it is likely to be- struction-industry and sanitation landfills, its control be-
come even higher during the 1990s. In addition, the sta- ing closely associated with good agricultural practices,
tus of water pollution and the extent to which water and the implementation of adequate land-use policies.
quality has been impaired for different potential uses Accidental pollution results from accidents which, in
simply are not available. On the basis of anecdotal and many cases, are likely to cause great damage. These ac-
very limited information available, it can be said that cide.nts have recently increased and will probably tend
the problem is already very serious near urban centers, to increase further in the future. Accidental pollution

9
 MEDlT N° 2/98

has to be controlled by planning in advance adequate drainage ditches. While one can question the actual
strategies for earlier detection and subsequent restric- percentage figures, there is no question that a very high
tion of the region affected and minimization of impacts. proportion of domestic and industrial effluents are un-
Human activities increase and more and more waste treated at present. Increased pollution from industrial
products are contaminating available sources of water. and domestic sources, if allowed to grow unchecked, is
Among the major contaminants are untreated or partial- likely to reduce the amount of water available for vari-
ly treated sewage, agricultural chemicals, and industrial ous purposes in the future. At our present state of
effluents. These contaminants are seriously affecting the knowledge, we Simply do not know the extent of con-
quality of water, especially for domestic use. Already tamination that has already occurred and which may
many sources of water near the urban centers of devel- render some water sources unusable in the future with-
oping countries have been severely contaminated, thus out expensive treatment. Protection of water resources,
impairing their potential use. if not receiving a priority consideration, will be a major
The common contaminants were found to be heavy cause for water scarcity in certain regions. In addition,
metals and organic micropollutants. The pollution prob- the total economic and health costs to the country due
lems were classified into those that were common to all to unchecked pollution would be unbearable. Deterio-
fresh water bodies and those specific to rivers, ration in the quality of this vital resource has very seri-
lakes/reservoirs or groundwater. The classification is ous implications for health and the quality of life. Ac-
presented in table 3. cess to it becomes a right requiring equitable distribu-
In developing countries, both fertilizers and pesticides tion to all society. Attempts have been made in most
are used in relatively huge quantities without the exis- countries to ensure that even the poorest sections of the
tence of a real control and regulations for use. Nitrate population have access to good quality drinking water,
contamination of groundwater from agricultural activi- but much effort is still needed to attain this objective.
ties has been a major environmental concern in many Globally, water-related diseases account for 8 percent
developing countries especially in those with extensive of all illness in developing countries, affecting some 2
irrigated agriculture. billion people annually. It is estimated that 2 million
We continue to ignore the critical role of water in main- children die for such diseases each year, death that
taining the quality of the environment and the link be- could be averted if water supply and sanitation services
tween a healthy environment and a healthy economy. were adequate. These diseases also play a significant
Already half of our coastal wetlands have been drained role in adult mortality and sickness. Poor health caused
for infra-structural or agricultural development, and in by water-related diseases and unsanitary practices is
many places groundwater is seriously at risk from over very costly to the economy in terms of working days
exploitation and contamination by urban and rural pol- lost and reduced productivity. The pollution of water
lutants and the intrusion of saltwater. Sewage and in- supplies may be aggravated if drinking water supply
dustrial waste pollute rivers on every continent. By programs are not accompanied by appropriate sewage
some estimates, the amount of water made unusable by systems. Many developing countries have the opera-
pollution is almost as great as the amount actually used tional means to assess their water quality. Without this
in the human economy. information, they may be unaware of problems and
Nowadays, water pollution is already a serious problem perhaps endanger their population's health.
in the majority of the developing countries: a large per-
centage of wastewater is untreated, and this is directly The structural imbalance and shrinking investments
discharged into water courses, irrigation canals and The dominant fact which will be strongly evident over
the next few decades is the structural imbalance be-
tween the constantly increasing demand for water to
Table 2 Occurrence of major pollution problems in different
meet needs, and the naturally available water resources.
types of water bodies. Over the last few decades, the imbalance was limited to
a few countries and requirements were met by the
Water pollution problem
gradual additional harnessing of natural resources
Type of water body Specific of water body Ubiquitous occurrence wrongly thought of as being infinite. This room for ma-
River Pathogens Heavy Metals noeuvre is progressively contracting and will be avail-
Organic matter able less and less in the future.
Suspended matter
Acidification Throughout the world, for the most part all easily ex-
Lakes and reservoirs Eutrophication ploitable sources of water have already been, or are
Acidification Organic currently being developed. For instance, in several
Groundwaters Salinization Micropollutants
Nitrates Mediterranean countries, the imbalance will appear
Source: WHOIUNEP. 1989. around the year 2000 and beyond. In the Middle East
Region and the Southern Mediterranean countries, the

10
 :'IEDIT N" 2/98

water demands will fas t approach the limit of resources cline in the donor's interest in providing investme nt
and the majoriry of cou nrries in both regions could en- funds fo r major water develo pment projects in devel-
ter a period of chro nic shortage during rhe 1990s. These o ping countries and the high capital requireme nts for
countries will be faCing severa l similar problems thar new projects, mean that there may be significa nt delay
may be outlined as fo llows (Hamdy et ai, 1995): in the implementation timetable of future projects and
• decl ining wa te r resources per inhab itant both in that additio na l new sources of water would not be
terms of water availabiliry and water withdrawals. It is ava ilable in the future as expected at present. This com-
expected that the available water per capita will be re- placency, in all li kelihood , would make the future wa-
duced by nearly 50% of the present level (figure 2); ter crises even mo re serious than what they are expect-
• explo itation of water at a relatively high rate w ith the ed to be at present.
ri sk of water deteriorati on;
• excessive reduction in water w ithdrawals per capita, Inefficient water use
which w ill impose a Signifi cant effect o n water secto ri- Wate r resources problems are often associated with lack
al use, creating notable competition and confli ct among of effiCiency in wa ter use in agriculture, industrial and
users in various sectors, and in the irrigation and do- do mestic supply.
mestic secto rs in particular. Priorities w ill be given to Agriculture is by far the most important water use activ-
satiSfy d rinking water demands to the expense of the ity (table 3); it is also probably the sector least efficie nt
available water alloca ted for the irrigation sector with in water use (figure 3). Worldwide the efficiency of ir-
rigation system is estimated at o nly
40%. But given sufficient incentives,
water w ithdrawals fo r irrigation
could be cut by 10 to 40% widloUt
m1987 reducing crop production.
fll2025 Low irrigatio n efficiencies ca n be
pri ma rily attributed to water mis-
management (figure 3), in addition
to technical problems of con-
veya nce, distributio n and o n-farm
application as well as to poor main-
te nance of irrigation structures, of-
te n ca used by inadequate invest-
ments for operation and mainte-
nance . In almost a ll deve loping
countries w here majo r rehabilitation
Syria Tunisia sracl
Turkey Lebanon Cyprus Morocco Egypt Agerfa
"'" o r modernization of wate r suppl y
systems are needed, finanC ing is a
Fig. 2 - It"{/fcr {/l'(li/(lbility pcrc(ljJil(l ;/1 Ibc ~Olllbcrl/ :I1eciilenrlllellll CO/ lllllies.

the co nsequ e nce of less irrigated

su rface and more land degradation;
• progress ive degradatio n in the
quality of ava ilable water resources Irri gation system
beca use o f increasing waste load losses 15%
Water effectively
discharged in water bod ies and the
atmosphere. used by crop
45% Field application
The other reason why expanding ir-
losses 25 %
rigatio n water supply in rea l terms is
unli kely to effect dramatic increase
in water demands, is the cost of de-
veloping new water sources.
Tt is expected that such costs for the
Farm distribution
next generatio n of projects to be of-
te n two to three times highe r than losses 15%
that of the present generati o n
(Wo rld Bank, 1992).
In addition, the very noticeable de- Fig. 3 - A/Jer(Jge losses ojinig(llioll /I'{ller (Source: /':-10. 1994).

11
 ~ lEDlT W 2198

of the total gross irrigated area 73% was in develo ping

Table 3 Evolution of dislribution of waler use by Iypes of use. countries. In contrast to irrigatio n, two thirds of the
Waler withdrawal (%) Elleclive consumption (%)
drained and flood protected area of the world are in de-
veloping cou ntries . (figure 5).
1940 I 1980 I 2000 1940 I 1980 I 2000 In spite of this rapid expansio n in gross irrigated areas,
irrigation and drainage have undergone little techno-
Agriculture 84 72 65 96 95 94 logical change over this period. Principally as a result of
Industry 12 22 26 2 3 4
inadequme technologies, nlanagement pract.ices and
Municipal 4 6 9 2 2 2
poliCies, most irrigation systems aro und the world in
both develo ping and develo ped countries, are perform-
principal constraint. ing far below the ir potential. This is true in Virtually
Equally, several countries are still considering water as every dimensio n of perfo rmance, efficiency, productiv-
a free commodity w ith prices always lower than rea l ity, equity, sustainability and impact o n nrral livelihood.
cost, and in particular irrigatio n water that is often heav- In developing countries, irrigated agriculture is glo bally
ily subsidized . The fa ilure to recognize the econo mic characterized by the fo llowing features:
value of wa ter has led (0 wastefu l and e nviro nmentally • the overall performance of many irrigated projects is
damaging uses of the resource. Managing water as an much less than expected. Inadequate o peratio n and
economic commod ity is an impo rtant way of achieving maintenance and ineffiCient managenlent of an increas-
efficient and equitable use and of encourag ing conser- ingly scarce water resource contribute to problems;
vation and protection of water sources. It sho uld be re- • the priority is always given to the water q uantity w ith
alized that, if we want to have
enough water of sufficie ntly good
quality, we have to pay fo r its true
value . There is much roo m fo r in- So uth A merica 9
creased effi ciency in water sources North & Cen t ra l
North Africa 8 \
use . In thi s respect, irrigation is a Near Eas t 18 Ame ri ca 30
major concernj as water is often Africa' 5 ~
supplied to fa nners at a cost well Oceania 2 .............
below the cost of supply, this be ing
a particularly impo rtant issue in de-
veloping cou ntries, the food pro-
du ctio n of th ese countries would
greatly be ne fit. Achieving such
goa ls is primarily a su bject of a
proper and e nvironmentally sou nd
water management of the available Far East 143
water resources in each country.
In o rder to raise irrigatio n effi cie n- Fig . " • If/orld intga/ed are(l, 1986 by regioll (m illiOIl hectares).
cies, it is necessa lY (0 improve sys-
tem wa ter managelnent and on-
farm wa ter management, w here the North Africa 3 South AAlerica 9 Near East 3
fa rmer must be a pre req uisite fo r
the latter. In o rder to improve o per-
ational effi cie ncy, it needs to be rec-
ognized that irrigatio n develo pme nt
Africa' 0.01 ___
Oceania 1
""-
__
""-
\
/ North & Central
AAlerica58

is now prilnariiy a management task Far East 42

rather than a design and construc-
tion one.

Poor performance of irrigatio n

and drainage systems
Over the last 40 years, the area of ir-
rigated land in the wo rld has ex-
panded ra pidly at an overall rate of Europe & USSR 51
2.7% a yea r and it has reached 253
lniiiion hectares in 1986 (figure 4); Fig . 5 . Area p rotected bydmillflg(! flllrij1ood COli/roil,)' reg ioll ( millioll /)L'Ctflres).

12
 ,\ IED!"!" W 2198

minimum co nsideratio n to its quality; the quantity and

quality are not inte rlinked ;
• large irrigatio n projects have been given high prio ri- Salinity 60
ty, while small-scale wate r programs for agriculture
have received inadequate attentio n.
Poor manage me nt practices , ineffi cient wate r use, fail-
ure to place a high economic value o n water have un-
doubte dly had a profo und impact o n the eanh's physi-
ca l e nvironme nt.
Water-logge d and salted lands, declining and contami-
No salinity 190
nated aquife rs, shrinking lakes a nd d estru ctio n of
aquatic habitats combine to hang onto irrigatio n a high
e nviro nnle ntal price .
Biswas (1991) estimates that the share o f irrigated land
damaged by salinization amo unts to 27% of the total ir- Global salinity level
rigated area aro und the world. Szabo lcs (1 989) esti-
mates that some 10 millio n hectares are aba ndo ned
yearly as a conseque nce of salinizatio n, sodification and USA 5.2
waterlogging.
Figure 6 gives an idea o f the proble m worldw ide (Pos- Pakistan 3.2
te l, 1989). India 20
T HE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER MANAGEMENT
Environmentally-sound wate r manageme nt implies that:
1. development be contro lled in such a way to insure
that the resource itself is mainta ined and that the ad- Others 22.3
verse effects o n othe r resources a re conside re d and
whe re possible ame liorated ; ,
2. o ptions for future develo pme nt are not fo reclosed ;
and USSR 2.5
3. effi cie ncy in wate r use and in the use of capita l are
key criteria in strategy selectio n. Salinity distribution by countries
Recognizing these ideas is one thing, translating them
into actio n is a nothe r. Mo re s pecifica lly, what is re- Fig . 6 - Inig(l{ed /tmd d(llllaged by salill iz(I/ioll (a reas ill milliOIl bee/ares).
quired to foste r the ado ptio n o f the three e le me nts not-
ed above in planning a nd p olicy making a re : the recog-
nition of concepts of enviro nme ntally-sound deve lop- the Medite rranean regio n indicates that the re are many
me nt and resilience, the incorpo ratio n o f a mo re com- constraints w hi ch limit the p o te ntia l a p plicatio n of
pre he nsive pe rspective and the pursuit o f highe r levels available knowle dge by wate r professio nal and deci-
of effi ciency. sion-makers in d evelo ping countries. On the basis of
Pre paration of wate r ma nageme nt requires planning, this analysis, the fo llowing five majo r constra ints can be
des ign and imple me ntation o f w ater control systems, identified:
including o pe ratio n a nd mainte nance, regulatolY over- 1. incomplete framework fo r analysis;
sight and coordina tio n . The manageme nt o f w ate r 2. lack of appro priate me thodo logy;
shortage integrates all facets o f wate r resources man- 3. inadequacy o f knowledge;
ageme nt, including water supply, wate r quality man- 4. institutional constraints;
ageme nt, irrigatio n and farm drainage, e nergy gene ra- 5. absence of integrative approach.
tio n, fishe ries e nhanceme nt, recreatio n and gene ral aes- It should be noted that the four majo r constra ints ide n-
thetics, as well as flood control. tified are not inde pe nde nt. O n the contra lY, they are of-
In such a complex task, the re is a confusio n about who te n closely inte rre lated.
should do what in o rde r to be ready to handle the pro b-
lem. 1. Incomp lete Ji m nework fo r the analysis
The framework curre ntly used for a nalysis a nd consid-
Constraints to enviro nme nta lly-sound manageme nt e ring various e nviro ntne nta l ilnpacts associated w ith
A compre he nsive a nd critical analysis o f existing lite ra- wate r develo pme nt p rojects is ovelw he hning ly biased
(Ure o n e nviro nme ntal aspects o f water developme nt in towards assessing o nly the nega tive impacts.

13
 r.1EDlT W 2198

What is thus needed is a balanced framework for analy-

sis which will identify both positive and negative im-
pacts. The next step should then be how to maximize
the positive impa cts and minimize the nega tive ones . A
framework that considers only the negative impacts and
ignores the positive ones is both incomplete and coun-
terproductive.
2. Lack o/methodology
A review of the process currently used by developing
countries to incorporate environmental issues in water
management indicates that the methodologies available
at present do not appear to satisfy the special require-
ments of those countries. While the environmental im-
pact assessment (EIA) process was made mandatOlY in
several industriali zed countries, its actual use so far in
develo ping countries has been somewhat slow. The
reason for this slow acceptance is the lack of an opera-
tio nal methodology that ca n be successfu lly applied in
the develop ing countries w ith limited expertise , re-
sources, data and time. The ElA methodologies that are
being used in industrialized countries are not directly
transferable to developing countries fo r various socio-
economic and institutional reasons (Biswas and Kindler,
1989).
The complex, lengthy, expensive and time-consuming
ElAs as practiced in developed countries, are not the
right tool to assess the impact of water development
projects in developing countries . It is also impo rtant
that in addition to being appropriate to local circum- scientific basis, methods and techniques used in ma king
stances, they should be affordable in terms of cost and the assessments.
maintenance. Many hydrological services in the devel- There are many areas where adequate technical knowl-
oping Mediterranean countries have not been guided edge may not exist for getting reliable answers. Equal-
on these latter aspects . It is not uncommo n to find that ly, there are areas where "conventiona l" knowledge can
equiplnent has been acquired without ensuring that it at best be dubious and at worst totally erroneous.
can be operated and maintained properly. Hence, the
life span of equipme nt is unduly shortened, thereby 4. Institu.tional constraints
wasting scarce resources . Also, it is necessa IY to devel- A sectorial approach to water development is a major
op guidelines w hich can aCI1Ially be used by profes- instil1Itio nal constraint in all developed and developing
sionals for water management in planning and manag- countries, and this has an inlportant bearing on the sus-
ing projects. tainability of projects.
There are many reasons for this situation , but one of the
3. Lack of adequate knowledge most important is the division of responsibilities be-
The results presented so far show that there is some tween the va ri ous wate r-related issues. Because of
working knowledge about the Mediterranean countries long-stand ing rivalries, the coordination and coopera-
water. I-Io\vever, as it ca n be seen from a comparison of tion between the various ministers leave much to be de-
the various estimates, differe nces exist with regard to sired and yet in any large scale water development pro-
the water balance components and the \-vater resou rces ject all these issues must be integrated within the pro-
at the vario us levels. ject area. While it is easy to point out this necessity,
Those scie ntists who have made contributions to this how this integration ca n be really effected in the field is
knowledge, pointed to the lack of adequate data o n the a very complex and daunting task.
hydrological cycle, the lack of sufficie nt area l coverage
of the data and their representativeness, the gaps in da- 5. Absence 0/ integrated approacb
ta, the quality of data, and in some cases problems of The "Integrated " approach is not really new. It was al-
access to data even if they are ava ilable. In addition , ready recommended at the 1977 Un ited Nations Con-
there are questions raised about the adequacy of the ference in Ma r del Plara that led to the declaration of the

14
 l\lED1T W 2/98

be ca rried out at the level of the catchment o r sub-

basin ... ".
The Rio conference further clarified that, integrated wa-
ter resources managenlent was based on the perception
of wa ter as a natural resource, a social and economic
commodity w hose quantity and quality determine the
natu re of its utilizatio n.
The analysis of the afo rementio ned statements starting
from the U.N. Ma r del Plata (977) and ending with the
Rio Earth Summit (992), recommended the integrated
approach for a n effect ive manageme nt of wate r re-
sources as its objectives are to achieve the social goals
of equity, efficiency and enviro nmental quality . Howev-
er, in spite of the investments and the efforts made dur-
ing that decade, these objectives were not met and to-
da y more than o ne billio n people d o not enjoy access
to clea n water and almost two billio ns are w itho ut ade-
quate sanitatio n. This is the general situatio n, the ques-
tion is what sho uld be d one to improve it and be ready
to overCOlne future shorta ge of w ater.
It is very difficult to speak generally, but some im-
provement can be done using past-expe rience and ac-
cumulated knowledge.
To alleviate the problem of water shortage, the fo llow-
ing is needed:
• Improve info rm ati on acti vities, generall y the most
neglected o nes, including:
data collection and I11anageI11ent;
analysis and planning;
1980s as the Water and Sanitatio n Decade with the ob- coordination and technica l assistance;
jective of providing drinking wate r and sanitatio n for all research , training and public infonnation education.
by 1990. Data management is a critical inform ation acti vity in a
This was analyzed at length during numerous reg io nal situation of sho ltage of water. To be successful , data
and internatio nal confere nces most notably at New Del- managelnent nlust be integrated w ith regulation, water
hi in 1990, Delft in 1991, Du blin in JanualY 1992 and supply assu rance, water allocatio n , planning fo r devel-
Rio in June 1992. All of these conferences sU'essed again opment and comprehensive wa ter 111anagement.
the impo rtance of an integrated approach to water re- - The management of water resources scarcity sho uld
sources planning and manageme nt. For exa mple, the be a continuous process and not a project which starts
Dublin confere nce Repo rt states: "... The effective man- when a dro ug ht occurs and finishes w hen water sup-
agement of wa ter resources demands a bolistic ap- plies are back to no rmal.
proach linking social and economic developme nt w ith - Improve water supply by the improveme nt of exist-
protectio n of natural ecosyste ms incl uding land and ing \vater resources through: efficient uses, constru ction
wa ter linkages across catchment areas or grounclwa ter of su rface reservoirs, conjunctive use of surface and
acqu ife rs.. .". groundwa ter, conselva tion and protection of \v ater re-
The Wo Earth Sunl nlit's recommendation given in its sources and rain halves ting.
Agenda 21 , chapter 18 e ntitled "Protection of the quali- - The reuse of unconventional water resources on a
ty and supply of Freshwater Resources: App lication of relatively large sca le in the agri culnlral sector through
Integrated Approaches to the Deve lo pme nt, Ma nage- the set-up of new management strategies w hich are ,
ment and Use of Water resources" states: "As po pula- technically, environmentally and econo mically applica-
tion and economic activities grow, many countries are ble.
rapidl y reach ing conditions of wa ter sca rcity or are fac-
ing limits to econo mic developme nt. This scarcity, ac- Fundamental environmental challenges
compa nied by aggravated po llution of freshwate r re- 7Z1ree jitndalnental enviro'n11'zental challenges wi ll have
sources .. ., demands the integration of sectorial wa ter to be addressed in the new strategies needed fo r the 21 "
plans and programs w ithin the framework of national centllly .
economic and social po licies ... This integratio n sho uld 1. mu.l/ i-cause wa/er scarcily d ue to:

15
 MEDlT N° 2/98

- population growth per se producing an ever increas- ter for all by 1990 would be $92.2 billions. In 1980 the
ing population pressure on a finite water availability; World Bank estimated that, assuming complete urban
- urban growth resulting in ever-increasing point de- and rural coverage with the urban population being
mands for water; "served at commonly accepted levels of house connec-
- desiccation of the landscape due to degradation of tions for water and sewerage and the rural population
soil permeability and leading to drought-like conditions at a lower standard of service", the total costs would be
even in high rainfall areas. more than $600 billions. Using a "wider mix of service
2. multi-cause water pollution due to: levels and the use of more appropriate technologies",
- airborne emissions; the Bank provided a second option of $300 billions or
- pollution from agricultural land-use, industrial activ- less.
ities, and human waste; Assuming that such estimates are correct, it means an
- wastewater outlets. investment of $82.2 millions every day of the decade for
Pollution from most of these sources gets caught and new drinking water installations alone; other aspects of
carried by the water cycle and ends up, often with detri- water management are not included.
mental impact, in land and water ecosystems. The above figures are given primarily to show that the
3. multi-cause water-related fertility degradation due financial resources necessary for efficient water re-
to: sources management and development are substantial.
- salinizationlwater logging from poor irrigation man- There is no point in making the rhetorical statement
agement that if only 1% of global expenditures on armaments
- effects of acid rain originating from air emissions; could be channeled to water management, financial
- reduced water holding capacity due to reduced use problems would be resolved.
of organic fertilizers, and removal of organic matter Poor cost recovery in water projects in developing
from the soil; countries also contributes to additional funding limita-
- land permeability degradation due to mismanage- tions. What are urgently needed are realistic plans for
ment of land. mobilizing financial resources at both national and in-
To these challenges one should add the finanCial chal- ternationallevels which not only include capital invest-
lenge. The widening gap between financial resources ment costs but also adequate operation and manage-
available and the escalating needs of funds for water re- ment costs of all the water projects constructed.
sources development and management for the socio-
economic development of the Third World region re- Development and training of human resources
quires urgent attention. This situation forces us to find The lack of adequately trained human resources is a se-
ways to get more out of less. Funds needed for invest- rious constraint to efficient management of water re-
ments, operation and maintenance in the traditional sources in most developing countries.
water sector are estimated at up to 20% of public ex- On a long-term basis, training is probably one of the
penditures in many countries. The debt burden in de- most important requirements for efficient water man-
veloping countries constraints their ability to invest in agement. Current evidence indicates that the lack of
water projects with long gestation periods. Many coun- trained and experienced personnel has tended to in-
tries also provide large subsidies to particular water crease the cost of water projects and at the same time
users, which can distort water use and interfere with reduce their efficiency. For example, if irrigation pro-
sustainable use of the resource. jects are considered, the lack of trained management
personnel and the absence of farmers experienced in ir-
Areas requiring improved efficiency rigated agriculture have not only tended to increase the
in water management irrigation costs but have also reduced the benefits ex-
For environmentally sound water management to be pected from the schemes. In addition, the lack of tech-
satisfactorily implemented still much has to be done in nicians and other similar trained personnel at lower lev-
several important areas as illustrated in the following: els of expertise is creating serious management bottle-
necks.
Mobilization offinanCial resources An important aspect of the development and mobiliza-
Developing countries must mobilize adequate financial tion of human resources that has not received adequate
resources for water management. The amounts of in- attention thus far is the underemployment and ineffec-
vestment required for water management, both capital tive use of trained manpower in several developing
costs and subsequent operation and management costs countries. In these countries, generally speaking, an ad-
are significant. In a paper prepared for the Water Con- equate pool of trained manpower exists, but because of
ference, the WHO, with initial assistance from the world lack of incentives, the inability of management to moti-
Bank, estimated that the investment necessary to meet vate staff, excessive institutional red tape and other re-
the target set for community water supply of clean wa- lated reasons, staff members often do not develop, or

16
 ME[)rT W 2JWl

sound water ma nageme nt unde r s ite-specific co ndi-

tions.

ConservCltion and enbcm.cem enl ()/ water qualily

As a general rule, nearly all develo ping countries have
better expeltise, data bases and institutional ca pacity fo r
the manageme nt of water quantity than water quality,
even tho ugh wate r qu antity a nd quality aspects are
closely inte rrelated . While there are some sig ns thar in-
terest in w ater quality management is increasing, much
progress remains to be made .
Many develo ping countries have still nor fo rmulated
water quality standards to contro l the d ischarge of ef-
flu ents to borh surface and g ro und warer. Even in those
countries w here standards exist, the mo nito ring and e n-
fo rcement of standards leave much to be deSired . The
use of po licy alternatives such as accelerated de precia-
tio n and tax incentives to e ncourage investment in po l-
lutio n contro l facilities requires furthe r attentio n. Simi-
larly, acceptance of the "po lluter pays" principle, and
seldom wo rk at their full porential. While multilateral ensuring that po lluters do actually pay, will go a long
and bilateral o rganizatio ns have now mostly started to way towards contro lling water pollutio n.
give increasing ane ntio n to training requireme nts, com- In some develo ping countries, considerable debate is
mensurate interest in improv ing ove ra ll manageri al now ta king place o n the tradeoffs between the benefits
skills is gene rally lacking. If manageria l skills can be im- occurring fro m po llutio n contro l and the increased
proved -and the scope for such improveme nt is su b- costs of economic acti vities. A rational analysis of any
stantial -there is no doubt that mo re can be achieved such tra deoff is somewhat complex since the hea lth
in most countries with the curre ntly ava ilable financial and e nviro nmental costs of water po llutio n are neither
and human resources. The strengthe ning of managerial easy to q ua ntify no r are they necessa rily paid by the
skills requires the urgent ane ntio n of all parties con- po lluters and the ir immediate customers.
cerned.
Mitigatio n of natu ral hazards: d roughts and fl oods
Developmenl and applicalion Two of the impo rtant o bjectives of any water develop-
of appropriale lecimology ment project are fl ood control and reducing the impacts
Efficient warer manageme nt de pends nor o nly o n peo- of dro ughts. The unto ld human suffering ca used by the
ple, but also o n the resources and techno logy they have recent d ro ughts in many sub-Sa haran countries is well
access tOI and the sod o-cultural-institutional framework known. Similarly devastatio n due to periodic floods can
within w hich these are utili zed ( Biswas and Biswas, be w itnessed in all develo ping countries. Effi cie nt water
1985; Fano, 1981). By itself, techno logy employed in management can alleviate many of these problems.
pursuit of rati ona l w ater managenlent is neutral, but Fo r bener fl ood and drought management, a be ner and
how it is used can determine the success o r failure of broader vision is necessaly . \X1a ter management by itself
p rojects . The cho ice of techno logy de pe nds o n many is unlikely to be eno ugh. We need to look ar land and
factors, and ofte n what may be considered the most ap- water as an inte ra cting unit if the ad verse impacts of
propriate techno logy in o ne counuy turns o ut to be fl oods and droughts are worsened due to human activ-
most inappropriate fo r solVing almost ide ntica l prob- ities, w hich means that better planning and control
lems in ano ther. mechanisms need to be used . Watershed management,
Developing countries are not all the same: they are at patterns of land use, a working wa rning system, and the
different stages of develo pme nt and may ha ve diffe rent existence of adequate relief measures are normally es-
social 1 cultural and institutional backgrounds. se ntial fo r the man ageme nt o f natural hazards like
Many instances can be cited where inappro priate tech- fl oods and dro ught.
nology is being impo rted to develo ping countries fro m
industriali zed countries l through either bi lateral or mu l- CONCLUDI NG HECOMMENDATI ONS
tilateral aid programs, without criti cal appraisal by ei- It is becoming clearer and cl ea rer thar, continu ed rapid
ther the do nors or the recipie nts . Accordingly, mo re at- growth in po pu latio n togethe r with socio-econo mic
tentio n needs to be given to develo ping and using ap- changes are exerting increasing pressure on policymak-
pro priate technology for effi cient and e nvironmentally ers and o n the public to find viable and rea lisric water

17
 MEDIT N° 2/98

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18