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17 Jan 2024 Story Fresh water


AS SHORTAGES MOUNT, COUNTRIES HUNT FOR NOVEL SOURCES OF WATER

Photo: AFP

Drive down the dusty roads of Jamaica’s rural Mount Airy district and one will
see dozens of black water tanks, many connected with drainpipes to the rooftops
of neighbouring houses.

The tanks measure two metres tall. They collect rainwater and through a drip
irrigation system, channel it to nearby fields brimming with tomatoes, peppers
and sweet potatoes.

In an area increasingly plagued by drought, which has been linked to climate
change, these tanks have become a lifeline for local farmers.

“Everybody I know faces the same challenge of reduced rain and less predictable
rainfall,” says farmer Althea Spencer. Having the rainwater harvesting system in
place “feels pretty good,” she adds.

Related
Story
Rivers, lakes under mounting pressure
A new portal aims to improve water quality through better data

The Mount Airy work is supported by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP). It is part of a push by communities around the world to manage water
more sustainably and to find novel sources of water, a quest that has involved
everything from purifying sewage to seeding clouds. Those efforts are being
driven by what experts say is a looming global water crisis, fed in part by
climate change, that could leave two-thirds of humanity facing water stress by
next year.

“Water scarcity has become a critical issue for an increasing number of
countries,” says Leticia Carvalho, Principal Coordinator of UNEP’s Freshwater
and Marine Branch. “Countries across the globe will therefore need to be more
creative in the way they manage, conserve and secure water sources in the years
to come. Using unconventional water sources wisely, and in harmony with nature,
will be essential for accelerated progress on the Sustainable Development
Goals.”

Water security is expected to be on the agenda when leaders meet in Nairobi,
Kenya next month for the sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly, the
world’s highest-level decision-making body on issues related to the environment.

Protesters decry water shortages in Montevideo, Uruguay. Some 2.4 billion people
live in water-stressed countries, a number expected to rise dramatically in the
years to come. Photo: AFP/Eitan Abramovich

Today, 2.4 billion people live in water-stressed countries, defined as nations
that withdraw 25 per cent or more of their renewable freshwater resources to
meet water demand.

Hard hit regions include Southern and Central Asia, and North Africa, where the
situation is considered critical. Even countries with highly developed
infrastructure, like the United States, are seeing water levels drop to record
lows.

Along with climate change, the crisis is being fed by unchecked urbanization,
rapid population growth, pollution and land development. Water shortfalls
already affect everything from food security to biodiversity and in the coming
years, they are poised to become more common.

By 2025, 1.8 billion people are likely to face what the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) calls “absolute water scarcity” and two-thirds of the global
population is expected to be grappling with water stress.

Rethinking where to get water

Historically, most fresh water for drinking and sanitation has come from
groundwater aquifers. But many are drying up due to overuse, longer dry seasons
and drought. This is a heightened risk factor for small island developing states
where freshwater is becoming increasingly threatened by salination as sea levels
rise and degraded lands sink.



In a bid to find water, countries are turning to more unconventional sources.

In some rural areas, including in Chile and Peru, communities are collecting
water suspended in the air. Some of these systems use a fine mesh to trap tiny
droplets of fog and syphon them into a reservoir.

Many communities are also looking at wastewater as a potential answer to water
stress. A 2023 UNEP report found it could supply more than 10 times the water
provided by the world’s current desalination plants. Wastewater is also a source
of energy, nutrients and other recoverable materials, yet only 58 per cent of
household wastewater is safely treated globally. Wastewater is often not reused
due to fears about contagions, microplastics and antimicrobial drugs. But
experts say with the right policies and technologies, wastewater can safely be
given a second life.

Desalination plants, like this one in Saudi Arabia, provide drinking water to
300 million people around the world. However, there are concerns about the
environmental toll of the facilities, which often run on fossil fuels and
discharge toxic brine. Photo: AFP/Fayez Nurledine

In recent years, countries have started to embrace desalination, the process of
removing salt from saltwater and filtering it to produce drinking water.
According to a 2018 UN study there are 15,906 operational desalination
plants producing around 95 million cubic metres a day of desalinated water for
human use, of which 48 per cent is produced in West Asia and North Africa. The
global dependence on desalination is predicted to grow rapidly in the coming
years.

"Water scarcity has become a critical issue for an increasing number of
countries, particularly in the Global South."

Leticia Carvalho, UNEP

Several nations, such as Bahamas, Maldives and Malta, meet all their water needs
through desalination, and about half of Saudi Arabia’s drinking water comes from
it. However, desalination requires hefty investment in piping and pumping
infrastructure, while the fossil fuels normally used in the energy-intensive
desalination process contribute to global warming. The toxic brine desalination
produces also pollutes coastal ecosystems.

In their quest to find more water, countries are also looking to tap the
atmosphere which is estimated to contain 13,000 cubic kilometres of water
vapour. A growing number of countries are experimenting with cloud seeding, a
technique in which clouds are sown with silver iodide to make them rain or snow.
Nations from Australia to South Africa have invested in the technology, and
China has one of the world’s most ambitious programmes. However, guardrails need
to be put in place, say experts, to avoid unintended consequences, such as
drought in other regions.

Opportunities and barriers

While nations search for new sources of fresh water, experts say communities
also need to better manage the water they do have.

On that front, the biggest opportunity is in lessening water loss in
agricultural systems by, for example, investing in drip irrigation. Experts also
say cities, home to more than half the world’s people, must do a better job of
stemming water losses, including from leaky pipes. In the United States, for
example, more than 3.7 trillion litres of water are lost annually to faulty
household plumbing.



In Jamaica, farmers say newly installed drip irrigation systems are helping to
fend off water shortages brought on by climate change. Photo: Thomas
Gordon-Martin



“Using our existing water resources much more efficiently, while also tapping
unconventional water sources has huge potential to improve lives and
livelihoods,” said UNEP’s Carvalho. Policymakers in water-scarce countries need
to “radically rethink” their water planning policies by adding unconventional
sources of water to the mix, she added. “For this to happen quickly
international financial support, along with science to guide the sustainability
of various approaches is urgently needed,” she said.

 

For further information, please contact Lis Mullin Bernhardt:
lis.bernhardt@un.org or Alex Pires: alex.pires@un.org

The sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) will be
held from 26 February to 1 March 2024 at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi,
Kenya, under the theme: effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral
actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Through its
resolutions and calls to action, the Assembly provides leadership and catalyzes
intergovernmental action on the environment.

Topics
 * Fresh water
 * Climate action
 * Ocean & coasts
 * Sustainable development goals

 * UN Environment Assembly
 * Health
 * Issues of Concern (IoC)
 * Nature for human and ecosystem health
 * Pollution
 * Sustainable Development
 * UNEA6


FURTHER RESOURCES

 * UNEP’s work on climate change
 * Integrating unconventional water resources to support water-related SDGs
 * Blueprint for Acceleration: Sustainable Development Goal 6 Synthesis Report
   on Water and Sanitation 2023
 * Wastewater - Turning Problem to Solution
 * Freshwater Ecosystems Explorer
 * Cartagena Convention Secretariat training tool
 * Pathway to the World Water Quality Assessment
 * Promoting rainwater harvesting


ALSO PART OF THIS SERIES

AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE MOMENTS THAT WILL HELP DEFINE UNEA-6

THE WORLD HAS AN ENVIRONMENTAL MUST-DO LIST, SAYS UNEP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AHEAD
OF UNEA-6

NEW BODY AIMS TO LIMIT POLLUTION’S DEADLY TOLL

UN ENVIRONMENT ASSEMBLY TO TAKE ON CLIMATE CHANGE, NATURE LOSS, POLLUTION

INSIDE THE HIGH-TECH EFFORT TO SAVE THE WORLD’S DWINDLING SAND RESERVES

WHAT IS PHOSPHORUS AND WHY ARE CONCERNS MOUNTING ABOUT ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT?

IN BHUTAN, THE ENDANGERED BENGAL TIGER IS MAKING A COMEBACK

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