“The world has got a very big water problem. It will be the progenitor of more wars than oil.” – Sir Crispin Tickell, one of the organizers of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro
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Water crisis is for real!
In just one issue recently, Philippine Daily Inquirer came up with two headlines bannering the problem. “In Bohol, farmers pray for rains as water supply dwindles,” correspondent Leo Udtohan wrote.
“Farmers have been complaining of lack of rain that has affected at least 6,000 hectares of rice fields in Bohol province, considered the rice bowl of Central Visayas,” the Bohol scribe reported.
Udtohan quoted Larry Pamugas, the acting provincial agriculturist as saying: “We experienced scattered rainfall (this August), but the (rain volume) was still below normal. It (was not enough) to soak (the farmers’ paddies) to give them confidence that they would have a good harvest.”
Pamugas said that “water levels in four irrigation dams—Malinao in Pilar town, Bayongan in San Miguel town, Capayas in Ubay town and Zamora in Talibon town—had started to drop and were nearing the critical mark.”
On the other hand, Ronnel W. Domingo reported that Manila may experience water shortage by 2021. “Manila Water Co. Inc. yesterday warned of possible water shortage in its concession area starting as early as 2021 as regulators still have not acted on its proposal to build a new water source,” the news report said.
The Philippines is a water-rich country – what with more than 7,000 islands. And so, it is quite unbelievable that it will have water problem.
Water problem comes in three forms. First is water scarcity, which happens during summer and long drought. Second is too much water. During the rainy months, water is so plenty that flooding is a constant struggle.
Finally, there’s the problem of poor water quality which is brought about by domestic, commercial, industrial and mining waste.
The first and second kinds were mentioned recently by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol in relation to rice sufficiency of the country which President Rodrigo Duterte said could never be achieved.
“Yes, the Philippines will never be rice sufficient and worse, the government will never be able to ensure food security for the 105-million Filipinos if the state of things in agriculture is allowed to continue,” Piñol explained.
Water is one of the three important factors in food production, the other two being soil and sunlight. “Our problem in the Philippines is our inability to manage our water resources and even protect the watersheds where the water comes from,” Piñol pointed out.
And he cited the two kinds of water problems our farmers face: “During the rainy season, we suffer from floods but during the summer months, the farms, especially in Central and Northern Luzon, are parched dry and virtually useless.”
The trouble is: “While lowland paddy rice is a water-hungry plant, its ability to produce more is reduced during the cloudy rainy months when water is available everywhere because it needs sunlight for efficient photosynthesis.”
That brings us to another water problem: “The best time to plant rice is during the summer months when the sunlight is abundant thus increasing the yield but this is also the period when water is scarce and even unavailable.”
Water is very important in rice production. In his book, Water: The International Crisis, Robin Clark writes that a farmer needs 5,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of rice. “Rice growing is a heavy consumer of water,” contends the Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute.
Water is indeed most critical in food for growing population. “The link between water and food is strong,” says Lester R. Brown, president of Washington, D.C.-based Earth Policy Institute. “We drink, in one form or another, nearly 4 liters of water per day. But the food we consume each day requires at least 2,000 liters to produce, 500 times as much.”
Farming accounts for some 70% of global water use. The two other sectors – domestic and industrial – divide the remaining 30%. Over the last three centuries, the volume of water withdrawal has increased more than 35 times, whereas human population has only increased sevenfold, according to reports.
Don Hinrichsen, an award-winning book author, considered water crisis as “one of the most pressing environment and development problems facing humanity.”
“It may very well end up being one of the main issues confronting humanity as we proceed further into the 21st century,” Hinrichsen pointed out bluntly. “We are already robbing Peter to pay Paul, as it were – taking water away from one set of users and give to another set.”
The International Water Management Institute contends that growing food with less water by improving productive of water used in agriculture is the key to solving the looming global threat.
“None of these measures will work alone,” Hinrichsen thinks. “Which is why we need a revolution in thinking about water and how it should be used. And that calls for a comprehensive management plan.”
Paradoxically, water shortage spawns a Jekyll-and-Hyde phenomenon: from life giver, water turns into a pernicious killer. Dr. Klaus Toepfer, during his term as executive director of the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Program, said: “Unlike the energy crisis, the water crisis is life threatening.”
Contaminated water causes 90 percent of cases of diarrhea among children. Acute diarrhea is one of the five leading causes of sickness and death among Filipino children – for every 100,000 live births, 914 die of diarrhea, leading to almost 12,000 infant deaths every year from a preventable and easily curable illness.
Studies worldwide have shown that programs to encourage the habit of washing of hands with soap can reduce diarrhea by between 30% and 50%. In the Philippines, surveys showed that nearly all people regularly wash their hands before eating. But only 26% of households regularly wash their hands before handling and preparing food, and less than 50% regularly wash their hands after going to the toilet.
Sandra Postel, director of the Massachusetts-based Global Water Policy Project, believes water problems will be right there with climate change as a threat to the human future. More importantly, higher global temperatures will worsen the current water problems.
“Although the two are related, water has no substitutes. We can transition away from coal and oil to solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. But there is no transitioning away from water to something else,” said the head of the group that seeks to save fresh water.
Only 2.5% of the water that covers over 70% of the earth’s surface is considered fresh water. “Water is everywhere,” said an official of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. “In our bodies, in the air we breathe, in the food we eat and in the countryside around us. It’s part of our history and our religions.”
“Water is the most precious asset on Earth,” points out Postel. “It is the basis of life.” Next to air, water is the element most necessary for survival. A normal adult is 60% to 70% water. A person can live without food for almost two months, but without water only for a few days.”
“By means of water,” says the Koran, “we give life to everything.” But the life-giving fresh water is soon to vanish. “Water, water everywhere,” wrote Samuel Taylor Coleridge in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, “but not a drop to drink.”
