Water is life
Water has immense strength
Wise people are needed to harness it with discretion
- Anon.
Introduction
Water is the basis for life. Why, then, do we
treat water with none of the reverence that we have for life? We
cannot continue to mismanage this most precious resource without
devastating consequences. The dawn of a new millennium, when the
world and its leaders are prepared to consider new ways of
tackling problems that have been with us for decades. It gives us
an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to ensuring the basic human
right of access to clean water to preventing the 4 million child
deaths a year from water-related disease; and to ensuring a
sustainable water future for our children and the ecosystem on
which they will depend.
This document describes three possible water
futures at an overall global level. The conventional Water
World is an optimistic scenario, evolving; out of the
"official" projections on population and economic
growth. The scenario is optimistic concerning is assumptions on
the development and use of new technologies and concerning the
benefits of improving integrated water management, yet its overall
conclusion is that that is not enough to rid the world of the
water-related problems we see today. In addition, the water
resources system would be stretched to the limit and become more
vulnerable.
The Water Crisis scenario
explores a combination of lower-dissemination of the new
technologies with the possible consequences of events that such a
vulnerable system can no longer absorb. The triggers can be
extreme water events, floods or droughts, or cold be the result of
local armed conflicts or terrorist acts. The drastic changes or
breakdown that could be the result are likely to occur at a
regional scale initially, but could spread if repeated elsewhere.
The Sustainable Water World
describes the future we aspire to. It starts with the
water-related objectives and targets that have been adopted by
countless meetings over the past decades. It then explores what
might possibly bring about such radical changes from the world we
live in today.
The Conventional Water World shows us the need
for a vision beyond "business-as-usual". The Water
Crisis scenario explores the risks of not acting or not acting
soon enough. The Sustainable Water World is intended to provide
inspiration to the many men and women that will be involved in
developing and debating their own water future through the
consultations that are about to start for the World Water Vision
process.
We know that the future will not look like the
past. Two-hundred-and-thirty-thousand people are added to the
planet every day. Growing populations, urbanization, income
growth, and the associated demand for more food and water to grow
it will put more pressure on limited water supplies. Let us join
together to think boldly about solutions that also make radical
break from the past-to create a new vision for water, life and the
environment in the 21st century, and to act on that
vision. For the sake of our children and Mother earth itself. The
stakes could not be higher.
Ismail Serageldin, Chairman
World Commission on Water for the 21st
Century
Many challenges face water planners, managers,
users and, generally, policy makers, as we approach the 21st
century. Principal among them are, the need to meet the basic
water requirements of present and future generations, maintain the
integrity of the hydrologic cycle and our renewable freshwater
resources, develop robust public and private institutions capable
of managing supply and demand, resolving conflicts, protecting
watersheds, and allocating scarce water resources.
Among the most important elements of this
consensus is the understanding that:
- Water is indispensable for human health and well being and
virtually all-human activities and for sustaining the
ecosystems on which our, and future generations depend.
- The availability and quality of water is a major determining
factor for socio-economic development.
- There is a difference between basic human and environmental
"needs’ for water and the much larger set of ‘wants".
Basic human and environmental needs for water must be
identified and met as a first priority.
- Water is a finite and vulnerable resource that must be used
efficiently, equitably, and in an ecologically sound manner
for present and future generations. Increases in the
efficiency with which water is used, as well as increases in
the efficiency with which water is allocated, should both be
pursued. Choices must be made and priorities set for ways in
which to allocate scarce water resources.
- The most effective water policies involve the users of water
as explicit participants in water management, planning and
decision-making. Acknowledging the role of women in acquiring
and managing water in many regions is particularly important.
- Effective water resources management and planning require
that better data and information on all aspects of water be
collected and made widely available.
- Co-ordination of water and land uses across sectors and a
spatial unit is fundamental. The watershed area is the
appropriate unit for such efforts.
Acknowledging these elements will facilitate vital long-term
objectives of "sustainable development," including poverty alleviation, economic and social well being,
and safeguarding the sustainability of ecosystem goods and services.
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