tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/water-resources-25338/articles
Water resources – The Conversation
2023-10-04T03:56:59Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211768
2023-10-04T03:56:59Z
2023-10-04T03:56:59Z
Bradfield’s pipedream: irrigating Australia’s deserts won’t increase rainfall, new modelling shows
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549959/original/file-20230925-19-sjqj2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C8%2C5467%2C3647&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/long-awaited-rain-storm-one-drop-1541576591">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For generations, Australians have been fascinated with the idea of turning our inland deserts green with lush vegetation. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/leaders-tout-bradfield-scheme-options-in-queensland-election-fight-20191101-p536o2.html">Both sides</a> of politics have supported proposals to irrigate the country’s centre by turning northern rivers inland. Proponents have argued water lost to evaporation would rise through the atmosphere and fall back as rain, spreading the benefits throughout the desert. But this claim has hardly ever been tested.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL103913">recently published research</a> shows irrigating Australia’s deserts would not increase rainfall, contrary to a century of claims otherwise. </p>
<p>This provides a new argument against irrigating Australia’s deserts, in addition to critiques on economic and environmental grounds.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4oquAtVWIYs?wmode=transparent&start=69" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">What is the Bradfield Scheme? Featuring Griffith University’s Professor Fran Sheldon.</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-bradfield-rerouting-rivers-to-recapture-a-pioneering-spirit-127010">'New Bradfield': rerouting rivers to recapture a pioneering spirit</a>
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<h2>The Bradfield scheme</h2>
<p>Proposals to irrigate the country’s centre by diverting water inland date back to at least the 1930s. The person most widely credited with the idea is John Bradfield, the civil engineer who designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. He <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97050378">proposed a series of dams and tunnels</a> that would transport water from northern Queensland to Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.</p>
<p>Variants of the original scheme have been proposed <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/a-turning-point-lnp-vows-to-irrigate-drought-addled-western-qld-20201018-p5665l.html">as recently as 2020</a>. The Queensland Liberal National Party campaigned on a policy to build a Bradfield-like scheme in the last state election. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vz-vk80JQMQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An aerial view of the Queensland LNP’s ‘new Bradfield scheme’ (Liberal National Party of Queensland, October 2020)</span></figcaption>
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<p>Despite our fascination with it, the Bradfield scheme has well-documented problems. It is not cost-effective and would likely be a disaster for the environment. These findings have been confirmed repeatedly by <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97099323">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/research/natural-environment/water/water-resource-assessment/the-bradfield-scheme-assessment">reviews</a>, as recently as <a href="https://www.rdmw.qld.gov.au/water/consultations-initiatives/bradfield-regional-assessment-development-panel">2022</a>.</p>
<p>Yet the idea resurfaces <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-bradfield-rerouting-rivers-to-recapture-a-pioneering-spirit-127010">over and over again</a> and the debate around it remains active and ongoing. </p>
<p>Crossbencher Bob Katter, the federal member for Kennedy in Queensland, is a prominent supporter of the scheme. He <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-09/queensland-government-abandons-bradfield-scheme-after-report/101751678">rejected the critical findings</a> of a <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/research/natural-environment/water/water-resource-assessment/the-bradfield-scheme-assessment">recent CSIRO review</a> that found the scheme and others like it were not economically viable. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-cant-we-just-build-a-pipe-to-move-water-to-areas-in-drought-123454">Curious Kids: why can't we just build a pipe to move water to areas in drought?</a>
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<h2>Would it increase rainfall?</h2>
<p>Would the Bradfield scheme increase rainfall in central Australia? Given all the debate about the scheme, this question has received surprisingly <a href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-964034842/view?partId=nla.obj-964065417">little</a> <a href="https://www.cmar.csiro.au/e-print/internal/mcgregor_x2004a.pdf">attention</a>.</p>
<p>Bradfield argued the added irrigation water would effectively <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97050378">double or triple the region’s rainfall</a>:</p>
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<p>This irrigation water would augment the average rainfall of the district from 10 to 20 inches per annum […] Sceptics and croakers say the water will evaporate or seep away […] [but] it will not go far.</p>
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<p>To test Bradfield’s claim, we turned to climate models. In a collaboration between scientists at the University of Melbourne, Harvard University, National Taiwan University and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, we simulated two worlds: one with a Bradfield-like scheme and one without it. </p>
<p>In our model of the Bradfield-like scheme, we permanently filled the region around Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre with water. That differs a bit from Bradfield’s original scheme but captures the basic idea. If anything, it is more extreme than Bradfield’s scheme. If Bradfield is right, we would expect our scheme’s effects on rainfall to be even larger.</p>
<p>Our simulations showed no significant increase in rainfall. This may sound surprising but can be explained with basic physical arguments.</p>
<h2>Why no rain?</h2>
<p>Rain forms when moist air rises. As it rises, temperatures drop, water condenses from vapour to liquid and clouds form. </p>
<p>Hot air rises, so high temperatures near the surface can promote rainfall. But in our simulations, irrigating the surface led to evaporative cooling of the air. The colder air did not rise as much, and rainfall was suppressed.</p>
<p>Where does all that extra water go? In our simulations, the water evaporated and was blown all over the Australian continent by wind. The additional water ended up being spread thinly over a large area. When it did eventually rain out, the effect on local rainfall was tiny.</p>
<p>Climate models aren’t perfect and have known weaknesses in simulating rainfall. But the basic explanation for the small change in rainfall can be understood without appealing to climate models. </p>
<p>Could irrigating a larger region, or a different part of the country, change the results? Maybe, and we are looking into it. But the Bradfield scheme is already <a href="https://www.rdmw.qld.gov.au/water/consultations-initiatives/bradfield-regional-assessment-development-panel">not cost effective</a>. Making the scheme larger or moving it away from natural flow paths would only make this problem worse.</p>
<p>Previous reviews of the Bradfield scheme have mainly focused on the economics of the scheme. Australian economist <a href="https://www.rdmw.qld.gov.au/water/consultations-initiatives/bradfield-regional-assessment-development-panel">Ross Garnaut’s report</a> in December 2022 is the most recent to find the scheme is economically unviable. </p>
<p>Our study provides a new argument against the Bradfield scheme, separate to economic arguments.</p>
<p>The idea of transforming our dry continent is seductive. But our study shows no plausible engineering scheme would be capable of making it rain enough to do so. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-drought-proof-australia-and-trying-is-a-fools-errand-124504">We can’t drought-proof Australia, and trying is a fool's errand</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211768/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kaighin McColl receives funding from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Sloan Foundation, the Sahara Project, and Harvard University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dongryeol Ryu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
New research shows turning northern rivers inland to irrigate Australia’s dry interior would not increase rainfall. This is another argument against the Bradfield scheme.
Kaighin McColl, Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Environmental Science and Engineering, Harvard University
Dongryeol Ryu, Professor, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/212492
2023-09-13T10:55:07Z
2023-09-13T10:55:07Z
Addis Ababa faces growing climate change risks like heat, drought and floods, study warns
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545484/original/file-20230830-19-8bq04m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5000%2C3315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">About 70% of people in Addis Ababa live in informal settlements that are vulnerable to climate change. Amanuel Sileshi/AFP/</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muslim-devotees-gather-at-meskel-square-to-break-their-fast-news-photo/1240330823?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, will likely face increased heatwaves, droughts and severe flooding over the next 67 years. These changes will pose risks to public health and infrastructure. They’ll also be felt most acutely by the city’s most vulnerable residents: those living in informal settlements. </p>
<p>Addis Ababa is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa, and its current metropolitan population of about 5.4 million is projected to reach close to <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/addis-ababa-population">9 million</a> by 2035.</p>
<p>This increase in the city’s population will be absorbed by informal settlements, the prime destination for most migrants. And informal settlements are characterised by poor or non-existent infrastructure, and face the twin challenges of worsening climate change and poor urban environmental policy.</p>
<p>To investigate the city’s vulnerability to climate change, researchers at <a href="https://www.climatepolicylab.org/">Tufts University</a> and the <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/">Woodwell Climate Research Center</a> analysed flood risk and temperature data for different time periods, projecting from the past to the future.</p>
<p>We predicted that the city’s extreme daily maximum temperatures would increase by about <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">1.7°C over the period 2040-2060</a>, compared with 2000–2020. An increase of 1.7°C would result in a <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aab827">rise</a> in the frequency, duration, and intensity of heatwaves. In addition, higher temperatures contribute to increased water vapour and transpiration. This will <a href="https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6syr/pdf/IPCC_AR6_SYR_LongerReport.pdf#page=16">threaten</a> health, ecosystems, infrastructure, livelihoods, and food supplies.</p>
<p>Certain southern neighbourhoods, such as <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">Akaki-Kaliti, Bole and Nifas Silk-Lafto</a>, have experienced notably higher temperatures, especially during the warm season from March to May. And, looking to the future, temperature projections for <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">Nifas Silk-Lafto suggest an average temperature increase to 26.21°C between 2040 and 2060, and further increase to 27.78°C from 2070 to 2090</a> and <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">27.78°C from 2070 to 2090</a>. </p>
<p>For the warm-season months of March, April, and May, a temperature increase of 1.8°C is projected. This suggests that the peak temperature for the hottest day of the year will rise by an average of 1.8°C compared to recent data. From 2000 to 2020 the average temperature in the Nifas Silk-Lafto sub-city was 24.70°C. </p>
<p>Increases in temperatures of this magnitude will lead to public health challenges such as increased malaria risks, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups like the elderly, children, and women.</p>
<h2>More droughts</h2>
<p>Over the past two decades, Addis Ababa has endured an average of three months of extreme drought yearly. Using the <a href="https://www.droughtmanagement.info/palmer-drought-severity-index-pdsi/">Palmer Drought Severity Index</a> to assess temperature and precipitation data in a geographical area, our analysis suggests that extreme drought events will become more frequent between 2040 and 2060. The city is expected to experience an additional 1.6 months of extreme drought annually, a 53% increase compared with 2000-2020. </p>
<p>This rising frequency of droughts, along with the city’s growing population, is intensifying water insecurity. Groundwater reserves for drought emergencies are already being <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tqem.21512">depleted</a>. </p>
<p>These droughts will affect health, hydroelectric energy production and urban agriculture. </p>
<h2>Flooding</h2>
<p>Too much rainfall, particularly if it occurs within a short period of time in an urban area, leads to flooding. Flooding poses a significant environmental risk to Addis Ababa, especially because the city has developed around three primary rivers. </p>
<p>Climate change will increase water-related challenges by affecting the flow of rivers and the replenishment of groundwater. </p>
<p>Currently, <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">67%</a> of the population in Addis lives in flood prone areas. The parts of the city that are most at risk include central Addis, which has the greatest density of impervious surfaces like tarmac and concrete. These contribute to flood risk because water can’t seep into the ground.</p>
<p>Other <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">parts of the city that are at risk</a> include the southern half – where the slope is relatively flatter, so water doesn’t flow away – and the Nifas Silk-Lafto region, where considerable development has taken place in the floodplain. </p>
<p>Several factors will add to the flooding challenge. The city has <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581819301843">inadequate sewerage infrastructure</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfr3.12629">weak drainage systems</a> which are often obstructed by solid waste. </p>
<h2>The impact</h2>
<p>The effects on the city’s residents will be substantial. </p>
<p>Health is just one example. </p>
<p>Our data show that average temperatures in the city will make year-round <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003489#:%7E:text=This%20model%20suggests%20a%20temperature,climate%20change%20on%20malaria%20transmission">malaria transmission</a> a risk. There will have to be sustained policy measures to deal with the risk.</p>
<p>Older adults and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change. The elderly are more <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/climate-change/impact-climate-change-rights-older-persons">sensitive</a> to heat and pollution due to existing health conditions, limited mobility, and compromised immune systems. Pregnant women face <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0015028222003831">risks</a> from thermal variations and mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and Zika. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-will-cause-more-african-children-to-die-from-hot-weather-188609">Climate change will cause more African children to die from hot weather</a>
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<p>Many urban residents will be prone to increasing floods. Already <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">10%</a> of the city’s newly developed areas are within a 100-year floodplain, threatening lives and infrastructures.</p>
<p>People living in informal settlements are particularly at risk – that’s about <a href="https://unhabitat.org/ethiopia-addis-ababa-urban-profile">70%</a> of Addis Ababa’s residents. These settlements crop up in limited and unused spaces, such as riverbanks. They are at a higher <a href="https://gsdrc.org/topic-guides/urban-governance/key-policy-challenges/informal-settlements/">risk</a> of flood impact, and the risk is growing.</p>
<p>Our data shows that currently the percentage difference in vulnerability between formal and informal settlements is <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">0.6%</a>. The figure illustrates the extent to which buildings within formal and informal settlements would be affected by flooding events. It is expected to rise to <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/climate-risk-assessment-addis-ababa-ethiopia/">1.3% by 2050 and 1.6% by 2080</a>. </p>
<h2>Policy recommendations</h2>
<p>There’s an urgent need for policies that can rise to these challenges. We suggest:</p>
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<li><p>the government should establish a climate adaptation and resilience office, to integrate <a href="https://www.c2es.org/document/what-is-climate-resilience-and-why-does-it-matter/">climate resilience</a> into <a href="https://theconversation.com/cape-towns-climate-strategy-isnt-perfect-but-every-african-city-should-have-one-149287">urban planning</a></p></li>
<li><p>an independent body should then assess policies in practice</p></li>
<li><p>a water management strategy to ensure equitable access and sustainable <a href="https://waterfdn.org/sustainable-water-management-swm-profile/#:%7E:text=Sustainable%20water%20management%20means%20using,those%20needs%20in%20the%20future.">use of water</a></p></li>
<li><p>the city should invest in <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/green-infrastructure_en">green infrastructure</a> </p></li>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/global-climate-finance-leaves-out-cities-fixing-it-is-critical-to-battling-climate-change-194375">Global climate finance leaves out cities: fixing it is critical to battling climate change</a>
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<li><p>upgrading infrastructure and improving waste management</p></li>
<li><p>public awareness campaigns and <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/climate-change/education#:%7E:text=Education%20is%20crucial%20to%20promote,act%20as%20agents%20of%20change.">school</a> education on climate change impacts</p></li>
<li><p>developing mechanisms for effective <a href="https://coastadapt.com.au/how-to-pages/collaboration-and-partnerships-climate-change-adaptation">collaboration</a> among government departments, non-governmental organisations and international agencies.</p></li>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abay Yimere does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Climate change is putting pressure on Ethiopia’s largest city, Addis Ababa, and exposing people to disease and natural disasters.
Abay Yimere, Postdoctoral Scholar in International Environment and Resource Policy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209609
2023-09-03T07:45:37Z
2023-09-03T07:45:37Z
Africa’s vast underground water resources are under pressure from climate change - how to manage them
<p>All countries have a variety of water resources – some are on the surface, like rivers, and some are beneath the ground. This groundwater provides <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/infographic/2023/06/13/groundwater-the-hidden-wealth-of-nations">almost 50%</a> of all global domestic use and <a href="https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099145503202323072/p178601171e7ffac1ea0714b5e187c0122449517b07d">43%</a> of all the water used for agriculture.</p>
<p>Groundwater is stored in aquifers, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can be accessed in several ways, but mostly by drilling wells. Not all groundwater is useful to us – it depends on whether it’s fresh or mixed with salt and on how deep it is, as this will affect how easy it is to tap into. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-aquifers-hold-more-than-20-times-the-water-stored-in-the-continents-lakes-but-they-arent-the-answer-to-water-scarcity-201704">Africa’s aquifers hold more than 20 times the water stored in the continent's lakes, but they aren’t the answer to water scarcity</a>
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<p>In Africa, groundwater is very important. It supports <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/infographic/2023/06/13/groundwater-the-hidden-wealth-of-nations">almost 100%</a> of household and agricultural activities in rural areas. And, because it’s underground it’s protected from evaporation, a crucial resource in a warming climate.</p>
<p>These facts and figures are in a recent World Bank <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water/publication/the-hidden-wealth-of-nations-groundwater-in-times-of-climate-change">report</a> which unpacks issues facing groundwater in times of climate change. As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=m6uqRGMAAAAJ&hl=th">groundwater scientist</a> focusing on its sustainable use, I’ve picked out some of the key issues when it comes to managing groundwater from the report. It’s vital that African countries address these as pressure <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/state-of-climate-africa-highlights-water-stress-and-hazards">increases</a> on the continent’s water resources, through growing populations, development and changing weather patterns. </p>
<h2>Key issues</h2>
<p><strong>Ownership of groundwater</strong></p>
<p>Figuring out ownership of groundwater is important for the management of this finite resource. Without a clear understanding of ownership, conflict can happen.</p>
<p>In some countries groundwater is owned by the landowner, in others by the government. Generally, it’s being poorly managed <a href="https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H048386.pdf">across the continent</a>. In many cases, boreholes used to extract groundwater <a href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1094769/Perceptions_of_trends_in_the_development_of_private_boreholes_for_household_water_consumption.pdf">aren’t</a> even being registered. </p>
<p>South Africa has used laws and policies to <a href="http://ward2forum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/NWAguide.pdf">transfer</a> the ownership of resources to the government. But this has led to issues around red tape and licensing permits, which determine how water is allocated.</p>
<p>The success of permit systems depends on a thorough understanding of the resources, property owners’ compliance with granted user rights, and the enforcement of this regulation. This is particularly problematic in the developing world, according to the World Bank report. </p>
<p>A possible solution is decentralised management, as seen by the <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/harvesting-water-and-harnessing-cooperation-qanat-systems-middle-east-and-asia">Qanat system</a> in the Middle East. The system consists of a network of underground canals that transport water from aquifers in highlands to the surface at lower levels using gravity. It is normally managed by the community and financed collectively. These historical pieces of infrastructure have been abandoned in recent times, but could solve many of the water shortage issues in the semi-arid to arid areas of Africa.</p>
<p><strong>Recharging aquifers</strong></p>
<p>Groundwater in aquifers is finite, but it <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/7/1846">can be recharged</a> with surface water or treated wastewater. The process also sometimes helps in the removal of harmful chemicals because the aquifer’s material can act like a very large filter. </p>
<p>The World Bank report highlights <a href="https://www.americangeosciences.org/geoscience-currents/managed-aquifer-recharge#:%7E:text=Managed%20aquifer%20recharge%20(MAR)%2C,water%20supplies%20may%20be%20low.">managed aquifer recharge</a> as a technique which can be used to recharge aquifers. Water is either injected through a well or seeps into the ground through infiltration ponds, man-made or natural depressions in the ground which allows water to soak into the earth.</p>
<p>Countries in <a href="https://gw-project.org/books/managed-aquifer-recharge-southern-africa/">southern Africa</a> have practised this for the past 40 years. </p>
<p>Aquifers can also be recharged <a href="https://unepdhi.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/WEB_UNEP-DHI_NBS-PRIMER-2018-2.pdf">naturally</a> when rainwater infiltrates deep into the ground. This can be encouraged through afforestation, agricultural terraces and the prevention of land clearing. These practices allow permeable surfaces to dominate the landscape, stabilise the soil through plant growth, and slow the flow of water.</p>
<p><strong>Monitoring aquifers</strong></p>
<p>Monitoring aquifers is vital to know how much water is left in them. Unfortunately many African countries have poor monitoring networks and infrastructure in place. The number of monitoring points in certain countries is <a href="https://www.un-igrac.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/Kukuric%20and%20van%20Vliet%2C%202008.pdf">also dwindling</a>, owing to financial constraints. </p>
<p>Satellite data can be used for monitoring. One example is the <a href="https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/data/data-analysis-tool/">GRACE (Gravity, Recovery and Climate Experiment)</a> twin satellites which have provided insights into subsurface water storage over the past 20 years. This means that the changes in aquifer volumes can be monitored, but only at a very large scale. It’s necessary to know what’s happening on the ground. Localised monitoring networks are needed, with data loggers at multiple wells.</p>
<p><strong>Effective policies</strong></p>
<p>Policies and incentives play a major role in the use of groundwater. They influence the cost of energy and abstraction and the overall accounting of groundwater resources and environmental impact. </p>
<p>In an African context, good policies are missing in places. There are, however, some community practices which help to protect the resource, like the Qanat system. These types of systems should be encouraged and replicated. </p>
<p><strong>Groundwater dependent ecosystems</strong></p>
<p>Groundwater dependent ecosystems, such as wetlands, play a <a href="https://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/fs_7_livelihoods_en_v5_2.pdf">critical role</a> for many livelihoods in Africa and need to be more effectively managed. These ecosystems use groundwater to support plant and animal life and ecosystem services, such as fresh water and clean air, throughout the year. </p>
<p>But they’re exposed to major risks because they’re often close to semi-arid and arid areas. This is particularly true in the Sahel region. Groundwater dependent ecosystems are often close to border crossings and transport routes. Human activities, such as over-pumping, could adversely affect how they function and lead to a loss of biodiversity. </p>
<p>The conservation of these water bodies is of the utmost importance for the preservation of water resources and livelihoods. Policies which protect them – like the <a href="https://www.ramsar.org/">Ramsar convention</a> – must be properly enforced. Governments could should also consider creating protected areas around some of these ecosystems. </p>
<h2>Managing resources</h2>
<p>It’s imperative that governments better monitor our water resources. Coupled with good practical solutions, such as managing pump rates, this will sustain groundwater resources for many years to come. </p>
<p>The monitoring network on our continent is unfortunately limited or non-existent in certain countries. In some, like South Africa, the network is slowly diminishing. This is unfortunate as the ability to measure allows better management of groundwater resources.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209609/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gaathier Mahed does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Better monitoring of groundwater is important for sustainable management.
Gaathier Mahed, Senior lecturer, Nelson Mandela University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209887
2023-08-02T13:42:36Z
2023-08-02T13:42:36Z
Oil drilling threatens the Okavango River Basin, putting water in Namibia and Botswana at risk
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539042/original/file-20230724-3109-lx9i2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C0%2C5130%2C3394&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Oil exploration could put the Okavango Delta at risk. Photo: Sergio Pitamitz/VWPics/Universal Images/
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/aerial-view-of-plains-zebras-grazing-in-the-okavango-delta-news-photo/1487610089?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Namibian and Botswana governments may be risking their water resources for oil and gas revenue. They have <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/us-concerns-grow-over-oil-exploration-in-the-okavango-region">licensed</a> a Canadian firm, <a href="https://reconafrica.com/">ReconAfrica</a>, to prospect for oil in the Cubango Okavango River Basin, in an area covering 34,000km². </p>
<p>In total, the river basin covers <a href="https://www.okacom.org/cubango-okavango-river-basin-corb">700,000km²</a>, encompassing a network of river systems across Angola, Namibia and Botswana. The Cubango and Cuito rivers, which originate from the Angolan highlands, join the Okavango River at the border between Angola and Namibia, and flow into the Okavango Delta in Botswana. </p>
<p>The Okavango River sustains over <a href="https://www.okacom.org/what-okavango-river-basin">half a million people</a> in Namibia and Botswana. The main <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169406002496">livelihood activities</a> in the basin are arable farming, livestock farming, fishing and tourism. </p>
<p>The Okavango Delta, a <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1432/">World Heritage Site</a>, contributes significantly to tourism in Botswana. It is one of the largest freshwater wetlands in southern Africa and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/okavango/why/">home</a> to over 1,000 plant species. Over 480 bird species, 130 species of mammals, and numerous species of reptiles and fish can be found in the area. </p>
<p>Our team, with expertise in groundwater resource assessment and protection, has assessed the vulnerability of the Okavango River and Delta to oil and gas drilling. We <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1474706523000748?via%3Dihub">conclude</a> that possible impacts on water resources are of particular concern in this sensitive area. </p>
<h2>Reasons to worry</h2>
<p>It is worrying that oil and gas extraction is being considered in this area. The current exploration licence in Namibia allows the company to drill exploratory stratigraphic wells. Drilling near the Omatako River in Namibia already endangers the groundwater since the drilling waste fluids have been discarded in <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/test-drilling-oil-namibia-poses-water-risk">unlined pits</a>. Most people in this arid region rely on groundwater, which can easily be contaminated when the water table is shallow, as it is here.</p>
<p>ReconAfrica <a href="https://reconafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/ReconAfrica-Report.pdf">estimates</a> that the area has large volumes of oil and gas resources, though it has not yet fully assessed whether recovering them would be economical. The resources are in a site about the size of the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/usgs-estimates-oil-and-gas-texas-eagle-ford-group">Eagle Ford shale field in Texas</a>, a very large oil and gas deposit. </p>
<p>Several geologists have <a href="https://earthsciencesociety.com/2021/08/05/canadian-company-recon_africa-drills-for-oil-in-the-okavango-delta/">noted</a>, however, that the resources are unlikely, in their view, to be economically viable, based on the geological information of the region. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Namibian government granted Recon exploration licences <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/oil-drilling-fracking-planned-okavango-wilderness">without following due procedure</a> for its environmental impact assessment. This is despite the fact that the lease area includes parts of the <a href="https://www.kavangozambezi.org/">Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Park</a> and the Okavango River. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539532/original/file-20230726-19-w9ssvi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539532/original/file-20230726-19-w9ssvi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539532/original/file-20230726-19-w9ssvi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539532/original/file-20230726-19-w9ssvi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539532/original/file-20230726-19-w9ssvi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539532/original/file-20230726-19-w9ssvi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539532/original/file-20230726-19-w9ssvi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539532/original/file-20230726-19-w9ssvi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Okavango River and Delta, the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Park, and the Recon lease areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anton Lukas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1474706523000748?via%3Dihub">study</a> illustrates the possible grim impact of the potential oil and gas extraction operations. This includes possible contamination of:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the water resources around the Omatako River</p></li>
<li><p>the Okavango River</p></li>
<li><p>the Okavango Delta. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>We used publicly accessible borehole data from the Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, and the Botswana Department of Water Utilities. We obtained geological structure data from Namibia’s Geological Survey and the Botswana Geoscience Information Centre. </p>
<p>We found that contamination could infiltrate the aquifer system and contaminate the groundwater near the Omatako River. Contaminated groundwater could take three to 23.5 years to reach the Okavango River system via the shallow, sandy aquifer. </p>
<p>Contaminated groundwater from proposed drill sites could reach the Okavango Delta even faster along another route: certain geological structures underground. These structures – <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/graben">grabens</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/dike-igneous-rock">dykes</a> – have associated faulting and fractures respectively, along which groundwater can travel.</p>
<p>The geological structures in the area are associated with parts of the Earth’s crust that are tectonically active: they might change. This makes it more complicated to assess the Okavango Delta’s vulnerability. Existing permeable structures can serve as pathways for groundwater contamination. Tectonic stresses can create new permeable structures or modify ones that were previously impermeable. </p>
<p>Initial calculations, using publicly accessible data, indicate that contamination from drilling activities that travels via geological structures could reach the Okavango Delta within just four days.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539274/original/file-20230725-21-jcbua6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539274/original/file-20230725-21-jcbua6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539274/original/file-20230725-21-jcbua6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539274/original/file-20230725-21-jcbua6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539274/original/file-20230725-21-jcbua6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539274/original/file-20230725-21-jcbua6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539274/original/file-20230725-21-jcbua6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539274/original/file-20230725-21-jcbua6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Okavango Dyke Swarm fracture zone with groundwater flow towards the Okavango River system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anton Lukas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our results should be verified with localised field studies. </p>
<h2>Need to revisit clearance certificate</h2>
<p>A ReconAfrica <a href="http://the-eis.com/elibrary/sites/default/files/downloads/literature/459_EIA_Petroleum%20Exploration%20License_PEL_No%2073_Kavango%20East%20and%20West%20Regions.pdf">environmental impact assessment</a> did not identify any serious risks that could follow from oil drilling in the area. The Namibian government then awarded an updated <a href="https://reconafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/ReconAfrica-Receives-Environmental-Clearance-Certificate-to-Drill-12-New-Wells-in-the-Kavango-Basin-1.pdf">environmental clearance certificate</a> to the company.</p>
<p>Even though there wasn’t enough data to determine the possible groundwater impact, the environmental impact assessment <a href="http://the-eis.com/elibrary/sites/default/files/downloads/literature/459_EIA_Petroleum%20Exploration%20License_PEL_No%2073_Kavango%20East%20and%20West%20Regions.pdf">deemed</a> contamination to be negligible. </p>
<p>Our study highlights the possible dire consequences of allowing oil and gas extraction activities in the Cubango Okavango River Basin. </p>
<p>Based on our results, we recommend that all oil and gas extraction activities in the Okavango region be halted until there’s a proper understanding of the groundwater sources, pathways and receptors. </p>
<p>Future environmental impact assessments must make an honest effort to obtain all relevant information so that all possible risks to water resources are identified. This would allow for the proper protection of natural resources.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209887/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Surina Esterhuyse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Oil and gas exploration pose a threat to the Okavango River Basin water resources. The Namibian and Botswana governments need to properly assess the risk of contamination.
Surina Esterhuyse, Senior Lecturer Centre for Environmental Management, University of the Free State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/207267
2023-06-09T13:16:47Z
2023-06-09T13:16:47Z
South Africa’s drinking water quality has dropped because of defective infrastructure and neglect – new report
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531085/original/file-20230609-15-h066xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The report shows decline in the status of the country's water supply.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michele Spatari / AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A report <a href="https://ws.dws.gov.za/IRIS/latestresults.aspx">released</a> by the South African government paints a grim picture of the country’s water resources and water infrastructure as well as the overall quality of its drinking water.</p>
<p>The Blue Drop Watch Report – an interim report because it only assessed a sample of the facilities across the country – focused on the condition of the drinking water infrastructure and treatment processes from a technical standpoint. It also reported on water quality. </p>
<p>The issues of <a href="https://ws.dws.gov.za/IRIS/releases/GDWR.pdf">biggest concern</a> that it identified included a collapse of the country’s wastewater treatment works and a sharp rise in the number of local authorities that are failing to meet minimum compliance standards.</p>
<p>The report records continued overall decline in the status of the country’s water supply services. The findings point to a culture of neglect, non-compliance and systemic collapse. The current cholera outbreak in the country should, therefore, come as no surprise. The interim report shows dysfunctional local municipalities and non-compliant wastewater treatment works.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cholera-in-south-africa-a-symptom-of-two-decades-of-continued-sewage-pollution-and-neglect-206141">Cholera in South Africa: a symptom of two decades of continued sewage pollution and neglect</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The systemic collapse has been attributed to poor operation, defective infrastructure, the absence of disinfection chemicals, lack of monitoring and an overall lack of operating and chemistry knowledge.</p>
<p>The report shows that the Department of Water and Sanitation issued non-compliance letters to 244 wastewater treatment works in 2022. But only 50% had responded almost a year later.</p>
<p>The report shows a clear and rapid decline in the performance of local government. But only 43 out of <a href="https://www.gov.za/about-government/government-system/local-government#:%7E:text=supporting%20service%20delivery.-,Municipalities,and%20providing%20infrastructure%20and%20service.">205</a> local municipalities have asked for assistance from the department. They are able to ask for financial support and assistance to help with capacity building and skills development. </p>
<h2>Drinking water quality</h2>
<p>Only a test sample of some of the country’s facilities was conducted. Assessments were made of 151 water supply systems – <a href="https://ws.dws.gov.za/IRIS/releases/2021_BD_PAT_report_final-28Mar22_MN_web.pdf">out of the total 1,186</a> – managed by 140 local municipalities. In addition, 26 water boards and bulk water service providers were assessed. The assessments were done between November 2022 to February 2023. </p>
<p>Most of the treatment plants in the sample were found to be failing to produce acceptable drinking water according to the <a href="https://vinlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SANS-241-2015-1.pdf">SANS 241:2015</a> drinking water standards.</p>
<p>Over 60 systems (41%) of the sample had bad water quality. Another 13 systems (9%) had poor water quality. This meant that it didn’t meet clean water <a href="https://alabbott.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/abbott_sans_241_test_requirements.pdf">standards</a> because of high levels of contaminants such as wastewater and excrement. </p>
<p>Contaminated water poses acute health risks. It is responsible for water-related illnesses such as cholera. </p>
<p>Only 50% of the assessed treatment plants produced drinking water of a suitable quality not contaminated by sewage or other pathogens or chemicals.</p>
<p>A number of water supply systems were flagged as being in a critical condition, requiring urgent intervention. </p>
<p>The report also noted that 11 of the 140 municipalities that were assessed had no water quality monitoring systems in place or no evidence of any water testing. </p>
<h2>Wastewater treatment works</h2>
<p>Wastewater treatment works are assessed in accordance with the set <a href="http://www.salga.org.za/Documents/Municipalities/Guidelines%20for%20Municipalities/Hints_and_Tips.pdf">Green Drop audit standards</a>. Of the total 850 wastewater treatment works assessed, 334 (39%) received scores below 31% and were placed under regulatory surveillance. Overall, the country’s wastewater treatment works are in a poor to critical state, posing significant risks to public health and to the environment.</p>
<p>South Africa’s Wastewater Treatment Works Preliminary Report Card:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>208 are at critical risk (24%) – indicating dysfunctional and unsatisfactory performance, with major corrections required. </p></li>
<li><p>250 are at high risk (29%) – indicating partial functionality and unsatisfactory performance, with major corrections required. </p></li>
<li><p>Half are in poor to bad condition. This is up from 10% in the 2014/2015 auditing period.</p></li>
<li><p>The North West province recorded the highest proportion of wastewater treatment works at critical risk (60%), followed by the Northern Cape (59%) and the Free State (44%). Limpopo has 38% of its plants at critical risk and 48% as high-risk plants, placing the bulk of its treatment facilities in a vulnerable state.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Other major issues reflected in the report were: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Only 25 systems (17%) achieved excellent water quality and 20 systems (13%) good water quality, while 106 systems (70%) failed to achieve chemical compliance. A worrying 83 systems (55%) have bad water quality compliance and 23 systems (15%) have poor water quality compliance. </p></li>
<li><p>Under 40% of systems were compliant on microbiological parameters (pathogens and bacteria such as faecal coliform, E. coli and cholera). Just over 10% were partially compliant. </p></li>
<li><p>Only 5% of plants were in a state of high compliance. The rest were in a poor or critical condition (64%) or had some degree of compliance (31%).</p></li>
<li><p>Water losses within municipal water reticulation systems had <a href="https://ws.dws.gov.za/IRIS/releases/NDWR.pdf#page=56">increased from 35% in 2015 to 50% in 2023</a>. This means that 50% of water is lost within the system before reaching consumers. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>The findings of the report come as no surprise. Recent <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cholera-outbreak-death-toll-rises-to-31-with-all-but-2-fatalities-in-gauteng-20230608">cholera outbreaks</a> in Gauteng and Free State provinces have been a warning sign that the country’s water is contaminated.</p>
<p>The current state of affairs was predicted two decades
ago by numerous researchers and experts, consistently having highlighted the deterioration of South Africa’s already scarce water resources, dilapidated infrastructure, poor water governance and management, lack of service delivery and the overall threat to the country’s water security, calling for urgent action.</p>
<p>The Department of Water and Sanitation has recently proposed the development of a <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2023-06-06-south-africa-seeks-water-investment-with-new-procurement-office/">Water Partnership Office</a>, a new procurement office, in an attempt to address the continued water issues. The initiative is still in its developmental phase, but the government hopes it will facilitate private investment in the water industry. </p>
<p>But government will have to regain the trust of private institutions before they will be willing to invest in water infrastructure projects.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207267/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anja du Plessis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The primary reasons for the systemic collapse include poor operation, defective infrastructure, the absence of disinfection chemicals, and lack of monitoring.
Anja du Plessis, Associate Professor and Water Management Expert, University of South Africa
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199668
2023-06-05T01:32:27Z
2023-06-05T01:32:27Z
Treated wastewater in Victoria is still contaminated, study finds. So are we and the environment safe?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515024/original/file-20230313-24-48y9sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Wastewater is a by-product of humanity produced all day, every day. At home, wastewater is the <a href="https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/management/water/pollution/wastewater">used water</a> that disappears when you flush the toilet, empty the sink or drain the washing machine. </p>
<p>Industrial processes also produce wastewater. Around the world, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210208085457.htm">359 billion cubic metres of wastewater</a> is produced each year – equal to 144 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. </p>
<p>In Australia, some of this water is treated and reused. This so-called “recycled” water is used, for example, to wash cars, water crops and gardens. Treated water is also released back into rivers as “discharge”, which is regulated under an operator’s licence.</p>
<p>So is treated wastewater safe? Our <a href="https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-epa/publications/2054-2-emerging-contaminants-in-recycled-water">research</a>, published today, found wastewater treatment removes a lot of particles, but some contaminants remain. While it’s not enough to affect human health, effects on the environment are less clearly established.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-now-treat-half-the-worlds-wastewater-and-we-can-make-inroads-into-the-other-half-154715">We now treat half the world's wastewater – and we can make inroads into the other half</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Purple tap and hose for recycled water with sign saying it's not for drinking" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515026/original/file-20230313-447-cmkech.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515026/original/file-20230313-447-cmkech.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515026/original/file-20230313-447-cmkech.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515026/original/file-20230313-447-cmkech.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515026/original/file-20230313-447-cmkech.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515026/original/file-20230313-447-cmkech.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515026/original/file-20230313-447-cmkech.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recycled water is commonly used to irrigate gardens and crops.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Making the most of our water</h2>
<p>Water is a precious, finite resource. There is no such things as “<a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/age-of-water/">new</a>” water. Our planet’s water dates back <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2212.05441.pdf">4.5 billion years</a> and is constantly recycled by Earth’s systems. </p>
<p>As Earth’s population grows and the climate dries, we need all the water we can get.</p>
<p>In light of this challenge, the state of Victoria has <a href="https://www.water.vic.gov.au/water-for-victoria">a plan</a> to better use treated wastewater. Other Australian states and territories have <a href="https://water.dpie.nsw.gov.au/plans-and-programs/nsw-water-strategy/the-strategy/our-water-our-future">similar</a> <a href="https://www.rdmw.qld.gov.au/water/how-it-works">plans</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-to-find-more-water-eight-unconventional-resources-to-tap-183681">Where to find more water: eight unconventional resources to tap</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Wastewater comes from homes, businesses, industrial sites and farms, as well as any stormwater or groundwater that enters the sewer system. </p>
<p>Specialised treatment plants process this wastewater. A combination of technologies is used to achieve the treatment objectives, based on the character of raw wastewater and use of the treated wastewater. These processes include primary, secondary and tertiary treatment. </p>
<p>Wastewater treatment seeks to remove:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>organics (proteins, hydrocarbons, oils and fats)</p></li>
<li><p>suspended solids (small particles)</p></li>
<li><p>bacteria (such as <em>E. coli</em>).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In Victoria, as elsewhere in Australia, wastewater must meet strict standards. Water corporations achieve this by implementing stringent procedures and processes, and monitoring water quality. </p>
<p>But even after treatment, some contaminants can remain. These can be divided into “emerging” and “legacy” contaminants.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.epa.gov/wqc/contaminants-emerging-concern-including-pharmaceuticals-and-personal-care-products">Emerging contaminants</a> include pharmaceuticals, pesticides, phthalates (used to make plastic more durable), industrial chemicals and chemicals in personal care products. </p>
<p>They’re described as “emerging” because of the limited information we have about them, the risks they pose and the dose-response effects, especially at low, ultra-trace concentrations.</p>
<p>Legacy contaminants include, for example, PFAS, trace metals and insecticides such as DDT. </p>
<p>So should we be concerned about contaminants in treated wastewater? Our <a href="https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-epa/publications/2054---recycled-water-emerging-contaminants-report#:%7E:text=Emerging%20contaminants%20include%20pharmaceuticals%2C%20pesticides,environment%20and%2For%20human%20health">new research</a> examined this question.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pfas-for-dinner-study-of-forever-chemicals-build-up-in-cattle-points-to-ways-to-reduce-risks-201553">PFAS for dinner? Study of 'forever chemicals' build-up in cattle points to ways to reduce risks</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What did the study find?</h2>
<p>EPA scientists partnered with the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and 13 <a href="https://www.water.vic.gov.au/water-industry-and-customers/victorian-water-corporations">state water corporations</a> to investigate emerging contaminants in wastewater. As a science-based regulator, EPA undertakes problem-based research on pollution and waste to protect the health of Victoria’s community and environment. It uses data and evidence from studies like these to guide future actions.</p>
<p>We collected 230 samples of treated and untreated water at a range of wastewater treatment plants. We analysed these for the presence of 414 emerging and legacy contaminants.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Outflow from a wastewater treatment plant" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514566/original/file-20230309-26-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514566/original/file-20230309-26-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514566/original/file-20230309-26-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514566/original/file-20230309-26-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514566/original/file-20230309-26-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514566/original/file-20230309-26-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514566/original/file-20230309-26-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For the study, 230 samples of treated and untreated water were collected from wastewater treatment plants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image: EPA</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We detected 180 contaminants in treated and untreated water. These included:</p>
<ul>
<li>48 chemicals found in pharmaceuticals and personal care products</li>
<li>5 endocrine-disrupting chemicals</li>
<li>21 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)</li>
<li>34 herbicides</li>
<li>8 insecticides</li>
<li>7 fungicides</li>
<li>12 industrial compounds</li>
<li>7 phenols</li>
<li>28 disinfection byproducts.</li>
</ul>
<p>None of the contaminant levels in treated water exceeded human health guidelines for <a href="https://www.waterquality.gov.au/guidelines/drinking-water">drinking water</a> and water used for <a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/guidelines-managing-risks-recreational-water">recreation</a>. </p>
<p>As you might expect, concentrations of most emerging contaminants were lower in treated than untreated water. However, some contaminants remained in treated water. Examples included antidepressant venlafaxine and anticonvulsant medication carbamazepine. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-fishy-problem-how-antidepressants-may-impact-the-health-of-our-aquatic-ecosystems-197514">A fishy problem: How antidepressants may impact the health of our aquatic ecosystems</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So which treatment method is best? Based on our study, it’s one that combines all of the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>an “activated sludge” process, which can be aerobic or anaerobic – if aerobic, air is needed and is introduced into the “mixed liquor” by aeration devices or by natural diffusion</p></li>
<li><p>extended aeration using a mechanical device to aerate the water</p></li>
<li><p>disinfection with ultraviolet light, which uses UV radiation to break down the DNA of pathogens</p></li>
<li><p>microfiltration, a membrane process that removes particles larger than 0.1 micron </p></li>
<li><p>reverse osmosis, which is another membrane process and removes most of the salt and large molecules, producing water with very low dissolved content</p></li>
<li><p>disinfection with chlorination, zonation or UV disinfection. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>But treatment that combines all the above processes is relatively rare. It’s used by only four out of 200 wastewater treatment plants in Victoria. These plants produce the highest grade of recycled water.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-yuck-factor-pushes-a-premier-towards-desalination-yet-again-but-history-suggests-recycled-waters-time-has-come-188795">The 'yuck factor' pushes a premier towards desalination yet again, but history suggests recycled water's time has come</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What does this mean for the environment?</h2>
<p>None of the contaminants we detected in treated wastewater breached human health guidelines. However, we should not forget the environment. </p>
<p>Pharmaceutical pollution, in particular, is a pressing global issue. A <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2113947119">recent study</a> detected pharmaceuticals in 258 rivers in 104 countries across all continents. Pharmaceutical chemicals break down quickly in the environment, but are continually being replenished.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549950">According to</a> the World Health Organization, trace quantities of <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b05592">pharmaceuticals in drinking water</a> are very unlikely to pose risks to human health. But <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2013.0569">information</a> about the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29193285/">potential</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15287394.2017.1352214">environmental</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28063712/">effects</a> remains limited.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1518790308112203776"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/80-of-household-water-goes-to-waste-we-need-to-get-it-back-125798">80% of household water goes to waste – we need to get it back</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>You can make a difference</h2>
<p>Environmental authorities regulate how businesses and industry use, store and dispose of their waste. However, your actions at home – no matter <a href="https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/recycling-and-reducing-waste/at-home/small-acts-big-impact">how small</a> – can mean fewer contaminants make it to wastewater treatment plants.</p>
<p>Actions you can take include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>take medicines only as directed and return unwanted and expired medicines to a pharmacy </p></li>
<li><p>choose chemical-free cleaning products</p></li>
<li><p>minimise pesticide use in your garden and bug sprays in your home</p></li>
<li><p>if you have a wastewater management system at home, such as for greywater or blackwater, maintain it regularly and avoid using powerful chemicals. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>Further research is under way involving the Victorian EPA, water corporations and research institutions. It aims to build our understanding of what, if and how emerging contaminants are present in soil and taken up by crops irrigated with recycled water. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the work will reduce the potential risks to people and the environment posed by wastewater, by ensuring official advice is current and evidence-based.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The report’s authors are EPA Scientists Minna Saaristo, Simon Sharp, Shanli Zhang and Mark P. Taylor.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Patrick Taylor is a full-time employee of EPA Victoria, appointed to the statutory role of Chief Environmental Scientist. He is also an Honorary Professor at Macquarie University. This research was supported by funding from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and Victorian water authorities to EPA Victoria.</span></em></p>
We detected 180 contaminants in treated and untreated water. None of those found in treated water breached human health guidelines, but we should not forget about potential impacts on the environment.
Mark Patrick Taylor, Victoria's Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196144
2022-12-20T19:09:26Z
2022-12-20T19:09:26Z
For Australia to lead the way on green hydrogen, first we must find enough water
<p>Australia is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629622002559">well-positioned</a> to be a global leader in green hydrogen production. Green hydrogen is produced using a renewable power source such as solar or wind. As a substitute for fossil fuels, it will help to meet <a href="https://theconversation.com/labors-renewable-target-is-much-more-ambitious-than-it-seems-we-need-the-best-bang-for-buck-policy-responses-186302">growing renewable energy needs</a>.</p>
<p>However, high-quality water is needed to produce hydrogen. Supplies of high-quality water must also be secured into the future to support our agriculture, industries, cities, towns and communities. Climate change and population growth will increase pressure on these supplies.</p>
<p>Community discussion is needed to identify where the water to produce hydrogen will come from. We need to ensure this developing industry does not disadvantage other water users, as we discuss in our new <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2539584/Water-energy-nexus-whitepaper.pdf">white paper</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1356346885502423040"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-will-power-the-future-elon-musks-battery-packs-or-twiggy-forrests-green-hydrogen-truth-is-well-need-both-191333">What will power the future: Elon Musk's battery packs or Twiggy Forrest's green hydrogen? Truth is, we'll need both</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Green hydrogen industry looks set to boom</h2>
<p>Green hydrogen is likely to partially replace petrol and diesel for large vehicles such as trucks and heavy machinery as Australia moves to a carbon-neutral economy. It has the advantage of being a fuel suitable for sectors such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-australias-mining-giants-are-an-accessory-to-the-crime-124077">mining</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/tracking-the-transition-the-forgotten-emissions-undoing-the-work-of-australias-renewable-energy-boom-162506">transport</a> that are struggling to reduce emissions.</p>
<p>The green hydrogen market is expected to grow rapidly. Hydrogen energy outputs in Australia are estimated to exceed <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/state-of-hydrogen-2021.pdf">100MW by 2025</a>. More than <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/integrated-infrastructure-building-australia/getting-h2-right-australias-competitive-hydrogen-export-industry/producing-at-globally-competitive-prices.html">90 projects representing A$250 billion</a> in investment are planned. </p>
<p>Most demand for hydrogen this decade is <a href="https://igcc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Investor-Group-on-Climate-Change-Hydrogen-Report.pdf">likely to be domestic</a> – for chemical production, industrial processes and other uses. In the longer term, major export demand is <a href="https://igcc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Investor-Group-on-Climate-Change-Hydrogen-Report.pdf">expected from the Asia-Pacific</a>.</p>
<p>By 2040, Australia’s green hydrogen production cost is <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/integrated-infrastructure-building-australia/getting-h2-right-australias-competitive-hydrogen-export-industry/producing-at-globally-competitive-prices.html">predicted to be the equal-lowest</a> in the world. Electrolysis, which splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, will be the <a href="https://www.irena.org/publications/2022/Jan/Geopolitics-of-the-Energy-Transformation-Hydrogen">main method of producing</a> this green hydrogen.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To produce green hydrogen, electricity from a renewable source is used to split water molecules – H₂O – into hydrogen and oxygen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/breakthrough-in-gas-separation-and-storage-could-fast-track-shift-to-green-hydrogen-and-significantly-cut-global-energy-use-186644">Breakthrough in gas separation and storage could fast-track shift to green hydrogen and significantly cut global energy use</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How much water are we talking about?</h2>
<p>The amount of water needed to generate green hydrogen varies. The exact <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/314538">amount of water required</a> depends on the technology used to produce hydrogen, the water quality and any need for cooling or water purification.</p>
<p>On average, a litre of water can produce enough hydrogen to deliver about <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wendy-Timms/publication/336498351_More_Joules_per_Drop_-_How_Much_Water_Does_Unconventional_Gas_Use_Compared_to_Other_Energy_Sources_and_What_Are_the_Legal_Implications/links/5da3b326299bf116fea49860/More-Joules-per-Drop-How-Much-Water-Does-Unconventional-Gas-Use-Compared-to-Other-Energy-Sources-and-What-Are-the-Legal-Implications.pdf">10 megajoules of energy</a>. That’s enough to push a 50-tonne truck 15 metres.</p>
<p>The previous Australian government <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/taylor/media-releases/strong-potential-future-australia-germany-hydrogen-exports">predicted</a> the hydrogen industry could be worth A$50 billion a year by 2050. At that scale, it would need about <a href="https://theconversation.com/green-hydrogen-is-coming-and-these-australian-regions-are-well-placed-to-build-our-new-export-industry-174466">225 billion litres</a> (gigalitres) of water. While that’s roughly as much as <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/environment/environmental-management/water-account-australia/latest-release">residents of a city like Perth use</a> in a year, it’s only about <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/agriculture/water-use-australian-farms/latest-release">3% of the water used for agriculture</a> in Australia in 2020-21. </p>
<p>There are many possible sources of water. Surface water, groundwater and recycled water are all available inland. Coastal areas have unlimited seawater, which can be <a href="https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/vast-majority-of-green-hydrogen-projects-may-require-water-desalination-potentially-driving-up-costs/2-1-1070183">desalinated for hydrogen production</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1506123013653209095"}"></div></p>
<p>But there are trade-offs whenever we allocate a water resource. In many areas, the available fresh water is fully allocated to towns, cities, agriculture, industry and the environment. The pressure on water supplies will increase as populations grow and much of Australia becomes hotter and drier under climate change.</p>
<p>Further, most water would have to be treated to be suitable for hydrogen production. Treatment can be expensive and uses additional energy, as does desalination and pumping water long distances.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-is-touting-a-green-hydrogen-economy-but-it-will-face-big-environmental-and-cultural-hurdles-187521">New Zealand is touting a green hydrogen economy, but it will face big environmental and cultural hurdles</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Failure to plan for water use could be costly</h2>
<p>Current issues in the gas industry provide a cautionary tale. High gas prices in eastern Australia can be deemed the result of failure to consider impacts on domestic customers of developing a gas export industry. </p>
<p>Western Australia, in contrast, reserved enough gas for domestic users. As a result, its prices are <a href="https://www.energyquest.com.au/western-australia-low-energy-price-paradise/">among the lowest in the OECD</a>.</p>
<p>A similar failure may arise if corporations buy high-quality water for hydrogen generation, diminishing supplies for agricultural, domestic or environmental use. North Africa exports substantial amounts of <a href="https://corporateeurope.org/en/2022/05/hydrogen-north-africa-neocolonial-resource-grab">green hydrogen to Europe</a>, but this is <a href="https://timep.org/commentary/analysis/who-will-benefit-from-tunisias-green-hydrogen-strategy/">controversial</a> because of <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2022/05/10/the-promise-of-african-clean-hydrogen-exports-potentials-and-pitfalls/">regional water shortages</a>. </p>
<p>In Australia, competition for water will intensify due to climate change and ongoing demands from agriculture – <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/environment/environmental-management/water-account-australia/latest-release#media-releases">72%</a> of national water consumption in 2020-21 – industry, mining, households and the environment. Using potable water to produce hydrogen may be at odds with community expectations. </p>
<p>Care must be taken to ensure industry expansion does not <a href="https://www.ecnt.org.au/repowerfaq_waterhydrogen">adversely affect other users</a>. This will be particularly difficult in Australia because rainfall is <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/climatic-extremes">highly variable by world standards</a> – not news to those who have lived through recent years of drought then flooding rains.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1533923466029563904"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/albanese-just-laid-out-a-radical-new-vision-for-australia-in-the-region-clean-energy-exporter-and-green-manufacturer-186815">Albanese just laid out a radical new vision for Australia in the region: clean energy exporter and green manufacturer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So what are the likely solutions?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://ecos.csiro.au/hydrogen-industry-australia/">key challenge</a> is to produce hydrogen in large quantities in a way that is cost-effective and sustainable. </p>
<p>This can be achieved by planning effectively for industry growth. Our <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2539584/Water-energy-nexus-whitepaper.pdf">white paper</a> identifies public policy and industry-related issues posed by this growth.</p>
<p>We must identify regions likely to support hydrogen production and storage, find nearby sources of water and calculate volumes needed. Then, we must develop plans to support existing water users while providing a viable solution for the green hydrogen industry.</p>
<p>Alternative sources such as recycled water or treated groundwater are likely part of that solution. Harvesting water from industrial and urban wastewater <a href="https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/130930">could be a game changer</a>. It would require moderate treatment but have fewer effects on other water users.</p>
<p>We will learn a lot from pilot programs such as the <a href="https://arena.gov.au/projects/new-energies-service-station-geelong-demonstration-project/">New Energies Service Station</a> in Geelong, which will create hydrogen from 100% recycled water.</p>
<p>In planning to overcome the challenges, we’ll need to develop relevant data, information and analysis to get the settings right.</p>
<p>It is possible to create a vibrant, sustainable and profitable green hydrogen industry to support decarbonisation of Australian and global economies, but it won’t happen by accident. Careful planning is essential, and communities must be involved in deciding where water will come from and how it can be accessed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Lester receives funding from the Australian Research Council, and the Australian and Victorian Governments. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>I was Deputy Director-General then Director-General, Water Victoria (1989-92); then Secretary, Department of Energy and Minerals, Victoria (1992-1995). Later I was Deputy Secretary then General Manager, Office of Water, Victoria. During that time I was a Victorian representative on the Murray Darling Basin Commission and then on the Basin Officials Committee (2004-2011). I was Director and MD of a consulting company owned by a law firm (now called Norton Rose Gledhill) from 1995-2003. During that time I was involved with various water and energy projects including the corporatisation of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. I am a shareholder in Xpansiv, a large renewable energy and water exchange, and was formerly a board member. I am a board member and shareholder in Flinders Peak Water, an organisation dedicated to using recycled water for food/agriculture. Through Deakin University I am connected to various water-related projects, including MDB and Drought Resilience programs, funded out of government grants.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Timms receives funding from the Australian Research Council, CO2CRC, Fluid Potential and the Victorian government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Don Gunasekera does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Australia’s emerging green hydrogen industry requires a secure supply of high-quality water. Competing demands for this scarce resource mean careful planning is needed to meet all water users’ needs.
Rebecca Lester, Professor, Aquatic Ecology and Director, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures, Deakin University
David Downie, Strategic Adviser, Regional Development, Deakin University
Don Gunasekera, Research Fellow, Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics, Deakin University
Wendy Timms, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/188795
2022-08-31T20:02:42Z
2022-08-31T20:02:42Z
The ‘yuck factor’ pushes a premier towards desalination yet again, but history suggests recycled water’s time has come
<p>A battle is brewing in South-East Queensland over water. Despite heavy rains and flooding, the water supply authority, Seqwater, has <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/seq-does-not-have-enough-drinking-water-for-booming-population-20210818-p58jqd.html">flagged the need</a> to find more water sources to keep up with urban growth. </p>
<p>Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has already <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/plan-for-1bn-desalination-plant-despite-premier-minister-split/news-story/f4a89e40cce7606cd397345dc8f0ac99">expressed a preference</a> for building a desalination plant on the Sunshine Coast instead of using <a href="https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/14568786/Fact%20Sheets/Water_Recycling_Fact_Sheet.pdf">recycled water</a>. Perhaps her government <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/qld-politics/qld-water-policy-mps-dodge-issue-of-water-recycled-from-sewage/news-story/21ecffc6603fbedf1f861a28c1495961">wants to avoid</a> a repeat of the divisive 2006 <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1752&context=commpapers">debate over water recycling</a> in Toowoomba – dubbed “<a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/scare-campaign-over-recycled-water-could-be-worse-than-poowoomba-turnbull-20210824-p58lfd.html">Poowoomba</a>” at the time.</p>
<p>Our new book, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/au/academic/subjects/history/environmental-history/cities-sunburnt-country-water-and-making-urban-australia?format=HB">Cities in a Sunburnt Country</a>, traces the fraught history with recycled water in Australia’s biggest cities. A focus on expanding capacity to extract or produce more potable water has dominated urban water policy in Australia. City residents have come to expect abundant water from sources they perceive as “pure”: dams, aquifers and desalination. </p>
<p>Continuing down this path is not sustainable. Yet once again a state government looks set to pursue the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cities-turn-to-desalination-for-water-security-but-at-what-cost-110972">costly</a>, <a href="https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/14568786/Fact%20Sheets/Desalination_Fact_Sheet.pdf">energy-intensive</a> desalination option.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-water-is-scarce-we-cant-afford-to-neglect-the-alternatives-to-desalination-111249">When water is scarce, we can't afford to neglect the alternatives to desalination</a>
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<h2>A history of being diverted by desalination</h2>
<p>Desalination has been a reassuring project in times of crisis, but has not always proven its value. In response to the impacts on city water supplies of the Millennium Drought (2001–09), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_desalination_plants_in_Australia">desalination plants were built</a> to supply most of the capital cities. </p>
<p>In 2006, Perth residents became the <a href="https://theconversation.com/river-deep-policy-dry-western-australias-perpetual-struggle-for-water-900">first in Australia to drink desalinated seawater</a>. By 2012, desalination plants had been built to supply Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/city-desalination-plant-is-not-the-solution-poll-20051214-gdmmph.html">2005 poll</a> commissioned by “SCUD” (Sydney Community United against Desalination) found 60% of Sydney residents opposed a desalination plant. The following year a <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/2050/A%20sustainable%20water%20supply%20for%20Sydney.pdf">parliamentary inquiry</a> concluded such a plant would not be needed if the government pursued water recycling and reuse strategies. The plant was still built. </p>
<p>The Victorian government also <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/new-water-minister-open-to-using-desalination-plant-if-victoria-water-supplies-hit-critical-levels-20141217-1299sa.html">faced a backlash</a> when it announced in 2007 a privately financed plant near Wonthaggi on the Bass Coast. Completed in 2012, the plant was mothballed until 2017.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cities-turn-to-desalination-for-water-security-but-at-what-cost-110972">Cities turn to desalination for water security, but at what cost?</a>
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<h2>There are better alternatives</h2>
<p>In 2011 the <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/urban-water/report/urban-water-overview.pdf">Productivity Commission found</a> only some desalination infrastructure was justified. Other projects could have been deferred, made smaller, or replaced by lower-cost sources, including recycled water.</p>
<p>During the Millennium Drought, the Beattie government built the Brisbane Water Grid connecting all major dams in South East Queensland. By 2008, the 600km network of pipelines was connected to the A$2.9 billion Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme. The state-owned desalination plant at Tugun on the Gold Coast was completed a year later. </p>
<p>Queensland had opted for a desal quick fix. The government went for the high-cost, high-energy and high-emissions road, instead of more sustainable approaches to potable water supplies and climate change. Today, while South-East Queensland’s population and water use <a href="https://www.seqwater.com.au/sites/default/files/2019-09/FACT_SHEET_-_Water_Security_Program.pdf">continue to grow</a>, the recycled water scheme <a href="https://www.seqwater.com.au/sites/default/files/2021-12/Western%20Corridor%20Recycled%20Water%20Scheme%20%28WCRWS%29%20Recycled%20Water%20Management%20Plan%20%28RWMP%29%20Annual%20Report%202020-21.pdf">only provides water for industry</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sydneys-dams-may-be-almost-full-but-dont-relax-because-drought-will-come-again-170523">Sydney's dams may be almost full – but don't relax, because drought will come again</a>
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<h2>Recycled water is a well-proven approach</h2>
<p>Cities worldwide commonly use recycled wastewater to add to drinking water supplies, including Los Angeles, Singapore and London. Most residents of Australian cities are also <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-of-us-are-drinking-recycled-sewage-water-than-most-people-realise-92420">drinking some treated wastewater</a>. Hinterland towns discharge treated wastewater into rivers that eventually flow into dams such as Warragamba and Wivenhoe (which supply Sydney and Brisbane respectively). </p>
<p>In 2018, the Productivity Commission’s <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/water-reform#report">National Water Reform Report</a> recommended an integrated approach that included reusing urban wastewater and/or stormwater. Implementation has been slow, however. Only one Australian capital has officially overcome the “yuck factor”. </p>
<p>Perth stores treated wastewater in aquifers beneath the suburbs before returning it to the city’s taps. The state-owned Water Corporation’s 50-year plan, <a href="https://www.watercorporation.com.au/-/media/WaterCorp/Documents/Our-Water/Sustainability-and-Innovation/Securing-Supply/Water-forever-50-year-plan.pdf">Water Forever</a>, includes a 60% increase in wastewater recycling. Even then the state’s main strategy for eliminating the gap between future water demand and supply is desalination, despite <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-19/drinking-recycled-water/9546900">strong community support</a> for large-scale recycling. </p>
<p>In Adelaide and Brisbane, wastewater and stormwater are treated and reused only for industry, irrigation and energy production. As the Millennium Drought fades from public memory, state governments have also retreated from attempts to encourage household water tanks.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-of-us-are-drinking-recycled-sewage-water-than-most-people-realise-92420">More of us are drinking recycled sewage water than most people realise</a>
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<p>By 2050 as many as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/22/australias-population-forecast-to-hit-30-million-by-2029">10 million extra people</a> may live in Australia’s capital cities. All of them will expect a reliable supply of clean water inside and outside their homes. </p>
<p>Our book shows how governments have historically favoured development of new water sources or desalination over recycling or demand management. These approaches do little to help us learn to use water more wisely in our cities and suburbs. Recycled water, education campaigns and demand management must play a greater role in securing future water supplies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188795/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Margaret Cook received receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP180100807) and this article is based on that research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Gaynor receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP180100807). She is affiliated with the Beeliar Group: Professors for Environmental Responsibility. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lionel Frost receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP180100807). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Spearritt received funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP180100807).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Morgan has received funding for this research from the Australian Research Council (DP180100807). She is also funded by the ARC SR200200322.</span></em></p>
Australian politicians have a history of opting for high-cost, high-emissions desalination projects. The Queensland government is still wary of using the largely untapped resource of recycled water.
Margaret Cook, Lecturer in History, University of the Sunshine Coast
Andrea Gaynor, Professor of History, The University of Western Australia
Lionel Frost, Associate Professor of Economics, Monash University
Peter Spearritt, Emeritus Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland
Ruth Morgan, Associate Professor of History, Australian National University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/188112
2022-08-16T14:41:41Z
2022-08-16T14:41:41Z
South Africa’s proposed fracking regulations should do more to protect groundwater
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479402/original/file-20220816-9763-z7u5be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Karoo landscape, a water-scarce area near potential shale gas sites.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo courtesy Surina Esterhuyse</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa is extremely water scarce, and water supply will become more challenging in the future. The <a href="https://www.africaportal.org/publications/delicate-balance-water-scarcity-south-africa/">population and economy are growing</a>, increasing demand. Rainfall is variable and more extreme and prolonged droughts are expected because of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128183397000059">climate change</a>. More than 80% of South Africa’s available surface water resources are already <a href="https://www.dws.gov.za/Groundwater/Documents/NGS_Draft-Final_04012017.pdf">allocated for use</a>. Groundwater resources will therefore become more important in South Africa.</p>
<p>There is, however, a potential threat to those groundwater resources. South Africa depends heavily on <a href="https://cdn.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/planning-a-just-transition-in-south-africa.pdf">coal for energy</a> but its coal resources are being <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/265445/proved-coal-reserves-in-south-africa/">depleted</a>. The country may turn to unconventional oil and gas resources to augment energy supply. And methods to extract oil and gas can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479716307289">contaminate and deplete groundwater</a>. </p>
<p>Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is used to extract trapped oil and gas from underground geological formations. A mixture of water, chemicals and sand is injected into these formations under high pressure. This opens up micro-fractures in the rock to release the trapped oil and gas, but it can also disturb the deep geological formations and aquifers. Groundwater can be contaminated if deep saline groundwater migrates to potable groundwater resources via hydraulic connections.</p>
<p>In addition to migration of saline groundwater, the chemicals used during fracking can contaminate groundwater. Wastewater may also get into groundwater via spills and leaks. And the hydraulic fracturing process requires large volumes of water. </p>
<p>Regulations that are properly developed and enforced are therefore vital to protect groundwater resources in South Africa when <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-021-00145-y">extracting unconventional oil and gas</a>.</p>
<h2>Regulations to protect groundwater</h2>
<p>On 7 May 2021, the Department of Water and Sanitation published <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202105/44545gon406.pdf">regulations on the use of water in oil and gas extraction</a>. And on 11 July 2022, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment published <a href="https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Proposed-Regulations-pertaining-to-the-Exploration-and-Production-of-Onshore-Oil-and-Gas-Requiring-Hydraulic-Fracturing.pdf">proposed regulations for the exploration and production of onshore oil and gas</a> for public comment. These regulations aim to protect the environment during oil and gas development. </p>
<p>The environment department also published a document for comment specifying what <a href="https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NEMA-Intention-to-prescribe-minimum-conditions-for-onshore-exploration-of-oil-and-gas-intending-to-frack-8-July-2022.pdf">information must be supplied</a> when applying for a licence to produce oil and gas. The two departments’ regulations should be read together since both protect groundwater resources. </p>
<p>Based on a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-021-00145-y">survey</a> of South African groundwater experts that my colleagues and I conducted, I’ve reviewed the proposed regulations and identified aspects that need attention.</p>
<p>A strength of the regulations is that they list penalties for contraventions, which will help with enforcement. However, there are gaps in the regulations. Some extraction methods and related processes are not regulated. </p>
<h2>Gaps in fracking regulations</h2>
<p>The environment department’s regulations only address unconventional oil and gas development that requires hydraulic fracturing. Other techniques are also used to free those resources. For example, depressurisation can be used to liberate coalbed methane. All the extraction methods should be included in the regulations.</p>
<p>The regulations say that water sources and fracking wells at the extraction site should be at least 2km apart. This is not far enough. Based on what the survey of experts found, fracking wells should be at least 10km away from municipal wellfields, aquifers and water supply boreholes. They should be at least 5km away from seismically active springs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479226/original/file-20220815-16003-8q5rsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Karoo landscape with windpumps" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479226/original/file-20220815-16003-8q5rsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479226/original/file-20220815-16003-8q5rsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479226/original/file-20220815-16003-8q5rsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479226/original/file-20220815-16003-8q5rsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479226/original/file-20220815-16003-8q5rsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479226/original/file-20220815-16003-8q5rsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479226/original/file-20220815-16003-8q5rsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Putsonderwater, meaning ‘well without water’ in the extremely water-scarce area between Marydale and Groblershoop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo courtesy Danita Hohne</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These minimum distances, known as setbacks, are also needed where there are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-021-00145-y">other geological and groundwater features</a> that increase the risk of groundwater contamination. </p>
<p>The regulations do not address specific measures to contain fractures to the production zone, or to prevent fluids from migrating beyond this area. Operators should have to monitor these risks and report to the regulator. If monitoring shows that fluid is moving outside the production zone, operations must stop until the situation is corrected. </p>
<p>The proposed regulations don’t address fracturing fluid management. The water department regulations require that a list of chemicals planned for use in the fracturing fluids be submitted to the department for approval, but this alone is insufficient to protect groundwater. A risk management plan for each well that is to be fractured must be submitted to the regulator. It must identify the chemical ingredients and the volume and concentration of the fluid additives. The plan must assess the potential environmental and health risks of the fracturing fluids and additives – and show how operations will minimise risk. </p>
<p>The regulations require a waste management plan. It should be more comprehensive, by considering both solid waste and wastewater. The plan should include transport, storage and management of wastewater and other substances used, and procedures for preventing and addressing spills. It should monitor and report on the actual volume of recovered fluids, the chemical composition of these fluids, and any radioactive fluids that were identified. </p>
<p>The information disclosure regulations are inadequate. They require that various information sources be uploaded onto the website of the holder. They do not require public access to this information. It would be better to load the data onto a centralised website run by an independent institution, where it is available and in a usable form.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-fracking-plans-could-affect-shared-water-resources-in-southern-africa-147684">How fracking plans could affect shared water resources in southern Africa</a>
</strong>
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<p>The well decommissioning regulations do not specify how long decommissioned wells should be monitored. The risk of well leakage <a href="https://gisera.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Final-Report-GISERA-W20-Monitoring-of-Decommissioned-Wells.pdf">over the long term</a> means that a monitoring timeframe of <a href="https://seasgd.csir.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Ch-5_Water_13Nov2016_LR.pdf">50 years or more may be necessary</a>. The regulations should consider who will be responsible and carry the associated costs. </p>
<p>Ancillary activities are not regulated. For example, there’s no mention of pipeline management or monitoring. Pipelines could leak and contaminate groundwater resources, especially if they are buried. </p>
<p>The minimum information requirements document also needs revision. Information about where wells will be located should be publicly available. For the groundwater baseline (the groundwater quality and quantity before fracking), both shallow and deep aquifers should be assessed, and possible fluid migration pathways should be identified.</p>
<p>If these aspects are addressed and the regulations properly enforced, the regulations will do a better job of protecting groundwater resources.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188112/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Surina Esterhuyse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
New regulations for protecting water resources during oil exploration are inadequate and should be reviewed.
Surina Esterhuyse, Senior Lecturer Centre for Environmental Management, University of the Free State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/183681
2022-06-02T14:17:43Z
2022-06-02T14:17:43Z
Where to find more water: eight unconventional resources to tap
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465488/original/file-20220526-18-d5oejz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">pkline/GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As climate change worsens, and with populations rising worldwide, water shortages are a top threat to human development and security.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/17-countries-home-one-quarter-worlds-population-face-extremely-high-water-stress">One in four</a> people on Earth face shortages of water for drinking, sanitation, agriculture and economic development. Water scarcity is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721033015?via%3Dihub">expected to intensify</a> in regions like the Middle East and North Africa region, which <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721033015?via%3Dihub">has</a> 6% of the global population but only 1% of the world’s freshwater resources.</p>
<p>Conventional water sources – which rely on snowfall, rainfall and rivers – are not enough to meet growing freshwater demand in water-scarce areas. </p>
<p>Fortunately Earth has other sources of water: millions of cubic kilometres of water in aquifers, in fog and icebergs, in the ballast holds of thousands of ships, and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Our book, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-90146-2">Unconventional Water Resources</a>, based on the most up to date information, identifies eight broad categories of unconventional water sources. </p>
<h2>Unconventional water sources</h2>
<p><strong>Cloud seeding and fog collectors</strong></p>
<p>The atmosphere contains <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/hydrosphere">an estimated</a> 13,000 km³ of water vapour. Annual global freshwater demand today is roughly <a href="https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0010CHPSvIEUMYxNL_-WOaB0QQAZWpRRHdWgx_iBVI9Yq6wyCoQ_Exne9E4AeVEjHfkPsxzdZDGPs6EnKQ-iy5rGDILwnY9wLog04Us5VQ8-1lhIyf_LLMixVaOaLV0Pzm_StNed280ZDj4lBZc8z8m2pPji84MuH4c7OsCgM8PRWfGios1DklXik68YyNsTODcIRoSmv7VPsI=&c=N5yeP1OdEaOdKpXMBgc8lYCRbaQKbZ4BraVg4zzxCRx6Z0vrbTRpIw==&ch=EO22mZXsOvmTgiCccYUNeSmiq79VkhZ5NqFCFfmBVHh9B7apyGQTXw==">4,600 km³</a>.</p>
<p>Some of the atmosphere’s water vapour can be captured through <a href="https://www.dri.edu/cloud-seeding-program/what-is-cloud-seeding/">cloud seeding</a> – sowing clouds with small particles of commonly used silver iodide to make them rain or snow – and the collection of water from fog and mist. </p>
<p>Cloud seeding can enhance rainfall by <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/03/how-cloud-seeding-can-boost-mountain-snowpack/">up to 15%</a> under the right conditions. Direct delivery of seeding material to the clouds using aircraft and rockets gets the highest yield.</p>
<p>Fog harvesting is <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frwa.2021.675269/full">already happening</a> in parts of the world. Remote communities in Chile, Morocco and South Africa have used vertical mesh nets to harvest fog for over 100 years. Viable sites are <a href="https://www.ctc-n.org/technologies/fog-harvesting#:%7E:text=Fog%20harvesting%20systems%20are%20best,gathered%20to%20identify%20optimal%20placement.">typically</a> open locations with a fairly high elevation, exposed to wind flow.</p>
<p>Advancements in materials and local knowledge have helped develop designs that are efficient in water collection. At times <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frwa.2021.675269/full">more than</a> 20 litres can be collected on a dense fog day for every square metre of mesh. Average cost per litre can be less than one US cent. </p>
<p><strong>Desalination</strong></p>
<p>Desalination – removing salt from seawater – contributes <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718349167?via%3Dihub">over</a> 100 million cubic metres of water a day, supporting about 5% of the world’s population. Almost half (48%) of the global desalination capacity is located in the Middle East and North Africa region.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718349167?via%3Dihub">New developments</a> in desalination will likely make it the lowest-cost unconventional water supply resource worldwide. Innovative technologies are reducing energy inputs by 20% to 35%. </p>
<p>Desalination produces enormous quantities of brine, a pollutant of concern. But extracting salts from brine to yield commercially viable products <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718349167?via%3Dihub">could offset</a> the cost of desalinated water production in the next decade.</p>
<p><strong>Reusing water</strong></p>
<p>Advanced treatment systems can convert wastewater into potable water. Treated wastewater <a href="https://www.veolia.com/africa/en/our-solutions-namibia">provides</a> 25% of the potable water supply of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, for example.</p>
<p>Today <a href="https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/13/237/2021/">around 70%</a> of municipal wastewater in high-income countries is treated, but only 8% in low-income countries. The annual volume of untreated municipal wastewater in low-income countries globally is estimated at just 171 km³. This is because water use per capita in the municipal sector is low. Sub-Saharan Africa <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1477-8947.12187">produces</a> the lowest annual amounts of wastewater per capita (46m³); North America produces almost five times more. </p>
<p>Acceptance of reused wastewater by people and policymakers remains a challenge.</p>
<p><strong>Agricultural drainage water</strong></p>
<p>Irrigation generally results in two types of drainage water: water on the surface, and water that seeps into the earth. Surface runoff can be collected and used again to grow food. Salinity of drainage water is higher, but salt-tolerant crops and new varieties can meet this challenge. </p>
<p><strong>Brackish groundwater offshore</strong></p>
<p>There are vast quantities of water (an <a href="https://ngwa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2009.00627.x">estimated</a> 300,000-500,000 km³) in aquifers off the shores of continents around the world. These aquifers (bodies of permeable rocks that hold groundwater) were created millions of years ago when sea levels were much lower. They are at shallow depths and less than 100km from shore.</p>
<p>Today new marine electromagnetic exploration methods provide detailed images of offshore freshwater. Horizontal drilling technologies make it possible to pump the water to shore. </p>
<p>To date, no offshore freshwater resources have been developed. The technology is still quite new and exploiting the resource would be expensive. It would also need to be combined with desalination.</p>
<p><strong>Inland brackish groundwater</strong></p>
<p>Deep inland aquifers with brackish or salty water exist in volumes estimated to <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1833">total millions</a> of cubic kilometres. Some countries, like Israel and Spain, already tap into them. It’s expensive, but there are ways to reduce high costs, such as reusing the salt recovered. And farmers can benefit from <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-90146-2_6">desalination</a> technologies by switching to high value crops.</p>
<p><strong>Micro-scale capture of rainwater</strong></p>
<p>In dry environments <a href="https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/er-2016-0069">over 90%</a> of rainwater is typically lost to evaporation and surface runoff. Micro-catchment rainwater harvesting is an ancient practice designed to trap and collect water from a relatively small catchment area, usually 10-500m². It employs a wide range of techniques, from rooftop and cistern collection to farm and landscape systems including contour ridges, bunds, small runoff basins and strips. </p>
<p><strong>Move water physically to water-scarce areas</strong></p>
<p>Ships transport around <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/BWMConventionandGuidelines.aspx">90%</a> of the goods traded worldwide and discharge some <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257728627_The_Study_of_Ships_Ballast_Water_Replacement_Monitoring_at_Sea_Based_on_MCU">10 billion tons</a> of ballast water (10km³) every year. Ballast water is fresh or saltwater held in the ship to provide stability and manoeuvrability during a voyage.</p>
<p>Under international <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/BWMConventionandGuidelines.aspx">convention</a>, all <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-90146-2_10">ships</a> of 400 gross tonnage and above must have onboard treatment options to desalinate ballast water, remove invasive aquatic organisms and unhealthy chemical compounds, and make it usable for other economic activities such as irrigation. </p>
<p>This water could be sold to port cities in arid regions.</p>
<p>Another water source that can be physically moved to water-scarce areas is ice. The more than 100,000 Arctic and Antarctic icebergs that melt into the ocean each year <a href="https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/ealr/vol42/iss2/6/">contain more</a> freshwater than the world consumes. </p>
<p>A financial feasibility <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-90146-2_9">analysis</a> of towing icebergs to Cape Town, South Africa suggests it is an economically attractive option if the icebergs to be towed are big enough: at least 125 million tons. Wrapping icebergs in a net and then a mega-bag <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-90146-2_9">would likely</a> prevent breakup and reduce melting, studies suggest. </p>
<p>Increasing water scarcity is a <a href="https://environmentalmigration.iom.int/migration-and-water">major cause of conflict</a>, social unrest and migration. Water is also being seen as an instrument for international cooperation to achieve sustainable development. It’s vital to tap into every available option.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183681/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Manzoor Qadir receives institutional funding from the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vladimir Smakhtin receives institutional funding from the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada.</span></em></p>
We need a radical rethink of water resource planning. Strategies should include reusing water and moving water physically to water-scarce areas.
Manzoor Qadir, Deputy Director of the United Nations Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), United Nations University
Vladimir Smakhtin, Director of the United Nations Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), United Nations University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173479
2021-12-10T13:38:56Z
2021-12-10T13:38:56Z
‘Zero Day’ for California water? Not yet, but unprecedented water restrictions send a sharp warning
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436480/original/file-20211208-172173-e03zaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C24%2C5374%2C3547&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">California has been through two straight year of drought, and water supplies are limited.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portion-of-the-152-mile-friant-kern-canal-an-aqueduct-to-news-photo/1328043632">George Rose/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>California triggered headlines heard around the world when officials <a href="https://water.ca.gov/programs/state-water-project/management/swp-water-contractors">announced how much water</a> suppliers would be getting from the State Water Project. “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/02/california-water-districts-zero-water-requested-supplies">California water districts to get 0% of requested supplies</a> in an unprecedented decision,” one headline proclaimed. “<a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/water/no-state-water-california-farms">No state water for California farms</a>,” read another.</p>
<p>The headlines suggested a comparison with the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/day-zero-is-meant-to-cut-cape-towns-water-use-what-is-it-and-is-it-working-92055">Zero Day</a>” announcement in Cape Town, South Africa, during a drought in 2018. That was the projected date when water would no longer be available at household taps without significant conservation. Cape Town <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59221823">avoided a water shutoff</a>, barely.</p>
<p>While California’s announcement on Dec. 1, 2021, represents uncharted territory and is meant to promote water conservation going into what many people fear will be another dry water year, there is more to the story. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Map of drought conditions for the contiguous United States as of Dec. 7, 2021" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438909/original/file-20211222-25-1dxg3sd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438909/original/file-20211222-25-1dxg3sd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438909/original/file-20211222-25-1dxg3sd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438909/original/file-20211222-25-1dxg3sd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438909/original/file-20211222-25-1dxg3sd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438909/original/file-20211222-25-1dxg3sd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438909/original/file-20211222-25-1dxg3sd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most of California was in extreme drought or worse in mid-December 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/">U.S. Drought Monitor/David Simeral, Western Regional Climate Center</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>California’s drought solution</h2>
<p>California is a semi-arid state, so a dry year isn’t a surprise. But <a href="https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Water-Basics/Drought/Files/Publications-And-Reports/091521-Water-Year-2021-broch_v2.pdf">a recent state report</a> observed that California is now in a dry pattern “interspersed with an occasional wet year.” The state suffered a three-year drought from 2007 to 2009, a five-year drought from 2012 to 2016, and now two dry years in a row; 2020 was the fifth-driest year on record, and 2021 was the second-driest.</p>
<p>Coming into the 2022 water year – which began Oct. 1 – the ground was dry and reservoirs were low. December’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/12/20/snow-california-storm-west/">rain and several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada</a> should help put a dent in the drought. However predictions have suggested <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/what-expect-winter-noaa%E2%80%99s-2021-22-winter-outlook">another drier than normal year may be ahead</a>.</p>
<p>Over a century ago, well before climate change became evident, officials began planning ways to keep California’s growing cities and farms supplied with water. They developed a complex system of reservoirs and canals that funnel water from where it’s plentiful to where it’s needed.</p>
<p>Part of that system is the State Water Project.</p>
<p><a href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/State-Water-Project/SWP-Facilities/History">First envisioned</a> in 1919, the State Water Project delivers water from the relatively wetter and, at the time, less populated areas of Northern California to more populated and drier areas, mostly in Southern California. <a href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/State-Water-Project">The State Water Project provides water</a> for 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland, with about 70% for residential, municipal and industrial use and 30% for irrigation. There are 29 local water agencies – the <a href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/State-Water-Project/Management/SWP-Water-Contractors">state water contractors</a> – that helped fund the State Water Project and in return receive water under a contract dating to the 1960s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Map of the State Water Project's reservoirs and primary canals" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436505/original/file-20211208-19-14q5zsp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436505/original/file-20211208-19-14q5zsp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436505/original/file-20211208-19-14q5zsp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436505/original/file-20211208-19-14q5zsp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436505/original/file-20211208-19-14q5zsp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436505/original/file-20211208-19-14q5zsp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436505/original/file-20211208-19-14q5zsp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The reservoirs (circles reflect comparative size) and primary canals and aqueducts (bold lines) connected with California’s State Water Project.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/State-Water-Project">California Department of Water Resources</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the State Water Project is important to these local water agencies, it is usually not their only source of water. Nor is all water in California supplied through the State Water Project. Most water agencies have a portfolio of water supplies, which can include pumping groundwater.</p>
<h2>What does 0% mean?</h2>
<p>Originally, the State Water Project planned to deliver 4.2 million acre-feet of water each year. An <a href="https://www.watereducation.org/general-information/whats-acre-foot">acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons</a>, or enough water to cover a football field in water 1 foot deep. An average California household uses around one-half to 1 acre-foot of water per year for both indoor and outdoor use. However, contractors that distribute water from the State Water Project have historically received only part of their allocations; the long-term average is <a href="https://www.cvwd.org/170/Californias-State-Water-Project">60%, with recent years much lower</a>.</p>
<p>Based on water conditions each year, the state Department of Water Resources makes an initial allocation by Dec. 1 to help these state water contractors plan. As the year progresses, the state can adjust the allocation based on additional rain or snow and the amount of water in storage reservoirs. In 2010, for example, the allocation <a href="https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/State-Water-Project/Management/SWP-Water-Contractors/Files/1996-2022-Allocation-Progression-120121.pdf">started at 5%</a> and was raised to 50% by June. In 2014, the allocation started at 5%, dropped to 0% and then finished at 5%.</p>
<p>This year is the lowest initial allocation on record. According to the state Department of Water Resources, “<a href="https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2021/Dec-21/SWP-December-Allocation">unprecedented drought conditions</a>” and “reservoirs at or near historic lows” led to this year’s headline-producing 0% allocation.</p>
<p><iframe id="oG89t" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oG89t/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>That’s <a href="https://water.ca.gov/programs/state-water-project/management/swp-water-contractors">0% of each state water contractor’s allocation</a>; however, <a href="https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/State-Water-Project/Management/SWP-Water-Contractors/Files/NTC-21-07_2022-SWP-Initial-Allocation-Minimum-Human-Health-and-Safety_120121.pdf">the department committed to meet</a> “unmet minimum health and safety needs.” In other words, if the contractors cannot find water from other sources, they could request up to 55 gallons per capita per day of water to “meet domestic supply, fire protection and sanitation needs.” That’s <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1441/circ1441.pdf">about two-thirds</a> of what the average American uses.</p>
<p><a href="https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2021/Dec-21/SWP-December-Allocation">The department is also prioritizing</a> water for salinity control in the Sacramento Bay Delta area, water for endangered species, water to reserve in storage and water for additional supply allocations if the weather conditions improve.</p>
<p>Under the current plan, there will be no water from the State Water Project for roughly 10% of California’s irrigated land. As a result, both municipal and agricultural suppliers will be seeking to conserve water, looking elsewhere for water supplies, or not delivering water. None are easy solutions.</p>
<h2>The problem with pumping groundwater</h2>
<p>To weather previous droughts, many water suppliers relied on groundwater, which led to increased costs for wells, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/droughts-exposed-california-s-thirst-groundwater-now-state-hopes-refill-its-aquifers">declines in groundwater levels</a>, <a href="https://ca.water.usgs.gov/land_subsidence/california-subsidence-areas.html">land subsidence</a> and <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/state-news-release/increased-pumping-californias-central-valley-during-drought-worsens">degraded water quality</a>. California’s <a href="https://water.ca.gov/programs/groundwater-management/sgma-groundwater-management">Sustainable Groundwater Management Act</a> was enacted in 2014 to help address overpumping of groundwater, but it hasn’t turned these conditions around.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chart showing water level dropping and subsidence increasing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436494/original/file-20211208-17-n5bdlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436494/original/file-20211208-17-n5bdlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=197&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436494/original/file-20211208-17-n5bdlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=197&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436494/original/file-20211208-17-n5bdlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=197&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436494/original/file-20211208-17-n5bdlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436494/original/file-20211208-17-n5bdlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436494/original/file-20211208-17-n5bdlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Groundwater pumping during droughts in California’s Central Valley lowered underground water levels and contributed to land subsidence. The chart shows levels at one monitoring station.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/state-news-release/during-recent-droughts-central-valley-groundwater-levels-reached-historical">USGS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those who can afford to dig deeper wells have done so, while others have no water as <a href="https://www.circleofblue.org/2021/world/as-a-hot-dry-summer-begins-in-california-more-water-wells-are-failing/">their wells have gone dry</a>. During the 2012-2016 drought, the <a href="https://www.ppic.org/blog/commentary-how-better-data-can-help-california-avoid-a-drinking-water-crisis/">Public Policy Institute of California</a> found that a majority of affected households that lost water access from their wells were in “small rural communities reliant on shallow wells – many of them communities of color.”</p>
<p>Gov. Gavin Newsom called on residents to voluntarily conserve 15% of their water during summer 2021. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-21/southern-california-spurns-drought-conservation-request">Statewide reductions were only 1.8%</a> in July but <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/08/californians-cut-water-use-13-in-october-still-behind-goal-284051">jumped to 13.2% in October</a>. The year’s <a href="https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action">snowpack, which acts as a natural reservoir, was still well below normal</a> even after snowstorms in early and mid-December.</p>
<p>Irrigators who depend on the federal <a href="https://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvp/">Central Valley Project</a> are facing similar drought conditions. Imports from the Colorado River system are also limited, as this basin is also <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-colorado-river-basin-states-confront-water-shortages-its-time-to-focus-on-reducing-demand-165646">facing its first-ever shortage declaration due to drought</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>As someone who has worked in California and the Western U.S. on complex water issues, I am familiar with both drought and floods and the challenges they create. However, the <a href="https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/">widespread nature of the latest drought</a> – in California and beyond – makes the challenge even harder. </p>
<p>This “zero allocation” for California’s State Water Contractors is an unprecedented early warning, and likely a sign of what’s ahead.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial photo of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436508/original/file-20211208-19-16npgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436508/original/file-20211208-19-16npgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436508/original/file-20211208-19-16npgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436508/original/file-20211208-19-16npgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436508/original/file-20211208-19-16npgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436508/original/file-20211208-19-16npgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436508/original/file-20211208-19-16npgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta provides fresh water to two-thirds of the state’s population.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/State-Water-Project">California Department of Water Resources</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A recent study warned that the snowpack in Western states like California <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/12/03/snow-water-resources-california/">may decline by up to 45% by 2050</a>, with low- and no-snow years becoming increasingly common. <a href="https://www.spur.org/publications/spur-report/2021-10-21/water-growing-bay-area">Thirty-seven cities in California</a> have already issued moratoriums on development because of water supply concerns.</p>
<p>If voluntary conservation does not work, enacting mandatory conservation measures like San Jose’s <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/11/18/how-san-jose-water-companys-new-drought-rules-and-fees-will-affect-your-water-bill/">tough new drought rules</a> may be needed. The state has been <a href="https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/docs/emergency_reg/notice_droughtrulemaking.pdf">weighing emergency regulations</a> on water use, and everyone is hoping for enough precipitation.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p><em>This article was updated Dec. 22, 2021, with details about the drought after storms in early December.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173479/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lara B. Fowler worked in California as a mediator prior to 2012 on different projects and received funding from the California Department of Water Resources, the State Water Contractors, and the Water Replenishment District of Southern California. </span></em></p>
Long before climate change was evident, California began planning a system of canals and reservoirs to carry water from the mountains to drier farms and cities. It’s no longer enough.
Lara B. Fowler, Senior Lecturer in Law and Assistant Director for Outreach and Engagement, Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/165722
2021-08-12T23:25:46Z
2021-08-12T23:25:46Z
Taliban seize Herat and assault nearby dam that provides water and power to hundreds of thousands of Afghans
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415908/original/file-20210812-25207-hzc95m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C0%2C3600%2C2376&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Afghan security forces stand guard on a roadside in Herat on Aug. 12, 2021, as the Taliban seized the city.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/afghan-security-force-personnel-stand-guard-along-the-news-photo/1234635094">AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Taliban have taken over the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghan-taliban-seize-herat-move-into-kandahar-after-taking-ghazni-11628789620">Afghan city of Herat</a>, capping three weeks of furious fighting in which both men and women took up arms to defend their city while many residents fled gunfights and rocket attacks.</p>
<p>The fall of Herat follows a two-month advance by the Taliban to take control of Afghanistan during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-withdraws-from-afghanistan-after-20-years-of-war-4-questions-about-this-historic-moment-164300">withdrawal of U.S. troops</a> that <a href="https://theconversation.com/faces-of-those-america-is-leaving-behind-in-afghanistan-160137">began in May 2021</a>. American and Afghan politicians such as Fawzia Koofi warned that the withdrawal would have “huge consequences,” but <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56966473">the speed with which the Taliban have gained territory has surprised many</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415931/original/file-20210812-22-ynzp3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of women carry rifles in front of a poster" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415931/original/file-20210812-22-ynzp3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415931/original/file-20210812-22-ynzp3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415931/original/file-20210812-22-ynzp3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415931/original/file-20210812-22-ynzp3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415931/original/file-20210812-22-ynzp3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415931/original/file-20210812-22-ynzp3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415931/original/file-20210812-22-ynzp3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Radio Nowruz published this photo it said was of women in Herat who had taken up arms against the Taliban.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/RadioNowruz/photos/pcb.352710683163283/352709679830050/?type=3&theater">Radio Nowruz via Facebook</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Herat, located in western Afghanistan about 75 miles from the border with Iran, is Aghanistan’s third-largest city and is considered its <a href="https://www.stripes.com/news/herat-the-mecca-of-afghan-culture-1.31452">cultural capital</a> because of its spectacular architecture, fine arts community and historical sites. It has been sacked and rebuilt since the days of Alexander the Great in the <a href="https://www.wmf.org/project/old-city-herat">fourth century B.C.</a>. </p>
<p>Some experts fear the cultural heritage of Afghanistan is <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/will-afghanistans-ancient-historical-sites-again-face-taliban-threats/articleshow/84167155.cms">at risk under Taliban rule</a>. </p>
<p>Also at risk is one of Afghanistan’s biggest dams: the internationally financed Afghan-India Friendship Dam, formerly the Salma Dam, on the Harirud River. It’s the main source of electricity and irrigation water for hundreds of thousands of people in western Afghanistan. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415909/original/file-20210812-25152-b6snut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large fortified building overlooks a city" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415909/original/file-20210812-25152-b6snut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415909/original/file-20210812-25152-b6snut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415909/original/file-20210812-25152-b6snut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415909/original/file-20210812-25152-b6snut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415909/original/file-20210812-25152-b6snut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415909/original/file-20210812-25152-b6snut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415909/original/file-20210812-25152-b6snut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Citadel of Herat, which dates to 330 B.C., holds a commanding view of the surrounding city.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Herat_Citadel_from_atop_the_premises.jpg">Todd Huffman via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Critical infrastructure</h2>
<p>We are two scholars – one American, one Afghan – who have both studied and written about <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elizabeth-b-hessami-896383">energy, natural resources and water</a> in Afghanistan. One of us, <a href="https://kardan.edu.af/Academics/faculty_profile.aspx?program=BJ&id=84">Asef Ghafoory</a>, is from Herat and has watched as the Taliban have assaulted his home city – and the nearby dam – in recent weeks.</p>
<p>On Aug. 12, Taliban fighters <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/world/asia/kandahar-afghanistan-taliban.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage">seized police stations and government buildings in Herat</a> and filled the streets, shooting their guns in celebration of this major military victory. </p>
<p>Afghanistan’s economy is heavily reliant on agriculture, so dams and water infrastructure are critical for livelihoods, as well as for drinking water and public hygiene. According to the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/publication/unlocking-potential-of-agriculture-for-afghanistan-growth">World Bank</a>, about 70% of Afghans live and work in rural areas and depend upon agriculture – and the dams for irrigation.</p>
<p>The Afghan-India Friendship Dam was <a href="https://tolonews.com/salma-dam-project/25638-salma-dam-to-transform-herats-economy-agriculture-sector-">funded and built</a> by India. This US$300 million dam, which sits in Chishti Sharif District of Herat Province, is perhaps the most important joint project between the neighboring nations and is a point of pride for both governments. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/narendra-modi-afghanistan-salma-dam-inauguration-ashraf-ghani-2834106/">inaugurated it together in June 2016</a>. The structure serves as both a hydroelectric and irrigation dam. </p>
<p>The Taliban have been targeting the Afghan-India Friendship Dam dam for weeks in their assault on Herat. According to a security guard at the site who used the older name for the structure, the dam “has witnessed 10 Taliban attacks in the past week, and 10 rockets have been fired at Salma Dam, two of which hit the body of the dam.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415911/original/file-20210812-19-lpwgxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Water rushes from the bottom of a large dam" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415911/original/file-20210812-19-lpwgxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415911/original/file-20210812-19-lpwgxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415911/original/file-20210812-19-lpwgxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415911/original/file-20210812-19-lpwgxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415911/original/file-20210812-19-lpwgxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415911/original/file-20210812-19-lpwgxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415911/original/file-20210812-19-lpwgxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Afghan-India Friendship Dam in Herat Province, also known as the Salma Dam, opened in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/general-view-of-the-salma-dam-which-was-opened-by-the-news-photo/538098778">Mir Ahmad Firooz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On Aug. 3, 2021, Fawad Aman, an Afghan defense ministry spokesman, <a href="https://twitter.com/fawadaman2/status/1422791109009346561%22">posted to his Twitter account</a> that strikes on the dam had failed, and the Taliban “suffered several casualties” in those attacks. The post has now been deleted.</p>
<p>The National Water Authority confirms that <a href="https://www.risingkashmir.com/Taliban-attacks-India-built-Salma-dam-again--fires-mortar-shells-70146">a number of mortars have been fired</a> at the dam in recent days.</p>
<p>Taliban fighters are <a href="https://theconversation.com/afghanistan-after-the-us-withdrawal-the-taliban-speak-more-moderately-but-their-extremist-rule-hasnt-evolved-in-20-years-164221">known to target public infrastructure like roads, bridges</a> and dams. Experts we spoke with who wish to remain anonymous feel that the Taliban want to control, not destroy, the dams they seize. They can use water access to coerce the local populations.</p>
<p>A complete Taliban takeover of Afghanistan could threaten at least <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-indias-afghan-investment-7406795/">US$3 billion</a> of Indian investment in Afghan infrastructure, including the dam in Herat.</p>
<h2>The water-Taliban connection</h2>
<p>Under normal circumstances, there are 600 soldiers on site to protect the dam, according to Ali Ahmad Osmani, Afghanistan’s former Minister of Energy and Water. In an interview conducted in the days before Herat fell to the Taliban, he told us that number had dropped by 70%.</p>
<p>The Afghan National Water Authority said in a July 16, 2021, statement that if the Afghan-India Friendship Dam was damaged, it would affect people in <a href="https://www.sify.com/news/taliban-fired-mortars-on-salma-dam-symbol-of-afghan-india-friendship-news-national-vhqrOufajjeif.html">eight downstream districts that depend on the water stored there</a>. The dam provides <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/06/04/the-story-behind-herats-salma-dam-40763/">irrigation for nearly 10,000 acres</a> and <a href="https://tolonews.com/salma-dam-project/25638-salma-dam-to-transform-herats-economy-agriculture-sector-">electricity for 40,000 families</a>.</p>
<p>For the Taliban, threatening Afghanistan’s <a href="https://tolonews.com/salma-dam-project/25638-salma-dam-to-transform-herats-economy-agriculture-sector-">dams seems to serve as a way to terrorize the people</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/mar/25/country-could-fall-apart-drought-despair-afghanistan">Already protracted drought</a> in Herat has caused increased conflicts and displacement. Some families are being <a href="https://www.rescue.org/report/irc-afghanistan-drought-assessment-june-2021">forced to sell their children</a>, according to a June 2021 report by the nonprofit International Rescue Committee.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415937/original/file-20210812-22-13fhric.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415937/original/file-20210812-22-13fhric.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415937/original/file-20210812-22-13fhric.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415937/original/file-20210812-22-13fhric.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415937/original/file-20210812-22-13fhric.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415937/original/file-20210812-22-13fhric.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415937/original/file-20210812-22-13fhric.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415937/original/file-20210812-22-13fhric.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Afghan women harvest saffron flowers in a field on the outskirts of Herat Province in 2018. The region has been suffering a drought for years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-photograph-taken-on-november-13-afghan-women-news-photo/1071893440?adppopup=true">HOSHANG HASHIMI/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When rural Afghans cannot earn money for savings and wedding preparations, it makes them a <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/afghan-struggles-to-rebuild-climate-change-complicates">target for recruitment by the Taliban</a>, Massoud Hossaini, a prominent Afghan journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who has covered the war in Afghanistan, told us. </p>
<p>The Taliban <a href="https://www.wired.com/2010/07/taliban-pays-its-troops-better-than-karzai-pays-his/">pay their fighters significantly more</a> than they can earn even in a good farming season. </p>
<p>In an Aug. 12, 2021, interview with the former governor of Herat, Daud Shah Saba, said he hoped that “the dams were protected for the Afghan people.”</p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth B. Hessami is affiliated with the Environmental Law Institute and the Environmental Peacebuilding Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Asef Ghafoory is founder and CEO of the Afghanistan Communications and Media Research Institute. He is affiliated with the Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water.</span></em></p>
Herat is home to an India-built dam that provides water for drinking, irrigation and bathing for much of western Afghanistan. If the Taliban control that water, they control the population.
Elizabeth B. Hessami, Faculty Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University
Asef Ghafoory, Lecturer in Journalism, Kardan University (Afghanistan)
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162910
2021-07-27T12:01:47Z
2021-07-27T12:01:47Z
Snow can disappear straight into the atmosphere in hot, dry weather
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412186/original/file-20210720-17-l3bga2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=421%2C0%2C1897%2C735&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In high alpine terrain, sun and dry air can turn snow straight into water vapor. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Matterhorn_(4448885336).jpg#/media/File:Matterhorn_(4448885336).jpg">Jeffrey Pang/WikimediaCommons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Creeks, rivers and lakes that are fed by melting snow across the U.S. West are <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/snowmelt-runoff-and-water-cycle?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects">already running low as of mid-July 2021</a>, much to the worry of farmers, biologists and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=p4UqsX0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">snow hydrologists like me</a>. This is not surprising in California, where snow levels over the previous winter were <a href="https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2021/April-21/Statewide-Snowpack-Well-Below-Normal-as-Wet-Season-Winds-Down">well below normal</a>. But it is also true across Colorado and the Rocky Mountains, which in general received a <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2021/04/02/colorados-snowpack-was-almost-normal-this-winter-but-it-may-not-be-enough-water-for-the-year/">normal amount of snow</a>. You’d think if there was normal amount of snow you’d have plenty of water downstream, right?</p>
<p>Over a century ago, snow scientist James Church at the University of Nevada, Reno, began examining how the amount of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49704016905">snow on mountains related to the amount of water in rivers</a> fed by the melting snow. But as hydrologists have learned over the many decades since, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/1525-7541(2004)005%3C0896:EOOWUS%3E2.0.CO;2">correlations between snows and river flows are not perfect</a>. Surprisingly, there is a lot researchers don’t know about <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/snowmelt-runoff-and-water-cycle">how the snowpack is connected to rivers</a>. </p>
<p>Of course, a dry winter will result in <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2021/01/09/in-2020-colorado-saw-one-of-its-driest-and-warmest-years-ever-recorded/">meager flows in spring and summer</a>. But there are other reasons snow from the mountains won’t reach a river below. One growing area of research is exploring how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz9600">droughts</a> can lead to chronically dry soil that sucks up more water than normal. This water also refills the groundwater below. </p>
<p>But another less studied way moisture can be lost is by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7320">evaporating straight into the atmosphere</a>. Just as the amount of snow varies each year, so too does the loss of water to the air. Under the right conditions, more snow can disappear into the air than melts into rivers. But how snowfall and loss of moisture into the air itself relate to water levels in rivers and lakes is an <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/centers/co-water/science/snowpack-sublimation-measurements-and-modeling-colorado-river-basin?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects">important and not well understood part of the water cycle</a>, particularly in drought years.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Gj8dr6AsYg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Under most conditions, frozen carbon dioxide, otherwise known as dry ice, doesn’t melt, but jumps straight from a solid to a gas when it is warmed up.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Losing moisture to the air</h2>
<p>There are two ways moisture can be lost to the atmosphere before it reaches a creek or river. </p>
<p>The first is through <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/evaporation-and-water-cycle">evaporation</a>. When water absorbs enough energy from the Sun, the water molecules will change into a gas called water vapor. This floating water vapor is then stored in the air. Most of this evaporation happens from the surface of lakes, from water in the soil or as snow melts and the water flows over rocks or other surfaces.</p>
<p>Another way moisture can be lost to the atmosphere is one you might be less familiar with: sublimation. Sublimation is when a solid turns directly into a gas – think of dry ice. The same can happen to water when <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/sublimation-and-water-cycle?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects">snow or ice turns directly into water vapor</a>. When the air is colder than freezing, sublimation happens when molecules of ice and snow absorb so much energy that they skip the liquid form and jump straight to a gas.</p>
<p>A number of atmospheric conditions can lead to increased <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/evaporation-and-water-cycle">evaporation</a> and <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/sublimation-and-water-cycle">sublimation</a> and eventually, less water making it to creeks and streams. Dry air can <a href="https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/evaporative-coolers">absorb more moisture than moist air</a> and pull more moisture from the ground into the atmosphere. High winds can also blow moisture into the air and away from the area where it initially fell. And finally, the warmer air is and more Sun that shines, the more energy is available for snow or water to change to vapor. When you get combinations of these factors – like <a href="https://www.livescience.com/58884-chinook-winds.html">warm, dry winds in the Rockies called Chinook winds</a> – evaporation and sublimation can happen quite fast. On a dry, windy day, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR021172">up to around two inches of snow can sublimate into the atmosphere</a>. That translates to about one swimming pool of water for each football field-sized area of snow.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412197/original/file-20210720-21-f8f12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small green metal tower and green wooden box in a snowy mountain forest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412197/original/file-20210720-21-f8f12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412197/original/file-20210720-21-f8f12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412197/original/file-20210720-21-f8f12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412197/original/file-20210720-21-f8f12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412197/original/file-20210720-21-f8f12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412197/original/file-20210720-21-f8f12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412197/original/file-20210720-21-f8f12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Snow survey sites, like the one seen here in Montana, can help scientists measure snowpack, but most sublimation happens above the treeline, a zone for which there is little data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Snow_Survey72_(27281994099).jpg#/media/File:Snow_Survey72_(27281994099).jpg">USDA NRCS Montana/WikimediaCommons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sublimation is mysterious</h2>
<p>It is relatively easy to measure how much water is flowing through a river or in a lake. And using <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1140">satellites and snow surveys</a>, hydrologists can get decent estimates of how much snow is on a mountain range. Measuring evaporation, and especially sublimation, is much harder to do.</p>
<p>Today researchers usually estimate sublimation indirectly using <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10864">physics equations and wind and weather models</a>. But there are lots of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-018-0721-0">uncertainties and unknowns in these calculations</a>. Additionally, researchers know that the most moisture loss from sublimation <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR021172">occurs in alpine terrain</a> above the treeline – but <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-329-2014">snow scientists rarely measure snow depths there</a>. This further adds to the uncertainty around sublimation because if you don’t know how much moisture a system started out with, it is hard to know how much was lost.</p>
<p>Finally, weather and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1996)009%3C0928:ICVASI%3E2.0.CO;2">snowpack</a> depths <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00356.1">vary a lot from year to year</a>. All of this makes measuring the amount of snow that falls and then <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.5806">is lost to the atmosphere incredibly difficult</a>. </p>
<p>When scientists have been able to measure and estimate sublimation, they have measured moisture losses that range from a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7320">few percent to more than half of the total snowfall</a>, depending on the climate and where you are. And even in one spot, sublimation can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-018-0721-0">vary a lot year to year</a> depending on snow and weather.</p>
<p>When moisture is lost into the atmosphere, it will fall to the surface as rain or snow eventually. But that could be on the other side of the Earth and is not helpful to drought-stricken areas.</p>
<h2>Important knowledge</h2>
<p>It is hard to say how important loss of moisture to the atmosphere is to the total water cycle in any given mountain range. <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/aboutUs/monitoringPrograms/automatedSnowMonitoring/">Automated snow monitoring systems</a> – especially at high elevations <a href="https://snowstudies.org/senator-beck-study-plot/">above the treeline</a> – can help researchers better understand what is happening to the snow and the conditions that cause losses to the atmosphere.</p>
<p>The amount of water in rivers – and when that water appears – influences agriculture, ecosystems and how people live. When there is a water shortage, problems occur. With climate change leading to <a href="https://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2021/04/30/how-climate-change-is-worsening-drought/">more droughts</a> and <a href="https://earthjustice.org/features/how-climate-change-is-fueling-extreme-weather">variable weather</a>, filling a knowledge gap of the water cycle like the one around sublimation is important.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven R. Fassnacht is affiliated with Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. </span></em></p>
As rivers run dry in the Rocky Mountains and the West, it’s easy to wonder where all the snow you see on mountain peaks goes. Some of it ends up in the air, but researchers aren’t sure how much.
Steven R. Fassnacht, Professor of Snow Hydrology, Colorado State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/152776
2021-01-11T16:36:22Z
2021-01-11T16:36:22Z
Lake Poopó: why Bolivia’s second largest lake disappeared – and how to bring it back
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377762/original/file-20210108-15-pzpont.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lake Poopó at a low point in early 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chiliguanca / flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A huge lake in Bolivia has almost entirely disappeared. Lake Poopó used to be the country’s second largest, after Lake Titicaca, and just a few decades ago in its wet season peak it would stretch almost 70km end to end and cover an area of <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-4410-6_137">3,000 sq km</a> – the size of a small country like Luxembourg. Today, the lake is largely a flat expanse of salty mud. </p>
<p>What happened? We’ve looked into this in various scientific studies over the past few years, and the answer is a mix of both climate factors and more direct human factors such as too much irrigation. This does at least provide some hope: Bolivians cannot reverse climate change themselves, but they can do a better job managing their water.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378090/original/file-20210111-13-z608de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of Bolivia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378090/original/file-20210111-13-z608de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378090/original/file-20210111-13-z608de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378090/original/file-20210111-13-z608de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378090/original/file-20210111-13-z608de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378090/original/file-20210111-13-z608de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378090/original/file-20210111-13-z608de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378090/original/file-20210111-13-z608de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bolivia is largely divided between the high altitude Altiplano (grey) and the Amazon basin (green). Lake Popoó is in the centre of the picture, south of Oruro.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.7564879,-69.0182169,6z">Google Maps</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lake Poopó, is found at nearly 3,700 meters above sea level in the “Altiplano”, a large plateau in the centre of the Andes mountains. It is an <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/fluvial-landforms-what-is-an-endorheic-basin.html">endorheic basin</a>: nothing flows out, and water is lost only through evaporation. Since dissolved minerals stick around when water is evaporated, the lake is as salty as the ocean – in some places considerably saltier. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, some decades ago Poopó was home to large communities of plants and animals and was a source of resources for the region’s inhabitants. Nowadays, the situation is drastically different. Water levels have declined over the past two decades, and eventually the lake <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/87363/bolivias-lake-poopo-disappears">dried out entirely</a> at the end of 2015 after the extreme weather phenomenon of El Niño.</p>
<figure> <img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/d8WznwFJnJpNF3CmqX/giphy.gif"><figcaption>The disappearance of Lake Poopó.</figcaption></figure>
<p>This was ecological devastation. Many of the lake’s 200 or so animal species disappeared, including reptiles, mammals, birds – it hosts a huge community of flamingos – and of course fish. There was also an exodus of rural people to the nearest big cities. Worst affected of all are the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/04/the-ecological-catastrophe-that-turned-a-vast-bolivian-lake-to-a-salt-desert">Urus-Muratos</a>, an indigenous community whose entire way of life was based around fishing Lake Poopó. </p>
<p>Throughout Lake Poopó’s history, there have been several <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1623/hysj.51.1.98?needAccess=true">periods when water levels were very low</a> but the lake used to recover by itself thanks to the rainy season and water from its main tributary the Desaguadero River, which itself drains Lake Titicaca and flows into the slightly lower altitude Poopó.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377759/original/file-20210108-21-tlxlsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A river winds through a plateau" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377759/original/file-20210108-21-tlxlsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377759/original/file-20210108-21-tlxlsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377759/original/file-20210108-21-tlxlsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377759/original/file-20210108-21-tlxlsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377759/original/file-20210108-21-tlxlsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377759/original/file-20210108-21-tlxlsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377759/original/file-20210108-21-tlxlsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The high altitude Desaguadero River.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stefan Haider / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But during the past few decades, much of the Desaguadero was diverted for irrigation, so there was less water left to top up the lake. As Poopó is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Bathymetry-of-Lake-Poopo-a-inclined-view-b-viewed-from-top_fig7_276042539">unusually shallow</a>, mostly just a few metres deep, relatively small changes in overall water volume make a big difference to its surface area. Though the lake has partially recovered due to above-average precipitation in the years since 2015, the situation is still dire.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/1/73">most recent study</a>, we analysed satellite data from the Lake Poopó catchment area over the past two decades and found that more water has been gained through precipitation than has been lost through evaporation. This points to poor management of the water resources in the area, rather than climatic variability, as the principle cause of the lake drying up. </p>
<p>This is not to minimise the role of climate variability. In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022169420309458">separate study</a>, we looked at changes in rainfall patterns and how they affected Lake Poopó. We found that, as time goes by, the rainy season is getting shorter but more intense. This will is amplifying the cycle of water storage in the lake, with the lake holding less water at the end of the dry season and more at the end of the wet one. It will become even more necessary to regulate resources, for instance by storing water during the wet season to use when it is dry.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378046/original/file-20210111-19-v4igs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dried shore, boats on lake, hills in distance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378046/original/file-20210111-19-v4igs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378046/original/file-20210111-19-v4igs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378046/original/file-20210111-19-v4igs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378046/original/file-20210111-19-v4igs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378046/original/file-20210111-19-v4igs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378046/original/file-20210111-19-v4igs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378046/original/file-20210111-19-v4igs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fishing boats on Lake Poopó back in 2006.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fishing_boat_Lake_Poopo.jpg">Lovisa Selander / wiki</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found the highest increases in water losses took place in the area around the city of Oruro, which lies to the north of the lake. This is an area with lots of human activity, urban growth, new highways, and where river water has been used for mining and agriculture. Bolivia is the biggest producer of quinoa in the world and the crop increased by 45.5% from 1980 to 2011. As quinoa became more popular around the world over the past decade, production increased a further <a href="https://www.ine.gob.bo/index.php/estadisticas-economicas/agropecuaria/agricultura-cuadros-estadisticos">60% in just five years</a> to meet global demand.</p>
<p>This all highlights how vulnerable a place such as Lake Poopó can be when relationships between land, human politics and cycles of water and people <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718518300861">break apart</a>. The ecological disaster is a consequence of not only natural factors but also human activities – but at least this is one reason there is still hope we can reverse the problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152776/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juan Torres-Battló receives funding from the University of Surrey. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:b.marti-cardona@surrey.ac.uk">b.marti-cardona@surrey.ac.uk</a> receives funding from University of Surrey, UKRI. </span></em></p>
It’s an ecological disaster, but my research shows we should not lose hope.
Juan Torres-Batlló, PhD Candidate, University of Surrey
Belen Marti-Cardona, Lecturer in Earth Observation and Hydrology, University of Surrey
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/148545
2020-11-04T14:43:52Z
2020-11-04T14:43:52Z
Satellite data provides fresh insights into the amount of water in the Nile basin
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365728/original/file-20201027-17-4bjmsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cairo, Egypt</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AlexAnton/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Flowing through 11 African countries, the <a href="https://nilebasin.org/media-center/maps">Nile River</a> plays an important role in the lives of more than 24% of Africa’s population. <a href="http://davidshinn.blogspot.com/2010/05/nile-water-down-stream-versus-upstream.html">To both</a> upstream and downstream countries, the Nile waters are crucial in development planning, food and energy production. </p>
<p>As countries vie for these resources, there has been immense tension. Most notably, Egypt and Sudan have challenged Ethiopia’s decision to construct and fill the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/ethiopia/271-bridging-gap-nile-waters-dispute">Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam</a>. This is a huge project on one of the Nile’s main tributaries, the Blue Nile, which supplies more than 80% of the water reaching Egypt.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/colonial-era-treaties-are-to-blame-for-the-unresolved-dispute-over-ethiopias-dam-133538">Colonial-era treaties are to blame for the unresolved dispute over Ethiopia's dam</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Treaties are needed to govern the allocation of water resources in the region. For this to happen it is critical to have accurate data on how much water there is. But global water scarcity data are based on <a href="https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=9027">insufficient</a> ground observations. They are grossly outdated and don’t cover enough of the major <a href="https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/transboundary-waters/">transboundary river basins</a>. This is due to funding, maintenance cost, terrain and topography. In the Nile basin, hydrological monitoring stations have significantly <a href="http://atlas.nilebasin.org/treatise/introduction4/">declined in number</a> over the last 30 years. </p>
<p>But this is changing. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0309170802000659">Recent advances</a> in hydrological satellite observations are enabling the frequent collection of much more reliable information. This has opened the door to new research efforts to update global water availability. </p>
<p>Hydrological satellite observations <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6140349/">happen when</a> a satellite – hundreds of miles away from the Earth’s surface – observes and makes recurring visits to the same site several times a month. One of these – which allows for improved assessment of the total changes in water volume – is NASA’s joint satellite mission <a href="https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grace/">Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment</a>.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/special_issues/RS_WSA">research team</a> is among the first to use data from this satellite mission for a water scarcity assessment in Africa. We have used the data in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-48813-x">several</a> studies of the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022169418302476">Nile basin</a>. This includes assessments into how water levels in the Nile Basin are affected by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022169420303309">the climate and people</a>. </p>
<p>The data has enabled us to make accurate calculations that weren’t possible before. For example, we have been able to assess how much surface water there is and what the soil moisture and levels of groundwater are. Previous studies focused primarily on one or some of those variables, such as <a href="http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/Profile_segments/SDN-WR_esp.stm">the water</a> from the river flow. </p>
<p>Our study shows that there’s a looming water crisis in the Nile basin. This calls for an urgent regional basin initiative on sustainable water resources management. </p>
<h2>Monitoring from space</h2>
<p>Launched in 2002, <a href="https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grace/">the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites monitor</a> changes in global water resources in all forms. The data are available on a monthly basis.</p>
<p>We used these observations to determine the total available water storage in the Nile basin between <a href="https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/data/get-data/">2002 and 2020</a>. Overall, the data revealed that the total available water storage in the basin, from all sources, could reach an average of 180 billion cubic metres per year. This estimate is about twice the current estimated storage of <a href="http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/Profile_segments/SDN-WR_esp.stm">88 billion cubic metres per year</a>. Having data like this would inform how much water is allocated in the basin’s water sharing agreements. </p>
<p>We also used the satellite data to estimate the total available water storage for two main water tower regions (the source of the river) – Lake Victoria and the Blue Nile basin – and two major water <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013WR015231">sink regions</a> (where slow flowing water is lost to evaporation) – the Sudd wetlands in South Sudan and the Main Nile area across Egypt.</p>
<p>From what was <a href="http://geoid.colorado.edu/grace/docs/JH-SwesonWahr-2009.pdf">previously reported</a>, recent Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite observations showed that the Lake Victoria water tower <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169418302476">receives about</a> twice the water volume that the Blue Nile basin receives during the wet season. And the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013WR015231">Sudd basin</a> (the southern water sink) loses about twice the water compared to the northern Main Nile region. </p>
<p>These updated figures call for progressive water resources planning to save additional water resources for future development in the region. </p>
<p>The satellite observations also confirmed that between 2002 and 2020, the Nile river basin experienced <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3273">wetter conditions</a>. In 2020, the Nile river basin had approximately eight times more water storage than it did in 2002. These wetter conditions require further planning for more water volumes during <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147288/record-flooding-in-sudan">flooding seasons</a>.</p>
<p>Despite this, our conclusion confirms previous assessments that the basin is water-stressed. </p>
<h2>Water stressed</h2>
<p>A region is said to experience water-stress if the available water to use per person per year – for indoor, agricultural and industrial needs – is less than <a href="http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/maps/TRWR.Cap_eng.pdf">1000 cubic metres a year</a>, approximately 1,000,000 litres per person per year. </p>
<p>For daily basic needs, a person uses approximately <a href="https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20245927.html#:%7E:text=According%20to%20current%20estimates%2C%20each,is%20flushed%20away%20every%20day.">150 litres a day</a>. In Egypt (a major receiver of the Nile’s water), a person uses about <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/water/egypt-water/">200 litres</a> on average for domestic water needs per day. However, agriculture needs – such as food production – <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/06/5-ways-put-food-water-diet">require between</a> 2,000 and 5,000 litres of water per day. </p>
<p>If the available water to use becomes less than 500 cubic metres a year – about 500,000 litres of waters per person per year – to meet all water demands, a region is under absolute water scarcity conditions. </p>
<p>Because of the current and booming population <a href="https://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2017/pdfs/nilegrowth.pdf">projections</a> – the basin’s population is projected to reach <a href="https://www.prb.org/2012-world-population-data-sheet-2/">800 million by 2050</a> – the basin is under severe water stress conditions. </p>
<p>To estimate the yearly available water per capita we need to divide the total available water in the region – which we found to be 180 billion cubic metres per year – by <a href="http://atlas.nilebasin.org/treatise/estimated-and-projected-total-population-in-nile-basin-countries/">total population</a>. We therefore estimated that the available water to use per capita is approximately <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/8/904">450 cubic metres a year</a>, or approximately 1,230 litres per person a day. But there is an important caveat; the total amount of available water cannot all be extracted and used due to technological and economic constraints. Therefore, the true amount of usable water is likely considerably less than 1,230 litres per person per day. </p>
<p>More than ever before, riparian nations need to reinforce agreements on future water planning and new water sharing policies. </p>
<h2>Data to the rescue</h2>
<p>It won’t be easy to get the 11 countries in the basin to agree to a water sharing plan to avoid chronic water shortages in the future. But key to ensuring cooperation is good information sharing and technical cooperation between the riparian states. </p>
<p>Having accurate information on the available water will improve the understanding of common water resources and promote confidence between the basin states.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148545/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Treaties are needed to govern water resource allocation in the Nile basin region. For this to happen it’s critical to have accurate data on how much water there is.
Emad Hasan, Postdoctoral Researcher in Remote Sensing Hydrology, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Aondover Tarhule, Professor, Vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost, at Illinois State University, Illinois State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147371
2020-10-13T13:37:15Z
2020-10-13T13:37:15Z
Changes in South Africa’s rainfall seasons could affect farming and water resources
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362632/original/file-20201009-19-uo2cct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brewing thunderstorm in the dessert area of the Karoo in South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most of South Africa’s seasonal rainfall occurs during the warmer summer months, from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00704-020-03162-y">October to March</a>. As a result, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00704-014-1183-2">October</a> is an important period for farmers to begin planning when to sow crops (such as maize, wheat and sunflowers) for the growing season. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2016.1251933?casa_token=BGAJpl44hOEAAAAA%3A1-dt_3puKnqZW7M6trIu45IJ6k8UBZjEkYQhKLPD7nP0XCPc6N-WBXEzb2MWNjV8STYT4hH90sSO5Q">October</a> is also an important period for the tourism industry to think about water supplies for the upcoming summer holiday season.</p>
<p>The timing of summer rainfall, and all rainfall across South Africa, is determined by large-scale climate systems. Climate change is gradually changing the location of these systems and their moisture corridors, which bring rainfall to each region. The <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaebc7/meta">southward shift in the westerly winds</a> (one of these large-scale climate systems) and their mid-latitude cyclones is one of the reasons Cape Town suffered such a severe water shortage between 2015 and 2017.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-019-0084-6">Research</a> shows that the record low rainfall amounts were caused by recent expansion of the Hadley cell, the circulation of air from the tropics to subtropics. This expansion has changed the timing of summer rainfall and caused intensification of high-pressure systems (causing dry conditions), and a southward shift of the westerly wind belt (providing moisture for winter cold front rainfall). </p>
<p>South Africa has distinct spatial zones of rainfall <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03736245.2019.1573151?journalCode=rsag20">seasonality</a>. These are termed the summer-, winter- and year-round rainfall zones. Eastern and central regions get their rainfall during the summer months. That’s when the southwestern Cape and west coast regions are dry due to strong high-pressure conditions. In winter, the high-pressure systems shift north, sitting across the interior of the country and causing dry conditions there. The southern coast and a strip of land between the summer and winter rainfall zones form the year-round rainfall zone.</p>
<p>Most research in South Africa has focused on how large-scale climate system changes are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00382-020-05413-0">influencing rainfall totals</a>. Little research has considered consequent changes in rainfall seasonality - the timing of rainfall, including when the wet season begins and ends. These changes are important to consider, because rainfall seasonality changes across South Africa may have detrimental impacts on crop yields and surface water supplies. This prompted our <a href="https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/joc.6830">research</a>, recently published in the International Journal of Climatology.</p>
<p>We used rainfall and temperature records between 1987 and 2016 from 46 weather stations across South Africa to calculate annual rainfall seasonality characteristics using two methods. These quantify the strength of seasonality, and the wet-season start- and end-dates, length, total rainfall amount, number of rain days and rainfall intensity. We then explored how these characteristics changed during 1987-2016. We chose this recent 30-year period because that’s when climate change impacts have begun to show. </p>
<p>The hope is that this information can inform effective adaptation in sectors and activities dependent on rainfall seasonality characteristics. This is because, if sustained, the trends we calculated present a concerning outlook for continued crop production and water resource management.</p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>As rainfall varies considerably over the years and decades, we didn’t expect to find any conclusive evidence of rainfall seasonality changes over this relatively short period. But we did find that the trends across the different rainfall zones demonstrate patterns which can be linked to changes recorded for large-scale climate systems.</p>
<p>Our calculations reveal that the wet season started later and produced less rainfall across the interior summer rainfall zone and adjacent interior year-round rainfall zone. This is linked to Hadley cell expansion, which is associated with the tropical rain belt taking moisture south later. For the eastern coastal locations, the summer wet season started earlier, but also produced less rainfall. This can similarly be linked to Hadley cell expansion, but more strongly to changes in the high-pressure systems transporting moisture from the Indian Ocean.</p>
<p>The strongest trend signal for winter rainfall locations, and adjacent interior year-round rainfall locations, reflects reduced wet-season totals. This is consistent with a poleward shift of the westerlies, linking to less rainfall associated with cold fronts.</p>
<p>The most consistent trend for the southern coast year-round locations was for a longer dry season with increased wet-season rainfall. These trends are complicated to interpret, but can be linked to changes in the westerlies and high-pressure systems.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>The trends we calculated are concerning, especially those of wet-season drying. Should these continue, activities that depend on rainfall could experience severe impacts. We’ve already seen this during the Cape Town “day zero” drought - and events like this are expected to occur <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00382-018-4571-y">more frequently in the decades to come</a>. </p>
<p>Agriculture, for instance, relies on the wet-season timing, its length and total rainfall to dictate when to sow crops, and to select appropriate crops which will mature before the wet season <a href="https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/cr/v40/n2-3/p147-161/">ends</a>. Later wet-season start dates and less rainfall will require additional planning and farmers will need to select crops that can be sown later and will fully mature with less rainfall.</p>
<p>Water resource managers also rely on rainfall seasonality characteristics to adequately manage use of <a href="https://journals.co.za/content/sajsci/98/7-8/EJC97508">water supplies</a>. With many trends reflecting less wet-season rainfall, this would similarly require additional planning and monitoring to make sure water supplies do not run dry.</p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>Our research identified many consistent trends which can already inform management strategies for rainfall dependent activities. But there’s a need to explore similar trends for longer periods, across more areas of the country. It’s important to develop future scenarios considering rainfall seasonality changes and the mechanisms that drive trends. Among others, farmers, water managers and climatologists will need to closely monitor rainfall seasonality characteristics during coming years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147371/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Roffe receives funding from the National Research Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Fitchett receives funding from the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Palaeoscience. </span></em></p>
Trends across the different rainfall zones can be linked to changes recorded for large-scale climate systems.
Sarah Roffe, PhD student, Climatology , University of the Witwatersrand
Jennifer Fitchett, Associate Professor of Physical Geography, University of the Witwatersrand
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/129360
2020-01-13T14:42:14Z
2020-01-13T14:42:14Z
In the future there will be more rain, but less water, in the Nile Basin
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308779/original/file-20200107-123377-2bsrfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">High resolution satellite image of the Nile River's delta</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/TommoT</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Nile – the world’s longest river – runs through <a href="https://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/9780784481394.026">11 countries</a> in Africa and <a href="https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/nile-basin">has a basin</a> that covers about 3 million sq kms, nearly 10% of the continent’s landmass. About <a href="http://atlas.nilebasin.org/treatise/estimated-and-projected-total-population-in-nile-basin-countries/">250 million people</a> are reliant on the Nile’s waters in Ethiopia, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt. </p>
<p>Nearly all of the rainfall that feeds the Nile’s two major tributaries – the Blue and White Nile – falls in the upper Nile basin, found in South Sudan, western Ethiopia and Uganda. The lower Nile basin receives very little rainfall and the countries there – Sudan and Egypt – depend heavily on the Nile for water. </p>
<p>Climate projections suggest that, by the end of the century, the amount of rain in the Upper Nile basin could increase <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019EF001247">by up to 20%</a>. But our <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019EF001247">new paper</a> shows that, despite more rainfall, devastating hot and dry spells are projected to become more frequent in the Upper Nile basin. </p>
<p>These conditions will occur simultaneously with the region’s rapid population growth, <a href="http://atlas.nilebasin.org/treatise/estimated-and-projected-total-population-in-nile-basin-countries/">anticipated</a> to double by the middle of this century. This will increase water stress in the region, irrespective of the modest rainfall increases.</p>
<p>At present, around 10% of the basin’s population faces chronic <a href="https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml">water scarcity</a> due to the region’s seasonal aridity and the highly unequal distribution of water resources. By 2040, according to our research – in a year with average temperatures and rain – the number of people facing water scarcity could reach 35%. That’s more than 80 million people without enough water to function in their daily lives.</p>
<p>Hot and dry conditions will make this worse. These conditions will kill crops, reduce hydropower, diminish the water available for people and industry and heighten tensions over the distribution of regional water resources. By 2040, a hot and dry year could push over 45% of the people in the Nile Basin – nearly 110 million people – into water scarcity. </p>
<p>Even without these developments, population growth would drive water scarcity in the Upper Nile. But larger deficits in the amount of water flowing into streams and rivers during future hot and dry years will amplify this effect. This will leave an additional 5% to 15% of the future population in the Upper Nile basin facing water scarcity in hot and dry years.</p>
<p>These climate and population changes will project onto an already complex and tense socioeconomic and political landscape. </p>
<p>The Nile’s 11 riparian states vie with one another for the river’s water. The downstream states of Egypt and Sudan try to assert control over the Nile flow, while upstream states try to find ways to secure water for their well-being. Coupled with the region’s strong dependence on subsistence agriculture and political instability, the region is at risk of severe food and water shortages. </p>
<h2>More hot and dry years</h2>
<p>For our research, we wanted to understand how much more frequent hot and dry years could become, despite the slight increase in overall rainfall.</p>
<p>To do this we assessed historical climate trends in the Upper Nile Basin using eight observational data sets. These recorded rainfall and temperature in the Upper Nile basin between 1961 and 2005. We also used climate models to estimate how temperature and precipitation will change over the remaining century.</p>
<p>Our findings show that hot and dry years have become more common over the past four decades in the Upper Nile basin and that this trend is likely to continue. These hot and dry conditions will be similar to those that have resulted in crop failures, food shortages and humanitarian crises in the region over the past decades. </p>
<p>By the late 21st century, the frequency of these hot and dry years may rise between a factor of 1.5 and 3. In the past, hot and dry years occurred about once every 20 years; but this increase in frequency means that in the future a hot and dry year could occur once every six to 10 years, making them a common experience for people in the region. </p>
<p>In addition to becoming more frequent, they will also become more severe. Temperatures during heat waves in the region could rise between 2°C and 6°C, putting far more stress on people, animals and crops than occurs today.</p>
<p>We estimated the number of people facing water scarcity by comparing the total runoff – the amount of water flowing into streams and rivers – which is available for human consumption with the amount of water every person needs to meet their basic needs. When we make this comparison, we find that despite the small projected increase in rainfall, as the population rises and hot and dry years become more frequent, the total water supply will be far less than needed to meet the region’s needs.</p>
<h2>Causes</h2>
<p>What’s causing all this?</p>
<p>Like the rest of the world, the <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/A%20Climate%20Trend%20Analysis%20of%20Ethiopia.pdf">Nile Basin region has been warming</a> due to rising global greenhouse gas concentrations. Because rainfall is projected to slightly increase in the region, the frequency of dry years won’t change significantly. However, the rise in temperature means that when dry years happen, they will be hot. </p>
<p>Compounding this drying is a projected increase in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3273">year-to-year variations</a> in rainfall, which may be due to projected intensification of El Niño and La Niña cycles. This creates a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0140-y">precipitation “whiplash”</a> in the region, where severe <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/islamic-relief-responds-flash-floods-devastate-white-nile-sudan">wet</a> and <a href="https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/1239/2014/">dry</a> years occur in quick succession. </p>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>One critical priority is to ensure that food and water are more equally available to all. Despite there being enough food and water on average, many people <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/09.30.19_-_USAID-DCHA_Ethiopia_Complex_Emergency_Fact_Sheet_3.pdf">cannot afford or access it</a>. This will get worse.</p>
<p>A critical first step is for basin states to create an equitable water allocation scheme among them that not only addresses “historical rights” – such as Egypt’s long-held claims to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03932729.2017.1333272">two-thirds of Nile flow</a> – but also to the needs of upstream countries like South Sudan and Ethiopia, which require water to build their economies. </p>
<p>Cooperative water-sharing institutions within the basin could help avert contentious situations. For instance, Ethiopia is currently constructing the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-dam-factbox/factbox-key-facts-about-ethiopias-giant-nile-dam-idUSKBN1XG21L">Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam</a> on the Blue Nile River. Without strong regional institutions to provide political and legal assurances of fair Nile water use, the dam’s construction is provoking worries in Egypt, as it would likely reduce irrigation water availability for the country’s agriculture.</p>
<p>Water may be often pointed to as a source of conflict, but as with the case of <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/%7Etmd2118/situstudio/why_cooperation.pdf">Israel and Jordan</a>, it can also be a means to cooperation, getting nations to the negotiating table. In a future world with more people and less water, countries in the Nile Basin will need to work together to ensure the best use of the region’s resources to catch and store rainfall in the wet, flood risk years, and equally distribute that water in dry years. </p>
<p>If the region’s governments fail to work together to prepare, the consequences for their people could be catastrophic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129360/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ethan Coffel receives funding from the Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth College. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justin S. Mankin receives funding from the Burke Research Initiation Award. </span></em></p>
Despite more rainfall, devastating hot and dry spells are projected to become more frequent in the Upper Nile basin in the future.
Ethan D. Coffel, Neukom Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, Dartmouth College
Justin S. Mankin, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Dartmouth College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/127010
2019-11-26T18:40:37Z
2019-11-26T18:40:37Z
‘New Bradfield’: rerouting rivers to recapture a pioneering spirit
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303353/original/file-20191125-74567-1lshtdu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C205%2C4031%2C2776&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Waters from the Herbert River, which runs toward one of northern Australia's richest agricultural districts, could be redirected under a Bradfield scheme.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick White</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The “<a href="https://www.deb2020.com.au/newbradfield/">New Bradfield</a>” scheme is more than an attempt to transcend environmental reality. It seeks to revive a pioneering spirit and a nation-building ethos supposedly stifled by the <a href="https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/townsville/townsville-enterprise-to-receive-24m-for-hells-gates-dam-case-after-months-of-bureacratic-delay/news-story/492dba14afd4ce71ffd08f12d38c15a6">bureaucratic inertia</a> of modern Australia.</p>
<p>This is not a new lament. Frustrated by bureaucracy, politicians in North Queensland have long criticised the slow pace of northern development. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/you-cant-boost-australias-north-to-5-million-people-without-a-proper-plan-125063">You can't boost Australia's north to 5 million people without a proper plan</a>
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<p>In 1950, northern local governments blamed urban lethargy. <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63184273?searchTerm=concern%20at%20drift%20in%20north%27s%20population&searchLimits=">One prominent mayor</a> complained:</p>
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<p>… these young people lack the pioneering spirit of their forebears, preferring leisure and pleasure to hardships and hard work.</p>
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<p>These sentiments were inspired by an agrarian nostalgia that extolled toil and toughness. Stoic responses to the challenges of life on the land are part of the <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9284258">Australian legend</a>.</p>
<p>With drought devastating rural and urban communities and a state election looming in Queensland in 2020, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/leaders-tout-bradfield-scheme-options-in-queensland-election-fight-20191101-p536o2.html">both sides of politics</a> have proposed a “New Bradfield” scheme.</p>
<h2>An idea with 19th-century origins</h2>
<p>Civil engineer John Bradfield devised the original scheme in 1938. His plan would <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97050378?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Ftitle%2FQ%2Ftitle%2F379%2F1939%2F05%2F04%2Fpage%2F10280686%2Farticle%2F97050378">swamp inland Australia</a> by reversing the flow of North Queensland’s rivers. Similar proposals go back to at least 1887, when geographer <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/35590102?q&versionId=44284267+219718360+231090219">E.A. Leonard recommended</a> the Herbert, Tully, Johnstone and Barron rivers be turned around to irrigate Australia’s “<a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/13361128">dead heart</a>”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302057/original/file-20191117-66921-mj64sz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302057/original/file-20191117-66921-mj64sz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302057/original/file-20191117-66921-mj64sz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302057/original/file-20191117-66921-mj64sz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302057/original/file-20191117-66921-mj64sz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302057/original/file-20191117-66921-mj64sz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302057/original/file-20191117-66921-mj64sz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302057/original/file-20191117-66921-mj64sz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blencoe Falls, on a tributary of the Herbert River, North Queensland, during the dry season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick White</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the “dead heart” became the “<a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/finlayson-hedley-herbert-14881">Red Centre</a>” in the 1930s, <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/6707892?q&versionId=7723963">populist writers</a> revived the dreams of big irrigation schemes. </p>
<p>These schemes have always been contested on both <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-18/fact-file-bradfield-scheme-drought-relief/11216616">environmental and economic grounds</a>. A <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/20252029">compelling history of Bradfield’s</a> proposal reveals many errors and miscalculations. But what the scheme lacked in substance it made up for in grandiose vision.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-water-dreamers">Water dreaming</a> has been a powerful theme in Australian history. The desire to transform desert into farmland retains appeal and <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97099323?searchTerm=bradfield%20AND%20%22Nimmo%22&searchLimits=exactPhrase=Nimmo%7C%7C%7CanyWords%7C%7C%7CnotWords%7C%7C%7CrequestHandler%7C%7C%7CdateFrom=1944-01-01%7C%7C%7CdateTo=1948-01-01%7C%7C%7Cl-advstate=National%7C%7C%7Cl-advstate=New+South+Wales%7C%7C%7Cl-advstate=Queensland%7C%7C%7Cl-advstate=Victoria%7C%7C%7Csortby">discredited</a> schemes like Bradfield keep reappearing.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-keys-to-unlock-northern-australia-have-already-been-cut-69713">The keys to unlock Northern Australia have already been cut</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Contempt for nature and country</h2>
<p>While less ambitious than the original plan, the “New Bradfield” scheme still engineers against the gradient of both history and nature. It would have irreversible consequences for Queensland’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/experts-dismiss-new-drought-proofing-bradfield-scheme/11666006">environment</a>, society and culture.</p>
<p>What’s more, the new scheme manifests much the same mindset as the old. </p>
<p>It’s an attitude that privileges the conquest of nature: in this case literally up-ending geography by turning east-flowing rivers westward. Its celebration of the human struggle against defiant nature reprises the pioneering ethos.</p>
<p>Like many pioneers, “New Bradfield” proposals disregard the interests and land-management practices of Indigenous people. The bushfires ravaging the eastern states show the folly of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-14/traditional-owners-predicted-bushfire-disaster/11700320?sf223598160=1&fbclid=IwAR2UkvGj_wyO4s6tbRqyI5sI6UgEI6SvqkoMwxCFEkKEV6FO7ZGJfGMP3Kc">ignoring traditional ways of caring for country</a> . </p>
<p><a href="http://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases/case_d1-2018">Overlooking native title realities</a> can also cost governments and communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remote-indigenous-australias-ecological-economies-give-us-something-to-build-on-123917">Remote Indigenous Australia's ecological economies give us something to build on</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Polarising debate neglects more viable projects</h2>
<p>“New Bradfield” is promoted as “<a href="https://www.deb2020.com.au/newbradfield/?utm_source=Digitaliyf&utm_medium=GSearch&utm_campaign=NBradfield&gclid=CjwKCAiA8K7uBRBBEiwACOm4d-0xBRkgojO1Wykl937_rMhWhPhAb2ZsKhcKHOqdM2OuG11V34XdHBoCxBMQAvD_BwE">an asset owned by all Queenslanders for all Queenslanders</a>”. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-darling-river-is-simply-not-supposed-to-dry-out-even-in-drought-109880">environmental destruction</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/drought-and-climate-change-are-driving-high-water-prices-in-the-murray-darling-basin-119993">disputes over water sales</a> in the Murray-Darling Basin sound a warning.</p>
<p>The Queensland Farmers Federation has <a href="https://www.qff.org.au/media-releases/qff-welcomes-lnp-commitment-new-bradfield-scheme/">cautiously welcomed</a> the new scheme. Others have dismissed it as a “<a href="https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/6479100/cold-water-poured-on-bradfield-mark-ii/">pipe dream</a>”. </p>
<p>Thus, northern Australia again sits amid a polarised debate about its utility to the nation. Such polarising contests diminish the likelihood of more viable projects being implemented.</p>
<p>Extravagant expectations of “untapped” northern resources have been <a href="https://scholarly.info/book/northern-dreams/">proffered for nearly two centuries</a>. Distant governments have fantasised the Australian tropics as a land of near-limitless potential. Northern communities have many times been disappointed by the results.</p>
<p>Today’s promises to “<a href="https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/opinion/flow-of-jobs-water-vital-for-nq-says-lnp-leader-deb-frecklington/news-story/053bb635b9cb86461ead6eedd39756ca">drought-proof</a>” large areas of Queensland rely on similar images. “Drought-proofing” aims to keep people on the land but often defies economic and social reality.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-drought-proof-australia-and-trying-is-a-fools-errand-124504">We can’t drought-proof Australia, and trying is a fool's errand</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Dam developments have an underwhelming record</h2>
<p>The “New Bradfield” rhetoric echoes the inflated expectations of myriad disappointing northern development plans in the past. The <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781349905737">Ord River project</a> was touted as an agricultural wonder that would put hundreds of thousands of farmers into the Kimberley. Its success lies forever just over the horizon.</p>
<p>Much closer to the present proposal is the Burdekin Falls Dam. It sits in the lower reaches of the same river earmarked for the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-01/bradfield-scheme-is-moving-water-from-north-to-south-feasible/11662942">Hells Gates Dam that would feed</a> the “New Bradfield” scheme. Damming Hells Gates has been advocated since at least the 1930s and has <a href="https://www.townsvilleenterprise.com.au/news-media/news-centre/advocacy-alert-hells-gates-funding-agreement-signals-boots-on-the-ground/">new supporters</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302055/original/file-20191117-66921-zna3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302055/original/file-20191117-66921-zna3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302055/original/file-20191117-66921-zna3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302055/original/file-20191117-66921-zna3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302055/original/file-20191117-66921-zna3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302055/original/file-20191117-66921-zna3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302055/original/file-20191117-66921-zna3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The proposed site for Hells Gates Dam is on Gugu Badhun country on the Burdekin River.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dr Theresa Petray</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Back in the 1950s, damming the Burdekin was expected to generate hydro-electric power and irrigate vast swathes of farmland. After decades of political squabbling, the dam was completed in 1988. It does not generate hydro power. Although it irrigates some land downstream, the anticipated huge agricultural expansion never happened.</p>
<p>The Burdekin Falls Dam has helped the regional economy and could help to overcome the water shortages of the nearby city of Townsville. But it has not met the inflated expectations widely proffered decades earlier. The benefits that would flow from another dam further upstream are likely to be even more meagre.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/damming-northern-australia-we-need-to-learn-hard-lessons-from-the-south-53885">Damming northern Australia: we need to learn hard lessons from the south</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Grandiose visions of northern development have a habit of <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8505121?selectedversion=NBD660057">failing</a>. A “New Bradfield” scheme, animated by an old pioneering ethos, is unlikely to be different. </p>
<p>Drought-affected communities would derive more benefit from sober proposals that acknowledge the past, integrate Indigenous knowledge and incorporate agricultural innovation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127010/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick White receives funding from an Australian Government Postgraduate Award.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janine Gertz’s PhD Doctoral research was funded by a JCU Australian Postgraduate Award and a JCU Prestige Indigenous Research Award. Janine provides administrative support to the Gugu Badhun Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC. Gugu Badhun Aboriginal Nation is participating in a Nation-Building research project “Prerequisite conditions for Indigenous nation self-government” which is funded by an ARC Discovery Grant, led by the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, University of Technology Sydney. Gugu Badhun is also a research partner on a native food project with the ARC Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods, University of Queensland. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Russell McGregor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The ‘New Bradfield’ scheme seeks to revive a nation-building ethos supposedly stifled by bureaucratic inertia. But there are good reasons the scheme never became a reality.
Patrick White, PhD Candidate in History and Politics, James Cook University
Russell McGregor, Adjunct Professor of History, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/124668
2019-10-22T15:02:06Z
2019-10-22T15:02:06Z
Groundwater supplies on Kenya’s coast must be managed for people and industry
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297174/original/file-20191015-98670-r8yxss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Diani Beach, Kenya</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Rata/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Industry is growing along Kenya’s coast, and some of these companies – such as mining and agricultural companies – are water intensive. To meet their demand, most industries <a href="http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Books/PDF/groundwater_availability_and_use_in_sub-saharan_africa_a_review_of_15_countries.pdf">are turning to groundwater</a>. </p>
<p>Groundwater is a natural resource that exists beneath the earth’s surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. It can be stored in, or move through, aquifers: a body of permeable rock – like gravel or sand. </p>
<p>Groundwater has many <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/955231468337751545/pdf/717260WP0Box370C00GWGovernanceKenya.pdf">intrinsic advantages</a>: it can be developed quickly (and at a relatively low cost), it’s easy to find, it’s drought resilient and can meet water needs on demand. This has made it a crucial component in rural water supply, and for industry. </p>
<p>The problem is, even though Kenya has policies, laws, and institutions that are specifically dedicated to managing groundwater, in practice, groundwater is treated as a common pool resource, belonging to whoever owns the land overlying the aquifer. The majority of water users ignore the potential long-term consequences of unregulated use. </p>
<p>This is what’s happening in Kwale county, on the southern coast of Kenya. Over half a billion <a href="https://cae.uonbi.ac.ke/sites/default/files/cae/artsdesign/urbanplanning/UNCRD%20KWALE-MOMBASA%20REPORT.pdf">US dollars</a> in capital investment has been made in two water-reliant industries in Kwale: heavy sands mining and commercial sugarcane. In addition to this Kwale also hosts significant tourism. </p>
<p>Because aquifers in Kenya <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/955231468337751545/pdf/717260WP0Box370C00GWGovernanceKenya.pdf">are not</a> always properly managed, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719335594">my colleagues and I wanted to know</a> how increased abstraction of groundwater by industries could affect local communities that use groundwater as their main water supply. </p>
<p>We found that, at the moment, the new industries are not affecting the water supply for local communities. What is affecting the community wells are long drought periods, such as the <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/drought-kenya-2016-2017">last drought</a> which lasted from 2016 to early 2017. The consequences of dry wells are that people have to walk further to get water, and water becomes more expensive to buy. </p>
<p>For industry, understanding investor risk and liability for groundwater sustainability would seem prudent, if not a legal obligation, before major abstraction starts. </p>
<p>Our research shows that groundwater resources can be significant and resilient to unpredictable but recurrent drought events, if understood and managed properly.</p>
<h2>Sustainable use?</h2>
<p>We focused our study on the Msambweni aquifer, located on the coast of Kwale county in Kenya. This aquifer system is composed of a shallow aquifer (about 25 metres thick) and a deep aquifer below this shallow aquifer (about 350 metres thick). </p>
<p>The shallow aquifer is recharged by rain through the ground surface and the deep aquifer is recharged by water that flows underground from the Shimba Hills.</p>
<p>The shallow aquifer is mainly exploited by the local rural communities and the hotels located near the coastline. The deep aquifer is exploited by the mining and sugar operations. </p>
<p>The communities rely heavily on shallow groundwater, which they get from wells or by using a handpump in a borehole, because they don’t have piped water, and water from the two main rivers in the area is not considered safe to drink. Also, in the 1980s, the Swedish International Development Agency <a href="http://hydrologie.org/redbooks/a240/iahs_240_0287.pdf">installed</a> hundreds of handpumps at boreholes in Kwale county.</p>
<p>Industries now also rely on groundwater. But they use new boreholes, equipped with electrical pumps, that reach the deep aquifer. These have higher abstraction rates than traditional dug wells or shallow boreholes equipped with handpumps.</p>
<p>When investigating whether these users are using the groundwater sustainably, it’s important to point out that sustainability is variable through time. Not all water users exploit the same aquifer layers. </p>
<p>At present, the main industries in the area exploit the deep aquifer because it’s more resilient to drought. So the industries aren’t affecting the shallow community wells. </p>
<p>However, this could change. If droughts become more frequent, or last longer, there will be less groundwater stored. </p>
<h2>Data challenges</h2>
<p>It’s important to highlight the data challenges we faced, and how we reached our findings. </p>
<p>We tried to define the groundwater abstraction of all the main users, but couldn’t. As in many other countries, abstraction data for wells and boreholes is difficult to get. </p>
<p>So we needed to come up with a new methodology to estimate how much abstraction was happening in areas with uncertain or no data. </p>
<p>Collaboration between stakeholders during this study was essential. </p>
<p>Most of the time, water-reliant users such as the industries collect specific hydrogeological information, like aquifer storage or how much they pump, because they’re trying to use the water efficiently. </p>
<p>We also identified hotels, noted the number of their rooms and interviewed hotel managers to estimate tourism abstraction along the coast using easy tools like Google Earth and TripAdvisor.</p>
<p>Alongside this, it was important to develop a monitoring network, covering the whole aquifer area. We used well measurements to get an idea of the aquifer system, its volume and dynamics, and assess the sustainability of abstraction.</p>
<h2>Future approaches</h2>
<p>While this data pointed to a scenario where industry was having a minimal impact, things could change. </p>
<p>Enterprises and government may find environmental sustainability of secondary importance to advancing economic production, creating local jobs and new sources of taxation. Government leadership is needed to manage the aquifer as a system for all, including environmental services, rather than for the powerful few.</p>
<p><em>Albert Folch, Mike Lane, Daniel Olago, Jacob Katuva, Patrick Thomson, Sonia Jou, Rob Hope and Emilio Custodio were key contributors to this study</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study was funded from the UK Government via NERC, ESRC and DFID as part of the Gro for GooD
project (UPGro Consortium Grant: NE/M008894/1). Nuria Ferrer is affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. Associated Unit: Hydrogeology Group (UPC-CSIC), Spain.</span></em></p>
Government leadership is needed to manage the aquifer as a system for all, including environmental services, rather than for the powerful few.
Nuria Ferrer Ramos, Hydrogeologist, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/111249
2019-02-12T19:15:59Z
2019-02-12T19:15:59Z
When water is scarce, we can’t afford to neglect the alternatives to desalination
<p><em>This is the second of two articles looking at the increasing reliance of Australian cities on desalination plants to supply drinking water, with less emphasis on the alternatives of water recycling and demand management. So what is the best way forward to achieve urban water security?</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>An important lesson from the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/articles/a010-southern-rainfall-decline.shtml">Millennium Drought</a> in Australia was the power of individuals to curb their own water use. This was achieved through public education campaigns and water restrictions. It was a popular topic in the media and in daily conversations before the focus turned to desalination for water security. </p>
<p>Water authorities were also expanding the use of treated wastewater – often a polite term for sewage – for “non-potable” uses. These included flushing toilets, watering gardens, and washing cars and laundry. </p>
<p>Today, the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/water/npr/docs/2016-17/national_performance_report_2016_17_urban_water_utilities_lowRes_update.pdf">emphasis on recycling wastewater in some locations is declining</a>. The arguments for increased water recycling appear to be falling away now that desalinated water is available. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cities-turn-to-desalination-for-water-security-but-at-what-cost-110972">Cities turn to desalination for water security, but at what cost?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This trend ignores the fact that the potential supply of recycled water increases as populations grow. </p>
<p>Today most Australian wastewater is treated then disposed into local streams, rivers, estuaries and the ocean. In Sydney, for example, the city’s big three outfalls <a href="https://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/water-the-environment/how-we-manage-sydney-s-water/wastewater-network/wastewater-treatment-plants/index.htm">dump nearly 1 billion litres (1,000 megalitres, ML) a day into the ocean</a>.</p>
<h2>Where has recycling succeeded?</h2>
<p>Australia has several highly successful water recycling projects. </p>
<p>Sydney introduced the <a href="https://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/education/Wastewater-recycling/Water-recycling/rouse-hill-water-recycling-plant/index.htm">Rouse Hill recycled water scheme</a> in 2001. Highly treated wastewater is piped into 32,000 suburban properties in distinct purple pipes. Each property also has the normal “potable” drinking water supply. </p>
<p>Rouse Hill is considered a world-leading urban recycling scheme. South Australia (<a href="https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/about-us/our-plans">Mawsons Lakes</a>) and Victoria (<a href="https://www.yvw.com.au/help-advice/recycled-water">Yarra Valley Water</a>, <a href="https://southeastwater.com.au/LearnAboutWater/TypesWater/Pages/RecycledWater.aspx">South East Water</a>) have similar projects. </p>
<p>Our farmers often struggle to secure water for irrigation. <a href="https://theconversation.com/damning-royal-commission-report-leaves-no-doubt-that-we-all-lose-if-the-murray-darling-basin-plan-fails-110908">Chronic water shortages across the Murray-Darling river system</a> vividly demonstrate this. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/damning-royal-commission-report-leaves-no-doubt-that-we-all-lose-if-the-murray-darling-basin-plan-fails-110908">Damning royal commission report leaves no doubt that we all lose if the Murray-Darling Basin Plan fails</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Recycled water can play an important role in agricultural schemes. There are successful examples in South Australia (<a href="http://www.recycledwater.com.au/index.php?id=84">Virginia Irrigation Scheme</a>), Victoria (<a href="https://www.melbournewater.com.au/community-and-education/about-our-water/recycled-water">Werribee</a>) and New South Wales (<a href="https://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/water-the-environment/what-we-re-doing/current-projects/improving-our-wastewater-system/picton-water-recycling-plant/index.htm">Picton</a>). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-takes-a-lot-of-water-to-feed-us-but-recycled-water-could-help-55502">It takes a lot of water to feed us, but recycled water could help</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/more-of-us-are-drinking-recycled-sewage-water-than-most-people-realise-92420">Perth has gone further by embracing water recycling</a> for urban use with plans to treat it to a drinking water standard. Part of the extensive treatment process involves <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis">reverse osmosis</a>, which is also used in desalination. The treated <a href="https://www.watercorporation.com.au/water-supply/our-water-sources/groundwater-replenishment">water is then pumped into groundwater aquifers</a> and stored. </p>
<p>This “groundwater replenishment” adds to the groundwater that contributes about half of the city’s water supply. The Water Corporation of Perth has a long-term <a href="https://www.watercorporation.com.au/water-supply/our-water-sources/recycled-water">aim to recycle 30% of its wastewater</a>. </p>
<p>Southeast Queensland, too, has developed an extensive recycled water system. The <a href="https://www.seqwater.com.au/water-supply/water-treatment/purified-recycled-water">Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme</a> also uses reverse osmosis and can supplement drinking water supplies during droughts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-of-us-are-drinking-recycled-sewage-water-than-most-people-realise-92420">More of us are drinking recycled sewage water than most people realise</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Demand management works too</h2>
<p>Past campaigns to get people to reduce water use achieved significant results. </p>
<p>In Sydney, <a href="http://www.sydneywater.com.au/web/groups/publicwebcontent/documents/document/zgrf/mdq3/%7Eedisp/dd_047419.pdf">water use fell steeply under water restrictions</a> (2003-2009). Since the restrictions have ended, consumption has increased under the softer “water wise rules”. Regional centres including (<a href="http://www.tamworth.nsw.gov.au/Water-and-Sewerage/Water-Restrictions/Current-Water-Restrictions/Current-Water-Restrictions">Tamworth</a>) outside of Sydney are under significant water restrictions currently with limited relief in sight. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257668/original/file-20190207-174883-1srhgp8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257668/original/file-20190207-174883-1srhgp8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257668/original/file-20190207-174883-1srhgp8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257668/original/file-20190207-174883-1srhgp8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257668/original/file-20190207-174883-1srhgp8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257668/original/file-20190207-174883-1srhgp8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257668/original/file-20190207-174883-1srhgp8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257668/original/file-20190207-174883-1srhgp8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Despite a 25% increase in Sydney’s population, total demand for drinking water remains lower than before mandatory restrictions were introduced in late 2003.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.sydneywater.com.au/web/groups/publicwebcontent/documents/document/zgrf/mdq3/~edisp/dd_047419.pdf">© Sydney Water, used with permission</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Victorian government appears to be the Australian <a href="https://marketing.conference-services.net/resources/327/2958/pdf/AM2012_0124_paper.pdf">leader in encouraging urban water conservation</a>. Across Melbourne water use per person averaged <a href="https://www.water.vic.gov.au/liveable-cities-and-towns/using-water-wisely/target-155-target-your-water-use">161 litres a day over 2016-18</a>. Victoria’s “<a href="https://www.water.vic.gov.au/liveable-cities-and-towns/using-water-wisely/t155">Target 155</a>” program, first <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/dumped-target-155-water-scheme-was-working-20110302-1bewe.html">launched in late 2008</a> and <a href="https://clearwatervic.com.au/news/victorian-government-reactivates-target-155-water-efficiency-program.php">revived in 2016</a>, aims for average use of 155 litres a day. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/water/npr/docs/2016-17/02_Comparison-of_major_urban_centres.pdf">comparison of mainland capitals</a> Melbourne used the least water per residential property, 25% less than the average. Southeast Queensland residents had the second-lowest use, followed by Adelaide. Sydney, Perth and Darwin had the highest use. </p>
<p>Although Melbourne water prices are among the highest of the major cities, lower annual water use meant the city’s households had the lowest water bills in 2016-17, <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/water/npr/">analysis by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology</a> found.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258422/original/file-20190212-174861-4illbp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258422/original/file-20190212-174861-4illbp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258422/original/file-20190212-174861-4illbp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258422/original/file-20190212-174861-4illbp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258422/original/file-20190212-174861-4illbp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258422/original/file-20190212-174861-4illbp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258422/original/file-20190212-174861-4illbp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258422/original/file-20190212-174861-4illbp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.bom.gov.au/water/npr/docs/2016-17/nationalPerformanceReport2016_17UrbanWaterUtilitiesHigherRes.pdf">Calculated from Bureau of Meteorology data</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What impact do water prices have?</h2>
<p>Clearly, water pricing can be an effective tool to get people to reduce demand. This could partly explain why water use is lower in some cities.</p>
<p>Water bills have several components. Domestic customers pay a service fee to be connected. They then pay for the volume of water they use, plus wastewater charges on top of that. Depending on where you live, you might be charged a flat rate, or a rate that increases as you use more water.</p>
<p>The chart below shows the pricing range in our major cities.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="xIJQR" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/xIJQR/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>Flat charges for water per kilolitre (where a kL equals 1,000 litres) apply in Sydney (<a href="https://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/accounts-billing/understanding-your-bill/prices-for-your-home/index.htm">$2.08/kL)</a>), Darwin (<a href="https://www.powerwater.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/165198/Water,_sewerage_and_power_tariffs_-_Effective_from_1_July_2018.pdf">$1.95/kL</a>) and Hobart (<a href="https://www.taswater.com.au/Your-Account/Water-and-Sewerage-Charges">$1.06/kL</a>. </p>
<p>However, most water authorities charge low water users a cheaper rate, and increased prices apply for higher consumption. The most expensive water in Australia is for Canberra residents – <a href="https://www.iconwater.com.au/about/our-pricing.aspx">$4.88</a> for each kL customers use over 50kL per quarter. The cheapest water is Hobart (<a href="https://www.taswater.com.au/Your-Account/Water-and-Sewerage-Charges">$1.06/kL</a>).</p>
<p>Higher fees for higher residential consumption are charged in Canberra, Perth, Southeast Queensland, across South Australia and in Melbourne. In effect, most major water providers penalise high-water-using customers. This creates an incentive to use less. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.yvw.com.au/help-advice/help-my-account/understand-my-bill/fees-and-charges">Yarra Valley Water customers in Melbourne</a> using less than 440 litres a day pay $2.64/kL. From 441-880L/day they are charged $3.11/kL. For more than 881L/day they pay $4.62/kL – 75% more than the lowest rate.</p>
<h2>Is recycled water getting priced out of business?</h2>
<p>Recycling water <a href="http://www.sydneywater.com.au/web/groups/publicwebcontent/documents/document/zgrf/mdu3/%7Eedisp/dd_057020.pdf">may not be viable for Sydney Water</a>. It can cost over $5 per 1kL to produce, but the state pricing regulator, <a href="https://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/Home/Industries/Water/Setting-water-prices/Current-water-prices">IPART</a>, sets the cost of recycled water to Sydney customers at <a href="http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/accounts-billing/understanding-your-bill/our-prices/index.htm">just under $2 per kL</a>. That’s probably well below the cost of production. </p>
<p>Recycled water, where available, is a little bit more expensive ($2.12/kL) in South Australia. </p>
<p>Subsidies are probably essential for future large recycling schemes. This was the case for a 2017 plan to expand the Virginia Irrigation Scheme. South Australia <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-10/recycled-water-extension-proposed-in-adelaides-north/8430522">sought 30% of the capital funding</a> from the Commonwealth. </p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>Much of southern Australia is facing increasing water stress and <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/water/dashboards/#/water-storages/summary/state">capital city water supplies are falling</a>. Expensive desalination plants are gearing up to supply more water. Will they insulate urban residents from the disruption many others are feeling in drought-affected inland and regional locations? Should we be increasing the capacity of our desalination plants? </p>
<p>We recommend that urban Australia should make further use of recycled water. This will also reduce the environmental impact of disposing wastewater in our rivers, estuaries and ocean. All new developments should have recycled water made available, saving our precious potable water for human consumption. </p>
<p>Water conservation should be given the highest priority. Pricing of water that encourages recycling and water conservation should be a national priority. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-australias-growing-cities-need-to-do-to-avoid-running-dry-86301">This is what Australia's growing cities need to do to avoid running dry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read the first article, on cities’ increasing reliance on desalination, <a href="http://theconversation.com/cities-turn-to-desalination-for-water-security-but-at-what-cost-110972">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111249/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Cities relied entirely on conserving and recycling water to get through the last big drought. We now have desalination plants, but getting the most out of our water reserves still makes sense.
Ian A. Wright, Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University
Jason Reynolds, Senior Lecturer, Western Sydney University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/91724
2018-02-20T14:37:28Z
2018-02-20T14:37:28Z
Why your tourist toilet habits are bad for locals – and the environment
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206809/original/file-20180216-50550-1yppnws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While many prospective holidaymakers actively seek a change in cuisine or climate when choosing their destination, standardised sanitation usually remains a must.</p>
<p>You might think that the preference for a porcelain pew is harmless, but in reality it can put a serious strain on both the local population and the environment. In fact, many of the most pervasive problems associated with tourism can be seen through the toilet bowl.</p>
<p>Research suggests that in some locations <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517711000793">up to 40% of water is consumed by tourists</a>. Tourists tend to splash out <a href="https://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Unit2-Resource-A-1.pdf">far more per day on average</a> than local residents, who are often <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738312000047">outcompeted</a> by industry for water access. Using limited freshwater supplies to flush tourists’ toilets means less for residents’ drinking, cleaning and cooking needs.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t be scared.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-style-japan-toilet-415484425?src=dQP67N10AKsBsw_E8TjrIg-1-3">Heemsuhree/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Environmentally, the sheer volume of incoming tourists can come at a high price. Local sewage facilities often struggle to cope with the influx of human waste. Many small islands with limited infrastructure, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michelle_Mycoo/publication/249023794_Sustainable_Tourism_Using_Regulations_Market_Mechanisms_and_Green_Certification_A_Case_Study_of_Barbados/links/5591255108aed6ec4bf69627.pdf">such as Barbados</a>, have no choice but to pump raw sewage straight into the sea, putting vast swathes of the Caribbean’s coral reefs at risk.</p>
<p>This defecatory deluge also depletes limited water reserves. In Cape Town, hotels are having to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cape-town-drought-water-shortage-luxury-five-star-hotels-day-zero-laundry-showers-toilet-flush-pool-a8191966.html">abruptly limit guests’ water usage</a> as the city suffers drought. In Bali, fast-growing tourism demand is linked to <a href="http://www.idepfoundation.org/en/bwp/summary">rapid depletion of the island’s water resources</a>.</p>
<h2>Sanitation solutions</h2>
<p>These economic and environmental harms often stem from a misplaced sense of cultural superiority that accompanies us to the bathroom. The internet is awash with travellers’ <a href="https://thetravelmanuel.com/why-malaysia-has-the-worst-toilets-in-the-world/">toilet horror stories</a>, written with apparently little social sensitivity or willingness to compromise.</p>
<p>Those fortunate enough to be able to travel might want to remind themselves of UN estimates for 2017, which suggest that <a href="http://www.unwater.org/new-publication-whounicef-joint-monitoring-programme-2017-report/">61% of the global population</a> – roughly 4.5 billion people – lack access to a toilet or latrine that disposes of waste safely. Westerners tend to judge other cultures harshly, when really they should be judging global inequality, poverty and politics.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xtn21JwhPiE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps some judgement should be reserved for people in rich countries themselves, where bathroom norms aren’t exactly perfect. For example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/18/truth-about-poo-doing-it-wrong-giulia-enders-squatting">squatting</a> rather than sitting is better for the colon. Rather than a sight to be avoided, a glance at one’s waste before flushing can in fact be a <a href="https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/Healthy_Bowel-_Patient_Information_leaflet.pdf">quick and easy health check</a>. Embarrassment about bodily functions is inhibiting when holidays are meant to be liberating.</p>
<p>Different sanitation solutions suit different situations. The <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/11/17/world-toilet-day-2017">World Bank</a> and the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/fall-2016/articles/sustainable-toilets-and-their-role-in-freshwater-conservation">WWF</a> have both worked to celebrate toilet innovations across the world that challenge preconceptions and improve sustainability. For instance, <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/11/17/world-toilet-day-2017">urine-diverting privies in Bolivia</a> are an integral link in a chain that converts waste into fertiliser for growing crops. Cranfield University is developing the <a href="http://www.nanomembranetoilet.org/">Nano Membrane Toilet</a>, which converts waste into clean water and energy, without the need for external power or water.</p>
<p>Some Western tourist locations are already rethinking their taste in toilets. Composting toilets introduced in various Scottish nature reserves have proved <a href="https://www.fvl.org.uk/files/2314/5933/7417/Eco-loo_Case_Studies.pdf">highly popular with visitors</a>. Melbourne Zoo and other attractions have implemented <a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/about-us/vision-and-mission/environmental-sustainability/saving-water">water conservation and recycling measures</a> in restrooms, including waterless urinals. The increasing use of such practices by authorities and businesses will only help to challenge harmful expectations when people travel further afield.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jGPpXF7y9Rg?wmode=transparent&start=37" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Potty training</h2>
<p>There are also simple changes that tourists can make when going to the bathroom that will have a positive impact on the environment and local communities, and possibly even lead to more interesting holiday experiences.</p>
<p>Remember that different ecological settings require different bathroom styles. Always avoid flushing wipes and other non-biodegradables. In water stressed areas, be conscious of your water usage. Don’t demand what local people don’t have. The threat of extreme drought has forced Cape Town luxury hotels to ask guests to limit the length of showers, turn off the tap while brushing their teeth, and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cape-town-drought-water-shortage-luxury-five-star-hotels-day-zero-laundry-showers-toilet-flush-pool-a8191966.html">let it mellow if its yellow</a>, but actions like these could benefit locals in tourist destinations across the developing world.</p>
<p>Support small businesses. Their toilets may not always be gleaming, but the experience might be more memorable. While luxury tourism in developing countries <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-it-ethical-to-take-a-luxury-holiday-in-a-developing-country-80984">rarely benefits those in need</a>, going local is one way to contribute. </p>
<p>Lastly, nurture your sense of adventure. If you want to live like a local, you should defecate like one. Pack your hand sanitiser and spare toilet roll, and immerse yourself in local culture. Get ready to try out new facilities, not just whatever commode is à la mode. There are <a href="http://www.traveller.com.au/traveller-10-the-worlds-top-toilets-gzs1l0">toilet attractions</a> dotted all over the globe that are well worth a visit. For example, why not try the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/09/south-korea-toilet-theme-park">Haewoojae Museum</a> in South Korea, solely dedicated to celebrating the lavatory.</p>
<p>We shouldn’t expect all toilets to look the same. Tourism is about challenging expectations, exploring alternatives and expanding horizons. For the sake of the environment and the vulnerable, it is high time that we became more open-minded and adventurous with our toilette when travelling. After all, when in Rome, wipe as the Romans wiped (using a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/01/ancient-roman-toilets-gross/423072/">wet sponge on a stick</a>, apparently).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Canavan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
If you want to live like a local when on holiday, you should defecate like one.
Brendan Canavan, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, University of Huddersfield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/90933
2018-02-06T19:14:55Z
2018-02-06T19:14:55Z
Cape Town is almost out of water. Could Australian cities suffer the same fate?
<p>The world is watching the unfolding Cape Town water crisis with horror. On “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/03/day-zero-cape-town-turns-off-taps">Day Zero</a>”, now predicted to be just ten weeks away, engineers will turn off the water supply. The South African city’s four million residents will have to queue at one of 200 water collection points. </p>
<p>Cape Town is the first major city to face such an extreme water crisis. There are so many unanswered questions. How will the sick or elderly people cope? How will people without a car collect their 25-litre daily ration? Pity those collecting water for a big family.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cape-towns-water-crisis-driven-by-politics-more-than-drought-88191">Cape Town's water crisis: driven by politics more than drought</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The crisis is caused by a combination of factors. First of all, Cape Town has a very dry climate with annual rainfall of 515mm. Since 2015, it has been in a drought estimated to be a <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/how-severe-drought-detailed-look-data/">one-in-300-year event</a>. </p>
<p>In recent years, the city’s population has grown rapidly – <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/whats-causing-cape-towns-water-crisis/">by 79% since 1995</a>. Many have questioned what Cape Town has done to expand the city’s water supply to cater for the population growth and the lower rainfall. </p>
<h2>Could this happen in Australia?</h2>
<p>Australia’s largest cities have often struggled with drought. Water supplies may decline further due to climate change and uncertain future rainfall. With all capital cities expecting further population growth, this <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-australias-growing-cities-need-to-do-to-avoid-running-dry-86301">could cause water supply crises</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-australias-growing-cities-need-to-do-to-avoid-running-dry-86301">This is what Australia's growing cities need to do to avoid running dry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The situation in Cape Town has strong parallels with Perth in Australia. Perth is half the size of Cape Town, with two million residents, but has endured increasing water stress for nearly 50 years. From 1911 to 1974, the annual inflow to Perth’s water reservoirs <a href="https://www.watercorporation.com.au/water-supply/rainfall-and-dams/streamflow/streamflowhistorical">averaged 338 gigalitres (GL) a year</a>. Inflows have since shrunk by nearly 90% to just 42GL a year from 2010-2016. </p>
<p>To make matters worse, the Perth water storages also had to supply more people. Australia’s fourth-largest city had the fastest capital city population growth, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3218.0">28.2%</a>, from 2006-2016.</p>
<p>As a result, Perth became Australia’s first capital city unable to supply its residents from storage dams fed by rainfall and river flows. In 2015 the city faced a potentially disastrous situation. River inflows to Perth’s dams dwindled to <a href="https://www.watercorporation.com.au/water-supply/rainfall-and-dams/streamflow/streamflowhistorical">11.4GL for the year</a>. </p>
<p>For its two million people, the inflows equated to only 15.6 litres per person per day! Yet in 2015/6 Perth residents consumed an average of nearly 350 litres each per day. This was the <a href="https://www.watercorporation.com.au/home/faqs/saving-water/how-many-litres-of-water-do-people-in-perth-use-each-year">highest daily water consumption for Australia’s capitals</a>. How was this achieved? </p>
<h2>Tapping into desalination and groundwater</h2>
<p>Perth has progressively sourced more and more of its supply from desalination and from groundwater extraction. This has been expensive and has been the <a href="https://theconversation.com/drought-proofing-perth-the-long-view-of-western-australian-water-36349">topic of much debate</a>. Perth is the only Australian capital to <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/water/waterinaustralia/files/Water-in-Australia-2014-15.pdf">rely so heavily on desalination and groundwater</a> for its water supply.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204788/original/file-20180205-19956-1ryj69p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204788/original/file-20180205-19956-1ryj69p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204788/original/file-20180205-19956-1ryj69p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204788/original/file-20180205-19956-1ryj69p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204788/original/file-20180205-19956-1ryj69p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204788/original/file-20180205-19956-1ryj69p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204788/original/file-20180205-19956-1ryj69p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204788/original/file-20180205-19956-1ryj69p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Volumes of water sourced for urban use in Australia’s major cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.bom.gov.au/water/waterinaustralia/files/Water-in-Australia-2014-15.pdf">BOM, Water in Australia, p.52, National Water Account 2015</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Australia’s next most water-stressed capital is Adelaide. That city is supplementing its surface water storages with desalination and groundwater, as well as water “transferred” from the Murray River. </p>
<p>Australia’s other capital cities on the east coast have faced their own water supply crises. Their water storages dwindled to between 20% and 35% capacity in 2007. This triggered multiple actions to prevent a water crisis. Progressively tighter water restrictions were declared.</p>
<p>The major population centres (Brisbane/Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide) also built large desalination plants. The community reaction to the desalination plants was mixed. While some welcomed these, others question their <a href="https://theconversation.com/desalination-africa-should-rather-manage-its-water-resources-better-82948">costs and environmental impacts</a>. </p>
<p>The desalination plants were expensive to build, consume vast quantities of electricity and are very expensive to run. They remain costly to maintain, even if they do not supply desalinated water. All residents pay higher water rates as a result of their existence. </p>
<p>Since then, rainfall in southeastern Australia has increased and water storages have refilled. The largest southeastern Australia desalination plants have been placed on “stand-by” mode. They will be switched on if and when the supply level drops. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-role-of-water-in-australias-uncertain-future-45366">The role of water in Australia's uncertain future</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Investing in huge storage capacity</h2>
<p>Many Australian cities also store very large volumes of water in very large water reservoirs. This allows them to continue to supply water through future extended periods of dry weather. </p>
<p>The three largest cities (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane) have built very large dams indeed. For example, Brisbane has 2,220,150 ML storage capacity for its 2.2 million residents. That amounts to just over one million litres per resident when storages are full. </p>
<p>In comparison, Cape Town’s four million residents have a full storage capacity of 900,000 ML. That’s 225,000 litres per resident. Cape Town is constructing a number of small desalination plants while anxiously waiting for the onset of the region’s formerly regular winter rains.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian A. Wright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The situation in Perth in particular has some parallels to that of Cape Town, but Australian cities responded to the last big drought by investing in much bigger water supply and storage capacity.
Ian A. Wright, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/87672
2017-12-03T19:20:56Z
2017-12-03T19:20:56Z
With the right tools, we can mine cities
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195144/original/file-20171117-15410-e7xyte.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cities like Melbourne are a store for such huge amounts of resources that they could be used as urban mines. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMelb_CBD.jpg">Donaldytong (own work)/Wikimedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From 1900 to 2010, the amount of materials accumulated in buildings and infrastructure across the world increased <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/8/1880.full">23-fold</a>. We are depleting our resources at <a href="http://uneplive.unep.org/">unprecedented rates</a>. Instead of extracting dwindling raw materials from nature at ever-increasing cost, the time has come to start re-using materials from buildings and infrastructure in our cities.</p>
<p>We have been working on identifying the material resources in cities that could be “mined” for re-use. In a case study, we modelled more than 13,000 buildings in central Melbourne, Australia. We estimated the quantities of construction materials as well as the embodied energy, water and greenhouse gas emissions associated with constructing these buildings (if they were built today). We also modelled the replacement of materials over time and into the future.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-20th-century-saw-a-23-fold-increase-in-natural-resources-used-for-building-73057">The 20th century saw a 23-fold increase in natural resources used for building</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>The extraction and transformation of resources have broad environmental effects. These include resource depletion, loss of biodiversity, soil and water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, which drive climate change. </p>
<p>Adding to these challenges is the amount of waste generated, especially by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cleaning-up-the-construction-industry-31">construction sector</a> due to construction, renovation and demolition activities. Every time a construction material is discarded, all the embodied energy, water and emissions that went into producing it also go to waste.</p>
<p>In our two <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.11.043">recent</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.022">studies</a>, we propose a model that can help us “mine” our cities and quantify the environmental benefits of this urban mining.</p>
<h2>Modelling all buildings in a city</h2>
<p>We used the City of Melbourne, representing the central business district and immediate surrounds, as a case study. This is because the City of Melbourne offers open-source and high-resolution data that allowed us to model the materials found in individual buildings.</p>
<p>By combining the <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-melbourne/research-and-statistics/city-economy/census-land-use-employment/Pages/clue.aspx">Census of Land Use and Employment database</a> with the <a href="https://data.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Property-Planning/Building-Footprints-2015/pv8y-ihee">Building Footprints database</a>, we had access to basic geometric and construction-related data for each of the 14,385 buildings in this area in 2015. Of these, we modelled 13,075, as some very small or unique buildings (stadiums, railway stations, etc.) had to be discarded. We used 48 building archetypes, based on the building type (e.g. office), construction year (e.g. 1987) and height (e.g. 25 metres), to represent the different buildings in the city. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196841/original/file-20171129-28866-rzch9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196841/original/file-20171129-28866-rzch9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196841/original/file-20171129-28866-rzch9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196841/original/file-20171129-28866-rzch9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196841/original/file-20171129-28866-rzch9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196841/original/file-20171129-28866-rzch9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196841/original/file-20171129-28866-rzch9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196841/original/file-20171129-28866-rzch9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than 13,000 buildings were modelled in the City of Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">André Stephan & Aristide Athanassiadis</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Results show that the City of Melbourne has a stock of 1.5 million tonnes of materials in every square kilometre. Just replacing worn materials to maintain this built stock is estimated to require 26 thousand tonnes of materials every year. </p>
<p>Rebuilding the City of Melbourne today would use about 10 petajoules of energy and 17.7 million cubic metres of water. The construction would emit 605,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per square kilometre. </p>
<p>These resource requirements are simply huge. For instance, the energy used for every square kilometre built is enough to drive 700,000 cars from Melbourne to Sydney. Picture all the urban development around the world, then just try to imagine <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-cities-need-to-go-on-a-resource-diet-68984">all the resources required</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-cities-need-to-go-on-a-resource-diet-68984">Our cities need to go on a resource diet</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Aside from producing these overall estimates, the real value in our model lies in the detail it provides about the use of materials in the city. It can answer questions such as where and when construction materials are needed, and in what quantities. And what are the associated environmental effects?</p>
<h2>Visualising material flows</h2>
<p>For the 13,075 buildings modelled, we ended up with more than 500 million data points. We needed to come up with effective <a href="https://social.shorthand.com/SciDevNet/3geA2Kw4B5c/data-visualisation-contributions-to-evidence-based-decision-making">data visualisation</a> to inform decision-makers about how we can mine cities.</p>
<p>The most important result we found is depicted in a map showing the quantities of each material within each building. We are able to do that for any given year or period. This enables us to track which materials are expected to be replaced in what quantities and in what buildings.</p>
<p>These maps allow us to start thinking of cities as urban mines and places of material production (supply), rather than just consumption (demand). </p>
<p>We can imagine how a new construction project could survey what materials would be available at its start and how it can best re-use these and incorporate them into the design. This would save large amounts of energy and water, while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions and further ecosystem degradation from raw material extraction (usually far from the city).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195142/original/file-20171117-29111-aidrim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195142/original/file-20171117-29111-aidrim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195142/original/file-20171117-29111-aidrim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195142/original/file-20171117-29111-aidrim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195142/original/file-20171117-29111-aidrim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195142/original/file-20171117-29111-aidrim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195142/original/file-20171117-29111-aidrim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195142/original/file-20171117-29111-aidrim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Selected material stock (2015) and embodied energy of the City of Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">André Stephan & Aristide Athanassiadis</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We borrowed the concept of the age pyramid from population studies to represent the material stock in the city’s buildings. This allows us to understand which materials stay in the stock and for how long. </p>
<p>It also helps us better anticipate when a significant amount of materials is expected to be replaced, resulting in construction waste and a demand for new materials. The maps show where this is going to take place.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195143/original/file-20171117-15435-1knnu4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195143/original/file-20171117-15435-1knnu4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195143/original/file-20171117-15435-1knnu4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195143/original/file-20171117-15435-1knnu4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195143/original/file-20171117-15435-1knnu4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195143/original/file-20171117-15435-1knnu4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195143/original/file-20171117-15435-1knnu4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195143/original/file-20171117-15435-1knnu4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An age pyramid represents the age and quantities of construction materials in the building stock, and helps to better appreciate periods of expected replacement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">André Stephan & Aristide Athanassiadis</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Long journey to a circular economy</h2>
<p>While we have produced tools that can help with urban mining, we are still far from a truly <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-circular-economy-29666">circular economy</a> for the construction sector.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-circular-economy-29666">Explainer: what is a circular economy?</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Firstly, our model suffers from a significant amount of uncertainty: it is only as good as the data we feed it. While the City of Melbourne has good-quality data for its buildings, we really struggle to estimate how long materials last, notably at the scale of a building. We need more research and data to better estimate the material composition of buildings, the periods of material replacements or building refurbishments, as well as the materials released and available for re-use.</p>
<p>Secondly, we need to better design our buildings for disassembly. A material that is being replaced is not directly re-usable in most cases due to wear or damage, possibly during demolition.</p>
<p>If we design and prefabricate modular buildings that can easily be disassembled, we can greatly improve the potential for re-use and recycling. This would help us move towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-a-truly-sustainable-world-we-need-zero-waste-cities-10552">zero-waste cities</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-a-truly-sustainable-world-we-need-zero-waste-cities-10552">For a truly sustainable world we need zero-waste cities</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>A third way forward is to rethink how construction materials and systems are designed and for what purpose. Instead of buying carpet for an office, a company could pay for the service “floor area covered by carpet”. This would shift ownership of the carpet to <a href="http://www.desso.fr/globalaccounts/regus/take-back%E2%84%A2-programme/">the supplier</a>.</p>
<p>In turn, that would create an incentive to produce durable, high-quality materials that could be re-used and recycled, instead of programmed obsolescence. Such business models are already starting to emerge.</p>
<p>With our growing global population, finite resources and climate change, we need to move fast towards a more circular construction sector to help ease the pressure on the Earth’s resources and ecosystems. Models such as the ones we are developing are a step forward on a long journey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87672/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>André Stephan receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aristide Athanassiadis has received funding from the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) and a Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI) excellence scholarship. He is a member of Metabolism of Cities.</span></em></p>
With an ever-increasing cost to extract dwindling raw materials, it’s time to look at cities as urban mines. We’re developing the tools to do that.
André Stephan, Lecturer in Architectural Engineering, The University of Melbourne
Aristide Athanassiadis, Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/84227
2017-09-25T16:58:33Z
2017-09-25T16:58:33Z
What’s driving multiple outbreaks of cholera in Nigeria
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187354/original/file-20170925-17375-owq8gy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman takes an oral cholera vaccine in a hospital. But cholera vaccines are not always effective and never long lasting. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year, 16 of Nigeria’s 36 states have experienced <a href="http://www.ncdc.gov.ng/reports/weekly">cholera outbreaks</a>. This has <a href="http://www.ncdc.gov.ng/reports/weekly">resulted in</a> 1,622 suspected cases of the disease and 33 deaths. This is a steady increase in cholera cases after a remarkable sharp decline, from a total of 5,301 cases (186 deaths) in 2015 to 768 cases and <a href="http://www.ncdc.gov.ng/reports/weekly">32 deaths in 2016</a></p>
<p>Lagos witnessed the last outbreak in <a href="http://www.ncdc.gov.ng/reports/15/2016-november-week-45">October 2016</a> but in the last couple of weeks there have been outbreaks in Nigeria’s Lagos, Kwara and Borno states.</p>
<p>Regional disparities in the death rates from cholera expose the different levels of emergency preparedness and health resources available. Understanding why this threat persists can help health authorities to reduce it, in Nigeria and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Cholera is an intestinal infection characterised by <a href="http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/cholera-faq#1">watery stool and diarrhoea</a>. It is caused by the Vibrio cholerae, a bacterium, which releases toxins in the human intestine. This toxin activates excess secretion of water from the intestinal lumen that often lead to severe dehydration and sometimes death. Conditions that can lead to outbreaks include a disruption in water supply, poor basic sanitation and poor hygiene. Infected people show symptoms within two to five days. They can spread the disease <a href="http://science.jrank.org/pages/1450/Cholera-Transmission-cholera.html">even when they are not ill themselves</a> by shedding the bacteria in their faeces. </p>
<p>As in other developing countries, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3428179/">cholera outbreaks occur mainly during the rainy season in Nigeria</a> although they also sometimes occur in dry season. Flooding can cause septic tanks to contaminate surface water, especially open wells used for <a href="http://www.water-research.net/index.php/bacteria">drinking and food preparation</a>. Contaminated flood water from the rains can also flow to vegetables and fruits which, if not properly washed, can cause an outbreak. </p>
<p>Cholera outbreaks happen when groups of people share infected water or food. When this happens, many people will require help at the same time. Health facilities and resources are often inadequate and ill-prepared to deal with such pressure. </p>
<p>The outbreaks in different parts of Nigeria are often driven by different factors. What they all point to, however, is that the country has not yet taken sufficient steps to address the “epidemiological triangle” that drives cholera outbreaks – host, agent and environmental factors. This includes early detection, better and stronger sanitation infrastructure that can withstand heavy rains as well as basic health infrastructure.</p>
<h2>The outbreaks and what caused them</h2>
<p>Lagos is the commercial centre of the country, with a densely settled population of <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/lagos-population/">over 20 million people</a>. It lies along the coast and is prone to <a href="http://www.ncfnigeria.org/about-ncf/item/81-lagos-ncf-call-for-actions-to-save-coastal-areas">flooding</a>. Despite the enormous efforts put into strengthening its primary health care system, it <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/diarrhoea-outbreak-lagos-2-dead-25-quarantined/">recorded 27</a> suspected cases of cholera and two deaths in July 2017. The outbreak has been attributed to heavy rainfall which eroded water sources, and <a href="http://www.informationng.com/2017/07/cholera-outbreak-lagos-2-persons-killed-25-others-hospitalised.html">to people getting help too late</a>. </p>
<p>To reduce the number of outbreaks in the future, Lagos must tackle the factors that cause flooding. It must also take decisive steps to relocate residents from the most flood prone areas and improve on environmental sanitation and public health campaigns.</p>
<p>Kwara State recorded 17 deaths from over 1,000 suspected cases. Health authorities there attributed the outbreak to <a href="http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2017/06/kwara-confirms-cholera-outbreak/">contaminated fruit consumed to break the Ramadan fast</a>. In 2011, 12 deaths were recorded from cholera outbreak and although the health authorities were silent on the cause, the residents blamed it on <a href="https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/health/cholera-outbreak-claims-over-12-in-kwara/200744.html">heaps of refuse that had not been removed</a>. The state’s growing population seems to have surpassed its <a href="https://www.thecable.ng/cholera-kwara-environmentalist-perspective">waste disposal infrastructure</a> </p>
<p>Borno State recorded the most serious outbreak of the three states. This northeastern state is the epicentre of the battle against the Islamic militant group Boko Haram. The outbreak affected the camp set up to accommodate people who had been displaced by the conflict. About 20,000 people are sheltered in this camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno capital. The camp is overcrowded and <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/09/14-people-die-cholera-borno/">lacks good amenities</a>. People there are poorly nourished and don’t have clean drinking water and sanitation.</p>
<p>Conflicts usually result in the destruction of infrastructure and disruption of services. This has worsened the situation in Borno, which already lagged behind other parts of Nigeria in <a href="http://www.unocha.org/nigeria/about-ocha-nigeria/about-crisis">social development</a>. Health facilities are poorly equipped and staffed, and women in particular have low levels of education which usually means lower earnings, poor choices, slow reaction to illnesses and <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/education/curriculum-tools/population-health/zimmerman.html">low problem solving abilities</a>. These factors add to the risk of disease outbreaks and deaths. </p>
<h2>Why cholera endures</h2>
<p>It has been difficult to eradicate cholera because of the “epidemiological triangle” of host, agent and environmental factors. </p>
<p>Humans are the hosts. They carry and spread the disease. A person who has received treatment and is healthy again is still capable of spreading the infection to others. Vaccines are <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/">not very effective or long-lasting</a>. </p>
<p>Vibrio cholerae is the agent. It is ingested from contaminated food or water. The organisms that survive the stomach’s acidity travel to the small intestine of the human host, where they multiply. The bacteria <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8407/">attach to the mucous membrane of the intestines and can stay</a> there for years.</p>
<p>The environmental factors include poor access to clean, safe water and the lack of basic sanitation facilities. </p>
<p>To prevent and wipe out cholera, it’s necessary to interrupt the host-agent-environment relationship. This can be achieved through more effective vaccines, improved host immunity, water chlorination and better ways of disposing of sanitary waste. </p>
<p>In poor countries, the lack of standard infection prevention and control in health facilities adds to the risk of <a href="http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/4EPR_AM2.pdf">diseases spreading</a>. Health workers need to be continuously trained to detect, correctly diagnose and manage cases of cholera in a safe and effective manner. </p>
<p>Eradicating cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases in Nigeria will require a multi-sectoral approach. The ministries of water resources, rural development, urban planning and health must contribute, and government must show the political will to invest in infrastructure as well as health sector development.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84227/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Doyin Ogunyemi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Many states in Nigeria are reeling from cholera outbreaks. They need better health and sanitation infrastructure to disrupt transmission of the bacteria which cause the disease.
Doyin Ogunyemi, Public Health Physician and Lecturer, College of Medicine, University of Lagos
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83110
2017-09-05T14:44:21Z
2017-09-05T14:44:21Z
How Nigeria is wasting its rich water resources
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184708/original/file-20170905-32271-1wr0e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man sells bottled water in Lagos Nigeria, a country with abundant water resources but little to drink.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nigeria is so rich in water resources that many of its 36 states are named after rivers. In addition to surface water found in nearly every part of the country, <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/stech/article/view/103123">there’s also plenty stored in the ground</a>. The country has <a href="https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/threats-to-water-resources-development-in-nigeria-2329-6755-1000205.php?aid=54945">215 cubic kilometres a year</a> of available surface water. This is a lot higher than many African countries, particularly those in the southern and northern regions of the continent. South Africa, for example, has about <a href="http://www.dwa.gov.za/documents/Other/Strategic%20Plan/NWRS2-Final-email-version.pdf">49 cubic kilometres a year</a>. </p>
<p>One would imagine that Nigerians have plenty of water to drink. </p>
<p>But this isn’t the case. In fact, only 19% of Nigeria’s population has access to <a href="http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/jmp-2017/en/">safe drinking water</a>. Although 67% of people have basic water supply, access is uneven. In cities, 82% of people <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/258617/1/9789241512893-eng.pdf?ua=1">have a basic supply</a>. In rural areas, <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/258617/1/9789241512893-eng.pdf?ua=1">only 54% do</a>. </p>
<p>Wealth also distorts access. About 80% of wealthy Nigerians have access to at least a basic water supply, in comparison to only 48% of poor Nigerians. </p>
<p>The lack of accessible, reliable and safe drinking water, together with poor sanitation and hygiene, is estimated to cost Nigeria about <a href="https://www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/WSP-ESI-Nigeria-brochure.pdf">USD$1.3 billion</a> in access time, loss due to premature death, productive time lost and health care costs. </p>
<p>Why is this happening in a country with abundant water resources? Nigeria suffers from “economic <a href="https://thewaterproject.org/water-scarcity/water_scarcity_2">water scarcity”</a> – the inability to properly manage, use and protect water resources for socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability.</p>
<h2>Regulation challenges</h2>
<p>Nigeria aims to provide water that meets the standards set out by the <a href="https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/ng_publications_Nigerian_Standard_for_Drinking_Water_Quality.pdf">World Health Organisation</a>. In practice, poor regulatory, legal and institutional frameworks prevent this. It’s no surprise that potentially toxic concentrations of metals have been <a href="http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.re.20120203.01.html">reported in Nigeria’s drinking water</a>. </p>
<p>Another major problem is that the country has adopted a “control and command” approach to water resource management. It focuses on engineering physical infrastructure and excludes other perspectives. This means that authorities managing water don’t sufficiently engage with the people using it. Infrastructure in communities tends to collapse when users aren’t involved in planning or running it. There has also been little coordination between federal, state and local government agencies. </p>
<p>New <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07900627.2014.907087?needAccess=true">research shows that</a> water management needs different approaches. These include broader stakeholder involvement, collaboration between sectors, more attention to the human dimensions of management, and recognition of the economic, social, ecological and cultural values of water. </p>
<p>South Africa provides a legal example that Nigeria can learn from. <a href="http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Documents/Legislature/nw_act/NWA.htm">The South African National Water Act</a> provides for the basic rights of humans and the environment. The first prescribes the minimum amount and quality of water required for domestic activities and hygiene, to which everyone is entitled. The latter prescribes the minimum amount and quality of water to which the environment is entitled to maintain and protect ecosystems. The Act also expects ordinary citizens to have a say in the water sector. In Europe, the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html">European Commission Water Framework Directive</a> also provides for broader stakeholder involvement in the management of water resources.</p>
<h2>The role of pollution</h2>
<p>Pollution is another major cause of water <a href="https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/threats-to-water-resources-development-in-nigeria-2329-6755-1000205.php?aid=54945">scarcity in Nigeria</a>. It’s common to see waste dumped in rivers and streams. In cities, storm water carries pollutants which contaminate water resources. </p>
<p>Pollution has led to high levels of toxic chemicals such as metals and pesticides being reported in Nigeria’s water resources. </p>
<p>Underground water is also being polluted through seepage from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10668-016-9894-4">waste dump sites</a>. This is a major health risk. </p>
<p>Poor water quality affects people, the economy and the environment. Contaminated water is the primary cause of diseases such as <a href="http://global-disease-burden.healthgrove.com/l/3644/Typhoid-Fever-in-Nigeria">typhoid fever</a>, diarrhoea and dysentery in Nigeria. These diseases kill people and are very costly to the economy. </p>
<p>In the Niger Delta, contamination by <a href="http://www.amnesty.eu/static/documents/2009/Nigeria0609Report.pdf">oil exploration activities</a> is a big worry.
It has led to declining fish harvests and <a href="http://www.scialert.net/qredirect.php?doi=jfas.2014.352.358&linkid=pdf">loss of biodiversity</a>.<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/AFR44/017/2009/en/">The poor</a> are affected the most. </p>
<h2>What must be done</h2>
<p>Nigeria needs to change the way it manages water.</p>
<p>Firstly, it should include a wider range of stakeholders. Secondly, it should draw on the knowledge and disciplines of a variety of sectors. </p>
<p>Providing potable water involves science, policy and practice. All these must be considered in developing the proper management system for water in the country. Such a system needs more flexible, adaptive and responsible institutions. </p>
<p>Federal, state and local governments should work together to update and tighten regulations controlling water quality. </p>
<p>Nigeria also needs a water quality monitoring network and a water quality database. The database would store physical, chemical, biological and ecological information. </p>
<p>It’s also important to raise public awareness about the value of water and to increase public participation in water supply schemes. Getting people involved helps to sustain water infrastructure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83110/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nelson Odume receives funding from The Water Research Commission, National Research Foundation, Rhodes University Council Grant, Carnegie-RISE. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Slaughter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Nigeria is rich in water resources. but poor management has led to water scarcity in the country.
Nelson Odume, Researcher, Rhodes University
Andrew Slaughter, Visiting professor, University of Saskatchewan
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.