tagged w/ water justice
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New report shows that U.K. farming faces changing and more variable climate.
The agricultural sector in the United Kingdom will need to adapt to new farming practices and more variable weather conditions, as climate change threatens to unevenly affect the water availability in the country in the coming decades, according to a report released on Monday.
Photo creative commons by LusobrandaneBales of hay in a field near Errol Station, Perthshire.The study, commissioned by the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) and carried out by scientists at the University of Reading, shows that climate extremes such as drought and flooding are likely to reduce the amount of water for agriculture and horticulture, providing a major challenge to farmers, researchers, plant breeders and policy makers across the U.K.
According to the report, while climate change is expected to produce higher temperatures, drier summers and wetter winters across much of England, the effects on water availability will vary throughout the country and even, from year to year, in the same areas.
Direct abstractions are likely to become less reliable during the summer and more seasonal; meanwhile, the higher-intensity rainfall in certain periods of the year will produce high runoff, and thus less water will be able to percolate into aquifers, the report says.
Different crop types will also be affected differently, requiring farmers and to change their farming practices or even move their crops to other locations. Crops that need irrigation, in particular, such as vegetables and sugar beet, may be forced to shift from the drier east of England to the wetter west of the country. This, in turn, may affect stock-breeding in these regions.
Agriculture occupies 70 percent of the land within England, with three quarters used for grazing livestock and one quarter for cropping.
“Plant breeders will need to incorporate drought resistance and waterlogging tolerance into new varieties…planners must be flexible in allowing farms to build reservoirs so that they can conserve winter rainfall for summer irrigation,” RASE Agri-Science Director Ian Smith said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The study acknowledges and outlines a range of combined solutions to preserve water, reduce water use, make more water available, reduce the direct and indirect impacts of flooding, or adapt policy and practice to the changing situation. It also encourages more research into the water implications of climate change on the U.K. food production, risk management and policy.
“Two things are clear,” the report says. “First, no single option will be appropriate for every situation. Second, in general, options will not be able to save or provide enough water to address the magnitude of potential changes. The solution is to develop a range of options that address all potential impacts, depending on the severity and potential direction of change.”New report shows that U.K. farming faces changing and more variable climate.
The... more
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When the 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) affirmed last week that the right to water and sanitation was a basic human right, the consensus resolution was described as a "historic first" for the U.N.’s premier human rights body based in Geneva.
"This landmark decision has the potential to change the lives of billions of human beings who still lack access to water and sanitation," claimed Catarina de Albuquerque, a U.N. independent expert on human rights obligations.
What this means, Albuquerque explained, is that the right to water and sanitation is equal to all other human rights - and is therefore legally binding and enforceable in existing human rights treaties.
The consensus resolution was a logical follow-up to a key General Assembly resolution adopted last July which also - for the first time - recognised water and sanitation as basic human rights.
But in reality water and sanitation have remained two of the most neglected sub-texts of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which came under scrutiny at the MDG summit here last month.
At this much-ballyhooed summit, world leaders adopted a plan of action - officially called the ‘outcome document’ - which recognised the obstacles thwarting the MDGs and offered pledges and commitments to reach the defined goals by the targeted date: 2015.
The primary goals and sub-goals include a reduction by 50 percent the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger, the reversal of the spread of HIV/AIDS, the elimination of gender inequality, and the reduction by half the proportion of people without access to water and sanitation.
Currently, over 800-900 million people have no access to safe drinking water and over 2.6 billion people are living without adequate sanitation.
While most developing nations have made limited progress in providing clean water, the targets for sanitation remain virtually unreachable.
"If current trends continue unchanged, the international community will miss the 2015 sanitation MDG target by almost one billion people," warns U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro.
In an interview with IPS, Jon Lane, executive director of the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), said he sees visible signs of progress since 1.3 billion people have gained access to improved sanitation since 1990.
Still, he says, "the pace is too slow to allow the world to meet the MDG target on sanitation."
"There are many reasons for this slow pace," Lane said, "but the main one is that political leaders in developed and developing countries have not grasped the fundamental role that good sanitation plays for people’s health, dignity, economic well-being and local environment."
Success with sanitation would bring a huge swag of benefits, plus it would support the achievement of other MDG targets on child and maternal mortality, education, and poverty reduction, among others, he added.
Jamie Bartram, director of the Water Institute at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, told IPS the MDG targets for water and sanitation are "wildly under-ambitious".
The idea that anything less than water and sanitation in every home is a serious target in today’s world is astonishing and binds millions in poverty, he pointed out.
"Today’s MDG targets focus on water and sanitation for households. But these essential needs are required elsewhere too - in schools, workplaces and markets for example," said Bartram.
The idea that it is possible to deliver effective health care services without reliable and safe water and sanitation makes no sense, but yet it is the reality of many health facilities.
"It is often said that sanitation lags water. Yet, if we use as simple benchmarks their availability at home, then we see that water lags sanitation and both are available for only around half of humankind," Bartram noted.
He also said that water and sanitation offer rare opportunities to make progress across the MDG agenda, yet have not attracted the attention they deserve.
Asked if the outcome document adopted by the U.N. summit last week offers any hope, Lane, of the WSSCC, told IPS the document makes note of sanitation 17 times. "This is good, and an improvement over the past." Remember, sanitation was not originally an MDG target, he said.
However, it remains to be seen whether the outcome document as a whole is concrete enough to accelerate progress so that the target is reached.
What’s missing, Lane pointed out, is a reference to hygiene practices: hand washing with soap can save one million lives per year - mostly children in developing countries.
Fortunately, there is momentum in the sector and sanitation’s profile is rising, thanks in part to new initiatives like the Global Sanitation Fund operated by WSSCC and the new Sanitation and Water for All initiative, a multi-stakeholder network reaching out directly to finance ministers, among others.
Pointing out existing deficiencies, Bartram told IPS there is still far too much focus on building new systems, sources and supplies, and too little on keeping them working.
"The allure of opening a new facility far outweighs the prosaic task of keeping them working, but we see a large proportion of all hand pumps [for example] out of action at any one time, and investing in sustaining systems offers more bang for the buck."
He said maintaining and extending effective water supply is challenged by other demands for water for agriculture, and by other threats, such as climate change.
"It is imperative that after 2015, water and sanitation are part of the international development agenda not as part of environmental protection but as key motors for health and development in their own right," said Bartram.When the 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) affirmed last week that the right to... more
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Multiple environmental stressors, such as agricultural runoff, pollution and invasive species, threaten rivers that serve 80 percent of the world's population, around 5 billion people, according to researchers from The City College (CCNY) of The City University of New York (CUNY), University of Wisconsin and seven other institutions. These same stressors endanger the biodiversity of 65 percent of the world's river habitats and put thousands of aquatic wildlife species at risk.
The findings, reported in the September 30 issue of Nature, come from the first global-scale initiative to quantify the impact of these stressors on humans and riverine biodiversity. The research team produced a series of maps documenting the impact using a computer-based framework they developed.
"We can no longer look at human water security and biodiversity threats independently," said the corresponding author, Dr. Charles J. Vorosmarty, director of the CUNY Environmental CrossRoads Initiative and professor of civil engineering in The Grove School of Engineering at CCNY. "We need to link the two. The systematic framework we've created allows us to look at the human and biodiversity domains on an equal playing field." The framework offers a tool for prioritizing policy and management responses to a global water crisis.
Many stressors threaten human water security and biodiversity through similar pathways, but influence water systems in distinct ways. For example, reservoirs convey few negative effects on human water supply but they significantly challenge aquatic biodiversity by impeding migration routes and changing water flow regimes.
Understanding and responding to the myriad threats to water security requires new methods to make diagnoses and to act on these findings. "As is the case with preventive medicine, our study demonstrates that diagnosing and then limiting threats at their local source, rather than through costly remedies and rehabilitation, is a more effective and sensible approach to assure global water security for both humans and aquatic biodiversity, " notes Professor Vorosmarty.
"We've integrated maps of 23 different stressors and merged them into a single index," said study co-leader Dr. Peter McIntyre, assistant professor of zoology, University of Wisconsin. "In the past, policymakers and researchers have been plagued by dealing with one problem at a time. A richer and more meaningful picture emerges when all threats are considered simultaneously."
Among the stressors analyzed were the effects of pollution, dams and reservoirs, water overuse, agricultural runoff, loss of wetlands and introduction of invasive species. The authors said their findings are "conservative," since there is insufficient information to account for additional stressors like pharmaceutical compounds and mining wastes.
High incident threat levels to human water security were found in developed and developing nations around the world. Affected areas include much of the United States, virtually all of Europe and large portions of Central Asia, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and eastern China.
"We uncovered a broad management principal operating at the global scale," Professor Vorosmarty said. "In the industrialized world, we tend to compromise our surface waters and then try to fix problems by throwing trillions of dollars at the issues. We can afford to do that in rich countries, but poor countries can't afford to do it."
The researchers noted that causes of degradation of many of the developing world's most threatened rivers bear striking similarities to those of rivers in similar condition in wealthy countries. However, going down the path of instituting highly engineered solutions practiced traditionally by industrialized nations, which emphasize treatment of the symptoms rather than protection of resources, may prove too costly for poorer countries.
There are many more cost-effective solutions, they point out. For example, engineers, can re-work dam operating rules to achieve economic benefits while simultaneously providing water releases downstream that preserve habitat and biodiversity.
With the high price tag for bringing water quality and supply in the developing countries to levels found in industrialized economies, Professor Vorosmarty argues that a more economical approach is called for. A strategy called integrated water resource management, which balances the needs of humans and nature, would best meet the dual challenge of establishing human water security and preserving biodiversity in the developing world.
contMultiple environmental stressors, such as agricultural runoff, pollution and invasive... more
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Have the climate wars begun? The whole region of Espinar, in Peru, is outraged about the proposed irrigation scheme that will deprive them of water.
The plan was to go from the Four Lakes district in Peru's Cusco province up to the communities in the Espinar region, another three hours and 600m up the Andes mountainsides into the high pastures. These villages are more than 4,300m high (14,000ft), some of the remotest and highest inhabited in the world.
But we nearly didn't get there because the city of Yauri, where we were to stay, was in lockdown over water. The following day, we were told, there would be a total strike. No one would be able to get in or out.
We pass road blocks set up by the strikers and reach the city late at night. The next morning we meet the strike leader Nestor Cuti. This is no ordinary dispute over water, he says. The people of Espinar know well that climate change is already drying up their rivers and is likely to lead to desertification of the whole region. As it is, Yauri only gets around two hours of water a day. In 20 years time, if trends go on, there will be nothing.
The whole region is outraged that the river Apurimac ("Our river"), which is a relative trickle right now but a considerable force in the rainy season, is about to be be hijacked. The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the neighbouring province of Arequipa, to build a giant reservoir from where the water would be used to provide hydroelectric power and irrigation. Sounds good? Not for the people of Espinar, who stand to actually lose the little water they have. The benefit will be exported to rich farmers growing food for export on the Pacific coast.
This, says Cuti, is a climate change strike. "They are condemning us to a slow death", he said. "In the future we know we will have less water. We cannot trust the rainy season any more. Every year the water levels are diminishing. Climate change and global warming indicate in the next years we will have even less. You don't need to be clever to see climate change is affecting everything here."
We leave the deserted city of closed shops and armed police and head into the hills outside Espinar. Here the villagers say they are ready to come down and show solidarity with their townsfolk.
"Here we had snow and ice on all the hills. We don't any more," says Elias Paccop, president of Huayhuasi. "All these lands had water but no more. Our grandparents lived very differently to us. It used to rain from October to April, and May, June and July were frosty. We used to use the snow melt water. Now we have nothing. Before we could have 300 to 400 sheep and llamas; now we have 20 to 30 and no more."
But there is clearly hope. Oxfam and its local partner, the NGO Asociacion Proyeccion, have started a climate adaptation demonstration project with one farmer of what can be done with the diminishing water that falls. All around Huayhuasi, the land has been burned yellow by the semi-permanent drought. The farmer's is green. A simple reservoir, fed from the hills several miles away, is enough to provide pasture for his animals, a small fish farm, and better quality water.
Down in the city, hundreds of police have dispersed the demonstrations and the protest has moved to a nearby copper mine, which is accused of polluting the rivers. Stones are thrown, shots are fired and several people are arrested.
The man from the environment ministry tells us that there are around 1,000 ongoing conflicts over water in this one region alone. More than 40 of them are potentially serious, he says.
Given his comments, it is perhaps no surprise to hear that the train services to Machu Picchu have been suspended because of the protests.
Is this the future everywhere? Have the climate wars begun?Have the climate wars begun? The whole region of Espinar, in Peru, is outraged about... more
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It is inconceivable that language regarding water's effect on the environment and climate change's effect on water, water security, and water justice would be stricken from negotiations in Barcelona and COP 15.It is inconceivable that language regarding water's effect on the environment and... more
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A demonstrator was killed and three others were wounded when police fired to disperse hundreds of people protesting against water cuts in the southern city of Aden, witnesses said on Monday.
It was the third night in a row that people living in the Khor M'kassar district had rallied to protest about their lack of water, although the city authorities said they were seeking to restore supplies.
The demonstrations are taking place amid an groundswell of discontent among people in impoverished south Yemen who believe they are neglected by the government in Sanaa.
Since late April, at least 43 people have been killed in clashes in the south.
The Sanaa government blames separatists who want to restore the south's independence but many of the demonstrators have been protesting against poor living conditions in the region.
A month ago at least 16 people were killed and 30 others wounded in violent clashes between government forces and armed activists at a separatist rally in south Yemen, according to witnesses.A demonstrator was killed and three others were wounded when police fired to disperse... more
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I have done this year what I have done every year successively for the last few years; report here on the global water crisis in an attempt to not only inform but to inspire and to move us to action. The need for that action has never been more necessary than it is now. The Earth now sits on a precipice, with man having the power to pull it back or push it off.
Around the world from North America to Africa and beyond, we see water scarcity and drought becoming more a part of daily life for more people. This does not bode well for the future as population continues to rise as the quality of life in the developing world decreases due to war, climate change, pollution, and poverty. Climate change continues to melt glaciers globally at a much more rapid pace than predicted, and man finds himself because of it at a crossroads in a world filled with war, disease, famine, injustice, poverty, and despair. It would be very easy to give up looking at the picture we have painted, but we cannot do so. Our own survival depends on how we treat this planet and our fellow man. How we react to these crises now will determine if the world falls off that precipice or is saved.
I firmly believe that even though we now live in a world of turmoil, this next year will be a year of awakening for many. There are many more organizations that are now bringing awareness and action to the parts of our world in need of potable water and sanitation. There are many more people becoming aware of not only their carbon footprint, but their water footprint as well. This past year saw a surge in activism against the bottled water industry with citizen groups across the world standing up to the corporations seeking to take our water for profit.
These are good signs that point to a more intense activism in the year to come to hold political leaders accountable for policies that seek to fix water infrastructure, restore wetlands, reduce pollution, hold officials accountable for proper water management and efficient agriculture policies, and also hold them to signing a climate treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions that lead to drought and glacier melt this next year.
However, none of these things can happen without us. Without our voices, our hands, our perseverence, and our love for this planet and for the one resource we cannot live without. It is that love and perseverence that carries me into another year of water activism and of reporting to you the stories of our water, it's life, and our contributions to its preservation. May this coming year bring us closer to a world where water is truly appreciated for the beautiful life sustaining source and human right it is.
Water Is Life.I have done this year what I have done every year successively for the last few years;... more
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