Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

2 4 0 / C H A L L E N G E S T O L I F E A N D W E L L - B E I N GPromoting Cleaner Industry for Everyone’s BenefitA successful basin-wide strategy to alleviate industry impacts onthe water environment has been implemented in the Seine-Normandy basin in which 40 percent of France’s national industrialproduction is concentrated (see chapter 19). The integratedmanagement strategy complies with the European Water FrameworkDirective (WFD) that requires member states to prepare a watermanagement plan by river basin to protect aquatic ecosystems,drinking water resources and bathing water on the basis of acombined approach that requires both source pollution control andthe setting of water quality targets for the receiving environment.International action to address water stress and chronic waterquality issues at the regional scale have resulted in thedevelopment of multinational agreements supporting standingbodies for the planning and management of a number oftransboundary basins and river systems. The ratification of theDanube River Protection Convention (DRPC) represents an exampleof this approach (see box 9.3).An example of actions to prevent future acute water qualityconcerns arising from industrial activity is given by work beingundertaken in the catchment of the largest tributary of the Danube,the Tisza River (see box 9.2).Developing countries have the challenge and the opportunity totake advantage of such experiences and instigate integratedapproaches to the management of water resources at the regionalscale. A relevant example of this can be seen in Sri Lanka (seechapter 18), where most water abstraction is used for agriculturalpurposes, but where the industrial development proposed to alleviatepoverty will result in rapid socio-economic transformation andsignificantly higher demand for water. Water scarcity is currently amajor concern and wastewater effluents have already contaminatedwater bodies and affected domestic water supply. Industrializationand increasing population pressure are expected to worsen currentconditions and threaten ecosystem well-being unless integratedmanagement strategies, that include land planning, infrastructuresenhancements, the development of legal and regulatory frameworks,and capacity-building are planned and put into action.Regional actions to address the impacts of industry oncoastal zonesThe concentration of industry and population in the coastal zones ofmany developing and transitional economy countries, in particulartropical developing countries, has given rise to an alarming rate ofdestruction of critical coastal habitats. Toxic industrial discharges, solidand liquid urban wastes, destructive fishing, sediment inputs from landconstruction activities and dam development, mangrove conversion foraquaculture and agriculture development, coral mining, sand filling andcanalization in wetlands, groundwater draw-down and aquifer salination,and so on, are producing long-term changes, especially in coastal waterquality. These affect the ecological efficiency, sustainability, biologicalproductivity and health of the environment and threaten the ability ofcoastal ecosystems to sustain their primary functions.Coastal zones are especially vulnerable as they represent areceiving point for the pollution flux transported through the riversystem from land-based activities within the catchment. The particularphysico-chemical conditions operating at the interface of fresh andmarine waters serve to concentrate much of this pollutant load.Nevertheless, coastal ecosystems form a continuum with river basinsso that integrated management of the latter provides important andtangible benefits to coastal systems and the livelihoods of thosedependent on their natural riches (UNEP, MAP, PAP, 1999).UNIDO has recognized the importance of reducing pollutant loadsarriving in coastal zones from industrial sources within river basins, andhas adopted the strategy of preventing or reducing pollution at sourceby facilitating the introduction of best environmental practices to keydeveloping countries industries. UNIDO has also provided technicalassistance to some developing countries in the Gulf of Guinea basin ofWest and Central Africa in the introduction and adoption of policiesand strategies focusing on Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM)and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) for the protectionand management of coastal and freshwater resources (see box 9.1).Local improvements of industrial practices with global/regional benefitsMany countries have moved to incorporate precautionary and polluterpays principles within water governance. However, a large number ofdeveloping countries lack the resources necessary for preventiveplanning or, indeed, for regular monitoring and enforcement. As aresult, the application of these principles is at best only responsive incharacter, often based on concerns and complaints raised by localcommunities. This situation is inadequate because:■ it does not prevent excessive water use or the impairment ofwater resources;■ only ‘obvious’ pollution is addressed and important but ‘invisible’pollution may be missed;■ considerable delays may occur between pollution events andremediation;■ water authorities may not have the technical capacity to identifyindividual polluters or, in some countries, liability may belong to,or have passed to, government; and■ some communities do not have access to industry, due topolitical boundaries, for example.