2017 WWW Daily Wednesday_30 August, 2017

WATER AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION
TEXT | görrel espelund PHOTO |Mikael Ullén
COMPETITION OVER WATER RESOURCES
IS A POTENTIAL CAUSE OF CONFLICT.
SUSANNE SCHMEIER FROM GIZ, SHOWED
EXAMPLES OF THE OPPOSITE.
The session hall was full to the brim
when Aaron Salzberg from the US State
Department and Susanne Schmeier
took the floor to speak about linkages
between water security and conflict.
While Salzberg gave examples of social
scenarios that could lead to increased
tension, Schmeier showed examples
of the opposite.
“I think we can move away from
the vicious circle of water insecurity
and conflict to a virtuous circle where
co-operation leads to water security.
One key component to achieve this
is resilience through technical,
managerial, institutional or legal
mechanisms,” she said.
As an example, she named Lake
Naivasha in Kenya, the Orange basin
in southern Africa, and the Sava Basin
in south-eastern Europe.
“During the Balkan war, water infrastructure
was destroyed and the trust
between people was destroyed. When
policy-makers looked at which area
lends itself most to co-operation, they
identified water,” she said.
All the countries had an interest
in developing and restoring water
infrastructure and this led to the
establishment of the International
Sava River Basin Commission.
“If you look at how the countries
are now managing their water in a very
cooperative way, it shows how we can
use water to foster co-operation,” said
Schmeier.
Susanne Schmeier
world water week voices
What do you do to save water on a daily basis?
Farrukh Kamolidinov,
Ministry of Energy
and Water Resources
of the Republic of
Tajikistan, Tajikistan
I make sure to
close taps properly
and only boil the
amount of water I
will actually drink,
so nothing goes to
waste.
Leonie Kappauf,
GFA Consulting
Group, Germany
I never wash my
car and I try to
discipline myself
to save not only
water, but all natural
resources, such as
limiting the amount
of paper I use.
Yasue Hagihara,
International
Lake Environment
Committee
Foundation, Japan
We have an abundance
of water in Japan,
but I still save water
because it is also about
saving money. I use
bathing water for
laundry and also try
saving water while
doing dishes.
Ruth Nganga, Water
Sector Trust Fund,
Kenya
I try to take short
showers and I do
the dishes in a sink
rather than under
running water.
José Luis Inglese,
Aysa, Argentina
Water shortage is
no problem where
I live, but I am still
fortunate because
my wife comes from
a water scarce area,
so she is used to
saving water and is
responsible for that.
Hirofumi Waki,
International
Lake Environment
Committee
Foundation, Japan
When we bathe,
we use the same
water for more than
one family member.
We have also changed
to a shower head that
uses less water.
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Tel: +46 8 121 360 00 | www.siwi.org
Publisher: Torgny Holmgren
SIWI EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor: Victoria Engstrand-Neacsu
Graphic Designer: Marianne Engblom
stockholm waterfront daily • 27 AUGUST – 1 SEPTEMBER, 2017 • CIRCULATION: 750
WORLD WATER WEEK DAILY EDITORIAL STAFF
Görrel Espelund, Andeas Karlsson
and Nick Chipperfield
Photography: Thomas Henrikson
and Mikael Ullén