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In many urban and semi-urban areas, treated or partially treated wastewater is used for irrigation. The UN World Water Development Report 2003 estimates that approximately 10% of total irrigated land in 50 countries is irrigated with raw or partially diluted wastewater (UNESCO, 2003). Untreated wastewater contains pathogens, many of which can survive in the environment, on crops and soil, and enter the food chain posing health risks to farmers and their families and consumers in nearby communities (see also Box 2 on Contaminated Crops in India). But wastewater also contains nutrients that are beneficial for crop production, reduces the requirement for adding chemicals and fertilizers, and contributes to water and nutrient conservation. While it is true that the use of wastewater for irrigation has its advantages in terms of providing a low-cost source of water for food production and for use in urban and peri-urban areas in water-scarce regions, it is important to ensure that the costs of the health risks do not outweigh the benefits. Water-borne or water-related diseases such as diarrhea, which is widely prevalent, can cause long-term damage to households and the local economy. Individuals suffering from these illnesses are unable to work, study or provide for their dependents. Illness in the household also increases the work burden of caretakers, particularly women. Chronic or long-term water-related diseases are aggravated by poverty, and in turn cause heavy economic and welfare losses to the individual and the household. At an aggregated level, particularly in developing regions or in countries that have limited or inadequate health care provisions, the local or national economy could be adversely affected by the loss of productive manpower and public health costs. The Economics of Sanitation Initiative 2 of the Water and Sanitation Programme of the World Bank estimates that the annual economic losses from inadequate sanitation amount to between 1%-2.5% of GDP, with the majority of these costs coming from premature deaths, including in children under the age of five (Water and Sanitation Programme, 2012). Conclusion The implications of inadequate water security, whether in terms of access, quantity or quality, are of great concern. Clean and safe water is the keystone to healthy ecosystems and healthy communities as prolonged exposure to pathogens and toxic elements will negatively affect human populations and ecosystem biota. An important step towards improving and safeguarding public and ecosystem health would be to include and monitor health-based targets, for both humans and ecosystems, along with economic targets in political and government agendas. Government leaders and finance ministers need to understand the relationship between clean and safe water, improved health and GDP. Political will combined with behaviour change of users and consumers and a change in attitude and mindset of decision-makers is necessary to ensure that national priorities for water use and allocation take into account public and ecosystem health. 2 The Economics of Sanitation Initiative studies conduct quantitative and qualitative assessments of the impacts of poor sanitation on health, water, tourism, and other welfare impacts. The impacts stem from well-established links between: sanitation and disease incidence; water pollution, which also affects the productivity of water resources by way of lower fisheries output; productivity in work and school; and a country’s attractiveness as a tourist destination. Health and water resources contributed most to the overall economic losses estimated in the study. Poor sanitation, including hygiene, caused at least 180 million disease episodes and 100,000 premature deaths annually. The resulting economic impact totalled more than US $4.8 billion per year (Water and Sanitation Programme, 2012). 82 The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue
References Amarasinghe, U. A., M. Giordano, Y. Liao and Z. Shu, 2005. Water Supply, Water Demand and Agricultural Water Scarcity in China: A Basin Approach. Country Policy Support Program Report 11. New Delhi: International Water Management Institute & International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage. Economy, E., 2011. “China’s Growing Water Crisis”, World Politics Review, 9 August. Edwards, C., 2011. “Social Cost-benefit Analysis. Summarizing the Available Global Evidence on Drinking-water Interventions” in Cameron, J., P. Hunter, P. Jagals and K. Pond (Eds.), Valuing Water, Valuing Livelihoods. London: IWA Publishing. Lvovsky, K., 2001. Environment Strategy Papers No 1: Health and Environment. Washington D.C.: World Bank. Pangare, G., B. Das, W. Lincklaen Arriens and I. Makin, 2012. WaterWealth? Investing in Basin Management in Asia and the Pacific. New Delhi: Academic Foundation. Pangare, G., V. Pangare and B. Das, 2006. Springs of Life: India’s Water Resources. New Delhi: Academic Foundation. Prüss-Üstün, A., R. Bos, F. Gore and J. Bertram, 2008. Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, Benefits and Sustainability of Interventions to Protect and Promote Health. Geneva: WHO Press. Singh, A., R.K. Sharma, M. Agrawal and F.M. Marshall, 2010. “Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal Toxicity through Contaminated Vegetables from Wastewater Irrigated Area of Varanasi, India”, Tropical Ecology 51(2S): 375-387. Smith, A. H., E.O. Lingas and M. Rahman, 2000. “Contamination of Drinking-water by Arsenic in Bangladesh: A Public Health Emergency”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization 78(9): 1093-1103. UNESCO, 2003. World Water Development Report 1. Water for People, Water for Life. Paris: UNESCO-World Water Assessment Programme. UNICEF and World Health Organization, 2012. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: 2012 Update. UNICEF and WHO. Water and Sanitation Programme: Economics of Sanitation Initiative, http://www.wsp.org/wsp/content/economic-impactssanitation#top (accessed 13 April, 2012). World Health Organization, 2009. Global Health Risks: Mortality and Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risks. Geneva: WHO Press. World Health Organization, 2011a. Pharmaeceuticals in Drinking-water. Geneva: WHO Press. World Health Organization, 2011b. World Health Statistics. Geneva: World Health Organization. Water and Health Security Part 2 83
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The Global Water Crisis: Addressing
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About the InterAction Council Estab
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Acknowledgements
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Foreword
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The undeniable seriousness of the g
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Foreword xiii
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The Global Water Crisis: Framing th
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Ethical considerations also need to
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3. Support Ratification of the UN W
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1 Water and Global Security
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Introduction Since the serious stat
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Jury and Vaux project that the numb
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5. The Potential for Conflict and t
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References Cullen, H., 2010. The We
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Introduction Water is an integral p
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shortage Statewide Regional Local N
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summer months. To alleviate the con
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References Department of Energy, 20
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Introduction Water, economic and en
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Economic analyses of ecosystem good
Page 45 and 46: • Managing for sustainability. De
Page 47 and 48: Richter, B.D., M.M. Davis, C. Apse
Page 49 and 50: Introduction Water is an essential
Page 51 and 52: early post-Cold War period, from a
Page 53 and 54: 2.4. Water, conflicts, and institut
Page 55 and 56: Renaud et al. (2011) proposed a pre
Page 57 and 58: Carius, A., D. Tänzler and A. Maas
Page 59 and 60: Turton, A.R., 2004. “The Evolutio
Page 61 and 62: Introduction In the West Asia and N
Page 63 and 64: 2. Water in the WANA Region 2.1. De
Page 65 and 66: Following on this, during a persona
Page 67 and 68: Below are some suggestions for how
Page 69 and 70: plants through evapo-transpiration)
Page 71 and 72: WANA Forum, 2010b. Toward Supra-nat
Page 73 and 74: Introduction “The trouble with wa
Page 75 and 76: • Upgrading current water infrast
Page 77 and 78: 60,000 ventilation improved pit lat
Page 79 and 80: 5. The Bottom Line It is widely ack
Page 81: The Blue Economy: Risks and Opportu
Page 84 and 85: 2.1 A Human Development Approach to
Page 86 and 87: apparatus assists nation-states in
Page 88 and 89: By ensuring that the international
Page 90 and 91: 2.2 Water and Health Security Ganes
Page 92 and 93: 1.1. Human-induced Pollutants Domes
Page 94 and 95: Table.1. Water pollutants and human
Page 98 and 99: 2.3 Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and
Page 100 and 101: 1. The Impacts of Poor Water, Sanit
Page 102 and 103: 77 64 2015 MDG target Coverage (%)
Page 104 and 105: 3. The Neglect of the WASH Sector a
Page 106 and 107: References Checkley, W., G. Buckley
Page 108 and 109: 2.4 Water, Food and the Development
Page 110 and 111: 2. Keeping Pace with Change Since t
Page 112 and 113: one and has yet to attain widesprea
Page 114 and 115: 2.5 Investing in Women’s Particip
Page 116 and 117: of agriculture resulting mainly fro
Page 118 and 119: their substantial contribution is p
Page 120 and 121: Although cultural constraints still
Page 122 and 123: UNEP, 2009. Water Security and Ecos
Page 124 and 125: 2.6 Water Governance Reform in Afgh
Page 126 and 127: 1.2. The Extreme risk of food secur
Page 128 and 129: Furthermore, within each basin, lan
Page 130 and 131: 3.2. Early doubts vis-à-vis progre
Page 132 and 133: transboundary water management conc
Page 135 and 136: 3 Will the Right to Water Alleviate
Page 137 and 138: Introduction A growing number of ar
Page 139 and 140: 2. Ethical Perspectives on State Ob
Page 141 and 142: References Barlow, Maude, 2007. Blu
Page 143 and 144: Introduction It is widely recognize
Page 145 and 146: Later in 2010, the UN Human Rights
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3.2. Legislative Recognition Dozens
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Mandela, M., 2002. No Water, No Fut
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Introduction South Africans have a
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water per person per day. The appli
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References Bluemel, E. B., 2004.
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Introduction Water conflicts are nu
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4. Water Policies and Their Impact
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y its interconnection to encompass
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Access to Water and Conflict: An In
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Response from the InterAction Counc
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As former U.S. President Mr. Bill C
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The InterAction Council Québec Dec
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List of Participants
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List of Participants: 29 th Annual
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