0.18 Natural capital: water  (Page 6/11)

India is not only depleting its rain-fed fresh river water, it is rapidly depleting its ground water . Groundwater in India used to be a renewable resource with sizeable aquifers and springs. But by 2011 so much had been pumped up and used for irrigation that 2/3 of India’s groundwater was endangered.

The Indian experience in water utilization and water waste has been replicated in much of the rest of the world, so that in many nations, water is not now a renewable resource, so abused it has been.

Pakistan

Water availability is becoming a particularly serious issue in very arid nations. Pakistan is one of the world’s most arid countries. Average annual rainfall is less than 240 mm (compared to 2000-3000 mm in Indonesia).

Total availability of water in Pakistan has dropped from 5,000 M3 per person per year in 1950s to about 1,100 M3 per person in 2010. Note again that the U.N. threshold for a region to be labeled “water-scarce” is 1,000 M3 per person.

40% of Pakistan’s population lacks access to safe water. Some believe that shortage of water is an existential threat to Pakistan.

Pakistan has severe water scarcity even though its watershed is fed by the Indus river, one of the three great rivers flowing through South Asia (the others being the Brahmaputra and Ganges). As earlier noted these rivers all have headwaters in a relatively small area of the Himalayas, where glaciers are melting. Flows in these three rivers could fall by 30-40% in the long run, a terrifying disaster for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Siltation of rivers in Pakistan became very serious by 2012. In the U.S. and Australia, there are many dam catchments that can hold 900 days of water. By comparison, Pakistan partly because of siltation, can store only 30 days worth of water in the Indus Basin.

The situation does not have to be this precarious.

As has been the case for India, a large part of Pakistan’s problem has been water wastage in rural areas especially in agriculture. And in some cities, 60% of water supplies are wasted – leaked or stolen.

A big reason has been a near zero price of water.

A good beginning for a solution to Pakistan’s water problems would involve at least 5 steps:

1. Increase the price of water, especially irrigation water.
2. Repair old canal systems.
3. End electricity subsidies that encourage water-intrusive activity.
4. Build, where feasible, a few medium-sized dams to store more water.
5. Control leaks and stolen water.

The most important measure for the shorter term is to end the deep underpricing of water. But this is not a panacea. It has to be part of the solution, part of a portfolio of solutions.

Underpricing of water resources has long been common all over the world not just India and Pakistan (see Table 18-3 ). It is safe to say where one finds acute crisis in water availability; heavy subsidies for water use are usually the prime suspect, except for regions that have experienced extended drought.

Finally, we note that Syria had one of the lowest use of water per capita, even before the eruption of civil war in 2011. By then, all renewable sources of drinking water in Damascus by then had been exhausted. Entire villages were vacated because of lack of drinking water. Conditions during the Civil War could only be worse.