© Andre Maslennikov/
Still Pictures,Londres
A rare and precious resource
- A thirsty
planet
Who pays the piper?
Who calls the tune?
- Hungary:
under new management
- South Africa: water for
everyone
- Mexico:
the sweet smell of success
- India:
Calcutta plugs its deficit
Now you see it, now you don’t...
- A
convenient solution
- An
economic mirage?
Custom-built solutions for international disputes
A
water crisis looms closer, it seems, every day. In just a couple of generations,
the earth’s population will reach an estimated nine billion people, as against some
six billion today. How will this growing population be fed? Two-thirds of water consumption
already goes to irrigation, and agricultural needs are increasing. Meawhile, industrialization
is also taking a heavy toll on our fragile water supplies, creating both new demands
and risks of pollution.Hydrologists and civil engineers used to have a standard response to water scarcity: build more dams, desalinization plants and even pipelines to bring water from humid to dry areas. Not only have these technological options failed to keep up with rising demand, but they are also too expensive, in ecological as well as economic terms.
Today, our hydrological landscape is being re-designed as conservationists and economists form an unusual alliance. Instead of asking, “how can we provide new supplies?”, they now insist the main question is, “how can we cut demand?” Their concerns point to a major paradox: we waste a resource without which we cannot live. The key to more rational management appears to be simple: charge consumers for the water they use. At the same time, other market mechanisms are seen as a solution to allocating water resources efficiently. For example, laws in the US state of California encourage farmers to sell their water rights to cities instead of growing crops during a drought. There is even talk of setting up an international water market so that water-poor countries can buy supplies from the water-rich. But what are the political and social costs of this approach? Can we afford to treat this vital resource like any ordinary commodity? In short, what price water?