ABSTRACT
PIP: Various avenues exist to minimize the effects of the current water crisis in some regions of the world and the more widespread problems that will threaten the world in the future. Active management of existing water resources and a reduction in population growth in water-scarce areas are needed to minimize the effects of the water crisis. National boundaries do not effect water systems. Cooperation and commitment of local, national, and international governments, institutions, and other organizations are needed to manage water systems. Development in each country must entail conscientious and effective balancing of unavoidable manipulations of the land and the unavoidable environmental impacts of those manipulations. The conditions of environmental sustainability must include protection of land productivity, ground water potability, and biodiversity. Humans must deal with these factors either by adopting methods to protect natural systems or by correcting existing damage and reducing future problems. They need to understand the demographic forces in each country so they can balance society's rising needs for clean water with the finite amount of water available. Factors affecting future needs at all levels include rapid rural-urban migration, high fertility, and changing patterns of international population movement. Given an increased awareness of global water systems, demographic trends, and active management of resources, the fragile balance between population and water can be maintained.^ieng
Subject(s)
Agriculture , Conservation of Natural Resources , Demography , Developed Countries , Developing Countries , Disasters , Emigration and Immigration , Environmental Pollution , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Health Planning Guidelines , Health Services Needs and Demand , International Cooperation , Population Dynamics , Seasons , Urbanization , Water Supply , Africa , Asia , Asia, Western , Economics , Environment , Geography , Israel , Organization and Administration , Population , Social Sciences , Urban PopulationABSTRACT
PIP: 4 types of water scarcity exist. Aridity and intermittent droughts consist of the natural types while land desiccation and water stress are man-made types. Climatic aridity, intermittent droughts, land degradation, and population growth link to create growing critical water scarcity conditions. Specifically, in arid lands where only a limited growing season exists anyhow, increased and nonsustaining activities spurred on by population growth degrade soils resulting in interference with water recharge of the root zone. This combination precipitates intermittent droughts upsetting the water supply for plants and people. This occurs now in Africa to the degree that by 2025, 66% of people will experience severe water shortages. Policymakers in developing countries and bilateral and multilateral development agencies providing technical assistance need to understand these relationships. They must develop a new strategy which includes water resource assessments followed by upgraded water plans for optimal use of available water resources and by the creation of best land use criteria. Their challenge is to balance the acute needs of people with conserving the productivity of the resource base. Experience shows that maximizing agricultural production per unit of water instead of per unit of land can increase income and employment. For example, in India, a semiarid area produced, with a given amount of water, as much as 30 times the amount of crops if the crops had a low water demand (e.g., grapes and potatoes) rather than those with a high water demand (e.g., sugarcane). This microscale approach and other such approaches could help semiarid Africa. Yet decision makers must seriously consider the transferability of these approaches to the African cultural and geographical environment. More essential than that, however, is the very high levels of water stress caused by the rapid population growth in famine-prone African countries.^ieng
