Reuters 29 Nov 07
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Developing countries in Asia could face an "unprecedented" water crisis within a decade due to mismanagement of water resources, the Asian Development Bank said in a report on Thursday.
The effects of climate change, rapid industrialization and population growth on water resources could lead to health and social issues that could cost billions of dollars annually, it said.
"If the present unsatisfactory trends continue, in one or two decades, Asian developing countries are likely to face and cope with a crisis on water quality management that is unprecedented in human history," Ajit Biswas wrote in the report.
The report, entitled "Asian Water Development Outlook," was submitted to the Asia-Pacific Water Forum in Singapore, which will discuss the issue at a summit in Japan next week.
The report also comes before a U.N. meeting in Indonesia next week to discuss a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
"Water quality management has mostly been a neglected issue in Asian developing member countries. The annual economic cost is likely to be billions of dollars," Biswas wrote.
The report said massive urbanization will present new types of water-related challenges.
In contrast to cities in developed countries such as Tokyo, developing countries have fallen behind in the collection, treatment, and safe disposal of wastewater, it said.
Climate change is likely to increase the frequency of extreme events like droughts and floods and introduce high levels of risks and uncertainties that the water industry may not be able to handle with confidence, Biswas said.
The report, written by a team of water specialists, covers 12 Asian countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
The ADB report recommends major changes in water governance practices in most Asian developing countries, and to look to successful models such as in Singapore and Cambodia which had improved monitoring of water consumption.
The report also called for countries to improve the accessibility of data on water quality.
(Reporting by Daryl Loo, editing by Neil Chatterjee and Sanjeev Miglani)
Mismanagement threatens Asian water crises: ADB study
Yahoo News 29 Nov 07;
The mismanagement of resources, not scarcity, will lead to water crises in developing Asian nations, said a study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank and released on Thursday.
Urbanisation, industrialisation, population growth and climate change were likely to put a strain on the region's water resources, it said.
But Asia had also developed the expertise and the technology to ensure there was enough water for its people, the study published in Singapore said.
The key was putting in place the right practices and policies to manage the precious resource, said the report entitled "Asian Water Development Outlook."
"It is likely that if there will be a water crisis in the future, it will not come because of actual physical scarcity of water, as many predict at present," said expert Asit Biswas, one of the report's authors.
Any future water crises would likely be sparked by "continuing neglect of proper wastewater management practices," he wrote.
"Continuation of the present trend will make available water sources increasingly more contaminated and will make provision of clean water more and more expensive, as well as more complex and difficult to manage."
But the report said that "there is now enough knowledge, technology and expertise available in Asia to solve all its existing and future water problems."
Although major changes in water governance practices were required, Asia can boast of some success stories, it said, such as Singapore's water management system, described as one of the world's best.
The Manila-based Asian Development Bank said it hoped the report would focus high-level attention on the need to invest in the water sector.
The report was submitted to the Asia-Pacific Water Forum, which is organising the first Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Beppu, Japan next week.
One issue was the use of water in Asia's energy sector, the study said, since electricity generation typically needs it.
Asian electricity consumption is rising between five percent and eight percent annually, so there is a need to include the water needs of the energy sector in national policies, it added.
The study said "not one Asian developing country has seriously assessed the current and future water requirements of its energy sector."
The rising popularity of biofuels as an alternative energy source also had implications for water resources, the report said.
"Asian biofuel production will require more and more water if this subsector expands as expected," it said.
More use of pesticides and fertilizers to improve biofuel crop yields could lead to the pollution of surrounding water, the report added.
But "as of now, virtually no country has carefully analysed the water, land and social implications of increasing biofuel production and then made appropriate policy decisions," it said.
