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Water aristocracy

/ 09:11 AM August 23, 2011

In shallow waters, shrimps will make fools of dragons.” That Asian adage is the backdrop for  the 21st  World Water Week conference,  which opened in Stockhlom  Sunday. Over  2,000  scientists, bankers and economists are  discussing in this  annual meeting  “Water in an Urbanizing World.”

Set aside for now the need for food, homes, schools or health  services. Focus on water demand as  seen in the population profiles of  cities. Metro Manila ranks 11th  among  the world’s 15 largest  cities.  It contains an estimated 16.3 million people—all needing water. As  more  turned on faucets, water tables slumped.

Tokyo, Seoul, Mumbai, Jakarta, Delhi, Osaka, Shanghai and Calcutta  account  for eight of the  world’s  largest  15 urban centers: Four years from now, there’ll be 27 megacities,  Emma  Porio of Ateneo University foresees. Of  these, 18 will be in Asia. “By  2050, more people will live in cities than the number of people living in the entire world today.”

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In the Philippines, 54 out of every 100 lived in  cities by 2007. What  does  this “implosion” imply? For an answer, hit the rewind button for 1990. At that point, only 30 out of every 100 lived  in 60  cities, the National Statistics Office recalls. By 2020, the number of  urban Filipinos will be double their rural counterparts.

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Highest concentrations today cluster  in the  National Capital and Southern Tagalog regions.  Metro Cebu and Metro  Davao are mirror images of that surge.  Today, the Philippines has 138 cities,  with  16  unqualified  towns included  in the roster, thanks to a flip-flop-flip  Supreme Court  decision.

Many cities are saddled  with  below-par  water facilities even  as births and migration interlock. A “youth bulge” characterizes  this  migrant  torrent, San Carlos University’s Soccoro Gultiano and Peter Xenos of  East-West  Center  point out. The hormones of these young migrants are on overdrive. They will tarry, in the  reproductive age  bracket  longer.

Therefore, kiss goodbye the hoped-for birthrates slowdown. It  won’t  materialize anytime soon, not  even if the Reproductive Health bill gets into  law books. But demand for just about everything else will spiral. And there is no substitute for  water.

Water shortages cripple economies and  invariably  trigger debilitating diseases and premature deaths. Diarrhea is the second child  killer here. Daily, 10,000 kids under five   die due to tainted water, mostly in Third World countries. Hence, city governments must  craft  policies that  reach beyond brittle underground aquifers and  tap surface water. Cebu is the classic example of  a city that secures  95 percent of  its water by overpumping. In the process, it  wrecks irreversibly its narrow aquifers.

“Distant water won’t quench your  thirst.” Often, surface water sources are located  far beyond  city limits. In this region, “cities are reaching out to more distant sources of water,” Asian Development Bank notes. However, “relocating industries close to water sources no longer means assured supply.”

Aside from  getting investors for surface  water projects,  cities must  develop the twin track of  water conservation.  The Rainwater Catchment Law is  universally ignored here. This  blanket   failure  wastes a critical  resource, Magsaysay awardee Antonio Oposa grouses.  “A  fool is thirsty in the midst  of  water,” an Ethiopian adage says.

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Contrary to myth, Asia does not have abundant  freshwater endowments. They are, in fact, among the world’s lowest. Over the past half century,  per capita availability has declined by  55 percent in Southeast Asia. A  Filipino, for example, has 6,332 cubic meters available yearly. Compare that to 26,105 cu m for Malaysians or 94,353 cm for Canadians. Saudi Arabians have only 118 cm. But  Saudis  swap oil for water. “Any well in the desert will do,” an Arab  proverb says.

These disparities  anchor a little-recognized but  real  “aristocracy of  water.” Skewed possession  of this vital resource absorbs the ongoing Stockholm conference. “Cities are engines of growth,” writes Anders Berntell of Stockholm International Water Institute. “But all too often, lack or poorly functioning water and sanitation systems carry heavy social and human costs. They adversely affect women… Wise management and recycling of water, within and around cities… can reduce social and economic tensions in an increasing variable water future.”

Will our policy makers plow through the wealth of  peer-reviewed papers before the Stockholm meeting? They should.  Some  have relevance to the parched Philippine setting. “Policy cocktails for protecting coastal waters from land-based activities” is one.  “Pathways to improved water quality” is another. Interior and Local Government Secretary  Jesse Robredo’s staff may find it worth their while to leaf through “Enabling sustainable water service delivery by local government.”

Too often, the poor pay far more for water than those in affluent enclaves. A squatter’s shack in Cebu City will pay 13 times for water than a gated  Maria Luisa enclave home,  notes the UN World Water Development Report. “This is  water aristorcracy  set  on it’s head.”

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“Difficulties encountered in accessing water frequently fix the position of the poor on the poverty ladder,” ADB notes in “Water for All.” “Water security has become a key issue for survival… Today, stakeholders see more clearly that the future will be more concerned with managing a dwindling resource—and mitigating  adverse impacts of a profligate past.”

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