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Is there really a water shortage crisis or a water consumption management crisis? Reading at the Water Summit 2023
2023-03-25
((United Nations reports are consistent with the vision of the Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre))
Is there really a water shortage crisis or a water consumption management crisis? Reading at the Water Summit 2023
Director of the Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre - University of Anbar
Coincided with World Water Day on Wednesday 22-3-2023 in light of warnings by specialists, analyzes and data for many hydrological indicators that the world is about to embark on a global water crisis as a result of decreasing water incomes, deteriorating its quality, and increasing water stress in many countries of the world as a result of being affected by climate change and global warming, and among the countries most affected by this crisis is our country, Iraq.
On this occasion, the United Nations organized the first major summit on water since 1977. It was attended by thousands of delegates and heads of state and government for three days in New York, starting from Wednesday 22-3-2023, in the presence of Iraq, represented by the President of the Republic, which indicates the great interest in the subject at the global level.
But what is the magnitude of this crisis on a country like Iraq and what are its dimensions and future effects? Is there a vision to develop solutions to this crisis and related problems?
It must be noticed that there is an opinion of many specialists, researchers and academics who confirm that the origin of the crisis in Iraq is a crisis of water resources management in the first place more than a crisis of water supply or incomes, although the decrease in water supplies from neighboring countries as a result of climate change and dam projects in them has shown and highlighted the crisis (i.e. water resources management) in a way that was not clear or apparent before.
Many researchers and specialists at the Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre at the University of Anbar have stressed the issue of water resources management as it is the most prominent cause of the water crisis that Iraq suffers from through research, studies, seminars and workshops held by the centre and inviting specialists, decision-makers and researchers to discuss the subject and the need to think about realistic and efficient solutions from inside Iraq to these problems instead of waiting for neighboring countries and the results of their negotiations, which always link them to political positions and fluctuations, which greatly complicated this file and was It has a negative and direct impact on the problem, especially since the issue of climate change has global effects and neighboring countries also suffer from these changes and low rates of rain and snow.
It confirms that the water crisis is a crisis of management and consumption of the report published by the United Nations two days before the conference above.
A UN report published by the UN Water Agency and UNESCO confirmed a looming global water crisis and an "imminent danger" of water shortages due to overconsumption and climate change. The world is "blindly on a dangerous path, due to excessive water consumption and population growth."
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: "Water is the lifeblood of humanity, being depleted by irresponsible use of water that threatens its sustainability, pollution and uncontrolled global warming."
The main causes of the water crisis are "scarcity has become endemic" due to overconsumption and pollution, while global warming will increase seasonal water shortages in those areas with abundant water and those under excessive pressure.
According to the latest UN climate report by the Intergovernmental Panel of Experts on Climate Change, almost half of the world's population currently suffers from acute water scarcity for at least one period of a year.
Mr. Connor, head of the team that prepared the report, stressed that "uncertainty is increasing" when it comes to global water supply, which is what the Upper Euphrates Basin Development Center always emphasizes the importance of having databases with high reliability, which means the need to conduct many measurements, studies, meteorology, and the application of numerical models as well as artificial intelligence.
The centre agrees with the report's authors that "if we don't address it, there will be a global crisis."
UN Under-Secretary-General Usha Rao Munari, the official host of the UN Water Conference, said: "Resources will need to be managed more carefully in the future," meaning that the issue is mainly related to water resources management, which is in line with the vision of the Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre for this crisis, both in Iraq and globally.
What fully supports and agrees with our vision is its assertion that "there is enough water on this planet if we manage it more effectively than we have done over the past few decades." "I think we will have to find new governance models, new financing models, new models of water use and water reuse more than ever. I believe that technology and innovation will play a very big role in looking at how the water sector is managed and water use."
Our vision on possible solutions:
The vision of the Upper Euphrates Basin Development Center at the University of Anbar on possible solutions to the problem can be summarized as follows:
· Supporting research centers in universities with modern hydro meteorological devices, water measuring devices, field laboratories, and software to conduct measurements and surveys, providing databases with high reliability through which studies can be conducted and solutions related to the development of the water resources management system can be proposed.
· Granting full administrative powers to research centers by communicating and exchanging experiences with all research centers, institutions and organizations concerned with water resources management, in a way that contributes to the development of research centers in the process of developing solutions and methods for water resources management and putting them into practice through bilateral agreements or joint development programs with a financial budget for the concerned centers to complete qualitative studies and research or direct the concerned international organizations operating in Iraq to deal directly with Iraqi research centers in the field of water resources management.
· A call for joint management of river basins that includes even agricultural plans and the quality of crops grown to reach economic integration between these countries so that water is a factor of unity and human integration with the development of maps of crops suitable for each country according to the nature of the climate and water abundance and possible to establish investment funds to invest arable land as long as the problem concerns all countries such as the idea of the European common market and the establishment of a common agricultural products market for the countries of the (Tigris and Euphrates) basins can play a pivotal role in the regional and global economy This can also be done at the level of the Iraqi provinces.
· Binding legal legislation that regulates the consumption of water by its citizen users and the need to establish an environmental police service, one of the most important tasks of which is to preserve water wealth and prevent its waste (combating the waste of public money) as well as preserving it from pollution and declining quality.
· The use of lined irrigation channels to transport water in irrigation projects, which reduce the rates of leaching losses by up to 15%, while working to cover the surface of the canal with solar panels to generate energy and reduce evaporation losses, which constitute a large percentage of water losses.
Padded irrigation channel covered with solar panels
· Imposing the use of modern irrigation methods and obliging farmers and farmers to do so, as research and studies indicate the possibility of reducing water consumption by up to 80%, which is a very high percentage, especially if we consider that the percentage of agricultural sector consumption of water in Iraq reaches 86% of Iraq's water imports.
· Developing water harvesting systems within cities to include residential houses, official departments and rainwater stream systems and linking them to tanks that can be used in time of need and as is the case in many countries of the world.
A simple diagram illustrating the concept of collecting and harvesting water from buildings and implemented at the University of Anbar
· Awareness, guidance and awareness campaigns on introducing the importance of rationalizing water consumption and smart and modern agriculture through environmental media and the need to activate it in all sectors, especially schools and universities.
· Oblige official departments and places of worship to use the structures of the Smart Water Organization, which has become a necessity.
What's then?
Based on the foregoing, the greatest responsibility lies with the decision-makers, i.e. the executive authority represented by the government and the legislative authority (the House of Representatives) to issue laws and legislation binding and enforceable to reduce the effects of the lack of water revenues and reduce the effects of climate change and work to implement the above recommendations. Rather, we must work on developing self-solutions and building a comprehensive national vision to develop methods and systems of successful solutions.
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