Water: cause for war in the future?

Ancient civilizations began and flourished on the banks of mighty rivers but, in the developing world, these rivers are severely polluted. The Yamuna is a case in point: the stretch from Delhi to the Chambal confluence is highly polluted, mainly because waste water from Delhi, Mathura, Agra, and Etawah is discharged into the river untreated and the river does not flow fast enough to dilute the load of pollutants. Given that the amount of water that India receives through precipitation each year is unlikely to change in the near future and that the demand for water will continue to soar, using what we have efficiently is the only way open to us. Acute scarcity and growing pollution have prompted the Government of India to set for itself the target of cleaning all major rivers of India by 2007. How much water do we need? One set of norms in India stipulates 110 litres a day per capita in cities and 40 litres in villages. The South African Water Department, which has introduced legislation for equitable and sustainable use, management, and conservation of water resources, specifies 25 litres, to be available within 200 metres of the dwelling. This is equivalent to letting a shower run for only 2.5 minutes, assuming a flow rate of 10 litres a minute. On the other hand, one statistic puts the average daily per capita water consumption in North America at 650 litres. Water supplied to households in the metropolitan cities is treated water, filtered and disinfected, safe for drinking. Yet, it is priced far lower than bottled water, a case of hidden subsidies. No one will think of using bottled water to water their plants but many use municipal water for that. A different mechanism of subsidies prevails in rural areas: electricity used for pumping water for irrigation is supplied virtually free of cost, a system that offers little incentive for improving efficiency. It is salutary to keep in mind the distinct possibility of a future war over water-the warning comes from none other than Prof. Klaus T?pfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. 'Everybody knows that we have an increase in population, but we do not have a corresponding increase in drinking water, so the result in the regional dimension is conflict,' he says.