WATER SCARCITY - CHALLENGES

Introduction

Wherever we are or we find ourselves, we always need water to survive, because it’s one of the most essential things in life. Not only is the human body 60 percent water, it’s also essential in cooking food, clothing, computers, moving our waste stream, keeping us and the environment healthy. Unfortunately, humans have proved to be inefficient water users. (The average hamburger takes 2,400 litres, or 630 gallons, of water to produce and many water-intensive crops, such as cotton, are grown in arid regions according to Prepper fortress

The human population has successfully harnessed many of the world’s natural waterways—building dams, water wells, vast irrigation systems and other structures that have allowed civilizations to grow and thrive. But water systems are increasingly stressed, and some rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up.

“Water scarcity” refers to the volumetric abundance, or lack thereof, of water supply. This is typically calculated as a ratio of human water consumption to available water supply in a given area. Water scarcity is a physical, objective reality that can be measured consistently across regions and over time (Peter Schulte 2014)

Whenever there is inadequate access to potable and fresh water for drinking and sanitation, the situation means that the water is scarce. Water scarcity thus pertains to a situation where there is water shortage, water crisis, and the lack of access to quality water. The concept of water scarcity may also refer to the difficulty in obtaining fresh water sources and the deterioration and depletion of the available water sources. Some of the contributing factors to water scarcity are climate change, water overuse, and increased pollution. Many areas around the globe are affected by this phenomenon, and about 2.7 billion people experience water scarcity each and every year according to Earth Eclipse.

In 2016, UN-Water Analytical Brief analyses the central role of water and sanitation to describe the links and interdependencies between the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation and those of other goals. It aims to stimulate United Nations Member States’ consideration of the water-related linkages within the goals to facilitate an integrated approach to implementation. The Brief highlights the importance of mainstreaming water and sanitation in the policies and plans of other sectors, and how the management of interlinkages supports the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN-Water, 2016).

According to Orebiyi et al. (2010), 52 percent of Nigerians have no access to improved drinking water supply. Sources such as rivers, boreholes, streams, wells, ponds and rain are still very much depended upon for water needs. The health implications of the use of these sources include alarming rates of water - related diseases and deaths among the population. In World Health Organization’s (2000) estimates, 4 billion cases of diarrhoea are reported each year around the world, in addition to millions of other cases of illness associated with lack of access to clean water. Gleick (2002) estimated global deaths arising from water- related diseases at between 2 - 5 million yearly. Although there are no accurate data on water related cases and deaths in Nigeria have however shown that cases of typhoid, cholera and other water related disease and deaths have been on the increase in recent times(Ojiefo O Magnus 2011)

According to the WHO (2003), 200,000 people in Nigeria were estimated to be suffering from trachoma (an infectious disease caused by bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis) with overall prevalence blindness of 1.3%. Studies on schistosomiasis infection in different parts of Nigeria by Nmorsi et al. (2005) and Pukuma et al. (2007) show that infection rate is high. They attributed this to the use of infested rivers, streams and ponds for drinking and for other domestic purposes by a large population of country. Earthwatch (2008) estimated diarrhoea prevalence rate in Nigeria at 18.8% and is the second largest killer of Nigerian children. The assessment of water quality and prevalence of water borne diseases in Amassona in the Niger Delta Southern of Nigeria by Nwidu et al. (2008) showed that the number of patients reported and diagnosed with water related diseases was increasing. He noted that while only 14.61% were reported and diagnosed in 2005, 34.83% and 50.56% were reported and diagnosed in 2006 and 2007 respectively, showing a progressive increase. They concluded that those diseases that were consistently reported and diagnosed for the period of study were cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery and typhoid. The study attributed the prevalence of these diseases to the contamination of the river in the community.

Causes of Water Scarcity

Many problems resulting to the problem of water scarcity ranges from poor aquifer, poor water management and some other factors. In many communities in sub-Sahara Africa, to access clean water, people majorly women and children walk several kilometres to get water to be used for household activities. This often results in delay in carrying out household chose and also exposes them to many dangers so many times because of their vulnerability. Some causes of water scarcity are highlighted below:

·        Type of aquifer

There are some areas with poor aquifer in such area it is always very difficult to have water in such areas due to the fact that the aquifer in the area is poor in retaining water. In some places, it is simply dry, and the where there is water its either not sufficient for the public or the depth is far from the surface. In others, places where the aquifer is not far some of them have been affected by influx of pollutant making such available water unusable for human consumption.

·        Water Pollution

Water pollution is another cause of water scarcity. The sources of water pollution include pesticides and fertilizers that wash away from farms, industrial and human waste that is directly dumped into rivers without treating it in water treatment plant. Oil spill on the ground, waste water leakage from landfills can seep underground and may pollute the groundwater as it sometimes leach into the underground aquifers making it unfit for human consumption. Some effects of water pollution are immediate, such as when harmful bacteria from human waste contaminate water and make it unfit to drink or swim in. In other instances such as toxic substances from industrial processes, it may take years to build up in the environment and food chain before their effects are fully recognized.

·        Overpopulation

In the last 50 years, the human population has more than doubled. This rapid growth with its accompanying economic development and industrialization has transformed water ecosystems around the world and resulted in a massive loss of biodiversity. Today, 41% of the world’s population lives in river basins that are under water stress. Concern about water availability grows as freshwater use continues at unsustainable levels. Furthermore, these new faces also need food, shelter, and clothing, thus resulting in additional pressure on freshwater through the production of commodities and energy.

The rapid increase in human population combined by massive growth in industry sector have transformed water ecosystems and resulted in loss of biodiversity. As population is increasing at an ever increasing rate, the demand for new resources will result in additional pressure on freshwater sources.

·        Agriculture

Agriculture uses 70% of the World’s accessible freshwater, but some 60% of this is wasted due to leaky irrigation systems, inefficient application methods as well as the cultivation of crops that are too thirsty for the environment in which they are grown. This wasteful use of water is drying out rivers, lakes and underground aquifers. Many countries that produce large amounts of food including India, China, Australia, Spain and the United States have reached or are close to reaching their water resource limits. Added to these thirsty crops are the fact that agriculture also generates considerable freshwater pollution both through fertilizers as well as pesticides all of which affect both humans and other species.

·        Water Mismanagement

Large amount of areas where water are available there are a lot of mismanagement of it.  Lack of efficient management and distribution of water between urban consumers, agricultural and industrial sector. The government needs to enhance its investment in technology and include all stakeholders at the planning level to ensure optimization of existing resources. A lot of litres of water are being wasted for flushing toilet and washing both clothes and dishes.

·        Distance

Another important factor that contributes to water scarcity is distance to source of water. In some community, women and children walk several kilometres to get water for the household uses. Since that’s the main source of water available to them. They wake up in some communities as early as 4am to source for water to be used for their daily activities.

·        Drought

This is a situation whereby for a relatively long time, there will be inadequate water supply, which could be as a result of dry weather, to support human, animal and plant life. The distribution of all the water on the earth’s surface is not even. Some places have lots of fresh water (Rivers, Lakes, Lagoons, and Pond etc.) and are continuously replenished by rainfall, runoffs and water from underground. Other places are known to have little water. Therefore, if a region that experience lots of rainfall, goes for a long time without rain, which results in people, animals and plants experiencing dryness, it can be called a drought