A NEW report released just this week by United Nations researchers may be the first example of irreparable destruction of large-scale environmental systems due to human activity. According to the research by the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, the world has entered what the researchers have dubbed the era of “global water bankruptcy,” a condition where humanity has pushed large parts of the global water system into a permanent state of failure and unable to recover, even if aggressive rehabilitation measures are taken. While the condition is not universal, as not every natural water system has yet been affected, those parts of the world, such as the Philippines — that are merely experiencing a “water crisis” — should view the situation as a dire emergency, and take immediate action to preserve their resources.
The report, titled “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post Crisis Era,” asserts that decades of overextraction, pollution, land degradation and climate stress have pushed large parts of the global water system beyond a mere “crisis” into complete destruction, where nothing can be done to restore them. The report said the language of “water crisis” was no longer sufficient to explain what was happening. A crisis implies a shock followed by recovery. “Water bankruptcy,” by contrast, describes a condition where recovery is no longer realistically possible because natural water capital has been permanently damaged. This is defined as a state where water usage exceeds supply for an extended period of time, combined with markers of irreversibility such as ground compaction of aquifers, shrinking glaciers, wetland and lake loss, and saltwater intrusion caused by rising sea levels, land subsidence, or both.
As the report points out, not every water system on the planet is “bankrupt,” but it said that the issue can be considered a global problem because it affects so much of the world. Nearly three-quarters of the world’s population now lives in countries classified as water insecure or critically water insecure. Around 2.2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water, while 3.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation. About 4 billion people, as per the report findings, experience severe water scarcity for at least one month every year.
Water insecurity is not necessarily the same thing as water bankruptcy, as insecurity can be caused by other human factors, such as limited financial or technical capacity to provide infrastructure for safe water and sanitation, even where water is available. Increasingly, however, the water insecurity is being driven by water unavailability. Areas of the world identified by the report that are already experiencing or are at extremely high risk of water bankruptcy include the Middle East and North Africa, Central and South Asia, parts of northern China, the Mediterranean and southern Europe, the southwestern United States and northern Mexico (including the Colorado River system), parts of southern Africa and parts of Australia.
The biggest culprit in disappearing water supplies, at least in terms of direct human activity, is agriculture. According to the report, farming accounts for approximately 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals. About 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are located in regions where total water storage is already declining or unstable, it added. Globally, more than 170 million hectares of irrigated cropland are under high or very high water stress. Land and soil degradation are making matters worse, the report said, by reducing the ability of soils to retain moisture, resulting in more than half of the global agricultural land now being classified as moderately or severely degraded. Drought, which is becoming an increasing problem as global average temperatures rise, simply aggravates the situation by forcing farms to draw even greater amounts of irrigation water.
The Philippines is fortunate to not yet fall under the category of places that are water bankrupt, but that dire consequence may be only a matter of time. The report offers a number of suggestions for responses that can help to avoid water bankruptcy, or lessen its impact, all of which boil down in some way to reducing demand on overstretched resources. On a policy level, water rights and allocations should be reassessed and updated frequently to accurately reflect the available water resources. On a technical level, increasing conservation efforts and diversifying the economy away from particularly water-intensive sectors where possible can help to stretch supplies even further.