Water an increasingly contentious resource
Britain’s water politics are benign compared with much of the world, writes The Observer.
IT is hot. Very hot. And as ever in the United Kingdom, when the sun comes out for more than a few, fleeting summer afternoons, there is talk of water shortages, rationing and hose bans. It is a pity the millionaire bosses of privatised water companies do not spend more time lining leaking pipes and less time lining their pockets. Yet despite this and other controversies over charges, metering, mismanagement and periodic downstream flooding, Britain’s water politics are relatively benign.
Not so in many other parts of a densely populated world, where the availability of clean, potable water, and water for agricultural and industrial use is a hot political, security and economic issue — as well as a frequently unmet basic human need. Ethiopia’s stupendous
$US4 billion ($NZ5.84 billion) Grand Renaissance dam on the Blue Nile is a case in point. When completed, it will be the largest dam in Africa, generating more than three times the energy produced by the Hoover dam in the United States. But for some, it is a cause for war.
The Ethiopian government in Addis Ababa views the dam as a prestige project, symbolising and facilitating the country’s development. Neighbouring Sudan, where the Blue Nile merges with the White Nile at Khartoum, stands to benefit, too — from cheaper electricity and stable yearround water levels. But in Egypt, to the north, the dam is seen as a strategic and economic threat. The Nile provides about 85% of Egypt’s water. Its growing population already faces chronic water shortages by 2025. Yet it is estimated that Nile levels could drop by 25% for up to seven years as Ethiopia fills the vast reservoir created by the dam.
The sense of vulnerability arising from foreign control of a vital national resource is undoubtedly acute. It is a sensation the desiccated military dictatorship of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah elSisi, is not managing well. Similar anxieties can be observed across the Middle East, where growing competition for increasingly scarce water resources further complicates already complex political, religious and social conflicts.
A government that cannot provide plentiful water, and thus ensure basic hygiene, healthcare and sanitation, may not long survive. It is a lesson that was reiterated last week in Khorramshahr, in southwest Iran, where anger over lack of clean drinking water morphed into violent antiregime protests. Conversely, it is surely no coincidence that the African and Asian countries where supplies are least reliable are also among the most unstable, poorest and most conflicted.
Global warming and population growth are further roiling water politics. In droughthit southern Australia, a row erupted over the alleged ‘‘politicising’’ of the problem by those who argued climate change was to blame.
Climate change denial cannot be vanquished overnight, no more than we can insist it start raining. But appreciating the value of water can start today. So if asked to turn off the garden hose or leave the toilet unflushed, do not hesitate. It may not count for much in the big picture, but it is the least we should do.