sentinel
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Post by sentinel on Mar 17, 2014 15:05:55 GMT 10
From the World Economic Forum This is one of the top assessed risks we face in a very near future. ...........................................................................................
Global Agenda Council on Water Security 2012-2014
The challenge
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2013 report, the water supply crisis is ranked as a top-five risk, in terms of both its likelihood to happen and its impact. With global freshwater demand projected to exceed current supply by over 40% by 2030, increasing competition and stress on water poses a significant risk and impact on food, energy and industrial and human security around the world, including on close to 4 billion people living in areas where the demand for water will far exceed available supplies. While population grew fourfold in the 20th century, demand for water grew by a factor of nine. This situation will create significant economic and political challenges. Water Security: The Water-Food-Energy-Climate Nexus, published by the World Economic Forum Water Initiative, states that in Asia, for example, agriculture currently uses 70% of annual global freshwater withdrawals and up to 90% in some parts of the region. Governments across Asia will need on average 65% more freshwater for their industry and energy sectors by 2030 to meet national growth aspirations.
The Global Agenda Council on Water Security believes that only far-sighted and collective action can avert future water crises and ensure water security for communities, businesses and countries. This collective action, however, will be more successful if the diverse social and economic values that different groups attribute to water and its use are respected and reflected in their actions. Members of the business community and civil society are responding to the challenge of building more water-secure societies. Governments are also recognizing the importance of better water management in coping with growing global prosperity, population growth and climate change.
What the Council is doing about it
The Council on Water Security is working to deepen the understanding of the emerging responses and collective action. The Council is examining the diversity of values that must be reconciled and how public authorities can create, given the diversity, an environment and institutional and policy frameworks to foster the emergence of effective partnerships that lead to practical and positive interventions.
“Members of the business community and civil society are responding to the challenge of building more water-secure societies. Governments are also recognizing the importance of better water management in coping with growing global prosperity, population growth and climate change.”
Experiences, lessons learned and key messages from the cases are being developed and packaged to help raise the awareness of policy-makers and business leaders, including how to operationalize and incorporate the diverse values into decision-making. A report will be produced for “ambassadors” to help deliver the messages and mobilize new actors in the water debate at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2014.
Through cross-Council interaction, the Council is building on its existing work and identifying further areas of potential focus, including working with the financial and insurance sectors to support improved water resource management to strengthen adaptation and resilience to risk.
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sentinel
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Post by sentinel on May 2, 2014 19:48:24 GMT 10
(Things are definitely going to get interesting with this looming issue below and Turkey trying to monopolise water in the Middle East).
Situation Reports
Water Wars: The Next Clash between India and China
Amitava Mukherjee - Apr 17, 14
A China watcher named Claude Arpi has drawn attention to a recently posted article on the website of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission under China’s Ministry of Water Resources. The article speaks of the necessity and feasibility of diverting the waters of some rivers, including the Brahmaputra (called Yarlung Tsangpo in China), to meet water supply needs in China’s arid north and northwest. This further confirms the fact that, in spite of several denials, China is still progressing with the controversial project that could spell doom in not just large parts of India but Bangladesh as well.
If the article is to be believed, engineers in China’s Ministry of Water Resources have already completed a feasibility study. In 1999, Jiang Zemin, a former president of China, announced the grandiose “Great Western Extraction” plan which would transfer huge volume of water from Tibet to the Yellow River. In 2008, Prime Minister Singh raised the issue with the Chinese leadership, but Wen Jiabao, the then Chinese prime minister, replied that the water diversion plan was imperative due to China’s water insecurity.
There was a grain of truth in Wen Jiabao’s statement, and herein lies a grave source of tension in the Indian subcontinent. Fast-paced development has raised water imbalance in China to such an extent that the Chinese government has no other option but to look at unconventional replenishment options. Already 300 million people in China have no access to safe drinking water and 400 of the country’s 600 major towns are suffering from water shortages. While southern China has 80 inches of average annual rainfall, northern China - with massive population centers like Beijing with over 20 million people and Tianjin with 12 million - receives only 8-16 inches of annual rainfall on average. Groundwater levels under Beijing have fallen by 2.5 meters since 1999 and a staggering 59 meters since 1959.
The situation is very alarming, as water conflicts may soon become the main source of discord between India and China, replacing the two countries’ ongoing boundary dispute. China has 2.8 trillion cubic meters of water and stands fourth in the world in this regard. But due to the gigantic size of its population, China’s per-capita water reserves stand at only 2,300 cubic meters. The northern portion of the country has 44.3 percent of overall population and 59.6 percent of its arable land - but it has only 4.5 percent of the country’s water resources. The region has an average per-capita water reserve of 747 cubic meters, which is one third the national average.
The burning question then becomes: how much of the Brahmaputra’s water does China plan to divert? To all intents and purposes Beijing seems to have a two pronged strategy. The first one is called the South-North Water Diversion Project, which seeks to transfer 45 billion cubic meters of water from the Yangtze River to the north and northwest of the country. The first phase of this project has already gone operational. But the most ambitious strategy aims to shift 50 billion cubic meters of water from the Brahmaputra to the Yellow River. Experts believe that the energy generated from these proposed hydro-electric projects on the Brahmaputra might turn out to be useful in pushing up river waters through difficult mountainous terrains.
No one knows whether there are any Chinese plans for the river Indus, which also originates in Tibet. If Beijing were to divert the Indus, then several other Indian rivers, like the Sutlej, Kosi, Gandak, and Mahakali which get their replenishment from it would run dry.
The Brahmaputra is a trans-national river. It enters India from China at Arunachal Pradesh, where it is known as the Siang. While in Assam it takes the name Brahmaputra and enters Bangladesh at a place named Bahadurabad. On March 1, 2012 residents of Pasighat, a town on the bank of the Siang in Arunachal Pradesh, witnessed a very strange sight. On that date, the Siang - which used to be nearly several kilometers wide - ran completely dry. Since then the river has continued to shrink.
There is no doubt that China is in need of water. However, the Mumbai-based Strategic Foresight Group has calculated that the Himalayan river basins in Bangladesh, China, India, and Nepal shelter 1.3 billion people. In the next two decades, annual per-capita water availability in these basins will decline by 13-35 percent. Moreover, 10-20 percent of the Himalayan rivers are largely dependent on glaciers and lakes for their supplies and 70 percent of these glaciers may melt in the next 100 years.
Within China there are two opposing schools in regard to the Brahmaputra water diversion proposal. In 2006, Wang Schucheng, the then Minister for Water Resources, described the proposal as unnecessary, unfeasible, and unscientific. But Wang Guangqian, an expert on the subject who enjoys great influence over the present Chinese power set-up, threw his weight behind the idea of Brahmaputra water diversion. In such a milieu, India has also stepped up its efforts to make use of the river’s flow. Already New Delhi has sanctioned an 800-megawatt hydro-electric project on the Brahmaputra. A technical expert group (TEG) constituted by the Indian government has suggested the construction of hydro power projects on the rivers Lohit and Subansiri, both tributaries of the Brahmaputra, at sites close to India’s border with China. India has also decided to speed up studies on the basins of the rivers Subansiri, Lohit, and Siang for their strategic utilization.
Bangladesh will face serious problems if China and India start actively competing over the Brahmaputra. Bangladesh receives around 1,106 cubic kilometers of water per year from external sources, out of which around 600 cubic kilometers of water come from the Brahmaputra. Bangladesh’s own internal generation is only 105 cubic kilometers, which means the country’s dependence on external water supplies is around 91 percent.
Thus, the need of the hour is a multilateral approach for solving this growing controversy over the Brahmaputra – before it starts to do real harm to Sino-Indian relations.
Amitava Mukherjee is a contributor.
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sentinel
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Post by sentinel on May 17, 2014 7:33:04 GMT 10
(From an article I read back in February 19, 2013 - there are some developments now that could speed up and with the end result being conflict between countries in a number of locations now).
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Water Wars – Nine Thirsty Regions where H20 Conflict is Threatening
Source: TH
“I’d kill for a drink of water,” could be a military call-to-arms soon, as the planet’s most essential commodity is swallowed, evaporated, polluted, and utilized at unsustainable levels.
Earth contains a finite, unchanging amount of H2O. Usage has escalated dangerously, due to human population explosion (1.65 billion – 9 billion from 1900-2025) and the myriad cubic-acres of water demanded in mining, industry, agriculture, and recreation. One ton of wheat requires one thousand tons of water; watering the world’s golf courses requires 2.5 billion gallons per day, and 650 gallons only gets you either a pound of rice or one cotton shirt.)
Global warming also dwindles our freshwater: glaciers are vanishing, lakes, rivers, and aquifers are shriveling. Lake Chad has 95% of volume in the last 50 years. Lake Meade (water source for Las Vegas) could be dry n a decade. The Yellow River in China often fails to reach the ocean.
The Population Institute warns that the demand for fresh water already exceeds the supply by 17%. By 2030, 47% of the world’s population will be living in areas of high water stress, claims the OECD.
Will armies battle each other, as the cry for “blue gold” gets furious? Will “water wars” be as prevalent as conflict for the “black gold” of oil? Two documentary films have wetted public interest - Blue Gold: World Water Wars, and Last Call at the Oasis, and a dystopia novel - The Water Wars - warns of its imminence.
In actuality, history’s pages are already splashed with dozens of conflicts. In 2,450 B.C. the Sumerian cities of Lagash and Umma warred over Tigris-Euphrates water. More recently, Senegal and Mauritaniabattled in 1989 over grazing rights in the Senegal River Valley – hundreds were killed, 250,000 fled their homes. The Pacific Institute provides an excellent map and timeline of 225 water skirmishes.
In the future, here’s nine danger zones:
North Yemen vs. South Yemen - Hydrologists predict that the capital – Sana’a – of this impoverished area could run out of water by 2025, as private wells and aquifers dry up. (Primary usage? 40% of wateris used by farmers of khat, an addictive stimulant plant that’s the drug-of-choice for Somalia pirates, plus it’s suspected that it’s marketing is partly controlled by al-Qaeda.) The unstable region contains many armed operatives, several linked to al-Qaeda, who could mobilize to gain control of the dwindling water supply.
Egypt vs. Ethiopia - The Nile River is the life-blood of Egypt, with the vast majority of its 83 million population residing near its banks. But who does the water belong to? The Nile originates 4,000+ miles away, and travels through nine nations before it becomes “Egyptian.” Sources suggest that two ex-presidents, Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, both threatened to blow up dam projects in Ethiopia. Tensions were renewed in 2011 when Ethiopia declared its intention to build the `Great Millennium Dam` - one of the biggest in Africa. An Al Jazeera report speculates that today’s unpopular Egyptian military might seek to distract its disgruntled citizenry by engaging in a conflict with the upstream competitor.
India vs. China - China has already constructed 10 dams on the 2,900 kilometer long Brahmaputra River, and another 18 are in progress. Repercussions in lower riparian NorthEast India and Bangladesh could be catastrophic. China is probably intent on damming 8-10 great rivers that flow from the Tibetan plateau, the world’s largest water tank. China seeks to nourish its drought-stricken central and eastern provinces; it’s expecting 25% water shortage by 2030. “Over 6,000 lakes in China are now dry. The Yellow River basin in the north is 30 per cent dead,” Sandeep Waslekar, president of Mumbai-based Strategic Foresight Group,told India Today.
Burkina Faso vs. Ghana - The Volta River flows from Burkina Faso (formerly named Upper Volta) to Ghana, with the two nations squabbling over how to share it. Ghana depends on the river to generate its huge hydroelectric Akosombo Dam that accounts for 80% of the nation’s electricity; this power is crucial in expanding the nation’s industry. Burkina Faso is damming upriver, to acquire irrigation water to combat the Sahel’s desertification. The region’s inhabitants suffer abysmal poverty, with 31% living on less than $1 per day. Exacerbating the problem is an estimate that the Volta Basin population will increase 80% in the next 25 years, while rainfall declines due to climate change that is making the region hotter and drier.
Thailand vs. Laos vs. Vietnam vs. Cambodia vs. China - Downriver Southeast Asian nations are irritated by their huge northern neighbor, due to eight massive Chinese dams built, or under construction, on the Upper Mekong. The SE Asian nations are also suspicious of each other, for the same reason. Voice of America reports that “41 large dams could be put on the Mekong and its tributaries by 2015, and 71 by 2030, with Laos following a development model similar to China.” Hydrodams are viewed in the region as key energy sources to power economic growth. There’s also mounting concern in the region about potential environmental damage to agriculture and fisheries.
India vs. Pakistan - Water from Kashmir is a major dispute in the decades-long animosity between the two largest subcontinental. The Indus Water Treaty (1960) divided six rivers - the Indus, the Jhelum and Chenab were given to Pakistan, while the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi were declared Indian. Semi-arid, drought-stricken, water-stressed Pakistan presently claims that India is illegally diverting river water to itself, via an upstream dam. 92% of Pakistan is is dependent on the Indus River system, and more than half the population is employed in agriculture.
Turkey vs. Syria vs. Iraq vs. Iran - The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are still being argued over, 4,500 years after Sumer. Dams and irrigation in Turkey, Syria, and Iran aretroubling downstream Iraq, which is threatened by desertification. Iraq utilized the rivers to build its Fertile Crescent “cradle of civilization” but Syria and Turkey have emerged as dominating rivals for Iraq’s historical claim. Evaporation, sewage, and pesticide pollution have further water-stressed Iraq. Iraq and Syria nearly battled in 1975 when Syria filled Lake Assad behind its impressive Ath Thawrah Dam, reducing Euphrates flow, but today, Turkey is undoubtedly the most feared and vilified, because 98% of the Euphrates originates there. Turkey reportedly uncovered a Syrian plot to blow up the massive, mile-long Ataturk Dam, after it was completed in 1992.
Central Asia, i.e., Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Conflicts in this dry region over water use from the Syr Daria and Amu Daria rivers have escalated since their freedom following glasnost in 1991. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan want more water for their water-gluttonous crops of cotton, wheat and rice, while upstream, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan seek to extract hydropower. Rising populations in the region also demand more farmland. A report by the International Crises Group indicates that “the countries are now consuming 1.5 times what they should.” A sixth “stan” – Afghanistan, downstream on the Amu Daria – is is also demanding a fair water share.
Israel vs. Palestine - The Mountain Aquifer, which lies under both Israel and the West Bank, is the only water resource for the Palestinians, but is controlled by Israel, for “security reasons.” Observers note thatIsrael grants only 20% of the water to the West Bank, utilizing the remainder for their own purposes. Israeli monopolization of the aquifer would be jeopardized, of course, if Palestine was ever fully autonomous. Not unrelated, Ariel Sharon has said has said that the 1967 conflict with Syria, whereby the Golan Heights was obtained, wasn’t entirely about “security.” What was the real cause? 15% of Israel’s water now flows from the Golan.
Are parched throats, saber-rattling, and dead bodies inevitable in a water-desperate future? Diplomacy is obviously needed to avert the conflicts. Emerging technology can also be of great assistance – it can help quench humanity’s need for more H20 with innovations in filtration, irrigation, desalinization, and recycling.
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Post by You Must Enter A Name on May 21, 2014 12:52:43 GMT 10
Great read, thanks for finding it and posting it up. Pretty scary really as right here right now in Australia we are already feeling the effects of long term drought on both our water supply and food supply.
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sentinel
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Post by sentinel on May 31, 2014 7:57:50 GMT 10
english.al-akhbar.com/content/new-turkish-aggression-against-syria-ankara-suspends-pumping-euphrates’-water?utm_source=feedburner
A new Turkish aggression against Syria: Ankara suspends pumping Euphrates’ water
Updated May 30 8:20pm
Top: "The decrease in water levels" Bottom: "Tishrin Dam" (Photo: Al-Akhbar)
By: Suhaib Anjarini
Published Friday, May 30, 2014
The Turkish government recently cut off the flow of the Euphrates River, threatening primarily Syria but also Iraq with a major water crisis. Al-Akhbar found out that the water level in Lake Assad has dropped by about six meters, leaving millions of Syrians without drinking water.
Two weeks ago, the Turkish government once again intervened in the Syrian crisis. This time was different from anything it had attempted before and the repercussions of which may bring unprecedented catastrophes onto both Iraq and Syria.
Violating international norms, the Turkish government recently cut off the water supply of the Euphrates River completely. In fact, Ankara began to gradually reduce pumping Euphrates water about a month and half ago, then cut if off completely two weeks ago, according to information received by Al-Akhbar.
A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that water levels in the Lake Assad (a man-made water reservoir on the Euphrates) recently dropped by six meters from its normal levels (which means losing millions of cubic meters of water). The source warned that “a further drop of one additional meter would put the dam out of service.”
“We should cut off or reduce the water output of the dam, until the original problem regarding the blockage of the water supply is fixed,” the source explained.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) controlling the region the dam is located in did not suspend the water output. Employees of the General Institution of the Euphrates Dam are running the lake under the supervision of al-Qaeda linked ISIS, but they don’t have the authority to take serious decisions, such as reducing the water output. In addition, such a step is a mere attempt to ease the situation, and it will lose its efficacy if the water supply isn’t restored to the dam by Turkey.
The tragic repercussions of the new Turkish assault began to reveal themselves when water levels dropped in al-Khafsa in Aleppo’s eastern countryside (where a water pumping station from Lake Assad is located to pump water through water channels to Aleppo and its countryside).
The reservoirs are expected to run out of water completely by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.Meanwhile, water supplies in auxiliary reservoirs in al-Khafsa are close to being depleted and the reservoirs are expected to run out of water completely by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. This threatens to leave seven million Syrians without access to water. Also, Tishrin Dam stopped receiving any water which blocked its electricity generating turbines, decreasing the power supply in Aleppo and its countryside, further intensifying the already severe imbalance in the power supply.
In Raqqa, the northern side of Lake Assad is today completely out of service. Two million Syrians living in the region covering the villages of Little Swaydiya to the east until al-Jarniya to the west could lose their drinking water supply. “Losing water supplies in the dam means that the silt in the lake will dry off which would pressure its structure, subjecting it to fissures and eventually total collapse,” Al-Akhbar sources warned, adding “it is crucial to shut down the dam to stop its collapse.”
However, shutting down the dam (if ISIS agrees) will only lead to a human and ecological (zoological and agricultural) catastrophe in Syria and in Iraq.
According to information obtained by Al-Akhbar, Aleppo locals (who had already launched many initiatives to reach solutions for a number of local issues) began a race against time to recommend solutions for the problem, including putting the thermal plant at al-Safira back to work, which may convince ISIS to spare the Euphrates Dam turbines, and in turn preserve current water levels in the lake.
In case it succeeds, such a step would only rescue whatever water and structures are left, and would ward off further repercussions of the crisis that has already started. A halt to the water supply is now inevitable and can’t be resolved unless the Turkish government takes the decision to resume pumping Euphrates water.
In any case, it is worth mentioning that the water in the lake would take about a month, after resuming pumping, to return to its normal levels.
Top: "The decrease in water levels" Bottom: "Euphrates Dam" (Photo: Al-Akhbar)Top: "The decrease in water levels" Bottom: "Euphrates Dam" (Photo: Al-Akhbar)
A historical conflict
The Euphrates River has historically been at the center of a conflict between Turkey on the one hand and both Syria and Iraq on the other. Ankara insists on considering the Euphrates a “trans-boundary river” and not an “international river,” hence it is “not subject to international laws.” Also, Turkey is one of the only three countries in the world (along with China and Burundi) that opposed the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1997.
In 1987, a temporary agreement between Syria and Turkey was signed to share the water supplies of the Euphrates during the period when the basin of the Ataturk Dam was being filled. In virtue of the agreement, Turkey pledged to provide an annual level of over 500 cubic meters of water a second on the Turkish-Syrian borders, until reaching a final agreement about sharing the water supplies of the river between the three countries. In 1994, Syria registered the agreement at the United Nations to guarantee the minimum amount of Iraq and Syria’s right to the water from the Euphrates River.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
link: english.al-akhbar.com/content/new-turkish-aggression-against-syria-ankara-suspends-pumping-euphrates’-water?utm_source=feedburner
english.al-akhbar.com/content/new-turkish-aggression-against-syria-ankara-suspends-pumping-euphrates’-water?utm_source=feedburner
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overlord
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Post by overlord on Jun 2, 2014 12:56:20 GMT 10
India and China are definitely going into a Water War.
China is going into a war with the ASEAN countries for Oil and Ocean Resources.
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myrrph
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trying to figure out how to change my nick :P
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Post by myrrph on Jun 3, 2014 16:12:00 GMT 10
M'sia has always used water as threat to us in S'pore.
Water is definitely becoming the next resource we will fight for.
Ways of making water safe to drink is important, thats why I researched so much into water purification methods when SHTF.
Next I will prolly look into is desalination processes.
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overlord
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Post by overlord on Jun 4, 2014 12:16:23 GMT 10
Yep, I read about that between Malaysia and Singapore.
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sentinel
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Post by sentinel on Jun 8, 2014 9:32:13 GMT 10
Water War? Turkey Cuts Water Supply to Syria. Euphrates Shut Down
By Michael Collins
Global Research, June 07, 2014
Oped News
Region: Middle East & North Africa
Theme: Environment, US NATO War Agenda
In-depth Report: SYRIA: NATO'S NEXT WAR?
From the Nile to the Euphrates; The 'Victims of a Map'
Western hostilities toward Syria reached a new level of viciousness. Al-Akahbar English reports:
“The Turkish government recently cut off the flow of the Euphrates River, threatening primarily Syria but also Iraq with a major water crisis. Al-Akahbar found out that the water level in Lake Assad has dropped by about six meters, leaving millions of Syrians without drinking water.” Suhaib Anjarini, Al Akahbar, May 30
The water cutoff by the Turkish government caused Lake Assad to drop six feet threatening two million people in and around Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city. The Euphrates originates in Turkey and also provides a critical water source for Iraq.
Turkey, a NATO member, is strongly opposed to the current government of Syria. The Turkish border to Syria is a major supply route for weapons and foreign fighters against the Syrian government.
Along with China and Brunei, Turkey refused to sign the United Nation’s agreement on International Watercourses. The agreement calls for the “equitable and reasonable” sharing of rivers, wither they originate or flow into a nation. In addition, the agreement states that nations shall “take all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm.”
Syria and Iraq have claimed Turkish manipulation of the Euphrates as far back as 1975. Syria and Iraq argue that years of drought conditions are the result of Turkish water policy. The outright cutoff of the Euphrates by the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan represents a Turkish act of aggression against both Syria and Iraq.
The Turkish propaganda machine is gearing up to blame the water crisis on ISIS, an Al Qaeda affiliated Syrian rebel group.( Suhaib Anjarini, Al Akahbar, May 30)
Watch closely how the U.S. State Department handles this crisis. If we’re told that Syrian rebels are to blame, that’s a red light that NATO is creating a false flag to justify the Holy Grail of NATO military action against the Syrian government. Hopefully, the U.S. and other nations call this what it is — a human rights abuse of epic proportions committed by an unstable autocrat, Turkish PM Erdogan, at the head of a major NATO nation.
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sentinel
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Post by sentinel on Jul 7, 2014 18:41:09 GMT 10
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sentinel
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Post by sentinel on Jul 9, 2014 9:40:28 GMT 10
(This does mention SOME of the countries that are using water and control of water as weaponry).
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IFG BOARD NEWS: Botswana Using Water as “Weapon of War Against Basarwa”
Posted on June 11, 2014 by IFG
by Khonani Ontebetse
Sunday Standard 08-06-2014
Botswana has drawn the attention of international human rights organizations and the United Nations, after it was recently classified, together with other war torn states in Africa and the Middle East, as one of the few countries that use water as a weapon of war.
Former United Nations (UN) advisor on water, Maude Barlow, recently condemned the Government of Botswana for failing to protect Basarwa living in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) against international companies that are practicing fracking in their ancestral land.
Barlow was commenting on reports that the UN is trying to help resolve the controversy surrounding the use of water as a weapon of war in ongoing conflicts. Botswana was the only country in Southern Africa cited among countries that use water as a weapon in ongoing conflicts. Other countries were in the Middle East and Africa, including Iraq, Egypt, and Israel, where water supplies to occupied territories have been shut off.
Barlow said water is being increasingly and deliberately used a weapon of war in recent and ongoing conflicts. She also raised alarm about on-going large scale fracking in Botswana.
“While it has been a victory for Basarwa to win their court case, I fear they face a new threat, the threat of shale gas fracking. Large scale ?fracking exploration is now taking place in the Kalahari and it puts the precious water supplies there in grave danger. Once again, the indigenous dwellers of the desert pay the price for modern consumerism,” said Barlow in response to a questionnaire from Sunday Standard.
Barlow said a number of years ago, the Festus Mogae led administration tried to displace Basarwa from their traditional homeland, but when many insisted on coming back to the desert, government smashed their water borehole in an effort to force them back to the settlements.
“They took the government to court but only won the right to have their water returned after the United Nations formally recognized the human right to water and Basarwa successfully used this process to regain access to water,” she said.
According to Barlow, water should never have been used as a weapon against Basarwa in the first place.
“Many around the world were shocked and demanded that this should never happen again. Water is now a fundamental human right and to use it as a weapon is a violation of that right,” she said.
Asked if the use of water as a weapon of war in ongoing conflicts was effective, Barlow said it was. She gave an example of the Syrian government, which used water as a weapon against rebels and weakened them by cutting off their water supply.
However, Barlow warned that using water in this way is abhorrent and usually backfires against the perpetrator.
“People see the terrible toll lack of water takes on the young, the old and the sick. This action crosses a boundary most of humanity will not dare to cross,” she said.
While she admitted that there is no international agency that can force a government to stop abusing human rights, Barlow said there is a Special Rapporteur on the human right to water and sanitation who is able to collect evidence and publicly call on governments to stop these kinds of abuses.
“All governments are now bound by recognition of the human right to water, and if they ignore this right they will be exposed as abusive,” said Barlow, who is currently National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch.
She also revealed that Survival International, which has stood by Basarwa throughout their ordeal, together other organizations like the Blue Planet Project and Food and Water Watch, are watching the situation closely.
“We stand in solidarity with Basarwa and their human right to live in their ancestral lands. They also have a right to water for life – just like all of us around the world,” said Barlow.
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overlord
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Post by overlord on Jul 9, 2014 20:10:21 GMT 10
Basically, resources, resources, resources. The time immemorial cause of wars.
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krull68
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Post by krull68 on Sept 27, 2014 11:05:34 GMT 10
Looking at this, if you go off grid, and have your own water storage, HIDE IT!!!
The next thing, govt will turn up at your door, give you a water stock take, and either charge you for how much you can hold, or worst case, take as much as they feel you don't really need.
another govt control method, is to tag as terror suspect because of the "hoarding" of stocks, because if you do this, you obviously mean no good to the country.
Reference for this is the Bible book of Revelations, specifically to do with the number of the beast and also not being allowed to buy or sell without the mark of the beast.
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Post by Joey on Sept 27, 2014 20:28:12 GMT 10
If we want to have a few million litres of water in Aus, we can ban the making of softdrinks in Aus. This would be 2 fold as it would also cut down the huge amount of sugar that is consumed every day in softdrinks alone. I've read that on average Aussies drink 100L of soft drink per year, at about 29% of the population drinking softdrink, That's 23.13M people as of today, 29% of that is 6707700 People x 100L each That's a whopping..... 670770000 Litres of waterWith a average sugar content of 108g/L That's 670770000000g / 108g = 6210833.33333Kg of sugar P/ANo wonder our diabetes and obesity rates are so damn high. Like I'm overweight, but I don't drink anything except water for the last 8mths and havn't touched coke since Dec31 2002 and havn't touched alcohol since 3 May 2003 And am eating healthy now to help lose weight, which I did last year dropping 15kg in 3mths purely through running everyday (at height I was doing 10km/day) and eating small portions and about 1000Cal per day, unfortunately I buggered by hip flexor and had to stop running for 2 mths and as you know once you stop it's very hard to get going again and my work schedule now limits my avail time to even do a couple laps of the block, leaving for work at 5am and no getting home till 7pm then getting next days lunch ready and into bed as early as possible so I'm not fatigued at work the next day, but am doing my best to fit block walks in on my days off so helping. The effects of soft drink on the body... www.backtofront.com.au/index.php?page=soft-drinks-are-not-so-softAnyway ramble over, as you can see from my crude calculations, if it comes down to it, the government needs to step in and ban soft drinks all together for the benefit of health and the amount of water usage |
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krull68
VIP Member
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Post by krull68 on Sept 28, 2014 7:33:15 GMT 10
As if the govt is not already taking too many liberties, and turning more and more into a nanny state, you want to give the idiots MORE power. No thanks, let the fatties be, it slows them down, and besides, this makes it less likely that they can make it out to my BIL, they will die before they hit the range.
We have to let everyone have their free choices, if they choose wisely, they live, if they choose foolishly, they perish.
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SM+?
Senior Member
This old dragon will see you all when all this is over and done.
Posts: 339 
Likes: 274
Location: Darwin Area, Northern Territory
Email: becci_75@hotmail.com
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Post by SM+? on Sept 29, 2014 12:34:27 GMT 10
Even though up here in the NT we haven't had water restrictions since cyclone Tracey, I have made it a point to make sure my boys know how to find clean drinking water and if they find it to make themselves. I've also gotten items I can use to make filters and set up some small kits for the boys to carry in their bags, as I see it just because we don't restrictions now it don't mean it won't happen in the future.
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