Possible Solutions to the
World’s Water Crisis
What won’t work…
Dams
Diversions
Desalination
Dams…
“If you dam a river, it stagnates. Running
water is beautiful. So be a channel.”
– English Proverb
ThinkQuote.com
Dams…
Some background information
 In 2000, worldwide, there
were…
 47, 455 ‘large’ dams
 800,000 total dams
 Nearly half of the world’s
dams are found in China;
three-quarters in China, US,
India, and Japan
 Are used for (in order of most
to least common):
 Irrigation
 Multipurpose
 Water supply
 Hydropower
 Flood control
 ‘other’
The Little Green Handbook
Regional application of dams (per cent)
Africa
N.A.
S.A.
Asia
Australasia
Europe
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Irrigation
Multipurpose
Water supply
Hydropower
Flood control
The Little Green Handbook, p69
Dams…
Why are they a bad solution?
 Dams significantly contribute
to the emission of
greenhouse gases
 Are responsible for the
extinction of many species of
fish and marine life
 They stop major rivers from
reaching the sea
 Large areas of land flood,
creating reservoirs
Blue Covenant, Encyclopedia of Earth
Dams…
Social/political impacts
 They displace massive numbers of
people
 Take up land that could be used for
agriculture
 Destroy natural forests and
landmarks
 Cause serious political rifts:
 China and Russia are fighting over
multiple water sources
 Turkey plans to establish 22 dams
and 19 hydropower plants on the
Euphrates River
The Little Green Handbook, Universe Today
Diversions…
Diversions…
Some background information
 Used to divert water from a
main water source, such as a
lake or river, towards a more
accessible location
 Originally, canals were the
only method. Currently, the
preferred method is
underground pipes
 There is a massive network
of pipes circling the world
 Expensive
 No formal coordination
 Ecologically damaging
 Have to be built in permafrost in colder regions
The Little Green Handbook
Diversions…
Why are they a bad solution?
 Many consequences are
similar to those of dams
 Draining of watersheds lead
to water shortages in the
short-term and complete
water depletion in the longterm
 Currently causing political
 China has plans to divert 450
million cubic meters of water
every year from the Irtysh River
for irrigation purposes
 Russia and China are also
fighting over Russia’s lake
Baikal
 Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria,
and West bank are all fighting
over the Jordan River.
rifts between countries
around the world:
Blue Covenant
Desalination…
“Desalination of the sea is not the answer
to our water problems. It is survival
technology, a life support system, an
admission of the extent of our failure.”
– John Archer, author of ‘Twenty-Thirst Century’
Blue Covenant
Desalination…
How desalination works
Reverse osmosis
 Using semi-permeable
membranes and pressure to
separate the water from the
salt
Aerogel cells
 One cell can produces
3,
785 liters of desalinated
water a day
 Each cell originally cost
$75,000, but may decrease
to $2,000
Little Green Handbook, Uri Lachish, Mouli Cohen
Desalination…
Some background information
 Desalination plants are small
and highly-localized
 Only essential to the Middle
East and the Caribbean
 ¼ of these plants are in
Saudi Arabia
 According to the Pacific
Institute, “Desalination plants
have the capacity to provide
for only three onethousandths of total world
freshwater use.”
 Becoming popular with
politicians in Singapore,
Australia, and America
The Little Green Handbook, Blue Covenant
Desalination…
Why is it a bad solution?
 Highly energy-intensive
 Radically increases
greenhouse gas emissions
 A disastrous cycle of
contamination: they create
brine mixed with chemicals
and heavy metals, which are
released back into local
water, liter for liter
 Kill small aquatic animals,
which don’t leave the water
 Smell terrible and ruin the
waterfront view
 Worldwide, desalination
plants produce 20 billion
liters of waste every year
The Little Green Handbook, Blue Covenant, Mark O’Brien
Taking ancient water…
Lake Baikal
 Lake Baikal is the largest
source of fresh water in the
world
 Larger than all the great
lakes put together
 25 million years old
 Species we’ve never seen
before
 Scientists from Russia and
China are testing the water
quality to see if it can be
used safely.
Blue Covenant, Lake Baikal Homepage, TreeHugger
Taking ancient water…
Ogallala Aquifer
 Extends from western Texas
to South Dakota
 450 000 sq km
 Recharge comes from rain
water and snowmelt
 If the states continue to take
water from the aquifer, it will
be completely depleted in a
few decades
Blue Covenant, Mike Adams, waterencyclopedia.com
Taking ancient water…
Renewable water
resources
Non-renewable water
resources
‘Circulation time’ or ‘recharge
time’ = the amount of time it
takes for any body of water to
be replenished naturally
 Groundwater reservoirs:
 Rivers: 16 days
 Lakes: 17 years
1500 years
 Glaciers and permanent
snow cover
 Groundwater aquifers are
static, and once emptied,
remain empty indefinitely
The Little Green Handbook
What will work…
Virtual water…
 The water we use isn’t always visible
 Virtual water
 “Water that is used in the production of crops or
manufactured goods that are later exported.”
 Everything we own has a virtual water cost
 Many water-poor countries trade in virtual water
 Vietnam  coffee
 Africa  out of season fruits and veggies
 Brazil  Biofuel
Blue Covenant
Millions of liters per capita per year
Average Water Footprint
3
2.8
2.5
2.3
2
2
1.5
1.4
1.4
1.3
1.1
1
0.6
0.5
0
Global
America
Canada
Brazil
Germany
Pakistan
India
Yemen
Major World Powers
waterfootprint.org
Countries over 2 million liters per
capita per year
Old Core
Near-Core/Far Periphery
 Canada
 Malaysia
 America
 Thailand
 Cyprus
 Sudan
 Greece
 Papua New Guinea
 Italy
 Guyana
 Spain
waterfootprint.org
Globally…
 Water for Life “Best
Practices” awards:
 Best water management
practices
 Best participatory,
communication, awarenessraising, and education
practices
 Promote efforts to fulfill
international commitments
made on water and waterrelated issues by 2015”
 Geographical distribution of
applications:
 Africa: 15%
 Asia: 22%
 Europe: 24%
 L.A. & Caribbean: 35%
 North America: 4%
waterforlifedecade.org, unesco.org
Nationally…
According to Phil Dickie, there are 7 key challenges we
have to face in order to improve our water conservation:
1. Properly value water
 Conserve natural watersheds for people and nature
 Establish organizations to manage river basins
2. Agree on the balance
 Leave enough time for natural recharge
3. Change attitudes to water
 Give rivers room, instead of trying to control them
Phil Dickie, “Rich Countries, Poor Water”
4. Modify or repair aging/inappropriate infrastructure
 Reduces waste, contamination and disruption of natural
processes
5. Bring agriculture into line
 Agricultural chemicals are the most common
contaminates of water
6. Reduce the contamination of water
 We only test for some of the current contaminates
7. Build up our knowledge
 Improved understanding of natural water systems
Phil Dickie, “Rich Countries, Poor Water”
Provincially…
Ontario Water Conservation Alliance
 “[The OWCA] is a coalition of citizens, organizations
and businesses who believe an environmentally
sustainable and economically secure province requires
a comprehensive water conservation and efficiency
strategy”
 Want to change our traditional supply-oriented view on
water, and maintain accountability
 Come up with new and innovative ways to protect,
conserve, treat, and re-use water
conserveourwater.ca
Provincially…
Water Opportunities Act
 Make Ontario the N.A. leader in the development and
sale of water conservation and treatment technologies
 Encourage sustainable infrastructure and conservation
planning using made-in-Ontario
 Encourage all Ontarians to use water more wisely
ene.gov.on.ca/environment/en/legislation/water_opportunities
Individually…
“Everyone thinks of changing the world,
but no one thinks of changing himself.
– Leo Tolstoy
ThinkQuote.com
How much water have you used today?
 Did you have a coffee?
140 L
 How about a glass of milk?
201 L
 Last time you had a burger?
2, 400 L
(quarter-pounder = 30 American showers)
 New t-shirt?
2, 900 L
 Steaks for two?
7, 030 L
(the whole cow is around 150 000 L)
 Bought a pair of jeans recently?
10, 978 L
waterfootprint.org
How to save water around the
house…
 Don’t wash dishes by hand
 Try vegan for a day
 Have tea instead of coffee
 Fix leaks around the house
 Don’t buy new clothes unless you need them
 And STOP drinking bottled water!
waterfootprint.org
Want more information?
 Whether you’re a global warming skeptic, or the leader
of the green movement at your school or place of work,
I challenge you to learn more about the water crisis, or
the environment as a whole.
 During the course of my research, I’ve found a lot of
sources that were very reliable and shocking to read.
I’ll share a few with you, and I hope you’ll look for more
on your own.
Extra Resources
Books and websites
 Running Out of Water
– Peter Rogers, Susan Leal,
and Edward J. Markey (2010)
 Blue Covenant
– Maude Barlow (2009)
 The Little Green Handbook
– Ron Neilson D.Sc. (2006)
 An Inconvenient Truth
– Al Gore (2006)
My personal favourite: Nielson, a
nuclear physicist, makes every effort
to remain unbiased and give the most
accurate information available on the
seven main issues our environment
faces today.
Extra Resources
Reading not your thing?
Here are some fantastic
documentaries that really depict the
world’s water crisis:
 An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
 Flow: For Love of Water (2008)
 Blue Gold: World Water Wars
(2008)
 Tapped (2009) (on the plastic
bottle industry)
Flow: How did a handful of
corporations steal our water?