New Treaty Aims to Protect Shared Transboundary Aquifers
PARIS, France, October 23, 2008 (ENS) - Underground aquifers contain 100 times the volume of fresh water found on the Earth’s surface but they have been neglected under international law despite their environmental, social, economic and strategic importance.
On Monday, that will change as the UN General Assembly receives the draft of a new international treaty to safeguard these enormous pools of underground water shared by more than one country.
The draft Convention on Transboundary Aquifers applies to 96 percent of the planet’s freshwater resources - those that are to be found in underground aquifers, most of which straddle national boundaries.
Many shared aquifers are under environmental threats caused by climate change, growing population pressure, over-exploitation, and human induced water pollution.
Blue Eye Spring in southern Albania is fed by the Vjosa / Pogoni Aquifer shared by Albania and Greece.
The draft treaty requires that aquifer states not harm existing aquifers and cooperate to prevent and control their pollution. Prepared over the past six years by the UN International Law Commission with the assistance of experts from UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme, the treaty is intended to fill a gap in the law.
To accompany the draft treaty, UNESCO is publishing the first-ever world map of shared aquifers. It shows the aquifer locations and provides information about the quality of their water and rate of replenishment by rainfall.
So far, the inventory includes 273 shared aquifers - 68 are in the Americas, 38 in Africa, 65 in eastern Europe, 90 in western Europe and 12 in Asia.
The growth in the demand for water since 1950 has been met by the increased use of underground resources. Globally, 65 percent of this water is devoted to irrigation, 25 percent to the supply of drinking water and 10 percent to industry.
Underground aquifers account for more than 70 percent of the water used in the European Union, and are often the only source of supply in arid and semi-arid zones.
Aquifers supply 100 percent of the water used in Saudi Arabia and Malta, 95 percent in Tunisia and 75 percent in Morocco.
Irrigation systems in many countries depend very largely on groundwater resources - 90 percent in the Libya, 89 percent in India, 84 percent in South Africa and 80 percent in Spain.
One of the largest aquifers in the world is the Guarani Aquifer, extending over 1.2 million square kilometers, shared by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Although aquifer systems exist in all continents, not all of them are fed on a regular basis by rainfall. Those in north Africa and the Arabian peninsula were formed more than 10,000 years ago when the climate was more humid and are no longer replenished.
This well in Africa’s Sahara desert taps into an underground aquifer. (Photo by J.R. Virtue)
In some regions, even if the aquifers are renewable, they may be endangered by over-exploitation or pollution. In the small islands and coastal zones of the Mediterranean, people often use groundwater more rapidly than it is replenished.
The aquifers in Africa, which are some of the biggest in the world, are still under-exploited, the UN agency says, adding, “They have considerable potential, provided that their resources are managed on a sustainable basis.”
Since they generally extend across several national boundaries, the sustainable use of African aquifers depends on agreed management mechanisms that will help prevent pollution or over-exploitation.
Mechanisms of this kind have begun to emerge. In the 1990s Chad, Egypt, Libya and Sudan established a joint authority to manage the Nubian aquifer system.
In their project concerning the Iullemeden aquifer that extends over 500 000 square kilometers in the semi-arid tropical savanna ecoregion of West Africa, Niger, Nigeria and Mali have approved in principle a consultative mechanism for administering the aquifer system. UNESCO says such mechanisms still are rare but the new treaty may encourage their formation.
FROM:
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2008/2008-10-23-01.asp
Is this the beginning of water wars?
18:00 11 April 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Catherine Brahic
Advertisement
As Barcelona runs out of water, Spain has been forced to consider importing water from France by boat. It is the latest example of the growing struggle for water around the world – the “water wars”.
Barcelona and the surrounding region are suffering the worst drought in decades. There are several possible solutions, including diverting a river, and desalinating water. But the city looks like it will ship water from the French port of Marseilles.
The water services authority in Marseille say that no contracts have been signed, and would not say how much the water would cost, although it is unlikely to cost any more than it costs the inhabitants of Marseilles. And the amounts of water than have been discussed are small – 25,000 cubic metres, less than what’s needed to grow an acre of wheat, and not enough to keep 30 Spaniards going for a year, based on their average consumption.
But the proposal is interesting because it turns a local drought into an international situation.
Water conflict
Climatologists predict that certain regions, the Mediterranean basin among them, will increasingly suffer from water shortages as global temperatures are pushed up by greenhouse gas emissions.
Combined with reports that water scarcity can escalate conflicts, the forecasts have raised fears that climate change could bring about water wars.
“People will not go to war over water,” says Mark Zeitoun, from the London School of Economics’ Centre for Environmental Policy and Governance in the UK. “But that’s not to say water shortages will not contributing to existing tensions.”
This is already happening. Zeitoun advises the Palestinian authorities in their water negotiations with Israel. The latter controls 90% of the two territories’ shared water resources. “The fact that the Palestinians are deprived of their water doesn’t help the situation,” Zeitoun says.
Like Spain, the Palestinian authorities are considering their options, and like Spain one of them is to import water – in this case from Turkey, a country which is already involved in its own water disputes with Syria and Iraq.
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers start in Turkey and supply Syria and Iraq. The Turkish government is building dams on those rivers, reducing the flow downstream and stoking long-standing tensions with its neighbours. “Iraq desperately needs that water,” says Zeitoun.
Water for arms
Turkey already exports water to Cyprus and in 2004 signed a “water for arms” deal with none other than Israel, an agreement which sees Turkey deliver converted oil tankers full of water to Israel in exchange for tanks and air force technology.
Israel’s situation is typical of a state that is severely mismanaging its water resources, says Zeitoun. Climate change models predict that while water will become scarcer in some regions, it will be more abundant elsewhere, suggesting efficient water management is key.
“If Spain is drawing a lot of water to grow oranges for the UK, the city of Barcelona doesn’t benefit. The only people profiting are a few large farmers,” he says.
So while the water wars may not spark conflict between states, Zeitoun’s colleague Elena Lopez-Gunn says we could well see water riots. “Whether the political systems can cope with that, we don’t know,” she says.
FROM:
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn13655-is-this-the-beginning-of-water-wars.html
Cooked a seafood paella with chorizo - probably not kosher but hey, whaddya gonna do. Red onions, garlic, chili, green capsicum, basmati rice, bottle of dry white wine, litre of chicken stock, green beans, peas, sliced chorizo (cooked first in the pan - the juices with some e.v.o. acting as a cooking base) raw tiger prawns, strips of filleted rockling, salt, pepper, chili flakes (mmm… chili), saffron, spring onions, tomatoes, and parsley. I think that was everything. Could have added some beans but it was already a mighty carb festival in its own right.
Shaved. Did some writing of Fox 4. Bit of reading of a thriller serial novel that I’m contributing to. Bit of thinking and note making about future projects. Teaching, study, answering emails. Nice chat with my publisher about Fox 5 and the novel after that (may or may not be a Fox novel).
Launching BLOOD OIL at Scotch College tomorrow, should be good - and supposedly getting new tyres on the thirsty Merc… better coordinate those two activities actually. Damn. Charity event Saturday night. Awarding some short story winners and place getters down at Phillip Island on Sunday, with my friend Christine Darcas, catch up with mum wile I’m down there. Heading to NSW next week, bit of a rural trip, should be some good drivin’ involved. Then home to more of the same.
Oh, DVD’s worth watching: THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE - I’m a big fan of Benicio and here he reminded me of James Dean in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. Also, THE PAINTED VEIL was a nice surprise - seemed ho-hum and predictable but progressed and came together to end in a pretty good little film.
Well, been a while since I’ve done any sort of diary-type entry, so here goes:
Did a bit of a tour for BLOOD OIL, which I’ve told you about I’m sure. Did a gig at Inverloch library to a lovely (and surprisingly large, and not just because my step dad was there – he looks a bit like Peter Jackson you see, circa LOTR filming) crowd. Anyway, hello Inverloch people! I judged a short story comp for which I’ll be attending an awards ceremony next weekend, and I don’t have much to say about the entries other than kids can write and most adults can’t. Caught up with John Birmingham and some of his blog buddies – Burgers to those in the know. Birmo has a new novel out, WITHOUT WARNING, which is kinda like every novel I’ve written wrapped between two covers – it’s huge, and it’s good. I’ll read it in the new year when I can dedicate that kinda time and headspace. Been having a Radiohead revival lately, lately my iPod seems to play nothing but, and IN RAINBOWS is particularly good. Cleaned my office, put all my papers in neat piles which I might go through one day but doubt it, got some big fruit trees for my balcony (two pear, two orange), watched a few DVD’s but nothing stand-out, re-reading (nice and slow) TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Each year I auction off a couple character’s names in Fox books, for charity, and this year both are going to the Cancer Foundation. One sold a couple weeks ago, the other auction/charity event is this weekend, and I’ll do a blog post later in the year with these character’s names and their roles in the books (basically, the more they pay at the charity auction, the longer their character lives). Doing a launch at Scotch College this Friday, which I guess I’ll shave for – did I mention I’ve grown a beard? I’ve had not much else to do lately, so I’ve been learning piano and growing a beard, both activities that I can do at home with minimal fuss. Later this month I am talking at the Balwyn Library, and Box Hill TAFE, the latter with my mate Andrew Hutchinson who’ll be crashing here so I really should sort out the spare room (it’s something of a music, papers, and yoga-ball room at the mo and has not benefited from my cleaning mood). Oh, and a week or so ago I gave a six-hour class to a group of young teenagers at the Queensland Writer’s Centre – it was brilliant, the kids were far smarter than most adults I’ve met and the day flashed by at warp speed, certainly faster than Virgin took off from the airport on the way home (I mean really, did we need to turn around and go back just because the weather computer was out? Look out the window. And really, can’t a fifty million dollar jet fly through any and all Australian clouds???). Anyway, hello Queensland kids if you’re reading this – you are all stars.
And with kids in mind, my new book ALONE has been read by a few pro-readers and the response has been better than expected. Two of them said it’s the best book I’ve written, which is a bit worrisome as it took me 16 days to write compared to 3 months to write BLOOD OIL but then it is a very different book: it’s aimed at teenage readers but these two adults (Tony and Em, if you must know) enjoyed it as much as they’ve enjoyed pretty much any book, and they read more books than most people I know (funny, typing that then I was thinking about how Harper’s Scout speaks – it’s been great to go back into that world, those summer’s making fun with Jem). Anyway, I’m still waiting to hear from a select few teenage readers, then I’ll make any changes in a month or so and get it in to the publishers as a good, solid first book in a series. Meantime, I’m tapping away at Fox 4, and I’m very happy to tell you all that my writing has really moved along since writing this kids book (yes mum, you were right). Watch out for more info coming here soon…
Oh, and for readers in Sydney who saw a Sun Herald profile on me a couple weeks back, the journo got quite a lot wrong, which is not unusual with any profile piece – I might make a perpetual list here one day of all the wrong stuff they’ve written about me over the years. Anyway, it happens to us all and the stuff-ups are only getting bigger and worse as journalists are getting lazier and more time-poor - I’ll leave you with a little snippet from Ricky Gervais’ blog:
During an interview in America recently the subject came up about me ad libbing in all my film roles and what it’s like for me not being in charge as usually I write and direct myself.
I explained that I’m usually taken on with that remit and I said that directors usually hire me knowing that I will bring something to the role. I said, “If they wanted someone to stand where they’re told and just say the lines as they’re written in the script then they should chose any other actor to do that.”
Obviously that was taken out of context by an english news site. i wont embarrass them as they are going to right the wrong, but this is the headline they went with. “Gervais admits he is the worst actor in Hollywood” Gervais admits he is the worst actor in Hollywood Brilliant. The thing that annoys me is this. They know exactly what they are doing. It’s not a mistake. It’s deliberate. The world would be a different place if things had always been like this.
Martin Luther King - “I have a dream.”
TheDailyShit.com - “Lazy black man always sleeping”
Jesus Christ - “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
WeeklyRumour.co.uk - “Scruffy Jew starts riot”
Elizabeth I - “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.”
InternetCuntWhoCan’tGetArealJob.Net - “Scrawny cannibal lezzer eats own father”
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s headlines… Gervais says he’s as misunderstood as Dr. King. Virgin Queen and Son Of God.
