by Garda Ghista
World Prout Assembly
March 2005

Continued from Part One

C. Bangladesh

A health catastrophe is developing in Bangladesh and parts of West Bengal in silent, insidious steps unknown to the world. Millions of people are already affected as they drink the ground water from wells that are heavily contaminated with arsenic. For the past two decades, thanks to the World Bank, IMF and other well-meaning foreign agencies, tube wells were promoted all over the country. However, in the 1980s scientists began to find high levels of arsenic in the well water. Inorganic arsenic is released to the ground water under natural conditions. Whether or not it affects well water depends upon the depth of the tube well. The shallow, indigenous wells of about ten meters depth, made by the villagers, do not have arsenic. It is found only deeper in the ground (200-300 meters) and then seeps into the well water. At present three out of four tube wells in Bangladesh are privately owned. The wells consist of tubes that are 5 centimeters in diameter and go into the ground to a depth of around 200 meters. The tubes are capped above the ground with a cast iron or steel hand pump and can be used by any adult or child.

Arsenic poisoning

It is surely ironic that while Bangladesh has tons of water, the majority is undrinkable. The surface water contains dangerous bacteria while the large amounts of ground water obtained from the deeper wells contains equally dangerous arsenic.

The arsenic contaminated water in Bangladesh is a catastrophe. As far back as July 2001, researchers at the United Nations University, in a joint study with the Earth Identity Project, declared that emergency measures were required to avert a human disaster. In that year, between 28 and 57 million people drew well water in Bangladesh and West Bengal. Both these states have arsenic contamination. The number already contaminated is greater than the global number of HIV-infected persons. Well water over most regions of Bangladesh has been naturally contaminated by arsenic-rich rocks underground. There are cheap, local methods to render the water pure and remove the arsenic. However, this work is moving forward at snail?s pace. The victims are all poor rural people, not the wealthy city-dwellers. Due to the huge number of gastrointestinal diseases and infant mortality that arose from drinking surface water, more than four million tube wells were installed in Bangladesh with World Bank loans, to utilize underground water in aquifers about 200 meters deep. The arsenic-rich rocks are at this very level inside the earth.

People poisoned by arsenic over months or years suffer from higher levels of lung and bladder cancer, from skin lesions, hypertension and heart disease, as well as gangrene and diabetes. The common signs of arsenicosis are hyperpigmentation on the upper torso and keratoses on the palms and soles of the feet. Research suggests that vitamins help to offset the disease. Other studies show that homeopathic medicine can help to thwart the onset of symptoms.

Dr. Fakhrul Islam, a researcher at International Development Enterprises (IDE) on the outskirts of Dhaka, has invented a simple arsenic filter, which involves using a 30-liter container filled with filter media. Ferrous sulphate solution is bonded to crushed brick particles. By using the right size of brick particles, and due to the porous nature of brick, 100 percent of the arsenic can be removed. Lack of funds is hampering further research and implementation of this inexpensive method of arsenic removal from the country's water.

Other steps for action suggested are: (1) People must go to the villages to educate the rural people regarding arsenic contamination and teach them how to filter the arsenic out of the water. Villagers should be taught how to test their water to find out its relative safety for drinking. (2) Alternative water sources should be found quickly for the rural populations. (3) All villagers should be tested for arsenic poisoning and treated accordingly. At present the use of vitamins and homeopathic medicines can help cleanse the body of arsenic poisoning. (4) People must compel the Bangladesh government to become pro-active in creating immediate programs to provide relief for rural victims and treatment for their diseases. It must become the short-term and long-term health policy of the government. In addition to treatment, the government should arrange for rural populations to have nutritious food without cost, on a long-term basis. (5) There must be active participation in these projects by the rural populations as well as complete transparency regarding all steps taken to alleviate the problem. According to Hans van Ginkel, Rector of UN University, the poisoning of millions of people on such a scale is unheard of in history.

It is ironic that the reason thousands of tube wells were installed all over Bangladesh was to avoid the high mortality and morbidity rates caused by contaminated surface water. The most urgent intervention at present is to locate and identify arsenic-free drinking water. This tragedy further indicates that groundwater used in other countries globally should also be tested for arsenic contamination.

Surface water contamination has been a problem in Bangladesh for many decades. It is contaminated with numerous microorganisms, which cause acute gastrointestinal disease, often from water taken from stagnant ponds.

Surface water in Bangladesh is generally purified of harmful bacteria by cooking and boiling the water over a simple wood fire. The IDE has created a coil of aluminum tubing to encircle the fire within a walled structure. The water is poured into the coil and is boiled and sterilized as it passes around the fire. Another solution being investigated is the harvesting of rainwater. Bangladesh has heavy monsoon rains, which can be caught in containers that are both cheap and easy to install. After the initial costs of installation by each residence, the water would be free. IDE has created a simple, inexpensive bamboo hand pump, whose use is spreading quietly among the farmers, with already 1.5 million sold. Bamboo is used because of its abundance in Bangladesh, making it easily affordable. When farmers and villagers learn to use locally-made pumps, and other water systems, they can reduce and finally eliminate their need for "foreign" aid, which has reaped such disaster in this little country. The IDE has also created a drip irrigation method, which involves putting a large bag on the ground that allows water to be drip through small valves in the bag, one drop at a time, onto the plant. The drawback to all these ingenious inventions is that thus far the Bangladesh government does not support them and rather prefers to support World Bank and other "outside"-funded projects.

Other proposed solutions to the arsenic contamination crisis include: (1) identifying tube wells with low arsenic content; (2) providing water filters for every household. Candle filtration systems are available at low cost and are easy to use and maintain; (3) providing small packets of chemicals that remove arsenic and other pollutants after being mixed in water and allowed to stand overnight; (4) arranging for purified, chlorinated surface water use. (5) closing tube wells with a high degree of arsenic contamination as soon as clean water sources are available in that locality. (6) providing nutritious supplements, tonics and vitamins to the rural population free of cost to raise their immune systems, which will help to combat the onset of arsenic-induced cancer. (7) providing moisturizing lotions and treatment for hand and foot infections and lesions; and (8) constructing new tube wells to a depth of less than 200 meters (the level at which inorganic arsenic is found in the rock layer) or constructing indigenous dug wells to a depth of 20-30 meters; (9) again, rainwater harvesting, providing rural residences with cisterns for rainwater storage, will go a long way towards alleviating the crisis. Finally, (10) educating the people of the problem so they understand the gravity and importance of testing their water and ensuring that what they drink is safe to drink.

D. Egypt

The biggest conversation topic with regard to Egypt is the High Aswan Dam on the Nile River. Proponents of the dam say it heralded a major breakthrough in the country, relieving the people of both floods and droughts, providing drinking water agricultural water and electricity to every single village. The Dam is the mainstay of Egyptian economy. Opponents of the Dam say that the resulting environmental destruction has been catastrophic. For thousands of years the floods of the Nile covered the riparian countryside, causing barley and wheat to flourish. Sometimes, however, the river waters failed to arrive. Crops failed, people and even entire dynasties died with them. Today crops do not fail because the Nasser Lake reservoir stores water for the people. Rather, within five years of the dam's completion, agricultural output in Egypt increased up to 20 percent. The Dam retains river waters, allowing them to flow during the dry season, which allows for double and triple cropping, often including water-guzzling cash crops such as cotton and rice. During droughts, the water in Lake Nasser has protected the people from famine.

Nile River next to Egyptian desert

The Aswan Dam appears on the surface as a panacea. However, environmental problems are growing. Insufficient water is reaching the Nile Delta. While world media focused on the possible destruction of precious, ancient Egyptian monuments, the far greater tragedy barely covered in the media was the dislocation and impoverization of 130,000 Nubians, half of whom lived in Egypt, half in Sudan. Sardines in the eastern Mediterranean have vanished. Algae has built up in the river and caused the spread of bilharzias, a debilitating disease caused by snails that live in the stagnant waters of the reservoir and canals. In pre-dam years, 90 percent of the Nile's silt was washed into the Mediterranean, and between 10-25 tons covered the river's riparian farmlands in annual layers, creating rich, natural fertilizer. The silt kept the flood plains fertile for thousands of years. Today, nearly all the silt is caught by the dam and collects at the bottom of Lake Nasser reservoir. This greatest gift of the Nile no longer inundates the adjacent lands. As a result, Egypt is one of the world's heaviest users of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. The delta of the Nile is in serious condition. Two-thirds of Egypt's farmland is in the delta region. The dam has caused severe change to these farmlands. First, no silt flows down to inundate and fertilize the land. As a result, the salty waters of the Mediterranean are encroaching more and more onto the farmlands, higher up the river. The delta coastline is steadily eroding. Villages once located on the coast now lie submerged in Mediterranean waters. The sandbars that were a fixture in the delta have eroded, allowing more salt water to move upstream onto the land. This is compounded by rising sea levels due to global warming - a phenomena unprecedented in more than 8,000 years. Every year the irrigation systems leave salt behind. It is an amount coming to half a ton per acre. Salt is toxic to crops, and it is encroaching on more and more land. The Egyptian government has spent more money ($2 billion) to remove the salt in the delta than it cost to build the Aswan Dam.

Aswan High Dam

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser had constructed many roads, canals, power lines and water pumping stations on more than 900,000 acres of desert west of the Nile Delta. However, the land is coarse sand and becomes easily water-logged. Today Egypt is irrigating another 1.5 million acres in the Western Desert from Lake Nasser and storing it in the man-made Toshka Lakes. President Mubarak intends for the Toshka Lakes area to become a new industrial and agricultural center in Egypt. However, engineers predict that these grandiose water diversion projects will lead in future to severe water shortage. They predict that the annual water shortage may reach 11 million acre-feet by the year 2025. To avoid such a shortage, the government is planning to increase the flow of the Nile by accessing a large area of remote wetland on the White Nile in Sudan. Presently the waters of the White Nile meander for many miles before moving north towards the Aswan Dam. During that movement, nearly half the river water is lost to evaporation due to the searing heat and endless sun. At the time of construction of the Aswan Dam, British hydrologists had likewise warned President Nasser that the location of the dam was wrong, that situating at Aswan would result in millions of acre-feet lost annually to evaporation. But, Nasser would not hear of a dam being built higher up river in another country. The dam had to be under his control, hence built on Egyptian soil. Egypt now wants to build a canal from the White Nile straight down to the Nile River, as with a straight route, a huge quantity of water will be saved from evaporation. At present more than six feet of water evaporate from the top of Lake Nasser each year. This amounts to an estimated 11 million acre-feet of water. The government is looking for ways to store this water in cooler places away from the sun's glare.

E. Libya

The geography of Libya is unique, in that it is the largest true desert in the world. The land is so devoid of water holes that even camel caravans did not venture to cross the 700 miles from the Libyan coast to the al-Kufra oasis until the 19th century.

Col Muhammad Qadaffi, leader of Libya on the coast of Northern Africa, had nearly no water in his country. The people, crops and livestock all suffered. To solve his water problem, Qadaffi began construction in the early 1980s of the Great Man-Made River, a gigantic pipe system which carried pure clean water from four huge aquifers buried under the desert sands of southern Libya across the desert to the coastal areas, where today it provides more than 6.5 million cubic meters of water daily. The Nubian sandstone aquifers date back to the last ice age, at which time the entire Sahara was a huge swampland with water perpetually seeping down into the rocks below. According to Pearce, the aquifers abruptly ceased filling with water 6,000 years ago when the climate switched to the present desert-like conditions. While to all appearances, the Great Man-Made River is a miracle, or Eighth Wonder of the World, it already has side effects, and it remains to be seen whether those side effects will eventually outweigh the present benefits. Hydrologists estimate there are about 120 billion acre-feet of water in the al-Kufra aquifer. When first started in 1991, the Man-Made River was like a miracle, bringing water to the coastal areas where local aquifers that had hitherto sustained the people and agriculture had been emptied through over-pumping and intrusion of salt water from the Mediterranean. But, already the water table in Libya has dropped substantially. Many hydrologists predict that the water in the aquifers will be used up in anywhere from 15 to 50 years, which would create an unbounded crisis. In addition, depletion of the easternmost al-Kufra aquifer could lead to seepage from the Nile, which could cause animosity and wars between Libya and Egypt.

The water will not flow forever in Libya. If we assume that Libyan engineers continue to reliably plug the leaks and repair the corrosion taking place in the pipes, they nevertheless that due to pumping, the water tables in Libya have plummeted by more than 300 feet. The solution, according to Ghista, is to begin massive afforestation programs, which will attract the rain. This will enable the people to harness the rainwater, which alone can guarantee their future survival.

IV. Whither Humanity ? Whither Water

Buried under the carefully terraced hills of Palestine and Israel lies an intricate, meticulous network of man-made tunnels large enough for a man to walk in. The sides of the tunnels were neatly quarried, and their endpoints were the terraces above ground, which nurtured orange and lemon trees along with vegetables. Geographer Zvi Ron had rediscovered an ancient, 2,000-year-old underground irrigation system built to bring water in underground aquifers up to the arid surface to give water to thirsty plants. Many of the once scenic terraces these tunnels served are gone. They have been replaced by flat fields and modern mechanical farming as practiced on the Israeli kibbutzes. Most local people, both Arab and Jew, no nothing of the existence of the engineering marvel coursing under their feet. Some tunnels are empty. Others continue to channel water in a wide network, even far to the north of Jerusalem. Zvi Ron calls these tunnels "technical masterpieces." In just a few villages, the local people continue to use these spring-flow tunnels. That too, they use them in an ancient, collective style of cooperation and sharing, with each clan of a village taking water once every eight days. Most of these tunnels were abandoned when the Palestinians fled their homes in 1948 after the creation of the political state of Israel. According to Zvi Ron, the engineers of 2,000 years ago were engineering geniuses, who understood, for example, the mathematical relationship between water height and the flow it would produce. This formula is called Darcy's law, after Henri Darcy who invented it in 1856, long after the creation of this ancient tunnel and irrigation system of 2,000 years ago. Why did this irrigation system die? So-called modern ideas brought in by the Israelis took over. Land was made flat in order to accommodate large tractors. They built deep boreholes and pumps to bring water for their new fields. They even preferred to construct a huge pipeline called the National Water Carrier, which brought water all the way from the Sea of Galilee, than to explore and utilize the wondrous engineering marvel that lay just under their feet. Water mechanization has caused deep problems in the region, caused primarily by selfishness. Most water originating in the West Bank ends up in Israeli hands. Israelis can ban construction of new Palestinian wells. Today 80 percent of the rainwater on the West Bank is diverted via Israeli pumps, causing the per capita water consumption of Israelis to be four times greater than Palestinian consumption. Hence we see that the traditional water harvesting of olden times has been replaced by modern, industrialized and centralized water collection and distribution systems. These new, large systems are hydrologically inefficient, poorly-planned, and increase inequity among the people. The old ways of irrigation and water distribution were smaller, more efficient, far less wasteful, and certainly more equitable. But the most striking aspect of the ancient tunnel irrigation system is that it was far more civilized than today's systems. It encompassed a compassionate, selfless water ethic that gave fundamental recognition to the fact that water is the collective property of all; it is community property. Hence it was to be used carefully, frugally and wisely, and all inhabitants should have their water needs taken care of. It is these water ethics that we need to return to today. The 20th century has been fraught with megadams, the ecological destruction of lakes and rivers, the wasteful emptying of ancient, underground aquifers. So many mistakes have been made in the last few centuries with regard to the preservation, distribution, and careful utilization of the earth's most precious resource. Human beings need to become "keepers of the spring," and to create an entirely new water ethic on our planet that will be based on those ancient civilizations who knew far, far more than the people of today the real meaning of the word "civilization."

src="http://www.worldproutassembly.org/images/weeping_check_dam.jpg" width="300" height="400" />
Small dams can replace big dams
and leave biodiversity undisturbed.

According to Peter Gleick, two "soft" solutions are required. First, communities need to find new ways to collect water locally. At present, rain falls anywhere and is merged into the rivers and oceans. That water needs to be harnessed by human beings. Local storage systems should be built. The second solution, he says, is to stop wasting the water we have. Three decades ago a tremendous amount of water was wasted every time a toilet was flushed in America. Today, the amount of water used in one flush has been reduced by three fourths. American farmers in the year 2000 used about 50 trillion gallons of water for their crops, which is about one third of the country's total water consumption. In countries such as Spain, China and Morocco, farmers still irrigate their crops by simply flooding their fields. A frugal, efficient alternative is to use the drip irrigation system, presently used in countries like United Arab Emirates and other arid regions. Thin pipes are run across the fields with small holes made next to every single plant. At night the water is turned on and allowed to drip through those holes directly at the base of each plant. Imagine how much water could be saved if all farmers of the world switched to the drip irrigation system! Another way to save water is to cut the evaporation process by spreading a polymer solution on water surfaces. Presently huge amounts of water are lost from leaks throughout the distribution system. Some cities have already found cost-effective ways to stop leaks. Singapore, for example, has reduced its water leaks down to five percent. For sure they have a good incentive, as being without adequate fresh water, they are dependent upon Malaysia to sell them their water requirements. According to Fred Pearce, author of Keepers of the Spring, only modest changes in water management can remove the present water crisis and would allow the earth?s existing water resources to serve life for hundreds or thousands of years. The whole world requires a new water ethic, which will emphasize saving and storing water as carefully as we save and store energy. If people could change their personal habits with regard to water, then it would no longer be necessary to look to mega projects as the only solutions to man-made water crises.

A. Rainwater Harvesting

In the near future there will be a global water crisis, partly through desertification and partly through mismanagement and waste of extant water supplies. Large rivers such as the Ganges in India and the Thames in London are already so polluted as to be undrinkable. The only solution is to catch the rainwater. Aside from catching rainwater, we need to explore and develop the science of creating artificial rain by using helium, which will bring the clouds presently over the ocean over onto the land. As an example, at present due to massive deforestation in West Bengal, the rain clouds coming from the Bay of Bengal travel all the way across India and rain on the Arabian Sea. Earlier these clouds had rained in the area of Magadh, Bihar, on the land. As a result the level of the Arabian Sea is slowly rising and the Bay of Bengal is becoming more salty. Due to global deforestation, the water area is increasing and the land area is steadily decreasing on the earth.

The other cause for environmental destruction is the rampant exploitation of subterranean resources such as water, oil and coal. Sometimes sand is used to fill the cavities left by extraction of these resources. But in other locations the cavities are left empty and will lead to earthquakes as well as will cause the entire ground above these cavities to collapse and fill the hole underneath. The exploitation of subterranean water supplies is contributing to the desertification of the earth. As the subterranean water table sinks, the surface soil dries and the extant plants whither and die. The only solution is afforestation followed by construction of ponds and lakes to catch the resulting rainwater.

Sarkar says that construction of more deep tube wells is not the solution to the water crisis. Instead, we need to quickly construct thousands of ponds, canals, dams, lakes and reservoirs to catch and store the rainwater, so that people will have water to drink. Sarkar says: "This is the only way out of the water crisis that will confront humanity in the very near future."

Rainwater harvesting has been in use by human being for thousands of years. Evidence of extensive water harvesting systems is ample in the Negev Deserts of Israel dating back 2,000 years. Roman homes and cities were always built to harvest rainwater. Cisterns and large containers to collect rainwater in the United States, were common in rural areas until the 1920s, and continue to be used today. Villagers in the Andes Mountains use a long wide piece of thick cloth held up with long poles to collect rainwater. In Bangladesh, rural rainwater harvesting presents a problem as so many of the homes are built with straw. They would need to convert their roofs at least to tin, which can include a gutter system for catching the rainwater.

Rainwater harvesting is carried out today in many parts of the world. Alaska and Hawaii have long traditions of rainwater harvesting. The city of Austin, Texas offers a rebate for households using rainwater. In some parts of the Caribbean, new homes have rainwater harvesting systems built into the structure. Gibraltar has one of the largest rainwater harvesting systems in the world.

Rainwater harvesting via ponds for water storage

Professor Khalequzzaman, geology professor at Georgia Southwestern State University and originally from Bangladesh, says two questions must be asked about the use of rainwater harvesting for Bangladesh: (1) is it financially viable for rural populations, and (2) does the rainwater harvested meet the quality for drinking water? Also, in tropical countries like Bangladesh and India, rainfall comes intensely during the monsoon period between April and September. A UN Environment Program study conducted in 1982 showed that when harvesting monsoon rains with an average rainfall of 72 inches in 12 hours, enough water could be collected in a 1,100-gallon storage tank to last a six-member family for 45 days.

While rainwater in developed industrial areas such as the United States and Europe may contain numerous chemicals, rainwater in rural areas is generally free of industrial pollution and safe for drinking. However, even in rural areas, rainwater will contain atmospheric gases along with sediments, dust, aerosols, particulates and other gases that result from fossil fuel burning. Hence all rainwater requires a purification / distillation system that will remove sediments and harmful chemicals. Some residents in Portland, Oregon have developed a rainwater harvesting system based on the "Texas Guide to Rainwater Harvesting." The system costs less than $1500 to install and comprises a 1500-gallon plastic cistern, a 1/12 horsepower shallow-well pump, plastic piping, two particulate filters, an ultraviolet light sterilizer, a screen to cover the cistern, a 20-gallon water storage tank and a reduced pressure backflow prevention device. The same harvesting system could be produced much more cheaply in Bangladesh using indigenous products. It is a solution that will avert some of the potential problems in using ponds for water storage.

Rainwater has several advantages: It is naturally soft, in contrast to well water. (2) It contains no dissolved minerals or salts. (3) It is free of chemical treatment. (4) It is a reliable source of water for households in most regions of the world. Countries like Egypt, Libya and other Middle Eastern countries with scant rainfall would be exceptions. Rainwater can supplement other sources of locally provided water. It can be used for irrigation as well as for household use, including for drinking.

Bangladesh is faced with seemingly insurmountable water-related problems, including drought, flooding, arsenic contamination of ground water, and surface water pollution through bacteria and industrial contaminants, including fertilizer and pesticides. While rainwater may not solve all the water problems of Bangladesh, it could certainly lessen the demand for both surface and ground water. The government of Bangladesh should immediately institute programs to provide rainwater harvesting systems to rural villagers along the lines of those used in Portland, Oregon, so that the people's fundamental right to safe drinking water is achieved.

B. Check Dams

The World Commission on Dams (WCD), after extensive study, determined that alternatives do exist to large dams, which wreak unbounded and irreparable ecological/environmental damage in their vicinity. The Commission assessed what other ways existed that would meet the same needs of the people, specifically in the areas of agriculture, energy, water supply and flood control. According to the WCD, demand-side management has "significant untapped and universal potential and provides a major opportunity to reduce water stress." This would include reduced water consumption, recycling of water, use of technology to develop more efficient use of water, reduction of water leakage, and improving water system maintenance. In agriculture, for example, rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging can be maximally utilized. Irrigation systems can be more efficiently maintained, including regular sediment flushing. Controlling and reclaiming saline land in conjunction with an integrated approach to managing both surface and ground water is suggested. Control of leakage in canals can save up to 14.8 billion square meters of water annually. Crops grown in arid areas should be those that demand less water and that can be watered using micro-irrigation, i.e., drip systems. Technology should be developed so as to enable the re-use of irrigation drainage water and urban wastewater. The WCD further recommended demand-side management (DSM) of water, with reference to high per capita consumption of countries such as the United States, where consumption through conservation could be reduced by 50 percent. Likewise, electricity in high consumption countries can be substantially reduced. In place of water as an energy source, alternative methods are in the literature, such as biomass, wind, solar, geothermal and ocean energy. To date, wind energy is the most rapidly spreading alternative energy source. Thus, demand-side management measures to reduce water could involve applying tariffs that start low and rise for increasingly higher levels of consumption. Pit latrines and septic tanks can further save on water demand. Supply-side alternatives include reducing leakages, rainwater harvesting via rooftops, storage tanks and ponds, to be used as domestic water supply sources. Finally, the recycling of wastewater should be undertaken for use in agricultural, groundwater recharging and industry. To avert disastrous effects of floods, the WCD suggests infiltration trenches, detention basins, infiltration ponds, retention ponds, and wetland areas to catch runoff. Extension afforestation (or reforestation where trees once grew along river banks) should be started immediately, along with abandoning of intensive agriculture, as it leads to soil erosion and landslides. Simple techniques such as these can avert many of the more damaging aspects of floods while capturing the positive aspects. Houses can be made waterproof, and boundary walls can be built around houses as protection against flood waters.

A rock check dam

With regard to social and environmental costs of large dams, the WCD recommends the decommissioning of those dams. According to the WCD, the main force driving the World Bank to fund construction of large dams around the world is economic. Yet in nearly all cases, the projected benefits were not met and/or were outweighed by non-projected costs. This was done in all instances without inclusion of the affected people. Henceforth the affected indigenous peoples must participate in any large dam projects that will vastly affect their lives and livelihoods. Their voice must be heard above the corporate voices of multinational companies forever on the march for more money.

C. Ponds and Tanks

Ponds are required to store rainwater to use in the dry season. Saving rainwater in vessels is impractical. A good storage solution is to build small ponds at frequent intervals. However, ponds also bring problems. Land is required to build the ponds. Land is not always available in all rural areas. Ponds will be subject to surface run-off water that in Bangladesh presently carries numerous chemical pollutants and harmful bacteria. These would include chemical fertilizer, pesticides, cow manure, sediments, sewage, aerosol fallout, detergents, and decaying plants. If banks are built around the ponds, however, the invasion of surface water can be reduced. Unless ponds are covered, substantial water will be lost to evaporation. Last, ponds will be connected to groundwater flow and hence face contamination from groundwater chemicals. In Bangladesh, this would be arsenic. Hence, it is not enough to simply construct ponds. Further steps must be taken to protect the purity of the water stored in those ponds.

Lakes and ponds the crying need of humanity

Mudiyanur Tank

Mudiyanur tank in Mudiyanur village, Kolar district, Karanataka, South India, provides water to seven villages. It is very old ? about 1,000 years. It is hence in poor condition and needs desilting. It catches the rainwater year round, but presently the tank runs dry by February - a good three months before the annual monsoon rains. Its water is distributed to the seven villages through an ancient irrigation system that the villagers swear by. Next to the tank is a temple built to the goddess Chowdeswari. The adjacent land comprising the seven villages takes up about 250 acres, which are occupied by more than 900 farmers. The land is divided into seven segments, with each farmer having a plot of land in each segment. A council of elders from the villages supervises the work surrounding the tank. One tier constitutes selected representatives from each caste of each village. The second tier constitutes a total of three village functionaries from the scheduled caste in Mudiyanur village. This system is ancient and is deeply believed in by all the villagers. The first functionary guards the villages, implements the orders of the council, makes announcements about the tank water, and organizes religious festivals and prayer services at the adjacent temple. The second functionary is responsible for the equitable distribution of the water from the tank to the people. He also protects the crops from thieves and cattle. He repairs leaks in the tank, and serves as the information source for all the farmers. The third functionary visits the homes of all the villagers to collect dues from the farmers to pay for providing these water services. As payment, the three functionaries receive in-kind goods at the end of the harvesting, generally in the form of rice.

Why has this unique water distribution system survived for more than 1,000 years? The villagers respond by saying, "Chowdeswari!" The people from all seven villages come to the temple to worship the goddess, and this has kept the community strong and close. While land ownership has changed over the decades, but the water management system remains the same as it was 1,000 years ago. Ten to twenty percent of the landowners are women - many of them widows. Although there is less rain, and reduced flow of irrigation water, although silt accumulates steadily with resulting less water available, yet the villagers say they will continue to manage the tank and the water irrigation system as they have done for the past one thousand years.

An old water storage tank next to temple

Clay Pots

In Lake Magadi, southwest of Nairobi, the Intermediate Technology Development Group (IDTG) taught the local women to construct big clay pots for storing water. First the women construct the foundation with clay and place a big bag of manure on the foundation. The bag is smeared with a mixture of sand and cement and left to dry. This process is repeated every day, until at the end of the week the women remove the bag of manure and have a big round pot. It is kept full of water for three weeks, after which it becomes crack-proof. Each pot holds 2,100 litres of water. They are built outside the primary schools in the Magadi area. Local women bring water by carrying it or by donkey and pour it in the clay pot for storage. All rainwater is collected from the roof of the schools. Previously these pots were built next to each home in a village. However, this meant that only one family was served. By placing the pots in front of schools, many more people derive benefit.

The IDTG teaches women other skills. For example, women put two 15-litre cans on a donkey for fetching water. The IDTG has shown the women that if loaded properly, one donkey can in fact carry up to 80 litres of water. As 80 litres will serve several homes, some of the village women have formed teams or water cooperatives. One woman will take ten donkeys and fetch water for all other women in the group. This way one woman may go for water only every three weeks. The labor is divided and shared, and women save hours of time to finish other domestic chores. While getting water by donkey has helped, it is not the final answer. Still the women of Magada must walk many hours to bring water to their village.

The village of Katchama, in Ethiopia, has just one pond to accommodate 4,000 people. The water will last only two-three weeks, after which the villagers will have no choice but to walk 12 hours to the Awash river to bring water back to the village, so they survive a little longer. The government helps to some extent by building ponds. But far more ponds are required. The villagers themselves need to learn how to build their ponds. It will give them a sense of pride, and they will take care of what they themselves have created.

According to ecologist Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, it is essential for surface water to be conserved for afforestation to succeed. The method is to increase existing storage systems and create new systems. The cheapest method is to build small ponds and lakes - man-made lakes, for storing water. These ponds and lakes should be built in those places where the surface water flows; for example, at that point where rivulets from the rainwater converge. This point of convergence is the ideal spot for a lake or small pond. Sarkar says: "The bigger the catchment area, the bigger the number of rivulets, so the bigger the pond or lake." For construction, a rectangular area should be selected. The soil dug out of the hole should be placed around the periphery to form slopes and ridges. The lakes and ponds should be just five feet deep so as to avoid accidental drowning. A boundary wall should encircle the pond to keep out animals. Along the boundary wall plants should be grown, and inside the wall palm trees should be planted. As has been done in Israel, Iran, Japan and many other countries, underground tunnels can be dug to direct other water sources to the lake.

Sarkar talks about five types of plants that should be grown around lakes: slope plants, boundary plants, wire plants, aquatic plants and surface plants. Slope plants include pineapple, asparagus, aloe vera, eggplant and chili. These plants conserve water and stop erosion of soil. They also will provide income for local populations. Slope plants should be planted in symmetrical, horizontal lines to allow the water to travel always towards the lake. It is also good to build terraces around the pond because they prevent the run-off of surface water and check soil erosion. Boundary plants include palm trees and creepers of flowers, vegetables and fruits. Coconut trees can be planted around lakes as well as date palms and banana trees. Along the boundary walls creeper plants should be grown, such as beans, squash, pumpkin, melon, passion fruit and grapes. Thorny and non-thorny aquatic plants such as lotus and Victoria regina should be grown in the water. The lotus produces vegetables to eat and provides organic matter to the water. All these plants will create beauty in and around the ponds, as well as help to conserve the water therein. Pisciculture should be developed in ponds and lakes. The fish help to keep the water clean because their breathing creates water and carbon dioxide. Their breathing also keeps the water at a constant level. If many fish live in a lake, thousands of gallons of water will be added to the lake over time. In normal areas the depth of ponds can be five feet. However, in desert areas where there is intense evaporation, the depth should be ten feet.

Desalination

Desalination of saline water, specifically seawater, brackish water and wastewater is becoming more common due to lack of underground water supplies. The global market for desalinized water is around $35 billion annually, and this figure is expected to double over the next 15 years. In 2002 there were about 12,500 desalination plants around the world, predominantly located in Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, along with Libya and Algeria in northern Africa. In the United States both California and Florida produce desalinated water, as these two states face chronic water shortage relative to their populations. The ongoing concern, however, with desalination is the toxic chemical by-product of desalination.

Current methods of desalination include Reverse Osmosis (RO), Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) and Multi-stage Flash Distillation (MSF). MSF is used primarily in the Middle East. Reverse Osmosis is presently considered as the most advantageous method of desalination because it requires the least energy to produce, i.e., 6 kilowatts per hour of electricity is required for each cubic meter of drinking water. The Gulf States use dual-purpose power and desalination plants. Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority now see desalinated water as the solution to their chronic water shortage problems. Desalination plants are presently being constructed in Tunis, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Malta, South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, South Korea and the Philippines.

Maintaining Ecological Systems

Several hundred years ago, many desert regions of today were covered with trees and biological diversity. But then the local people as well as businessmen cut down so many trees, leading to severe depletion of subterranean water, which has caused the deserts to spread. Multiple problems arise with the felling of trees. First, the carbon dioxide rises because there are fewer plants to absorb it. This leads directly to warmer atmospheric temperatures. Warmer temperatures lead to glacial melting, as is happening now at rates unprecedented since the last ice age. Rivers reduce their flow or dry up. Thus, the riparian lands along rivers also dry up and are transformed into desert, as is the case with the Nile and the Ganges rivers. In desert conditions, organic processes in the soil cease, micro-organisms and worms die, causing organic matter to break down as it loses the ability to retain water. The soil-making process comes to a halt.

Three thousand years ago, central Rarh in West Bengal was a land of abundant flora and fauna and large rivers. Even in 1950, there were many dense forests in the area. But today, there are hardly any trees or animals, and the rivers have nearly dried up. The soil is barren; it contains few worms and micro-organisms, and hence the organic material critical in serving as a sponge to retain water is nearly non-existent. Annual rains wash away the top soil, leaving coarse, sandy soil underneath. As a result, the region is subject to severe soil erosion and flash floods. To bring about transformation in Rahr, Libya, Egypt, Saudi and UAE, a massive afforestation program must be started. The approach should be two-phased: In Phase 1, fast-growing trees that grow to maximum height within two years should be planted. Examples of such trees would be large screwpine, drumstick, red sandalwood, agave, and certain varieties of jackfruit. In Phase 2, slow-growing trees like teak should be planted and then harvested after 30 years. The fast-growing trees can be cut after three years to provide income for local people. Thus, if there is a constant, perpetual cycle of planting fast-growing and long-growing trees that will provide green cover, this cycle can reverse the desertification process. Other plants particularly appropriate for countering desertification must be planted, such as jojoba and cacti. Jojoba contains oil which can be used in place of diesel oil.

Wetlands

Wetlands are an example of a naturally occurring ecological system whose value appears unrecognized by many in the corporate world. Wetlands act as flood storage, nutrient cycling and pollutant trapping. In Iraq, freshwater lakes, reed beds and marshes used to cover thousands of miles - from Basra in the south up to Baghdad. Fifty thousand people relied on the marsh water for sustenance, for survival. Today these marshlands are dry, with the waters of the Euphrates diverted into canals and tanks. Many hydrological engineers felt this was the correct step to take. They felt that water going into the marshland was wasted water. By the year 2003, the marshlands of Iraq had become "dry, salt-encrusted wasteland." However, in the last three years, some of the Marsh Arabs have returned to their land and are finding ways to bring water back to convert the wasteland back into valuable soil. In fact, restoration of wetlands is becoming a growth industry globally. Oases that had dried up and become salt- encrusted are now being revived by bringing nearby subterranean water. Once again the flora and fauna are returning and indigenous fish returned to the ponds.

Coordinated Cooperation and Cooperativization

Vandana Shiva in her book, Water Wars, provides a poignant example of contrasting conduct with regard to water. On the train from Delhi to Jaipur people in her train compartment purchased Pepsi's Aquafina bottled water. In Jaipur, however, was a different culture. During the height of the drought season, small thatched huts called Jal mandirs (water temples) emerged for the sole purpose of storing precious water in earthen pots, so as to provide thirsty people passing by. The water was offered for free. It is an ancient tradition. On the one hand is the culture of spontaneous coordinated cooperation and giving when seeing the need of human beings. On the other hand is the audacity of a few men to use their wealth to purchase the earth's water supplies and turn around and sell that water in bottles for hefty profits. The poorest of the poor will not drink. For them, only the kindness of the Jai Mandirs will give them sustenance.

We need to study the management of coastal aquifers, the impact of water resources management on urban, rural and agricultural economic development, the use of non-renewable groundwater resources - such as in Libya, and develop integrated management of surface and groundwater resources. We need to further research on reduction of evaporation and leaks in extant water systems, water harvesting and wadi management, along with improving water use efficiency and water recycling. The ultimate goal would be to create, as far as possible, bioregional, sustainable communities. The creation of such communities will hinge firstly on water availability and how to extract the water for the maximum benefit of the local people and the entire local biodiversity.

Human beings need to become more humble with regard to nature, with regard to the entire ecosystem, and need to humbly look at their own part in that biodiversity, see the role that they are to play, see how they are to not harm or destroy but rather to support every other part of that ecosystem. Perhaps the greatest danger facing humanity today is the corporations, their owners and CEOs, who will stop at nothing to make a profit, who will quickly destroy the environment, the extant water and future water sources, if it means they can make money now. So long as water remains in the hands of blood-sucking corporations, a global water crisis is imminent. But, if the common people can wrest the water from the corporations and take over its control, management and rational distribution, then a water crisis can be averted entirely. Local people can stop growing water-guzzling "cash" crops for export to imperialist countries and begin growing local crops for local people. As huge quantities of water are required to feed cattle so as to provide animals for human consumption, we can promote a vegetarian lifestyle worldwide that will save enormous quantities of water. We can learn about recycling of water. To avoid exploitative prices charged by corporations on what should be a fundamental right to water, local people need to form local water cooperatives, so that amounts charged for water to residents will be compatible with people's purchasing power. We need to start far-reaching education programs so that every citizen of every country knows the art of conserving water every minute of the day. Before building any dam, the local affected communities must be consulted and agree to the proposal. We need to study and then teach the people about scientific crop management. For example, fruit trees can store a large amount of water in their roots and hence should be planted along riverbanks and near rice paddies so as to help conserve the water. Human beings have cut down thousands or millions of trees that used to grow along riverbanks, causing the rivers to dry up. The forest trees retained the river water in their root systems and released it in a controlled manner, which allowed the river waters to flow regularly in ecological equipoise. Hence, the critical value of afforestation along all water bodies - ponds and rivers. We need to begin immediate water conservation programs that will double the existing surface water while simultaneously planning for a longer-term tenfold increase. It requires a decentralized, cooperative approach to water management and water distribution. There is no other solution. We need to create ponds, tanks, lakes, rivers and reservoirs for rainwater storage, and increase the size and depth of existing storage facilities. How do we increase the amount of existing water ten times? We increase the number of rows of plants around each water storage system five times, and then reduce the distance between each plant by half. And as a rule, surface water should be utilized for human needs so as to preserve subterranean water resources. It is a mammoth task that lies ahead.

Let no one be weeping for water

Notes

1 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring: Reclaiming our Water in an Age of Globalization, Wash. D.C.: Island Press, 2004, p. 16.
2 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 17.
3 Ibid.
4 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 18.
5 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 19.
6 Vandana Shiva, Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit, Cambridge: South End Press, 2002, p. ix.
7 Melissa Dayrit, "A Tidal Wave of Recognition at Last." (internet source)
8 United Nations website.
9 Melissa Dayrit, "A Tidal Wave of Recognition at Last"
10 The Natural Water Cycle: Part II: A Look at the World's Freshwater Resources, UNESCO Report, March 2003, p. 85
11 Ibid.
12 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring.
13 The Natural Water Cycle: Part II, p. 76.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Steve Connor, "Climate Change Could Ruin Drive to Eradicate Poverty," The Independent UK, October 24, 2005.
17 Ibid.
18 The Natural Water Cycle: Part II, p. 86
19 Ibid.
20 The Natural Water Cycle, p. 87
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
23 Vandana Shiva, "Bechtel and Blood for Water," Znet. www.zmag.org.
24 Michelle Chen, "Corporations Grope for Increasing Portion of Public Water Supply," The New Standard, www.newstandard.org.
25 Michell Chen, p. 2.
26 Ibid,
27 Michelle Chen, p. 3.
28 Michelle Chen, p. 6.
29 Michelle Chen, p. 7
30 "China's Water Problems," in New Agriculturalist, 1st September 2004.
31 Ibid.
32 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring.
33 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 11-12.
34 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 13.
35 Ibid.
36 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 15.
37 Ibid.
38 Jacques Leslie, Deep Water: The Epic Struggle over Dams, Displaced People and the Environment, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005, p. 44.
39 Jacques Leslie, Deep Water, p. 55.
40 The Natural Water Cycle: Part II, p. 78.
41 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 25.
42 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 26.
43 Vandana Shiva, "India's Water Future," ZNET, October 28, 2005. www.zmag.org
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid.
46 Jacques Leslie, Deep Water, p. 6.
47 Jacques Leslie, Deep Water, p. 7.
48 Jacques Leslie, Deep Water, p. 8.
49 Aviva Imhof, Susanne Wong and Peter Bosshard, Citizens' Guide to the World Commission on Dams, Berkeley: International Rivers Network, 2002, p. 2.
50 Aviva Imhof, Susanne Wong and Peter Bosshard, p. 3.
51 Jacques Leslie, Deep Water, p. 37.
52 Atul Chauhan, "Tehri Dam Displaced still Await Rehabilitation and Compensation," Uttaranchal News, August 2005.
53 Ibid.
54 "Bangladesh water: Emergency measures urged to prevent 'catastrophic' arsenic poisoning." A UNU-EIP joint study, 3 July, 2001. http://www.unu.edu/env/arsenic/
55 "Rural Water Solutions," BBC World Service www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1628_ruralsolutions/page6.shtml
56 Allan H. Smith, Elena O. Lingas, & Mahfuzar Rahman, "Contamination of drinking-water by arsenic in Bangladesh: a public health emergency," in Bulletin of the world Health Organization, 2000 78 (9).
57 "Rural Water Solutions," BBC World Service.
58 Smith, Lingas and Rahman
59 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 45.
60 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 49
61 Ibid.
62 Garda Ghista, "Eighth Wonder of the World," Prout World, http:www,proutworld.org. 2005.
63 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 7.
64 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 8.
65 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 9
66 Ibid.
67 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 20.
68 Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Ideal Farming, Part 2, Kolkata: Ananda Marga Publications, 1990, p. 128.
69 Md. Khalequzzaman, "Can rainwater harvesting be a solution to drinking water problem in Bangladesh?" http://volcan.gsw.peachnet.edu/khaleq
70 Ibid.
71 Ibid.
72 Aviva Imhof, Susanne Wong and Peter Bosshard, Citizens' Guide to the World Commission on Dams, Berkeley: International Rivers Network, 2002, p. 37.
73 Aviva Imhof, p. 37
74 Aviva Imhof, p. 39.
75 Aviva Imhof, p. 40.
76 Md. Khalequzzaman, "Can rainwater harvesting be a solution to drinking water problem in Bangladesh?"
77 India Together. http://www.indiatogether.org
78 Ibid.
79 "Rural Water Solution," BBC World. www.bbc.co.uk
80 Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Ideal Farming, Part 2, p. 120.
81 Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Ideal Farming, Part 2, p. 122.
82 The Natural Water Cycle, p. 89.
83 Ibid.
84 Ibid.
85 Ibid.
86 Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Ideal Farming, Part 2, p. 119.
87 Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Ideal Farming, Part 2, p. 120.
88 Fred Pearce, Keepers of the Spring, p. 224.
89 Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Ideal Farming, Part 2, p. 137.