ESCAP promotes standard water policy

JAKARTA (JP): Water policies on households and irrigation in some Asian and Pacific countries will soon be standardized if the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has its way.

"We would like a common perception on the efficient consumption of water for public welfare," the Ministry of Public Works' Director General of Irrigation Soeparmono said after opening an ESCAP workshop here yesterday.

The workshop, Designing Tariff Policy and Water Supply for Irrigation in Asia and the Pacific, will end Friday. Representatives from 13 ESCAP countries are taking part.

He said this was ESCAP's second workshop. A workshop in Bangkok had focused on household water consumption.

This week's workshop will be on efficient water consumption in agriculture, Soeparmono said.

"On average, farms use 85 percent of a country's water supply. If agricultural industries use water efficiently there will be more water for other sectors," he said.

He said many farmers still had up to 15 centimeters of water in their rice fields even though it was unnecessary.

The international community must use water wisely because demand for water is increasing with rising populations, while the water supply remains the same, he said.

He said the population of Asia, now 2.9 billion, was expected to grow to 4.25 billion by 2025.

"How can we supply them enough water if we cannot utilize it efficiently?" he asked.

He said that fees for water helped save water.

But, he said, Indonesia objected to the term "water pricing" as proposed by other Asia Pacific countries.

He said "water service costs" were a better way of describing fees on something for a basic human need. (bnt)