Saving water not the solution

Saving water not the solution

This year's dry season arrived earlier than predicted and
could develop into a disaster if it becomes prolonged. It
prompted the government to appeal to the public, particularly in
Jakarta, to avoid wasting water and to be prepared for sacrifices
now that the country is feeling the full heat of the dry season.

According to State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim,
the drought will adversely affect water supplies to farmers as
well as tap water customers, cause crop failures and increase the
threat of forest fires.

Besides trying to stop the watering of gardens and washing of
cars, Jakarta had called on local governments to take emergency
measures by providing water pumps for areas suffering serious
water shortages.

The central and local governments have allocated Rp 1.7
billion from the state and local budgets to provide water pumps.
Special humanitarian funds will also be established to provide
aid if people start to suffer from food shortages or other
difficulties as a result of the drought.

What surprises us is not that we are experiencing an
abnormally dry season this year, but the fact that the government
seems to have been taken by surprise and forced to take emergency
measures.

The whole world is facing an unprecedented water crisis. It is
to bring home this grim fact that this year has aptly been named
the UN International Year of Freshwater. To underline this year's
theme, the UN declared Saturday, March 22, 2003, World Water Day,
when decision-makers from around the world gathered in Kyoto,
Japan, for the Third World Water Forum to ensure that it made a
difference.

This year's World Environment Day, which fell on Thursday,
June 5, was themed "Water, two billion people are dying for it!"
During the ceremony held to mark the day at National Monument
(Monas) park, President Megawati Soekarnoputri acknowledged the
widespread problems of water scarcity and poor access to safe
drinking water facing the nation.

More than 1.2 billion people on this planet lack access to
safe and clean water. Between 5 million and 7 million die every
year from water-related diseases, including 2.2 million children
under the age of five. These numbers can only increase, as the
global population is expected to rise dramatically during the
first half of the 21st century.

Experts say that 20 percent of the world's population living
in 30 countries faced water shortages in 2000. That figure will
rise to 30 percent of the world's population in 50 countries by
2025.

These statistics describe only part of the global water
crisis. Water is essential to food production and agriculture,
which sustain human beings on this earth. There are currently 815
million undernourished people in the world, and as the global
population grows, the UN says the world faces a disaster.

The statistics on Indonesia are no better. At least 80 percent
of Indonesia's population of 215 million has no access to running
water that is clean and safe to drink, dry season or not. Rice
production is under threat due to the loss of 15,000 hectares to
20,000 hectares of irrigated rice fields every year to
nonagricultural uses. Some 600 of a total 5,590 rivers are deemed
a significant flood hazard and pose a continuous threat to 1.4
million hectares of residential, industrial and agricultural
land.

Ironically, this country, at least according to the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI), has about six percent of the
world's freshwater reserves, or about 21 percent of Asia-
Pacific's reserves. According to a UN report released last March,
Indonesia has an abundant amount of freshwater, standing at
13,381 cubic meters per capita per year. Compare that figure with
Singapore's, with only 149 cubic meters of freshwater per capita
per year, yet still able to provide potable water to all of its
citizens.

Nabiel, a couple of months ago, rightly blamed widespread
illegal logging, unrestrained land conversion and pollution for
this country's water crisis. But so far his appeals and
statements seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Yes, watering of gardens and car washing during the dry season
should be eliminated. The cause of Indonesia's water crisis,
however, will not be eliminated by banning such wasteful
practices. Saving water per se is not the solution.