Lihat http://thejakartaglobe.com/home
hari ini tnggal 17 Juli, lalu scroll ke bawah. Yan gpinya waktu boleh download filenya. Saya kutip: "Water Worries Sewage, garbage, poor clean water supply and flooding all make the lives of millions in Jakarta a misery and put them at risk of disease. What can be done? " --- In proletar@yahoogroups.com, "sunny" <am...@...> wrote: > > RALAT > > Reflekai : Bagaimana keadaan air [air bersih nan sehat] untuk kebutuhan > konsumsi penduduk yang makin bertambah jumlahnya di NKRI? > > > http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1007/focus.htm > > 15 - 21 July 2010 > Issue No. 1007 > > Water in the Arab world > In the coming years, water will fast replace oil in the hierarchy of issues > of strategic importance to the region, writes Mohamed Hafez* > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Click to view caption > Where the Nile starts flowing from Ethiopia > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Since around the 1960s the equilibrium between water resources and population > distribution in the world fell out of kilter, giving rise to numerous > conflicts over water, especially in Africa, Asia and Europe. To a > considerable extent, the growing disequilibrium derives from various > political, social and economic developments in the modern world, as well as > from the effects of climate change. Modern political boundaries, which impede > the free movement of populations, hamper migration due to draught and famine. > The pressures on countries that are less fortunate in water resources within > their national boundaries can be tremendous. Soaring population growth rates > give rise to or exacerbate water shortage crises in many parts of the world > and in developing nations in particular. The population of the world is > expected to exceed 10 billion in 2050 bringing with it a corresponding > decline in the per capita share of water. Supply, in turn, is integrally > linked to the interplay between demographic and economic factors. The larger > the population the greater is the need to develop water resources to meet the > requirements of domestic consumption as well as for agricultural, industrial > and energy needs to sustain the population and economic growth. > > Because of all these accumulating pressures on and demands for water, water > is no longer the free or even cheap resource it once was. It is a substance > that increasingly needs to be used wisely and economically. In fact, water > has become a commodity, one that is beginning to vie with oil in terms of its > economic importance. Israel, for one, has begun to buy water from Turkey. > Economic considerations will certainly become increasingly instrumental in > the rise of water crises in the areas where this resource is at its most > scarce. > > In the 21st century, the political hotspots as far as water is concerned are > situated in those areas where countries have used up or are already utilising > all or most of their own available water resources and have begun to tap > additional amounts from the international watercourses they share with other > countries. In riparian regions with urgent economic development needs and > where there are vying and mounting demands on an international watercourse, > disputes over water quotas could escalate to war. In fact, political > scientists and other scholars and politicians have predicted that the wars of > the 21st century will be over water. Arab countries threatened with water > shortages or that rely on water resources from outside their borders should > devote much more attention to their water security. > > GLOBAL WATER RESOURCES: Some 97 per cent of the world's water is sea and > ocean. Paradoxically, saltwater is the primary source of fresh water. Fresh > water is the product of the hydrologic cycle, which begins with the > evaporation of water from the surface of the ocean. As the water vapour rises > into the air it cools and condenses to form the rain and snow that ultimately > replenishes part of the water consumed by man. Freshwater is vital to > economic growth and will be at the centre of the conflicts of the 21st > century, especially in the world's most fragile strategic regions where most > countries also have ambitious development plans and aspirations. > > Since the mid-1970s, international agencies and specialised institutes and > strategic research centres started to plan for the eventualities of the 21st > century, towards which end they began to collect and process vast amounts of > data and to organise hundreds of seminars and conferences. In a report on > available freshwater resources around the world, the UN Environment Programme > (UNEP) Freshwater Unit observed that from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s the > global per capita share of water plunged from 12,900 to 7,600 cubic metres, > or by around 40 per cent in the space of a quarter of a century. In the Arab > region, the annual per capita share fell from 2,400 to 1,200 cubic metres > during the same period. In September 1995, the World Bank announced that more > than 80 countries were threatened by water scarcity and that 40 per cent of > the population of the world lived in harsh conditions in which the basic > amenities of public health were not available. The Middle East and North > Africa were cited as areas suffering from water scarcity. > > WATER IN THE ARAB REGION: Water resource development is one of the most > serious challenges the Arab nation will face in this century, especially in > view of growing demand on declining freshwater resources. Freshwater makes up > only three per cent of the water on our planet. Some 77.6 per cent of this is > in the form of polar or mountain icecaps and 21.8 per cent is subterranean > water. Only the remaining 0.6 per cent is what meets the daily consumption, > agricultural and industrial needs of the world's current population of six > billion. > > The Arab region, of which around a tenth is desert, is ranked as one of the > poorest regions in freshwater resources. It contains less than one per cent > of the world's available surface water and receives only two per cent of > global annual rainfall. This relative scarcity hampers the ability to meet > the water needs of Arab populaces. According to international agencies, per > capita share of water should be no less than 1,000 cubic metres per year, > according to the global average. In most countries of the Arab world, the > annual per capita share is significantly lower and is estimated to fall to > 500 cubic metres by 2025. There are 19 Arab countries that fall below the > water poverty line and 14 of these do not have quantities sufficient to meet > the basic needs of their citizens. In addition, because much of the Arab > region is arid or semi-arid, 30 per cent of its cultivatable land is > vulnerable to desertification due to water insufficiency. At the same time, > the Arab world utilises only around 50 per cent of its available 340 billion > cubic metres of water, exposing the remainder to waste or loss. > > However, the water problem in the Arab region extends beyond the question of > scarcity to the question of quality. For various reasons, the quality of > water is deteriorating and large quantities of it are becoming unusable. The > problem, moreover, extends to all sources of water in the Arab world. Because > the major Arab rivers, such as the Nile and Euphrates, originate in non-Arab > countries, those countries have a major strategic advantage over downriver > Arab countries. Although the disadvantage could be offset by better use of > subterranean water and rainfall, this would require huge investment in > necessary projects and equipment. The alternative, water desalinisation > projects, is not only costly but requires sophisticated technology. Clearly, > then, the water problem is complex and multifaceted. The challenge requires a > rational and innovative response, which in turn requires dynamic > institutional mechanisms that are not yet available. > > AVAILABLE ARAB RESOURCES: The Arab world has three basic types of water > resources: renewable surface waters, slightly renewable subterranean waters, > and limited quantities of water from artificial processes such as > desalinisation and purification. > > Rainfall is the most important source of renewable surface water. The Arab > region receives an average of 2.282 billion cubic metres of rainfall every > year. But rainfall is erratic, both over the course of a year and from one > year to the next, which can affect the productivity of irrigated agriculture. > In addition, rainfall efficacy is poor, as up to 85 per cent of it is lost to > evaporation in some parts of the region, which means that only about 15 per > cent of the annual rainfall can be utilised. Naturally, this situation has a > direct bearing on the utilisation of land, as well as of surface and > subterranean waters. Rainfall levels range from an annual 1,500 millilitres > in the heights of northern Yemen, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and > Sudan to only five millilitres per year in northern Sudan and Libya. In other > words, there are huge departures, positively and negatively, from the > regional average of around 300 millilitres a year. > > Rivers constitute the other major source of renewable water, supplying the > Arab world with some 350 billion cubic metres of water a year. Of this, 125 > billion cubic metres -- or 35 per cent -- come from rivers originating > outside the region, with 56 billion cubic metres supplied by the Nile, 28 > billion cubic metres by the Euphrates and 38 billion by the Tigris and its > tributaries. At 6,695 kilometres, the Nile is the longest river in the world. > Emanating from Lake Victoria and the Ethiopian heights, the Nile River basin > is home to 10 countries: Ethiopia, Congo (former Zaire), Kenya, Eritrea, > Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Sudan and Egypt. Whereas most of these > countries are located along the sources and tributaries of the Nile, Sudan > and Egypt host the main course of the river, which has its mouth at the > Egyptian Delta. Of all these countries, Egypt is the most dependent on Nile > waters in view of its predominantly desert geography and relatively scarce > rainfall. > > The Tigris and the Euphrates river system originates in the Anatolian plateau > and passes through Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The confluence of the Tigris and > Euphrates at Al-Qurnah, to the north of Basra, forms the Shatt Al-Arab. From > its source in the Armenian mountains until its confluence with the Tigris, > the Euphrates is 2,780 kilometres long, of which 761 kilometres are located > in Turkey, 650 kilometres in Syria, and 1,200 kilometres in Iraq. Syria is > dependent on the Euphrates for 90 per cent of its water needs. Iraq is almost > entirely dependent on it. Numerous dams have been constructed along this > river, some of the most notable being the Tabaqa Dam in Syria, and Al-Ramadi, > Al-Habaniya and Al-Hindiya dams in Iraq. The Tigris is 1,950 kilometres long, > of which 342 kilometres are in Turkey, 37 kilometres form part of the > Turkish- Syrian border, another 13 kilometres form part of the Syrian-Iraqi > border, and 1,408 kilometres pass through Iraq. This river originates in the > Taurus Mountains in Turkey and has dams or barrages at Mosul, Samaraa > (Tharthar), and Kut and Amara. > > The relatively small Jordan River, which forms the borders between Palestine > and Jordan, is 360 kilometres long. Formed from the tributaries Al-Hasbani in > Lebanon and Al-Laddan and Banias in Syria, it passes through the Hula Valley > after which it drops into the Sea of Tabariya (Sea of Galilee). From there, > it continues southward through Al-Ghur after which it is joined by the > Yarmuk, Zarqa and Jalloud tributaries and then flows into the Dead Sea. > Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Israel are all dependent on water from > the Jordan River. > > In addition to these rivers, there is a vast network of seasonal wadis. Of > diverse sizes and capacities, depending on topographical formations and > annual rainfall level, they number in the hundreds of thousands. These wadis > only fill during certain seasons of the year and sometimes only for a few > days or even hours. Although there are no concrete studies on the volume of > water that flows through these wadis during their flooding seasons, it is > certain to be several dozen billion cubic metres, which could possibly be > tapped. > > In terms of subterranean water, the Arab region sits atop an estimated 7,734 > billion cubic metres, of which 35 billion cubic metres are available. These > resources renew themselves at the rate of only 42 billion cubic metres a year > and large portions are non-renewable. Subterranean water resources are > replenished primarily from rainfall that seeps down through the ground into > subterranean aquifers. But they can also be created from the upward seepage > of the steam or water given off from deep geothermal or sedentary processes, > and which is then trapped in subterranean pores or rock strata. There are > three major aquifers in the Arab world: > > - The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (SNAS) that spans 1.8 square kilometres > covering northwest Sudan, northeast Chad, southeast Libya and most of Egypt. > About 150,000 square kilometres of this is in the form of artesian wells. > This enormous reservoir contains nearly 20 times the amount of annually > renewable water supplies in the Arab world. The SNAS water table rises to > create the Dakhla, Kharga and Farafra oases in Egypt's Eastern Desert. > Libya's Great Manmade River Project will be able to transport two million > cubic metres a day from this aquifer to the Libyan coast where project > planners envision that it will be able to irrigate 180,000 hectares of > agricultural land. > > - The Bas Saharan Basin is an aquifer system that covers 140,000 square > kilometres from the Atlas Mountains to Tunisia, enclosing the Grand Erg > Oriental. It is estimated to contain around four times the amount of > renewable water supplies in the Arab region. > > - The Disi Aquifer Basin, which stretches 106,000 kilometres through southern > Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia, which is the primary beneficiary. > > In terms of unconventional water resources, a process pursued primarily by > Libya and the Gulf countries, desalinisation provides more than 75 per cent > of the water consumed in the Arab Gulf countries. This area produces 1.85 > billion cubic metres of desalinised water a year, or around 90 per cent of > the total amount of desalinised water produced in the Arab region. According > to some American sources, 35 per cent of the world's desalinisation plants > and 65 per cent of the energy devoted to such plants in the world are located > in the Arab world and in the Arabian Peninsula in particular. Meanwhile, the > treatment of agricultural, industrial and domestic wastewater to permit for > its reutilisation in agricultural and industrial projects saves between 6.5 > and 7.6 billion cubic metres of water a year. Water consumption for domestic, > agricultural and industrial use in the Arab world has increased fivefold over > the past 50 years. The current annual level of consumption is estimate at > around 230 billion cubic metres, of which 43 billion are for domestic and > industrial purposes and 187 are for agriculture. > > EMERGING WATER CONFLICTS: Water is of critical importance to the Middle East, > with vast stretches of arid land, ambitious economic development projects and > greater than average population growth rates. A report of the > Washington-based Centre for International and Strategic Studies on a seminar > it organised in 1987 on US policy towards Middle Eastern water issues stated > that by the third millennium water would have supplanted oil as the region's > prime concern. But this is not the only region where freshwater resources > have been a source of international tension. The UN and its agencies were > forced to step in between India and Pakistan in the 1950s after water > disputes spiralled into a full-fledged war. > > Of course, some international water disputes have been resolved peacefully > and, occasionally, water resources have proved instrumental in avoiding > conflict and bringing countries together. Treaties between countries that > share a single river are an example. Nevertheless, of the 215 trans-boundary > river systems, many remain unregulated by treaties covering the various > aspects of their utilisation. Although there exists a range of international > principles and judicial rulings aimed at protecting acquired rights to and > the freedom of navigation in what are termed international rivers, they are > not comprehensive enough to forestall conflict as the water crunch grows more > and more serious. > > In this region, water will become a chief if not the chief source of tension > when the water deficit becomes severe under the impact of the pressures of > demographic growth and economic development requirements. Political hotspots > surrounding water will surface in those areas where Arab freshwater resources > are plundered or used illegally and where there is constant abuse or > attrition of Arab water rights. Hydraulic projects on the part of countries > at the source or along the tributaries of major rivers that provide the Arab > world with 85 per cent of its freshwater could constitute such a threat. The > threat and the consequent spectre of war would be greater where there are no > treaties regulating water rights to international rivers or where existing > treaties have grown obsolete and need to be renewed, or where there are no > international mechanisms to enforce accepted conventions or formal agreements > on water use. > > The Jordan River basin, the Tigris-Euphrates river system, and the Nile River > basin are all potential water resource flashpoints. Perhaps the most serious > threat comes from Israel's theft and depletion of Arab water resources in the > West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, the Golan Heights and South Lebanon. Israel > obtains 60 per cent of its water from the occupied Arab territories. Indeed, > it has been conjectured that one of the reasons it occupied these territories > in 1967 and attempted to occupy Lebanon up to the Litani River in the 1980s > was to ensure its own water security. Meanwhile, major Turkish hydraulic > projects such as the Ataturk Dam and the Southeast Anatolia Project have > sparked sharp tensions with Syria and Iraq. And to the south of the > Tigris-Euphrates basin, the Shatt Al-Arab has been an arena of tension and > warfare between Iraq and Iran. > > The Nile River basin is no less a sensitive region, given that the Nile is > the life-giving artery for both Sudan and Egypt. Recently, the quota system > became a source of tension between Egypt and Sudan on the one hand, as > downstream countries, and the other eight upstream countries, especially in > light of Israel's attempts to help Ethiopia build dams along the Blue Nile, > which would reduce the amount of water flowing into Sudan and Egypt. The > Israeli hand is revealing itself day by day in southern Sudan where its > backing of the rebel movement obstructs the completion of the Gongoli Canal, > a joint Egyptian-Sudanese project aimed at preventing the waste and loss of > Nile waters. > > CHALLENGES AHEAD: Arab countries need to coordinate with other riparian > countries in order to prevent or offset the potentially detrimental impact of > hydraulic projects upriver. Whether the impact derives from long-term direct > effects or from immediate direct effects, it will have considerable social, > economic, political and technical repercussions. Otherwise put, the question > of water in the Middle East is no less than a question of Arab national > security. Reduction in the amount of water available to Arab countries > because of upriver hydraulic projects poses a threat to their water security. > Water deficiency not only hampers the ability to meet the immediate water > consumption needs of a people, it also obstructs agricultural production and > development, thereby threatening food security. Without food security, Arab > countries cannot achieve economic self-sufficiency and, hence, true autonomy. > > Upriver hydraulic projects could also impair hydraulic projects downriver, > especially hydroelectricity projects. Reduction in the efficacy of these > would be detrimental to industrial development and economic development in > general. Then, too, there is the spectre of pollution deriving from the > misuse or abuse of water by upriver riparian nations. In other parts of the > Arab world, the theft or abuse of subterranean resources by non-Arab parties > threatens artesian wells with salinity, making these waters unfit for > consumption and for agriculture. > > The political repercussions of the water crisis are obvious. Countries that > can control the source of water, as is the case of upriver riparian nations, > can have a powerful influence on the political will of others. Ironically, > just as Arab thought turned its attention to the importance of water > resources, water crises began to emerge in the Middle East. Around this time, > Turkey decided to complete its mega Southeast Anatolia Project, which > entailed cutting off Euphrates water from Iraq and Syria for several weeks, > nearly triggering a war between these two countries and Turkey. Also around > this time, the Middle East peace conference opened in Madrid in 1991. One of > its stated aims was to create a climate that would enable higher levels of > development in the world. > > Since the second half of the 20th century, the Arab region has had to > maximise the use of its water and compete over and search for additional > water sources in order to address three chief challenges: high and rapid > population growth rate; agricultural expansion and development in order to > feed the growing population; water management. These challenges have proved > all the more demanding in view of the fact that a large percentage of the > populace of the Arab world depends on river systems shared with non-Arab > countries. The problems created by shared international rivers have, so far, > compounded other problems that plague the international relations of the > region. The strategic challenge, therefore, is how these countries can secure > their water rights and maintain peaceful and cooperative relations. The task > is not as easy as it may appear, given that water is not the only issue of > contention between nations; relations are frequently complicated are other > political, economic and social problems of a cumulative historic depth. > > Consider, too, that the challenges are exponential in nature. Rising > population rates mean that populations double within shorter and shorter > timeframes, meaning that agricultural production needs to double accordingly > and so too the amount of water currently used. It is little wonder, > therefore, that in this region of limited water resources some countries with > the power and wherewithal to dominate water resources grab the quantities > they need for the present and for the future and then proceed to turn water > into a weapon in order to bend other countries to their will. As water > security is increasingly threatened by scarcity and surpasses oil in > strategic importance, one can easily picture it becoming not just the key to > agricultural and industrial development but also the decider between life and > death itself. > > * The writer is a researcher at Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political > Studies. > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > ------------------------------------ Post message: prole...@egroups.com Subscribe : proletar-subscr...@egroups.com Unsubscribe : proletar-unsubscr...@egroups.com List owner : proletar-ow...@egroups.com Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: proletar-dig...@yahoogroups.com proletar-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: proletar-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
