By Reaven D’SouzaManaging Editor
Water is the most precious natural resource required for the survival of all life forms on Earth. We need water to sustain our health, to ensure food security, and to provide the energy that fuels industries and drives our modern way of life. Despite the essential role that water plays in human development, and the existential threat that water scarcity poses for humanity, World Health Organization (WHO) estimates show that in 2021 more than 2.2 billion people around the world lacked access to safe drinking water, while 4.2 billion did not have adequate sanitation.
According to studies by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global non-profit research organization, one-quarter of the world’s population currently live in countries facing extremely high water stress, where demand regularly outpaces available supply. Repercussions from climate change and weather patterns, including an increase in the number and intensity of floods and droughts have exacerbated existing water risks and pushed water systems around the world into greater stress.
The WRI’s latest ‘Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas’ released a week back on 16 August, reveals that at least 50 percent of the world’s population — around 4 billion people — live under highly water-stressed conditions for at least one month of the year. The two most water-stressed regions in the world are the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where 83 percent of the population is exposed to extremely high water stress, and South Asia, where 74 percent is similarly at danger.
The Atlas also reveals that 25 countries — home to one-quarter of the global population — face extremely high water stress from regularly using up almost their entire annual available water supply. Unsurprisingly, Kuwait, known for its arid climate and absence of any natural surface water sources, is one of these two-dozen countries challenged by risks arising from water stress.
Kuwait is also among the five most water-stressed countries in the world, along with Bahrain, Cyprus, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar. The water stress in these countries is mostly driven by low supply, paired with high demand from domestic, agricultural and industrial use. A new report by Fanack Water, a Netherlands-based research group that focuses on water availability and demand in the MENA region, showed that Kuwait’s per capita water consumption of an average 447 liters per day is among the highest in the world.
The Fanack profile on Kuwait also revealed the country’s near-complete dependence on water-desalination plants for potable water. Desalinated water provides around 92 percent of water for domestic and industrial needs, and accounts for 60 percent of total water supply. In addition, the report provided other water details including that gross freshwater consumption reached 730.4 million cubic meters (MCM) in 2019, while freshwater production from desalination plants was 729.3 MCM and per capita consumption topped 419 liters per day.
Although the report’s comparative decadal data shows that freshwater production increased by around 7 percent from a decade ago, and per capita consumption decreased by nearly 10 percent during the same period, gross consumption increased by nearly 20 percent over the past ten years. The increase in gross water consumption has been largely attributed to the surge in population over the past decade, increase in developmental and agricultural projects, and the expansion of community services.
Freshwater consumption in Kuwait was also shown to have strong seasonal variation, with higher consumption rates recorded during the hot summer months from June to September each year, when demand rises by 20 to 25 percent over the annual average figure. For instance, media reports in early August this year, indicated that over two consecutive days in the first week of August, when temperatures soared to record levels, water consumption surged to a record level of 2.54 MCM per day, while daily production lingered at 2.39 MCM. The situation forced the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy (MEW) to dip into its strategic reserves to meet demand.
Additionally, the Fanack study disclosed that brackish water consumption in 2019 totaled 63.3 MCM by the end of 2019, while production was 71.5 MCM and per capita consumption stood at 36.4 liters per day. Over half of the annual groundwater withdrawal in 2019 went for agricultural purposes, even though agriculture contributed less than 0.4 percent of the country’s GDP. In addition, the continued use of unsustainable and traditional methods such as flood irrigation in raising agricultural crops results in high water losses and severe irrigation inefficiencies.
In an effort to enhance food and water security in the country, Kuwait’s Cabinet established the ‘Supreme National Committee for Strengthening the Food and Water Security System’ in August 2022. The committee was tasked to draw up a food- and water-security strategy, and to implement this strategy through a ‘road map’ on policies and procedures to be followed in order to realize this security plan.
Speaking to a local media back then, Dr. Saleh Al-Muzaini, chairman of the Kuwait Water Association, a non-governmental, civil society organization, welcomed the formation of the Supreme Committee, and said that the committee had an important role to play in ensuring long-term water security of the country. Lamenting the then prevailing situation where the country lacked clear policies and implementable strategic plans for long-term sustainable water security, Al-Muzaini urged the committee to draw up a comprehensive, integrated and sustainable work program, so as to achieve and ensure Kuwait’s long-term water and food security.
Underlining the importance of clear policies and strategies in managing water resources, Al-Muzaini went on to note that, with freshwater needs projected to rise by 20 to 30 percent by 2030, on the back of increases in per capita consumption and gross demand, the MEW would find itself in the unfeasible situation of having to establish a new desalination plant with a production capacity of 380 million liters, and at a cost of around KD450 million per plant, every five years.
Unfortunately, since the establishment of the supreme committee last year, political developments led to resignation of the cabinet, the holding of a fresh general election, and the swearing-in of a new cabinet and parliament. Amidst these parliamentary turbulences, it is not clear whether, or how, the Supreme National Committee’s planned road map on food-water security has progressed since then.
Although its ample strategic reserve of nearly 19 MCM in storage tanks around the country helped the MEW tide over the temporary surge in demand in early August, the shortfall should serve as a warning, and be treated as a precursor to what could be in store if negative impacts from climate change and summer temperatures continue to rise as predicted in the coming years.
Increasing the country’s strategic water reserves through constructing more storage facilities, or building more desalination plants, are clearly not sustainable strategies. Without a rationalization in consumption and a commitment to preserve water by everyone in the country, these extraneous plans to produce and store more water would over the long-term be nothing more than an exercise in futility.
Across the world, demand for water is outstripping what is readily available. This is largely the result of population growth, increased irrigation, and the large-scale industrialization of agriculture and livestock-rearing, as well as due to rise in demand for energy production and manufacturing. The water shortfall from increasing demand is further exacerbated by a fall in supplies arising from lack of investment in water infrastructure, unsustainable water use policies and practices, as well as increased variability due to climate change effects.
Globally, water demand is projected to increase by 20 to 25 percent by 2050, while the number of watersheds facing high year-to-year variability, or less predictable water supplies, is expected to increase by 19 percent. For many countries in the Middle East and North Africa region this could result in their entire populations having to live under extremely high water stress by 2050. This is a problem not just for consumers and water-reliant industries, but for governments and their political stability in the years ahead.
Although water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, around 97 percent of this water is salty and remains in oceans and seas that people, animals and plants cannot directly use to sustain life. The remaining 3 percent is freshwater, but nearly 70 percent of this is locked up in the north and south poles, in glaciers, and on snowy mountain ranges. Of the balance 30 percent of freshwater, nearly 29 percent lies in natural underground reservoirs as groundwater, leaving only 1 percent of freshwater readily accessible to sustain life.
Despite the scarcity in water availability, people continue to engage in excessive consumption patterns and wanton wastage of this vital commodity with the result that places around the world are now facing increased water stress that threatens their economic and social development, as well as their food security. In addition, water stress is often a threat multiplier that fuels local and regional conflicts and crises, which then have the potential to impact countries far removed from the affected area.
Water stress occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount, or when deterioration of available freshwater resources restricts its use in terms of quantity and quality. The smaller the gap between supply and demand, the more vulnerable a place is to water shortages. The WRI defines a country facing ‘extreme water stress’ as one that uses up at least 80 percent of its available supply, while ‘high water stress’ refers to countries withdrawing 40 percent of its supply annually.
Across the world, water stress is expected to get worse and develop into full-blown water crises, particularly in places with rapidly growing populations and economies, as well as in those places vulnerable to the deleterious impacts of climate change. The good news is that water stress need not necessarily develop into a water crisis; like other challenges, it can be managed through effective and timely intervention.
Water-security specialists say that through new and smart investments in water infrastructure, far-sighted governance policies, and better water management, even countries with relatively high water stress can secure their water supplies. While overcoming the complex, interconnected challenges posed by water stress will not be easy, it is achievable through bold commitments and innovative solutions.
Through efficacious policies and measures that set clear and measurable targets for managing water, and accountability for achieving them, as well as providing dedicated finance, and transboundary collaboration, water stress can be mitigated and water availability improved to benefit the people, economies and the planet.
Read Today's News TODAY... on our Telegram Channel click here to join and receive all the latest updates t.me/thetimeskuwait
