Parched

by Meredith Benton

March 22, 2007, is World Water Day. Recognized each year since 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly, World Water Day aims to highlight the necessity for cooperative and integrated approaches to water resource management. From Boston, where we have ready and affordable access to clean water, it’s easy to lose sight of why a day like this is important. Boston and 98 percent of the industrialized world have water sanitation services. In developing countries, however, only 48 percent of people have sanitation coverage. The World Bank has theorized that access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene could save 1.7 million lives a year. One in three people are estimated to live in water scarce regions, with insufficient access to water for agricultural, industrial, or personal use.

In 2000, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) wrote the following in its Global Environment Outlook: About one-third of the world’s population lives in countries with moderate to high water stress. The problems are most acute in Africa and West Asia, but lack of water is already a major constraint to industrial and socioeconomic growth in many other areas, including China, India, and Indonesia. If present consumption patterns continue, two out of every three persons on Earth will live in water-stressed conditions by the year 2025. The declining state of the world’s freshwater resources, in terms of quantity and quality, may prove to be the dominant issue on the environment and development agenda of the coming century.

Water scarcity affects all aspects of development, from economic growth and food security to public health and gender equality (see sidebox “Women and Water,” page 6). As if that weren’t sobering enough, poor water management has also had serious environmental implications. Aquatic ecosystems rely on water flows. Since the early 1900s, there has been a sixfold increase in water withdrawals from freshwater and coastal ecosystems. This has led to an estimated decline of 50 percent in freshwater species between 1970 and 2000.

The quality and quantity of existing freshwater resources is affected by a long list of environmental, political, and economic factors. Examples include: industrial use, source water pollution, agricultural needs, shifting human populations, tsunamis, hurricanes, dams, and hydropower projects. All of these changes to freshwater resources are being exponentially increased by climate change, which is disrupting typical weather and rainfall patterns. These developmentshave led to greater regulation, commoditization, and ownership assertions over water. Passionate debates are currently raging over water privatization, ownership, and water’s role as a human right. According to the United Nations, more than 3,800 unilateral, bilateral, or multilateral declarations or conventions on water currently exist, including 286 treaties to cover more than 200 international river basins.

Industry’s Role? According to UNEP’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), industrial uses account for one-quarter of the world’s consumption of available water resources. Industry is also a major source of water pollution. UNEP FI has estimated that, in developing countries, close to 70 percent of all industrial waste is dumped untreated. Like poor populations, businesses in these regions are often constrained by the shortage of readily available clean water.

Business disruption, the need for increased investment in water treatment or waste water treatment, and the constraints placed on business growth by insufficient water resources in the U.S. and abroad all present real business risks.

As examples, both Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo were forced to suspend operations of their bottling units in Kerala, India, in 2004 after strong objections from the local community over the depletion of the water table. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo also continue to struggle with tarnished brand images and boycotts in Kerala as a result of a study released by the Centre for Science and Environment in 2006. This report, which received international attention, alleged that their beverages contained unsafe levels of pesticide residue. At Intel’s plant in New Mexico, the community group, SouthWest Organizing Project, successfully opposed its purchase of water from southern New Mexico in 1997. In another example Anheuser-Busch, after a dry winter on the West Coast in 2001, saw prices skyrocket as a result of irrigation allocations for barley in Idaho and increased hydroelectric-based electricity prices.

However, studies have shown that using existing techniques and practices, industry has the capability to cut water demand by 40 to 90 percent. These steps can lead to, among other things, cost savings, decreased liabilities, enhanced brand image, and decreased business interruptions.

 The Pacific Institute, an Oakland, California based research institute focused on development, environment and security, recommends that the private sector follow specific steps to manage water use, including: measure current water use; assess water landscapes and water risks; consult stakeholders; engage supply chain; establish a water policy and set corollary goals; and form strategic partnerships.

While corporate awareness and active response to this issue is still low on the learning curve, some companies have begun to address water use in manufacturing and in product lifecycles. For example, Procter & Gamble has estimated that nearly 85 percent of its sales are in some way associated with the use of household water. The company has designated water as a priority focus area, published water use data in its sustainability report, and formulated guidelines for water in product development. In another example, Intel has established a Corporate Industrial Water Management Group to provide water management oversight. The group includes representatives from fabrication sites, corporate tech development, and compliance. As the company says on its website:

A sustainable water resource is essential for a healthy community, balanced growth, a high quality of life, and Intel’s business. With some of our key manufacturing sites in arid locations, we recognize that prudent water management is an essential component of our overall business success.

In addition, a number of companies have seen opportunities in developing technological innovations to address directly the water scarcity dilemma (see “Cutting Edge Companies: Watts Water Technologies, ” back page). It is important to note, however, that best practices in the business world are, by themselves, insufficient. Many of the problems associated with water scarcity come from circumstances beyond the control of even the largest multinational. A company dedicated to water resource management is adrift when trying to address programs in regions where no formal water management systems are currently in place. In these cases, it becomes hard to understand where the company’s work should end and the host government’s should begin. Which entity should own the developed water infrastructure? Which entity should be responsible for making provisions to the local community? Which entity should be responsible for setting limits and monitoring compliance?

One of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations is to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015. As World Water Day is intended to emphasize, in order to reach this goal international, national, and local legislators, business leaders and community activists need to work together to coordinate and integrate their approaches to water scarcity. Anything less would be just a drop in the bucket.