Water; An Issue of Life & Livelihoods

Water is essential for all socio-economic development and for maintaining healthy ecosystem. As population increases and development calls for increased allocations of grondwater and surface water for the domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors, the pressure on water resources intensifies, leading to tensions, conflict among users and excessive pressure on the environment.

http://www.fao.org/nr/water/issues/scarcity.html

Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century. Although, there is no global water scarcity as such, an increasing number of regions are chronically short of water.

According to FAO, by 2025, 1 800 million people will be living in coutries or regions with absolute water scarcity and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress condition. The situation will be exacerbated as rapidly growing urban areas place heavy pressure on neighbouring water resources.

Statistic from UN shows that, 26 countries suffered serious water scarcity since 1990 and most of the them are Africa, the Middle East, south Asia, the western United States, South America, China and nearly all of Australia. Sadly, it is up to 3 million people die each year because of water-borne diseases.

Water rather than land shortages are now stopping agriculture expanding in many regions, and the UN fears that water shortages could jeopardise food supplies and trigger economic stagnation.

Globally, water seems to be abundant. And the problem is that, where it is accessible of water it is either being heavily polluted or it is drawn from depleted reservoirs. Malaysia for example, more than half the 400 rivers in Malaysia are polluted according to the Drainage and Irrigation Department and the Department of Environment.

So Malaysian.. wake up..!!! do something and this is the time to help keep our water clean and there are many things we can do to help.

• Be careful about what you throw down your sink or toilet. Don't throw paints, oils or other forms of litter down the drain.
• Use environmentally household products, such as washing powder, household cleaning agents and toiletries.
• Take great care not to overuse pesticides and fertilisers. This will prevent runoffs of the material into nearby water sources.
• By having more plants in your garden you are preventing fertiliser, pesticides and contaminated water from running off into nearby water sources.
• Don't throw litter into rivers, lakes or oceans. Help clean up any litter you see on beaches or in rivers and lakes, make sure it is safe to collect the litter and put it in a nearby dustbin.

And always remember, water for life, water for livelihood. Millions of people rely in one way or another on water for their daily income or food production. Do appreciate our mother nature and conserve the environment for the sake of young generation.

Water for Life, Water for Livelihood...

credit to: FAO, UN, ytlcommunity.com, interestgrouppahang.wetpaint.com, Jabatan Pengairan & Saliran, Guardian.uk