37 Socio-economic aspects of Water

Meenakshi Suhag

epgp books

 

Objectives:

 

1.      Water as a critical natural resource

2.      Water as a social and economic resource

3.      Water for socio-economic development

4.      Water and Sustainable development

5.        Socio-economic crisis due to water

 

Concept map

 

Introduction

 

37.1 Water as a critical natural resource

 

Ever since the world began, water has been shaping the earth by keeping the earth’s climate from getting too hot or too cold. Every plant, animal, and human being needs water for their survival as all the life processes, from taking in food to getting rid of wastes require water. Water is also essential for maintaining an adequate food supply and a productive environment. The water cycle is the most fundamental of all ecological services in the global systems that support life. Water has always played a fundamental role in human societies, regardless of language or culture all humans share this basic need that is essential for survival. Moreover, if we look at the rise and fall of civilizations, they are all now being analysed in relation to water. All great civilization in the human history flourished along with rivers. Nations, cities are closely associated to the water in rivers, lakes and wells, because of availability of fresh water easily for daily activities, and fertile land available for agriculture. The availability of water has been identified as a fundamental issue concerning the future of food production. Water contributes directly to human well-being, through cultural, social and recreational uses. Water also affects society indirectly to grow the irrigated crops, for the industries which transport, process and market the resulting agro-food and agro-chemical products.

 

The extent to which water is plentiful or scarce, clean or polluted, beneficial or destructive, persuade the quality of human life. The earth has an enormous amount of water, about 326 million cubic miles (1.4 billion cubic kilometers) of it. However, 97 % of this water is in the salty oceans and more than two percent is in glaciers and icecaps. The rest total is less than one per cent. Most of the water is underground, and the remainder includes the water in lakes, rivers, springs, pools, and ponds. It also includes rain and snow and the vapour in the air. A country’s water supply is determined by its precipitation. In regions with plenty of precipitation year after year, there is plenty of water in lakes, rivers and underground reservoirs. The earth as a whole receives plentiful rain. If this rain fell evenly, all the land would receive 34 inches (86 centimeters) a year. But the rain is distributed unevenly. Generally, the world’s most heavily populated areas receive enough rain for their needs. These areas include most of Europe, Southeast Asia, the Eastern United States, India, and much of China. But about half the earth’s land does not get enough rain. These dry areas include most of Asia, central Australia, most of northern Africa, and the Middle East. Out of the total precipitation, including snowfall, the availability from surface water and replenishable groundwater is estimated as 1869 km3. Due to various constraints of topography, uneven distribution of resource over space and time, it has been estimated that only about 1123 km3 including 690 km3 from surface water and 433 km3 from groundwater resources can be put to beneficial use (Table 37.1.) (National Water mission, 2008)

37.2    Water as a social resource

 

The consideration of water as a social resource implies that its accessibility should support social well being both at individual and collective levels. Water contributes to welfare in several ways such as in health (e.g. clean drinking water), agriculture (e.g., irrigation), and industry (e.g., hydroelectric power). The supply of clean and good quality water is essential for protection from diseases, improves health and to ensure better human survival. Water is also considered to be one of the most important aesthetic landscape elements (Volker and Kistemann, 2011). An attractive landscape provides health and well-being to humans (Abraham et al., 2010). Therefore, water resource availability, or lack of it, is linked to economic and social progress, suggesting that development is likely to be influenced by how water resources are managed (Sullivan, 2002). In many uses, water may also serve to promote societal goals such as stemming rural de-population and promoting societal equity.

37.3    Water as an Economic resource

 

Economic prosperity and social wellbeing are both strongly dependent, either directly or indirectly, on water quality and availability. The basis for any corporate development is the existence of water. In 1992 the Dublin Water Principles claimed ‘‘water as an economic good’’ for the first time in a UN setting (See Box 1). Water is a component of all stages of human economic activity from the beginnings of the industrial revolution was predicated on water power and a regular water supply for industrial processing and today the location of nuclear power plants is in part a function of water for cooling processes. Water is a multi-dimensional issue and a requirement for achieving human security, from the individual to the international level. Water is a foremost factor in each of the three pillars of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, all industrialized countries invested heavily in hydraulic infrastructure and institutions to facilitate their remarkable economic growth and progress. Urbanization is part of the economic development of most countries, is one of the most significant trends of the 21st century, affecting global economic development, energy consumption, natural resource use and human well-being (Fitzhugh and Richter, 2004). A lack of water may restrict economic activity and also jeopardize the many important non-economic uses of water. Water resources are important to economic development, as water is essential to the production of agricultural goods and services.

Box 1. The Four Dublin Principles (ICWE, 1992)

 

1.  Water is a finite, vulnerable and essential resource which should be managed in an integrated manner.

 

2.  Water resources development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving all relevant stakeholders.

 

3.  Women play a central role in the provision, management and safe guarding of water.

 

4.  Water has an economic value and should be recognized as an economic good, taking into account affordability and equity criteria.

 37.4 Different socio-economic aspects of water

 

37.4.1 Water as a basic domestic commodity

 

Use of water may be broadly classified into three consumption categories: agricultural, industrial and domestic. Water is an input not only in agricultural and industrial activities but also as an input in the household production function of consumers. Domestic sector accounts for 10% of total water use. Water requirement in homes is associated for production of meals, personal hygiene, and recreation. The availability and management of safe drinking water is a prime concern of society. Globally, domestic water use alone has grown on average by 2.2% every year for the last 60 years (Florke et al., 2013). The availability of water in Indian cities varies with socio-economic groups and areas. Households with incomes below Rs 3,000 a month suffer a lot – about 72 per cent of such households in these cities lack sufficient water (Shaban and Sharma, 2007).

 

37.4.2 Water and Jobs

 

Water is an essential component of national and local economies, and is needed to create and maintain jobs across all sectors of the economy. Half of the global workforce is employed in eight water and natural resource-dependent industries: agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, resource-intensive manufacturing, recycling, building and transport (as per the United Nations World Water Development Report 2016 (Box 2)). Water jobs (or jobs in the water sectors, or water sector jobs) are the direct jobs in the water sectors, which are mainly comprised of: a) water resources management, including IWRM and ecosystem restoration and remediation; b) building and managing water infrastructure; and c) the provision of water-related services, which includes: water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (UN DESA, 2008). It is further estimated that 1.2 billion jobs, or 36% of the world’s total active workforce, are moderately water-dependent.

Box 2 Water and Jobs (The United Nations World Water Development Report 2016): Jobs in water sectors fall under one of three functional categories:

 

I. water resources management, including integrated water resources management (IWRM) and ecosystem restoration and remediation;

 

II. building, operating and maintaining water infrastructure; and

 

III. the provision of water-related services including water supply, sanitation and wastewater management.

37.4.3 Water and health aspect

 

Drinking water quality is of great significance in relation to the public health. Health problems in India are dependent on water quality today as most of the Indian towns and cities don’t have access to safe drinking water. As per WHO (2016), worldwide in 2012, an estimated 871 000 deaths were caused by contamination of drinking water, water bodies and soil, inadequate hand washing facilities, and by practices resulting from inappropriate or inadequate services. Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services mainly cause deaths from diarrhoeal diseases.

 

Safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are fundamental to an improved standard of living, including the protection of health and the environment, improved educational outcomes, greater convenience, dignity and gender equality (Hutton and Chase, 2016).

 

Reducing the burden of disease from inadequate WASH services requires: (a) improved coverage of safe drinking-water supply to prevent consumption of contaminated water and enable personal hygiene; (b) adequate sanitation in households and other setting (such as schools and health facilities) and safe management of faecal waste to reduce human excreta in the environment; (c) adequate hygiene practices such as hand-washing after defecation, or before food preparation and consumption; and (d) improved access to health care and proper case management of diarrhoea (WHO, 2016).

 

Major obstacles to reducing mortality resulting from inadequate WASH services and related lack of hygiene include: (a) natural threats such as water scarcity due to climate change; (b) inappropriate governance, institutional arrangements and financing in water supply and sanitation; (c) rapid expansion of unplanned settlements; (d) depletion of water resources through pollution and environmental degradation; and (e) lack of access to health-care services. Drinking-water suppliers will also need to ensure that water sources are not contaminated with toxic chemicals such as arsenic and fluoride which can occur naturally, especially in groundwater (WHO, 2016).

 

37.4.4 Agriculture production

 

Globally the major use of water is in the agricultural sector, accounting for 70% of water withdrawals worldwide. Water is the main factor in the production of agricultural product, which contributes to the national income. In developing countries, whose income mainly depends on agricultural products, water use in agriculture can occupy up to 90 % of all water withdrawals (FAO, 2010). On the other hand, in the rich countries, water use in agriculture plays an insignificant role in the economy, as it can be seen that the water use in agriculture takes the second largest share of water use because the high income countries mostly rely on the industrial sector and technology (Doungmanee, 2016). New investments in irrigation infrastructure and improved water management can minimise the impact of water scarcity and partially meet water demand for food production (Falkenmark and Molden, 2008).

 

37.4.5 Industrial production

 

Industries use water in many ways such as raw material and for cooling. It is estimated that 15% of world-wide water use is industrial. Major industrial users include power plants, which use water for cooling or as a power source (i.e. hydroelectric plants), ore and oil refineries, which use water in chemical processes, and manufacturing plants, which use water as a solvent. Industry and energy together account for 20% of water demand. More-developed countries have a much larger proportion of freshwater withdrawals for industry than less-developed countries, where agriculture dominates. Balancing the requirements of sustainability against the conventional view of industrial mass production creates a number of conundrums for industry. One of the biggest is globalization and how to spread the benefits of industrialization worldwide and without unsustainable impacts on water and other natural resources.

 

37.4.6 Energy Production

 

Water power, or hydropower, furnishes about 7 percent of the world’s commercial energy. Energy production is generally water-intensive. Hydroelectric power is an important source of clean energy. It provides approximately twenty percent of total electricity production worldwide and brings notable economic and environmental benefits.

 

37.4.7 Water as an element of psychological welfare

 

Regan and Horn (2005) found out that water is preferred by people in a relaxed or happy mood, followed by those who are stressed. This indicates that water is a favourite place to spend leisure time and for recreational activities in addition to its restorative effects from everyday stress. People spend most of their leisure time around their homes (Frumkin, 2003).

 

37.5 Water and Sustainable development

 

Water is at the core of sustainable development and is critical for socio-economic development, healthy ecosystems and for the human survival. It is significant for reducing the global burden of disease and improving the health, welfare and productivity of the populations. Water is a key driver of sustainable growth and poverty alleviation as an input to almost all production, in agriculture, industry, energy, transport, by healthy people in healthy ecosystems. It can be a force for destruction, catastrophically through drought, flood, landslides and epidemic, as well as progressively through erosion, inundation, desertification, contamination and disease. The growth and sustainable development of a town is dependent on its natural setting, physical environment and socio-economic environment that are highly influenced by the presence of water bodies. Lack of water means poverty and poverty means lack of capability to access basic necessities of life and live with dignity. Therefore, water can play a key enabling role in strengthening the resilience of social, economic and environmental systems in the light of rapid and unpredictable changes. Achieving basic water security, harnessing the productive potential of water and limiting its destructive impacts, has been a constant effort of the human society. Human societies are now challenged with assuring the quantity and quality of the most precious water while maintain or improving its environmental integrity. In many dry areas, water is now one of, if not the principle, factor limiting increased social welfare. Particularly in such areas, the wise and optimal management of water is thus a pre-requisite for ensuring maximum long- term societal welfare, or sustainable regional development in its broadest sense. Lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation can be related to economic, political and social power imbalances; discrimination against certain groups or communities; a government’s failure to prioritise water for the poor; lack of political will; the exclusion of communities in water and sanitation decision making; and inadequate legal and policy frameworks relating to water access and use (FAN, 2010).

 

37.6 Water right

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for drinking-water quality provide a basis for the development of national standards that, if properly implemented, will ensure the safety of drinking-water.

 

Acceptable: Water should be of an acceptable colour, odour and taste for each personal or domestic use. All water facilities and services must be culturally appropriate and sensitive to gender, lifecycle and privacy requirements.

 

Physically accessible: Everyone has the right to a water and sanitation service that is physically accessible within, or in the immediate vicinity of the household, educational institution, workplace or health institution. According to WHO, the water source has to be within 1,000 metres of the home and collection time should not exceed 30 minutes. Affordable: Water, and water facilities and services, must be affordable for all.

 

In India, the right to water has been protected as a fundamental human right by the Indian Supreme Court as part of the Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian constitution. The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. The right to water is also necessary for the enjoyment of others human rights including the right to life and human dignity, the right to health, the right to adequate food, the right to adequate housing, the right to development and the right to a healthy environment.

 

37.7 Socio-economic Crisis due to Water

 

37.7.1 Water security

 

The United Nations describe an area as “water stressed” when annual water supplies drop below 1,700 cubic meters per person. In India the per capita availability of water dropped significantly from 1,816 cubic meters in 2001 to 1,545 cubic meters in 2011. In 2013, India’s Water Resources Minister stated that, ‘By 2050, the per capita availability of water will further decrease to 1,140 cubic meters. By these facts India is already a water-stressed nation.

 

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) (2012) has defined water security as, “Ensuring the availability of adequate and reliable water resources of acceptable quality, to underpin water service provision for all social and economic activities in a manner that is environmentally sustainable; mitigating water-related risks, such as floods, droughts and pollution; addressing the conflicts that may arise from disputes over shared waters, especially in situations of growing stress, and turning them into win-win solutions” (GWP, 2012). Groundwater supplies are diminishing, with an estimated 20% of the world’s aquifers being over-exploited (Gleeson et al., 2012). However, due to rapid increase in population, the need to meet the increasing demands of irrigation and human consumption, the available water resources are getting depleted and the water quality has deteriorated. The likely impacts of climate change and increased urbanisation will result in the increase of the share of global water use to satisfy urban demand and will make water security for urban population even more difficult and costly to achieve (Savic et al., 2014).

 

37.7.2 Floods

 

The floods cause economic loss such as damages to assets, property and housing; as well as environmental loss. This has caused people to migrate from their native villages, temporarily or permanently as they lose their occupations, or experience a disruption in carrying out their economic activities (Srivastava and Shaw, 2015). Flooding which is a common trend in the perennial rivers especially in the north Indian plains like North Bihar plain, Assam Plain etc destroys the crop cultivation and damages the settlements and other economic activities in the region.

 

Box 3 As per UNICEF (Water in India: Situation and prospects), 2013

 

In this context, an estimated 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually with 1.5 million diarrheal deaths in children.

 

UNICEF reported that the utilizable water for human use (654 billion cubic metres (BCM)) is very close to the current actual water use (634 BCM); these figures indicate an imminent alarming situation in this country.

 

Some of the crucial issues faced by the water sector in India include (a) erratic distribution of rainfall, often leading to floods and droughts in various areas; (b) water use inefficiency; (c)    unregulated groundwater extraction; (d) water pollution; and (e) decreasing water quality due to poor waste management laws, inter-state river disputes, growing financial crunch for development of resources and scarce safe drinking water.

 

Water stress is defined as annual water availability of less than 1700 m3 per person, whereas water scarcity occurs when it drops below 1000 m3.

 

 

37.7.3 Natural and anthropogenic contamination of water resources

 

The societal value of water in a given use refers to all of those benefits which society derives, either directly or indirectly, via the market or via other mechanisms, as a result of the water’s use. With the rapid industrialization and increasing use of fertilizers and pesticides, the quality of surface and groundwater resources is deteriorating. Water as an environmental resource is regenerative in the sense that it could absorb pollution loads up to certain levels without affecting its quality. In fact there could be a problem of water pollution only if the pollution loads exceed the natural regenerative capacity of a water resource. India is very famous for the pollution in Yamuna, Ganga river systems. Govt is consistently trying to purify Ganga like “Namami Ganga”. Because of the dumping of the industrial effluents and MSW disposal, this affects the quality of river and causes damage to aquatic biomes which ultimately affects the fish production and crop production. Poisonous water leads to the death of people who uses the river water for various livelihood purposes like drinking, washing, agriculture etc.

 

37.7. 4 Inter State Water Disputes in India

 

The competition for water − between water ‘uses’ and water ‘users’ − increases the risk of localized conflicts and continued inequities in access to services, with significant impacts on local economies and human well-being (According to The United Nations World Water Development Report 2015).

 

Numerous inter-state river-water disputes have erupted since independence. Some of the water disputes that are ongoing now include the Mahadayi water dispute among Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra; the Vansadhara water dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh; the Krishna water dispute involving Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; the Cauvery water dispute; and the Ravi Beas dispute involving Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956 was legislated to deal with conflicts, and included provisions for the establishment of tribunals to adjudicate where direct negotiations have failed. However, states have sometimes refused to accept the decisions of tribunals. River Disputes – The dispute between two states and two nations are hampering the economy. India faces international water disputes with China and had one with Pakistan after independence. The current dispute with China is worry some as the possibility of flooding due to the regulation of water from China side can hamper the economic activities in Assam plain and Bengal region. Intrastate disputes are also very common , Kerala-Tamilnadu, TN-Karnataka, Karnataka-AP are some examples.

 

37.8 Climate Change

 

The likely impact of climate change on water resources could be in the form of (According to National water mission, Ministry of water resources, river development and ganga rejuvenation, Government of India):

 

1.      Decline in the glaciers and the snowfields in the Himalayas

 

2.      Increased drought like situations due to overall decrease in the number of rainy days in many parts of the country

 

3.      Increased flood events due to overall increase in the rainy day intensity

 

4.      Effect on groundwater quality in alluvial aquifers due to increased flood and drought events

 

5.      Influence on groundwater recharge due to changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration.

 

6.      Increased saline intrusion of coastal and island aquifers due to rising sea levels.

 

37.9 Water pricing

 

The use of water for industry and energy are of great importance in terms of the amounts of water used, the cost of investments to provide the water and the economic significance of the resultant production. Present water tariffs are commonly far too low to actually limit excessive water use by wealthy households or industry. While it is important that pricing policies reward users for saving water, responsible use may at times be more effectively fostered through awareness- raising and appealing to the common good. Another strategy, which needs consideration, is changes in water pricing structures. Mostly water rates are based only on a portion of what it costs to obtain, develop, transport, treat and deliver water to the consumer. The costs are usually paid for in part by subsidies from the state using tax payers’ money and therefore are not accurately reflected in an individual’s water bill. The rates can be thought to vary with the availability either by an increase in price during period of abundant supply. The policy of peak demand pricing can also be effective in conserving water in which higher rates can be proposed for water use beyond a prescribed limit. Moreover, some economic incentives for using small amount of water can be given to consumers for encouraging water conservation. Studies are required on collection of economic data on other actions to induce conservation since reduction in water use will probably be attributable to both price increases and other factors. These efforts will be needed separately for residential, commercial and industrial sectors. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) suggests that water costs should not exceed 3 per cent of household income (Kumar et al., 2005). Tourism as an economic activity has grown substantially and is increasingly adding to local and seasonal pressures on water supply systems of tourist destinations around the world. The problem faced by the water sector is that prices and tariffs are almost universally below the full-cost of supply. This means that almost everywhere there are large inefficiencies in the water sector and that water prices need to be raised.

Box    4 According to the World Bank (2000)

 

The objectives of fair water pricing are

 

(a)  to seek revenue to pay for the operations and maintenance of water availability,

 

(b)   to improve water use efficiency, and

 

(c)     to recover the full costs of water pumping and treatment. Since water bills typically represent a small proportion of income.

 

37.10 Summary

 

Water is one of the critical natural resource and basic human need for sustaining good quality of life on the earth. Water resources are important for the social and economic development of a country. Some of the crucial socioeconomic issues related to water are availability of safe drinking water, water contamination and health, waste water management, Inter-state River disputes and climate change. Moreover, due to unavoidable future population growth, serious problems of water, food and energy shortages may occur. There are two possible ways to tackle these problems. One is to reduce water, food and energy consumption as much as possible, and the other, at least for food and energy, is to increase their production with more efficiency (Chen et al., 2016). Appropriate water pricing is also important for improved water demand and conservation of water. Improved access to water services and improved management of water resources contribute substantially to economic growth through increasing business productivity and development. Because of the significant impact on economic development, social stability, and ecological balance, the allocation of water resources has become an issue of worldwide concern. Therefore, the efficient, equitable, and sustainable allocation of water is vital for water management authorities.

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