Quenching Mexico City's thirst
As Mexican President Vicente Fox prepares to open the 4th World Water Forum, the BBC's Claire Marshall looks at the severe water problems facing Mexico City.

Many in the city have just one hour of running water per week
With a population of more than 20 million people, and dwindling water supplies, the Mexican capital is a stark example of the severe water supply issues facing many of the world's rapidly-developing mega cities.

The parched ground crunches beneath your feet as you walk through the Texcoco area on the outskirts of the city. The bleached, cracked terrain stretches out in all directions. Nothing can grow here.

It is very difficult to imagine, that just 70 years ago, this area was filled with water. This was one of five lakes that used to enrich the Mexico City valley.

Today, in a prime example of what more than a century of water mismanagement can do, they have all but disappeared.

Population growth, the over-exploitation of subterranean aquifers, and a failure to recycle limited water supplies have turned a once-fertile region into a barren desert.

Many of Mexico City's inhabitants get by on just one hour of running water per week.

And, most people consider the city's tap water to be undrinkable - though water officials say it is now safe to drink - so Mexico has become the second-highest consumer of bottled drinking water in the world.

Water waste

In her office, Marta Delgado, the president of the Mexico City Water Commission, points at a wall map of the capital.

People think that a water war starts when nothing comes out of the tap... it happens when the water becomes more expensive, or is of a lower quality

Marta Delgado
Mexico City Water Commission
Her arm makes a wide arc as she points out where there used to be water. Then she points at the few isolated blue patches where it remains.

"I think that if we do nothing, then we are heading for a crisis," she says.

"People think that a water war starts when nothing comes out of the tap. But it doesn't. It happens when the water becomes more expensive, or is of a lower quality. That is already happening here in Mexico City."

At one of the city's few sewage treatment plants, a pungent smell fills the air.

The manager of the site says that they manage to process half a cubic metre of waste per second.

However, he points out that the metropolis produces 50 cubic metres per second.

Less than 10% of Mexico City's waste water is recycled, compared to London, where that figure is more than 90%. Most rain water is also lost.

Answers

Looking for solutions, the World Water Forum delegates will be hearing about the progress being made by community projects from around the world.


Less than 10% of Mexico City's waste water is recycled
Ron Sawyer heads one called TepozEco, not far from Mexico City. With state money, and investment from their NGO, he has helped to install 30 ecological toilets in one village where there is no piped water.

"I think it is a major hurdle, and extremely important that there be more dialogue between the actual users of water and the government, and the private sector in terms of certain niches where it can help more effectively," he says.

Marcela is one villager who is now saving and recycling her precious water supplies.

Running water from a tap connected to a large storage tank, she says: "During the dry season, we used to have to go and get buckets of water on our donkey. It was a long journey. Now we have stored enough to last us for many months."

The planet's population is swelling, and fears about climate change are growing. This Water Forum desperately needs to come up with answers for a global problem.




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4812352.stm

Market forces stir up water debate
By Mark Kinver
BBC News science and nature reporter



Are arguments over funding eclipsing possible solutions?
Water polices are failing to deliver adequate access to clean drinking water to millions of people around the world.

That was the stark message that emerged from the latest edition of the influential UN World Water Report.

The publication of the report coincides with the start of the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City.

The gathering attracts delegates from all over the globe who will debate the key water issues facing the world.

The UN's report warns that if there is not a marked improvement in existing measures, the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water between 1990 and 2015 will be missed.

So who is to blame for the failure of current approaches?

The Sustainable Development Network, a coalition of 30 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), firmly points the finger of blame at governments.

The Network says heavy-handed regulation is hindering rather than helping the situation.

Pushing the limits

It has published a book listing a series of examples from all over the world where, it says, market forces are delivering the clean water that governments have failed to provide.

The editor of the book, Kendra Okonski, a director of the UK-based International Policy Network, says the solution is to give water a market value.


We have got to move away from this myth that the private sector is going to come up with the cash

Peter Hardstaff, World Development Movement
"If we view water as a global common good, it means that we collectively own it and no one has the responsibility to look after it.

"But if we manage it with markets and underlying institutions - such as property rights and the rule of law - then people are much more likely to look after the water and use it more effectively," she told the BBC News website.

One region where governments are failing is Africa, Ms Okonski says, where many countries are experiencing rapid rates of urbanisation.

"You have some of the poorest people on the planet moving to cities, to live where the slums or shanty towns are located. But national and local governments refuse to extend the boundaries of the cities.

"These cities' water systems are not being extended because the governments are refusing to recognise the land tenure of these people."

She says this has led to many small-scale entrepreneurs providing water all over these cities in a number of ways.

"What they do is meet a demand, so in a way you do have markets operating in these regions. That is not to say it is satisfactory, but it is an example of people providing services where governments are not."

Barun Mitra, director of the Delhi-based Liberty Institute, agrees: "It is the inability to learn from the bottom up that is at the root of this problem."

He gives an example of an "informal entrepreneur" providing water to people in the poorest area of the Indian capital.

"This entrepreneur has connected up a number of dwellings in the slum by a grid of pipes. He then provides water for half an hour in the morning and another half an hour in the evening.

"People pay about $10 a month for this," Mr Mitra told this website. "Where the monthly income will be $100 or less, this is a lot of money but people are willing to pay because they will have a secure supply of water.

"But because the entrepreneur is also from the same area he can judge people's ability to pay on a case-by-case basis. It is an extremely flexible way of providing water."

Mr Mitra said public officials should recognise the role these entrepreneurs were playing in providing a service and see them as a source of revenue that would otherwise be lost.

"This entrepreneur should be used by the utilities in this area, rather than being branded illegal."


Click here to see a map of nations' "water footprints"
Private sector 'myth'

But not everyone backs the view that the private sector can deliver a framework that will put the Millennium Development Goal back on target.

The World Development Movement will publish a report next week that will coincide with World Water Day (22 March). It will say efforts to privatise water supplies in developing nations have failed.

Peter Hardstaff, head of policy at the UK-based campaigning organisation, says the key question is about funding.

"If you look at the estimates of what is needed, you are looking at tens of billions of dollars to invest in improving access to water and sanitation for the world's poorest people.

WORLD WATER FACTS

One billion people without access to clean drinking water
2.6 billion without adequate sanitation
Rapid urbanisation increasing pressure on water resources
30-40% of water 'lost' through illegal tapping and leaks
(Source: UN World Water Report)
"Our report demonstrates that the private sector is not going to come up with the money because they do not have that sort of money," he told the BBC News website.

"We have got to move away from this myth that the private sector is going to come up with the cash."

Mr Hardstaff said there were many arguments about the best way to invest public money in order to deliver results.

"What has been shown to work across the world, both in developing and developed nations, is public utilities. There are community-owned and managed schemes, workers' co-operatives - there are whole different ways of doing things.

"But the past 15 years of experience suggests that the private sector does not have the money and is no more efficient or effective than the public sector.

"So if we are going to spend public money and we need strong government, let's accept that fact and get on with improving things."

Carlos Fernandez-Jauregui, deputy co-ordinator of the UN's World Water Assessment Programme, sets the context of why there is a need to find a way to deliver results.

"If we continue business as usual the water crisis will get worse - not only in developing countries but also in developed countries," he told these pages when the UN World Water Report was published.

"We ignore this at our peril."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4813222.stm

Pictures..... A couple are distrubing....Please pray for the rain to return to these areas.....

Riverbeds

East Africa’s prolonged drought has dried up rivers in Tanzania and left some 3.7m people on the verge of starvation, with much of the country experiencing daytime power cuts as hydroelectric plants are short of water.
The Maasai in the north of the country have been badly affected by the failed rains. Forced to leave their villages, many walk up to 30km a day in search of water.

Digging in riverbeds is often the last resort to find some drops for themselves and their cattle.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pict...ears/html/1.stm

recycle the posibilitys are endles