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Water For All: The Water Policy of the Asian Development Bank

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I. The Context

A. Water, Poverty, and the Environment

1. Water is central to human existence.¹ A world without water is unthinkable. Its myriad uses are well known. But just as its abundance and efficient management enhances quality of life, its scarcity and wasteful use impact acutely on humanity. Water scarcity impacts on health, availability of food, and the conditions in which people live. The poor are particularly vulnerable when water is either unclean or in short supply. The Asian and Pacific Region is home to almost a billion of the world’s poorest people; accessing adequate clean water is one of their principal concerns. For many, finding water for their crops is a life-threatening issue. In fact, difficulties encountered in accessing water, frequently determine the position of the poor on the poverty ladder.

2. Asia’s ecological balance is critically dependent on water. Salinization and aquifer depletion are the typical consequences of overuse of water. Once fertile lands in India, Pakistan, and Central Asia have been laid waste due to salinization. It has driven small and marginal farmers into penury. Widespread water pollution has resulted in increased water scarcity; poorer public health; lower agricultural yields; and a declining quality of aquatic life in lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. Because the poor are often landless and farm marginally productive areas, forests get depleted, biodiversity is lost, catchment areas deteriorate, flooding is frequent, and groundwater recharge is diminished. Farm livelihoods, including those of the poor, become precarious and the poverty cycle is entrenched. Watersheds and ecosystems have been severely degraded in most countries of the region. For example, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is estimated to have suffered flood damage equivalent to $66 billion between 1990 and 1998. The poor have often borne the brunt of these adverse changes in the ecological balance.

3. The pollution of water bodies increases the incidence of waterborne diseases in rural and urban areas alike. The urban poor are compelled to spend a disproportionately large part of their scarce disposable income on water from private vendors. Hygienic sanitation is not available to almost 2 billion people in the region. Morbidity and mortality have increased and impact on productivity and incomes. Fetching water for drinking and cooking remains an arduous task in most rural areas. In rural Nepal and parts of the mountainous regions of the greater Mekong subregion, many village folk, mainly women and female children, still walk several kilometers over inhospitable terrain to fetch water. Employment and schooling are often foregone in the effort to sustain life. Box 1 illustrates how the poor are affected by lack of access to water.

B. Regional Issues and Impacts

4. In Asia, the relationship between water, poverty, and the environment is complex. While water has been a crucial factor in Asia’s development, its management has not been without difficulty. About 40 percent of Asia’s cropland is irrigated and helps produce about 70 percent of its food. Paradoxically, however, poorly conceived irrigation has also contributed to salinization and waterlogging. Associated problems include deterioration of surface and groundwater quality, loss of biodiversity (through drainage of wetlands, destruction of wildlife habitats, monocropping, and excessive use of agrochemicals), increased water shortages particularly in the dry season, increased incidence of pest outbreaks, eutrophication of surface water bodies, destruction of soil structure, and loss of natural fertility. Today, food production can be more efficiently increased by improving the utilization of water and other resources, rather than by expanding the land frontier. Groundwater-based irrigation, which has usefully supplemented surface irrigation, has sometimes deprived local residents of access to shallow groundwater supplies for domestic needs. In Bangladesh, it has resulted in serious arsenic contamination of groundwater. While hydropower accounts for about 20 percent of Asia’s electric power generation and has been a clean energy source, many of the associated storage reservoirs have produced significant environmental, ecological, and social impacts. Water supplies to Asia’s cities have helped slake the thirst of millions but insufficient attention to wastewater treatment and disposal is causing serious environmental problems. These paradoxes do not augur well. With a burgeoning population, the pressures on Asia’s water resources are rapidly becoming acute.

5. The pressure on water resources is compounded by Asia’s limited freshwater endowments, which are among the world’s lowest. South Asia, home to over a sixth of the world’s population, has the lowest level of water resources per capita. Its per capita availability of water has dropped by almost 70 percent since 1950. During the past 50 years, per capita availability has declined by 60 percent in North Asia and 55 percent in Southeast Asia. This decline has mainly corresponded to rapid population increases at rates previously not experienced. Larger populations have meant increases in water consumption with attendant high levels of waste. Since all waste is not captured in the water balance, overall availability has declined. Industrialization, too, has been responsible for higher water consumption (water efficient technologies are only now beginning to be introduced) with correspondingly higher levels of waste.

6. Low water availability, when coupled with high water withdrawals,² accentuates scarcity. Globally, water withdrawals have increased by over six times during the last century, or at more than double the population growth rate (Appendix 1). Within the Asian and Pacific Region, water withdrawals are the highest in Central Asia (85 percent), followed by South Asia (48 percent), and Mongolia and northern PRC (25 percent). Correspondingly, these regions suffer from a high degree of water stress reflected in serious water scarcity and groundwater use that exceeds replenishment. The stress is heightened by rainfall variability and the uncertainty of dependence on water from international rivers. For instance, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam are highly dependent on the Padma, Mekong, and Amu Darya rivers; over half their annual water resources come from these rivers. Similarly, Bhutan, the Fiji Islands, and Sri Lanka experience high rainfall variability.

7. The atoll islands³ in the Pacific are deficient in surface water and prone to prolonged droughts. Surface water supplies are highly unreliable and groundwater resources are limited. Saltwater intrusion and pollution from human waste are increasing. While water scarcity is less pronounced in the larger volcanic islands,⁴ the pollution of water bodies is becoming a serious problem in the urban areas. Water quality is also declining in villages in riverine and estuarine environments.

C. Future Resource Stress

8. Endowments. Between 1950 and 1995 the per capita availability of water resources dropped by almost 70 percent in South and Central Asia, by about 60 percent in North Asia, and by about 55 percent in Southeast Asia. In 2025, water availability per capita in the region will be between 35 and 15 percent less than the level in 1950. By 2025, half of Asia’s projected population of 4.2 billion is expected to live in urban centers where factors of increasing urbanization, industrialization, and profligacy are likely to put severe pressure on water availability. In view of the increasing competition for available water resources and the need to provide drinking water and sanitation as the first priority, the production of food to meet the needs in 2025 will have to be accompanied by a dramatic increase in the overall efficiency of irrigation water use. In Pakistan, more than 90 percent of total surface water withdrawals are for irrigation purposes. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, already under high water stress, are likely to suffer further; in all countries, water is a more limiting factor than capital in expanding irrigation. Regional food production needs in 2025 are assumed to be met by (i) expanding irrigated areas to 230 million hectares, and (ii) increasing productivity.⁵ Limited water resources and current irrigation practices present difficulties on both counts. Appendix 1 presents trends in the water sector in the Asian and Pacific Region.

9. Demand. Domestic and industrial water demands in Asia are growing rapidly at rates projected to range from 70 to 345 percent between 1995 and 2025. Water for domestic use is still inadequate despite large investments in water supply systems since the 1980s. About 750 million people in rural areas and another 100 million in urban areas still have no access to safe drinking water. Hygienic sanitation is needed for 1.75 billion people in rural areas, and 300 million in urban areas. Until this demand is met, productivity, incomes, and health will continue to be impacted, especially for the poor, and human costs will remain high. Industrial demand continues to rise; because water is treated as a social, not an economic, good, the rapid development and adoption of water-efficient technologies is inhibited. Countries that are beginning to industrialize are witnessing quick growth in industrial demand. The PRC, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Viet Nam are typical of countries whose water consumption needs are increasing as they rapidly move through the industrialization chain. In agriculture, too, demand for water continues to rise despite changes in cropping patterns and the introduction of new seed varieties that are less dependent on water. The fact that irrigated areas continue to use water inefficiently makes it more difficult to manage the demand. Competition for water is already acute in most countries in the region. Institutions and mechanisms are only very slowly being put into place to assess and manage demand, regulate the allocation of water among users, optimize water use, and resolve conflicts.

10. For the first time, water security is a live issue in the region. The demand for water has implications that go beyond the basic response of meeting it. For instance, industrial water use in Asia is expected to increase seven times between 1995 and 2025 in a scenario that assumes minimal efficiencies in water use. This implies an increase in the water pollution loads in the high-growth areas of Asia by up to 16 times for suspended solids, 17 times for total dissolved solids, and 18 times for biological pollution loading.⁶ Increases of this order are life threatening and bode ill for the future. Reduced dissolved oxygen in lakes, rivers, and coastal waters will impact adversely on aquatic life. Similarly, an increase in total dissolved solids in irrigation water will mean lower crop yields. With most urban wastewater not treated, or treated minimally, the expansion of urban water supply systems unaccompanied by treatment facilities will continue to impose huge environmental costs.

11. Natural Calamities. Floods and droughts are a common natural hazard in Asia and have strong links with water and its management. Watershed degradation (comprising mainly deforestation and soil erosion) and unplanned urbanization (where urban settlements disrupt natural drainage systems) are the two principal factors for flooding. Ill-conceived river improvements and flood control measures also exacerbate natural flooding. Bangladesh, PRC, and Pakistan suffered serious flood losses from 1988 to 1998. Over 140,000 people died in Bangladesh in 1991 due to cyclonic flood surges. In 1998, an estimated 3,600 people died in the PRC during severe flooding of the Yangtze and the northeastern rivers, which resulted in $30 billion in economic losses. In the same year, more than 1,000 people died in a devastating flood that inundated 66 percent of Bangladesh, affecting 30 million of the population. Drought damage has been less easy to quantify but large parts of the PRC and India have been seriously affected by drought from time to time. The poor are particularly affected by these calamities as they are less able to protect themselves. Global climate change may heighten the impact of floods and droughts in parts of Asia. In the absence of effective policies and infrastructure to manage water-related natural calamities, their impact in human and economic terms will continue to be severe.

12. Overall, water stress levels are high and demand will continue to outstrip supply. Water security has become a key issue for survival of not only the poor, but also of others whose lives depend critically on water. Industrialization and rapid urbanization will continue to increase water scarcity. Already, cities are reaching out to more distant sources of water supply; relocating industries close to water sources no longer means assured supply. Today, stakeholders are seeing more clearly that the future will be more concerned with managing a dwindling resource and mitigating the adverse impacts of a profligate past.

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