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Water sources, infrastructure, space and the dynamics of environmental diseases in Saboba District: Using GISIndia, Iran and Pakistan. The politicisations of water issues and violentprotest (e.g. Ghana since 2001) may also occur in reaction to waterprivatisation.On a similar vein like Postel and Wolf (2001), CSIS-SNL (2005) notedthat water is the basic foundation of life; and human prosperity,economic development and political stability will be retarded in thoseregions where the quality and reliability of water supplies remainuncertain. With no access to a reliable and appropriate source of water,families, usually women (and girls) spend a lot of their time fetchingwater. Water-related diseases and the time spent in fetching water, keepchildren from attending school and retard the adults’ productivity. Theopportunity forgone in terms of productivity can reach hundreds ofmillion of dollars, even in poorer regions.According to WHO and UNICEF (2004) more than one billion peopleon Earth (near one-sixth of the world’s population) currently rely onwater sources that are unsafe, unreliable, or difficult to access for theirdaily domestic uses. The organisation also estimated that about one-thirdof the world’s population lack access to basic water and sanitationfacilities. As a result, millions of people, most of them children, womenand the aged are suffering and dying annually from diseases related topoor water quality. Vörösmarty et al (2000) believe the magnitude of thischallenge can double in the next two decades. To them, aside thereduction in productivity caused by inadequate access to safe drinkingwater and improved sanitation is what is dubbed the silent killer of thedeveloping world.Also Gleick (2002a) is of the view that by the year 2025, more peoplecould die of water-related diseases than will perish from the HIV/AIDSpandemic. These trends will have great consequences for prosperity andstability, unless the trend of this problem is drastically reduced (Gleick,2002b). He believes that today than later, should be the starting line.Difficulties in managing water resourcesBotterweg and Rodda (1999) have pointed out that water management isa complex process since it involves many actors at different levels,especially when it crosses national boundary. In this latter case, theyargued that national authorities are dependent on the compliance ofactors they cannot force by traditional government measures. To them,the success of management initiatives is dependant on among otherthings persuasion, incentives, and the flow of information between theseactors. The writers concluded that due to the fact that there are manyactors involved and none can force the other actors to comply makewater management issues more complex.Huisman et al (2000) work compliments Botterweg and Rodda (1999)above. They added that most cross-border commissions cannot force themember states to adopt laws, or firms to use the best availabletechnology. Hence, their role is often simply to advise the governments.It is for this reason that the judicial (drafting of agreements andadjudication) and the police service (law enforcement) will beinstrumental in water resources management.Ehin (2003) states that people behaviours toward water management aredriven by knowledge, expertise and the role of culture, norms, values andhabits. Thus, experts from the different disciplines and societal normshave different viewpoints that are difficult to integrate. For example, thepollution control person wants to talk about putting an end to pollution. Theeconomist is interested in comparing treatment costs versus source5
Matthew Biniyam KursahTRITA LWR Master Thesisprotection, while the planner wants to talk about site. Ehin furtherargued that ecologists are interesting in preserving the integrity ofecological subsystems, while sociologists emphasise that the mostimportant actors are human beings, whose patterns of socialestablishment are crucial for planning viable solutions to achievingsustainability of water. Also, the public health expert is interested indiscussions about parasites and all impurities contained in water. Thedifferent views are often treated incoherently. While there is no doubtthat any of the viewpoints is important as the other, their continuetreatment as separate views hinder effective water management practices.Attempts should therefore be made to integrate the various views.However, Elin (2003) noted that the problem is that it is difficult for oneperson with one of the view points to understand others’ views due tothe dilemma of dealing with different mindframes.Strategies for efficient water resources managementSmith (1981) “built” upon Garrett Hardin’s (1968) Tragedy of the Commontheory reviewed earlier. Smith believes that the problem ofoverexploitation is the results of resources being under public ratherthan private ownership. By its very nature, a property resource owned bythe commons is in effects owned by everyone and owned by no one (ibid). As aresult, no one has an incentive to maintain/preserve it, leading tooveruse or waste of the common resource in question. The writertherefore came to the conclusion that private ownership results insustained-yield use and preservation. In principle, Smith thus advocatesfor privatisation of water as the best managing strategy. However, he hasalso failed to show how water sources can become a private property –managed and protected by whom?CSIS-SNL (2005) believes that increasing local participation in theplanning, implementation, and maintenance of water projects wouldimprove sustainability by preventing oversight, incorporate localknowledge and needs, and make it acceptable in the “eyes” of thecommunity. The institute also argued that incorporating publicparticipation will help combine health, social and economies aspects ofthe people. For this to be effective, there must be efficient decentralisedadministration. However, low levels of public education, such as the casein Saboba district, sharp societal divides and possible corruption act toobstruct civil society in making rational and unbiased decisions. Myopinion is that the solutions/strategies being adopted to manage waterresources must first gain policy priority and be specific to thesocioeconomic, political and geographic conditions of the regionconcerned.Ghana situations of water supply and managementNsiah-Gyabaah (2001) in his research titled “The looming nationaldilemma of water crisis in peri-urban areas in Ghana” pointed out thatmisuse of water and wastage through pipe burst, pollution throughagriculture, rapid population growth, urbanisation and domestic wastedisposal systems were among the causes of peri-urban water supplyproblems in the country. He noted that the increase in population andurbanisation, particularly the conversion of watersheds into residentialand farmland areas has led to the depletion of water resources, especiallyits quality. He concluded that Ghana needs an explicit water policy inorder to solve the recurrence of the inadequacy in water supply. On asimilar view but much further, Arapto and Adisenu (2006) are of theview that ineffective community participation is as a result of the factthat the general public in Ghana hold the view that it is the responsibility6
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