{"id":5764,"date":"2017-08-22T12:06:42","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T07:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cawater-info.net\/all_about_water\/en\/?p=5764"},"modified":"2017-08-18T16:16:43","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T11:16:43","slug":"global-water-woes-australias-looming-water-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cawater-info.net\/all_about_water\/en\/?p=5764","title":{"rendered":"Global water woes: Australia’s looming water crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>With the world facing a 40%\u00a0water shortfall by 2030 threatening\u00a0Australia’s food and water security,\u00a0Kellie Tranter\u00a0calls on the Abbott Government to urgently address the need for investment in water research and development.<\/em><\/p>\n

NO-ONE cares about water until the taps run dry. It\u2019s a\u00a0reality\u00a0now facing the residents of Broken Hill. In time we all will, including our Asian neighbours, unless we confront and plan for our water-insecure future.<\/p>\n

\n

In October 2010, the Prime Minister\u2019s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council\u00a0report, \u2018Challenges at Energy-Water-Carbon Intersections\u2019, highlighted that<\/p>\n

\u2018Australia faces major challenges at energy-water-carbon intersections to mitigate climate change while continuing to supply energy and to cope with limited water availability while maintaining and increasing population. These challenges will demand transformational responses.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Last year researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, Vermont Law School and CNA Corporation in the United States\u00a0warned\u00a0that<\/p>\n

\u2018by the year 2040 there will be not be enough water in the world to quench the thirst of the world population and keep the current energy and power solutions going if we continue doing what we are doing today.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Calls for transformational responses are still lacking. Baker & MacKenzie\u2019s April 2014\u00a0submission\u00a0to the Government\u2019s issues paper on Agricultural Competitiveness said that over 50 per cent of those surveyed believed the greatest challenge to Australia\u2019s food supply was the availability of water.<\/p>\n

Iron ore billionaire,\u00a0Andrew Forrest, recently\u00a0called\u00a0for the harvesting of 5,000 gigalitres of water from underground aquifers and rivers to drought proof existing agricultural areas and open up thousands of hectares of land for new agricultural projects.<\/p>\n

Good in theory perhaps but such plans would require a thorough study of the over-exploitation mistakes made in countries like\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0and\u00a0India\u00a0and, closer to home, the over allocation of water licenses in the Murray Darling Basin.<\/p>\n

Essential to Andrew Forrest\u2019s plan is financial backing from Chinese investors. We must ensure that ownership of our water is retained by our state or country to guarantee equitable distribution, sustainable use and unfettered regulation.<\/p>\n

In Malcolm Fraser\u2019s last\u00a0interview\u00a0he said,<\/p>\n

\u201cWater\u2019s a problem. One day the water works on the Victorian coast might be wanted but maybe also you could bring water down from the Kimberleys in a 6 or 8 ft pipe. Think of the communities you could establish between the Kimberleys and Melbourne.\u00a0 These things cost money but if we really want a great country, a country to be proud of,\u00a0we need to invest in that country and there are a lot of things that private enterprise is just not going to do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Although private enterprise should not own or control the public tap, as overseas experience has clearly demonstrated, businesses\u00a0are aware of the impact of water scarcity on their operations. Water supply issues are now being discussed in 62 per cent of the world\u2019s largest companies. In January it was\u00a0reported\u00a0that<\/p>\n

\u2018Water is set to become a more serious risk for companies and investors. World Economic Forum attendees named H2O a top-three\u00a0risk\u00a0two years running.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Water scarcity isn\u2019t just a risk to businesses and communities.\u00a0Lost in the debate about terrorism is a failure to examine factors that can\u00a0spark\u00a0or perpetuate conflicts. Peer-reviewed\u00a0research\u00a0from the American Water Works Association reveals that<\/p>\n

\u2018water scarcity linked to climate change is now a global problem playing a direct role in aggravating major conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

This echoes the 2012\u00a0warning\u00a0by the US Director of National Intelligence that<\/p>\n

\u2018During the next 10 years, many countries important to the United States will experience water problems \u2013 shortages, poor water quality, or floods \u2013 that will risk instability and state failure, increase regional tensions, and distract them from working with the United States.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Given Australia\u2019s strategic importance to the United States, combined with climate change predictions that Australia\u00a0faces\u00a0a\u00a0water\u00a0crisis, one wonders to what extent the U.S. security establishment had Australia in mind.<\/p>\n

The world\u00a0faces\u00a0a 40 per cent water global shortfall between forecast demand and available supply by 2030.\u00a0Within the\u00a0next\u00a015-20 years the worsening water security situation risks triggering a global food crisis.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If the Federal Government is sincere in recognising the importance of water security and in its prioritisation of national security and its quest to find jobs after the rubble boom, then\u00a0investment in water research and development, followed by technology and infrastructure, would appear to be an appropriate and urgent place to start.<\/p>\n

Kellie Tranter is a lawyer and human rights activist. You can follow her on Twitter\u00a0@KellieTranter.<\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0https:\/\/independentaustralia.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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