14 December 1999

Experts agree an action plan to beat water scarcity

Water specialists from all over the world have agreed on a number of recommendations and an action plan aimed at overcoming the difficulties of water scarcity and the land use and poverty problems that go hand-in-hand.

Meeting in Amman, Jordan, scientists and officials from 28 countries in addition to eight international organizations, made a number of recommendations highlighting global as well as regional and community responsibilities in placing water availability and use at the forefront of international thinking. Farmers in many dry-area countries, including Jordan, have seen crop yields suffer in recent years because of inadequate rainfall or supplies of irrigation water. In a number of Middle East countries, autumn and winter plantings of cereals have not taken place in 1999 because no rain has arrived to assist crop germination. 

ICARDA Director General Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy told conference guests, including HRH Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein, Jordan's Regent, that it was time for the 'Blue Revolution' based on water.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General of ICARDA, one of the co-organizers of the Amman Conference on Water Resources Management, Use and Policy in the Dry Areas, said science was finding new ways of harvesting rainwater, of using marginal or waste waters, and of planning catchment systems using remote sensing techniques, as well as developing new crop varieties tolerant to drought and salinity. It was time for a 'Blue Revolution' based on water to repeat the success and benefits of the 'Green Revolution' which took place in the 1960s, he added.

The seriousness of water scarcity in the region and other dry areas of the world was underlined by the patronage provided by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan to the conference and by the presence of the Regent, Prince Faisal bin Al-Hussein, as well as senior officials and scientists from government and independent research institutes, and international organizations, from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the USA.

Jordan's Minister of Agriculture, Mr Hashem Al-Shboul, stressed that water resources were most important to the economy and security of the region, and he also drew attention to the imbalance between population growth and natural resources in the area, and that between water demand and supply. He called for an international summit meeting similar to the Earth Summit to be set up to discuss water problems.

In his opening speech, Dr El-Beltagy outlined the challenges faced by ICARDA and other science and development organizations based in the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region. He pointed that equal distribution of the world's water resources of about 10 billion cubic meters (m³) across the world population would be adequate to meet demand for decades to come. However, distribution is uneven, causing regional and local water scarcity so that Jordan, for example, faces the challenge of annual water availability dropping down to less than 200 m³ per person.

ICARDA is tackling water scarcity on two fronts, said Dr El-Beltagy. Firstly, the Center is developing technologies to get otherwise lost water resources and make them suitable for agriculture. Water harvesting and the use of non-conventional resources, including treated effluent, saline water and agricultural drainage water are elements of this strategy. The second approach is to increase productivity of the available water resources by methods such as supplemental irrigation, agro-management technologies and development of water-use efficient crop cultivars.

The King Abdullah II Canal, Jordan, distributes irrigation water for farmers along a 110 km route parallel with the Jordan River.

After two days of presentation and debate, the conference agreed an action plan as well as a number of recommendations. Immediate action was urged for countries, international organizations, and research institutes to get a clear and full assessment of water resources. The new approach to managing water resources in the dry areas should be geared to overcoming crop failures, reducing poverty and conserving the environment, all contained within a sustainable development framework based on integrated research and the promotion of efficient agricultural systems.

It was agreed immediate action was needed to train more people from the farm level up to scientific researchers in water management techniques, and to have much improved coordination between scientists and all those involved in water use research.

The global nature of water scarcity, either now or in the future, was highlighted in several main recommendations from the meeting. Conference delegates called for demand for water to be reined in and for fairer distribution of available water - between people and among nations, as well as between people and nature.

Delegates called for alternative water and land uses to be identified to help in the fight to eliminate poverty, and for any new approaches to water management for agriculture and for other uses to take account of the fragile natural ecosystems generally prevailing in the dry areas. Emphasis was also placed on developing new technologies for application in water management and saving, wastewater treatment and marginal water use, desalination, water storage and distribution, and water harvesting and conservation. 

The issue of charging for water was also discussed. In this context it was recognized that, while equitable distribution of water to support and sustain agricultural systems and rural communities is essential, the social and cultural values of water, as well as its economic value should be considered.

Competing demands for water occur at international as well as local levels so the conference emphasized the need for cooperation and information exchange. To avoid conflict, it recommended mutual recognition of the interests and concerns of all riparian states and integrated water management of entire water basins. In doing so, delegates also called for a high-level Council for Water in the dry area countries, and for updated regional databases for climate soil and water.

Community responsibility should also play a part in the 'Blue Revolution,' particularly in stabilizing populations - forecast to reach 8 billion worldwide by 2020 - and in creating a public climate in which water strategies can change from supply-driven to demand-oriented policies. Water conservation should be encouraged in households, agriculture and industry, and land use changes considered to prevent water pollution and water deficits, and to minimize wasteful and destructive flooding.

Delegates recommended that ICARDA take the lead in working with national, regional and other international organizations to follow up on the major themes and recommendations of the conference, which was organized by ICARDA in conjunction with the International Water Management Institute, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the Ministry of Agriculture in Jordan, with support from the Islamic Development Bank.

For more information on the issues of water scarcity and use which led up to the Amman conference on Water Resources Management, Use and Policy in the Dry Areas, please contact Dr Theib Oweis, senior water management specialist at ICARDA. E-mail: t.oweis@cgiar.org

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.