Water for All (Asynchronous Session)
Urban Water Security and Water Policies: A Case Study of Nairobi City View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Eden Sahle, Maulline Gragau
Water is an essential element in the existence of animal and plant life. Needless to say, rapid population growth across the globe and technological advancement in socio-economic development imposes great pressure on water resources the world over. Therefore, water security is a global concern in recent times. This study focuses on urban water security in Nairobi city. The paper seeks to find out whether sufficient (quantity and quality) freshwater is available at the Tana River basin for supply to Nairobi city. The Nairobi water and Sewerage Company receives 94% of its water from the Tana River basin north of the city through three reservoirs: Sasumua Dam on the Chania River, Thika and Chania-B Dams. The company whose mandate is to supply water relies almost exclusively on surface water to satisfy the growing city's water needs. Surface water supply for Nairobi stood at 484,500 m3/day in 2010. The water available to the city has plummeted. Nairobi’s water company is distributing 400,000 cubic metres a day, 150,000 less than it used to and 350,000 less than the city needs; 60 % of the population lacks reliable water. Literatures demonstrate that water security has multiple definitions depending on the definition of human and/or environmental need. The key elements of water security are water access, water safety and water affordability. Investing in water, wastewater management and protecting watersheds will lead to increased levels of human health, reduced levels of poverty and increased education and employment opportunities, resulting in overall sustainable national development.
The Global Water Crisis as a Climate Emergency: Water Wars and International Security, Economic Development, and Environmental Sustainability View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jenny Rebecca Kehl
Water scarcity disrupts food supply, distorts economic development, jeopardizes public health, decreases political stability, and threatens regional security. The purpose of this research is to examine water scarcity as a climate emergency, rather than a slow drip of incremental leaks. From the water wars of the Middle East to the food insecurity that triggered the Arab Spring, to the role of water scarcity in radicalization in Syria and Iraq, to the volatile conflicts over dwindling water recourses in India and China, to increasing tensions along 120 international borders marked by rivers running dry, water security is becoming an urgent issue. “The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water,” stated Ismail Serageldin, World Bank Vice President for Environmental Affairs (2000). The Lightning Talk will assess the relevance and implications of this statement for water conflicts and policy solutions. Our research develops a valuable new dataset on water disputes and provides a systematic analysis of conflict in the twenty largest transboundary lake systems and river systems in the world. The results identify specific triggers, thresholds, and policy strategies that are effective in mitigating water wars. One of the great paradoxes of water scarcity is that it can provoke conflict or promote cooperation. Scarcity can lead to increasing intensity of competition and violent conflict, or scarcity can clarify the need for cooperation and facilitate improvements in sustainability. Our work is motivated by the prospect of reducing the imminent threat water scarcity poses to regional stability, international security, and environmental sustainability.
Congo Basin and Planet Sustainability: A Novel Approach View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tongele Tongele
This paper discusses how local people’s ways of life in Congo basin can be likened to uranium pellets stacked together into sealed metal tubes called fuel rods, whose fission generates immense heat that turns water into steam which spins a turbine to produce carbon-free electricity. In other words, local people’s ways of life in the Congo basin are compressed and stagnated, such that their “fission” will generate sustainability means to both improve local living conditions and protect local living environment. As such, external (national/international) policies and actions must stimulate local people’s ways of life into fission that generates concepts and actions that translate into powerful sustainability means. Currently, well-known efforts to assure Congo basin and planet sustainability include on one hand international, regional, and national summits and policies, and on the other hand private for-profit and not-for-profit advocacy organizations worldwide. Allocated moneys are generally used for planting trees in urban areas, recycling, identifying areas of deforestation, conducting research that include satellite imaging and global monitoring, incentivizing green development and industry, etc. None of these include stimulating local people’s ways of life for fission that would generate best sustainability means to improve local living conditions and protect local living environment. The overall result in terms of improving on climate change is not satisfying. This paper shows that the best and most effective ways to assure that Congo basin plays its role of regulator of world’s climate is through local people’s ways of life becoming generator of means and tools of sustainability.
