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NCSE Conference Promotes Water Sustainability
"Water issues have become one of the top priorities of the international system," Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Klaus Toepfer said in a statement at the 4th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment. Good science is critical to breaking the gridlock on water management policy, according to Robert Hirsch, Associate Director for Water of the U.S. Geological Survey. The urgent need to reform water management policies both in the United States and internationally emerged as a major theme of the conference on Water for a Sustainable and Secure Future, which was hosted by the National Council for Science and the Environment.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond offered a cautionary example of the results of poor environmental management practices as he delivered the John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture, Environmental Collapses of Past Civilizations. Diamond explained how environmental degradation led to the demise of the civilization on Easter Island in the South Pacific.
William Reilly, former Administrator of the U.S. EPA, stressed the need to modify U.S. water policies that have become remnants of a bygone era—when water was plentiful. Now population growth and other factors are straining water resources and creating conflict, such as that surrounding water allocation in the Klamath basin. Meanwhile, water resources are often wasted through inefficiency, which can reach 50 percent in some places. The United States had the worst water efficiency of 147 countries ranked by the World Water Council, a poor finish which Reilly linked to low water prices. The price of water in the U.S. averages $0.54 per cubic meter, while the United Kingdom averages $1.23 and Germany averages $1.78 per cubic meter.
Peter Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security, characterized the world's water situation as "a water crisis" that is getting worse. Population is growing most rapidly where water is least available, and water will be among the first resources affected by climate change. However, Gleick said that the water crisis can be alleviated by continuing to pursue soft-path solutions that involve community-scale water systems, open and decentralized decisionmaking, and greater efficiency.
A number of speakers called for water pricing reforms. Mohamed El-Ashry, former Chairman and CEO of the Global Environment Facility, recognized that water pricing is contentious, but "you won't get far without addressing it." Toepfer called pricing "perhaps the most important management issue regarding water and sanitation, the one that could have the most benefit for the poor…" He recommended progressive pricing that involves "charging more per unit the more water is used," to ensure that people can afford enough water to live healthfully and still provide incentives for efficient use.
Jeremy Pelczer, President of American Water, with 21 million customers in the United States, and Deputy CEO of RWE Thames Water, which has 70 million customers worldwide, said that people in leading positions in the water industry have a responsibility to improve that water situation for the world's poor. He suggested a role for the private sector that would include very low return, low risk investments in water provisioning systems in the developing world.
More than 800 scientists, policymakers, businesspeople, and civil society representatives participated in the NCSE conference in Washington, D.C. on January 29-30, 2004. Over 80 experts spoke in plenary sessions and smaller topical panels. In breakout sessions attendees generated recommendations on the role of science in achieving water sustainability. The recommendations will be published in a forthcoming conference report. To learn more about the conference please visit www.NCSEonline.org. For further information please contact Craig Schiffries, Conference Chair (schiffries@NCSEonline.org, 202-530-5810).
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