Climate change and water crisis:

Where should we head to?

60th Annual DPI / NGO Conference

Eduardo Mestre, B. Sc., M. Sc.

Water Tribune Director
Expo Zaragoza 2008
UN New York September, 2007
emestre@expo2008.es

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 Prevailing conditions are bad, good news
Future conditions could be worse, bad news
• Partial visions blur reality and obstruct finding solutions to cope with climate change effects

• Excessive emphasis on government oriented solutions reduce success. Centralized water

governance obstructs basin management and weakens local action

• Lack of real public policy; lack of planning; incapable institutions; Improvisation to address or
solve climate change effects, are common in many countries: Nicaragua, Bangladesh

• Legal frameworks, too old, nonexistent or inadequate to address climate change; weak law
enforcement and weak penalties: both in developed and underdeveloped countries

• Science is advancing but translating scientific knowledge to real time solutions takes too long.
Scientists, policy makers, managers, water users and society run at different paces & objectives

• Knowledge on water matters is poor or insufficient. Biased education and poor culture to cope
with climate change effects Little is done in underdeveloped countries.

• Media experts on water matters are scarce. Unknowledgeable reporters contribute to blur reality.

• Social awareness: weak, badly informed, lack of interest: little knowledge, little concern

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 Prevailing conditions are bad, good news
Future conditions could be worse, bad news
• Water quantity and quality; scarcity and water pollution, water conflicts

– Lake Chad – Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Chad
– River Tieté, Southern Brazil;
– Hermosillo Coast, Mexico;
– Río Paute, Ecuador;
– Okavango River - Angola, Namibia, Botswana, South African Rep-
– Lempa River, shared by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Expected water
shortages in El Salvador. Political pressure among neighbor countries.

• Safe drinking water goals are yet far away. Water public services, including sewage
treatment, lag.

• Flood damage and increasing negative side effects, such as food shortage, will
increase

• Poor people will become poorer

• Governance, sustainable development and well being are endangered.

How can we stop these unfavorable situations? Are we really able to turn the tide?

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River Lempa Basin: Guatemala, Honduras and
El Salvador
Shared by three countries through a primitive
and unsustainable water allocation scheme

18,311 km²
4.7 million inhabitants
83% live in El Salvador
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Okavango River Basin

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Río Paute, a bitter COLOMBIA
road towards sustainable
development 680 700 720 740 760

O
4 0° N
0°

FIC
W E

S
ALAUSI

PACI
AZOGUES

CAÑAR
BIBLIAN

ECUADOR #
# GUACHAPALA
# #
DELEG #
#
PAUTE #
SEVILLA

EL PAN
CUENCA
#
-2° #
OCEANO

GUALACEO -2° #

CUENCA DEL CHORDELEG

RIO PAUTE #

SIGSIG

GUALAQUIZA

PERU
20 0 20 40 Kilom

ESCALA 1:600.000
-4° -4°

-5°
-81° -80° -78° -76° -5°
-75°
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 The seek for truth and knowledge,
the quest for real-life solutions and less hype
• Enough diagnosis, let’s move to action

– Is it solely a matter of government capabilities?, Social participation? or Both?

• Water management is based on conflict management: capacity to mediate, mitigate

or solve conflicts among water users, government & other stakeholders

• The challenge is clear: find solutions at a quicker pace, well founded, reasonably
approved by stakeholders and less time to pass from ideas to practical solutions.

• Time, willpower and money should be dedicated to mitigation planning, solving crisis
and ensuring public policy, strategies, and management tools are timely in place

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 Some basic elements to start with
For starters, there is a clear cut need to go back to some basic elements:

• A new relationship of human beings with water

• An improved scheme for fruitful interaction of social organizations and government

bodies; a better allocation of activities among them

• A new approach on how to use and protect water

• A new paradigm on water and sustainability, based on concrete solutions, strong

sustainable concepts, vastly diffused information globally, and indeed, on good will.

• A new water culture, including mankind’s experiences – good or bad --, good
practices, replicable situations, innovative projects and recommendations.

• Water management should focus on managing conflicts, making it its primary role

• Most water conflicts are of geopolitical nature, with economic, social, cultural,
environmental and legal features.

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 Water governance:
hints to change course
• Socially oriented integrated water management.

• Think globally, act locally: local governments are the basis to

improve water management

• Improve water allocation; manage conflicts

• Better schemes for social – public participation

• A new equilibrium: Social well being, economic growth and

environmental

• Improve geopolitical relationships: among users, within and between

basins, between government levels and among riparian countries

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 Extra care when exporting solutions
• What has worked in developed countries not necessarily will work in
underdeveloped countries

• Solutions are, in many cases, context oriented – time, place, background, et al-

• Understanding locals and respecting their roles is of paramount importance

• Thus, cooperation from rich to poor countries has to be thoroughly revised

• A crucial matter: export knowledge, concrete projects or money?

• Is developed world support really making a difference?: it all depends; in

general, NGOs support is being more fruitful than foreign government support

• How should we move ahead?

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 A few final remarks and steps ahead:
What is needed
• A new order with an improved role of society on water
matters around the world

• A new order to help things improve at a faster,

sustainable pace

• A new order where communities may be able to cope with

climate change through appropriate tools, resources and
political support

• A new order where efficiency substitutes improvisation

and lack of transparency

• Education is indispensable; the role of mass media is

crucial

• A new order with streamlined institutions, improved policy

making and planning (ban improvisation), improved human
resources development and periodically presenting results
to be socially assessed

• Accountability has to become a way of life

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