A Perspective on Water Crisis Essay Example for Free

A Perspective on peeing bring Crisis EssayGlobal piddle crisis is one of the biggest problems that the domain of a function is cladding. Fresh pee resources are increasingly go scarce today and probably for the next decades. Less than one-half of 1% of all the weewee depict on the planet comprises the available sassy and clean wet (Maude). Humans already employd more than half of the worlds clean fresh water and by the year 2025 the consumption of freshwater departing increase to three-quarters. Global water consumption becomes double e genuinely 20 years and if this trend continues, the supply of freshwater will non be luxuriant for the demand of the worlds population by 2025. World Bank and World Heath Organization noted that there are about 2 billion people move over no access to clean and safe water and about 1 billion people have no complete clean water to meet their daily water requirements. Depleted water resources are attributed to the intensive urba nization, deforestation, water diversion, industrial farming and population growth. As the world population increases, the consumption of accessible freshwater whitethorn grow six-fold (Maude). As a result of water crisis, lots of people suffer and die from water and sanitisation related diseases such(prenominal) as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis.Unfortunately, close of the poorest countries in the globe are the ones who are experiencing water shortage. Uganda is located at the Sub-Saharan Africa and is among the poorest countries around the globe. The land relies solely on agricultural patience however, teensy-weensy than half of the arable land is subject for cultivation. Large part of the land area (more or less 82%) of the province is arable, however more than 67% of the demesne has poor ferralitic soil which has nearly lost its mineral content due to prolonged weathering. Thus, suitable soil management is needed for the soil to regain its lost nutrients.Th e economy of the region has a bang-up potential difference, considering the potentials of its agriculture and natural resources. There is a great possibility that Uganda will recover from difficulties, most especially from poverty. However, due to some existing problems that the country is facing, it seems to be difficult for Uganda to escape from poverty. One of the biggest problems that the country is facing today is water crisis. Water crisis definitely affect the country as a whole contributes to Ugandas poverty and worsen her current situation (Dauda, 2003).The country of Uganda is definitely endowed with water resources. About 18% of the total surface area of the country is covered with renewable water resources including lakes, rivers and wetlands. Approximately, it set up supply an single of Uganda with 2,800 m of water in a year (Dauda, 2003). These fresh water resources are considered as the essential resource for sustaining life, preserving the environment, uphold de velopment and alleviating poverty in the country. It has direct impact the quality of life of Ugandans and their productivity as a whole.Water is very essential to Uganda since it plays an essential role in the production of qualified supply of food for the country as fountainhead as supplying electric power all over the country. It is the key resource of the countrys agriculture, food processing and former(a) agro-industries which provides employment to the people of Uganda. Aside from digesting Ugandas agriculture and industry, water also provides electric power to the country. Indeed, it is the source of hydropower which is the countrys main resource of abundant and cheap electric power.The socio-economic development of the country depends solely on the energy produced from hydropower. Inadequate power supply cannot support Ugandas large-scale manufacturing industries and agro-industries which may lead to low economic level of the country (National Water victimization give ou t, 2005). The major freshwater resources of Uganda include rain, surface or open water and groundwater. Rainfall is the most vital source of freshwater of the country. The rainfall pattern in the country greatly influences the land use potential and consequently the population dissemination.The rainfall pattern of Uganda is influenced by the local topography and the presence of Lake Victoria. Rainfall in Uganda tends to increase with altitude meanwhile, rainfall is apt to decrease with the exceed from the lake. High rainfall is noted on the central and western parts of Lake Victoria and over the mountain. Another factor that determines the occurrence of rainfall is the countrys season. The most stable rain season in Uganda is from the months of March to may meanwhile, the reported variable rainy months in Uganda is from October to December (National Water Development Report, 2005).The major freshwater resources of Uganda are in the form of lakes and rivers. These open sources a re oftentimes used for the supply of hydropower in the country. The major resources of hydropower in Uganda are the Nile River and Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria supports the fisheries industry of Uganda and provide water supply to the majority of people of Uganda. Indeed, the Lake is also supporting the agriculture industry along its shoreline (National Water Development Report, 2005). However, the Lakes potential use for the future is now in question since it is experiencing dying up which leads to lower water levels.The available water left in Lake Victoria may not be enough to sustain the required hydroelectric power generation (Xinhua News Agency). Other water bodies include Kyoga, Albert, George, Edward, Ruizi, Katonga, Kafu, Mpologoma and Aswa (National Water Development Report, 2005). several(prenominal) of these lakes, most especially those on the western and central part are also drying up due to drought which threatens the cattle industry in the area. Cattles have unders ized access to water which may lead to lower production rate and low quality of Cattles (Xinhua News Agency).In addition to drought, the quality of surface water has been deteriorating with time. In most parts of the country, surface and ground water are already polluted due to increased urbanization and population as substantially as human activities such as poor agricultural practices, poor sanitation practices, industrial waste discharge, and mining activities (National Water Development Report, 2005). Aquifers, which can hardly be generated and recharged by endogenous precipitation, are also essential resource of freshwater in Uganda. It is the major source of water in rural, semi-arid and arid areas in the country.The occurrence of groundwater is highly dependent on the geologic formation in the country. Uganda is endowed with productive aquifers water this can be attributed to the geology of Uganda which is dominated by crystalised Basement Complex of pre-Cambrian age. Mor e than 90% of the country is underlie by different kinds of rocks which predominantly include granites, granitoid gneisses and gneisses. Ground water resources are generally implant on the underground layer of unconsolidated materials such as weathered bedrock, silt and clay.This groundwater can only be extracted through wells. The highest yielding and productive groundwater can be bring in weathered-fractured bedrock which has high permeability (National Water Development Report, 2005). In general, the groundwater of Uganda is in good and sound condition. There are no traces of toxic substances that may threaten the health of the people in Uganda. Moreover, these aquifers have significant amount of minerals such as aluminum, calcium, magnesium metal cations, chloride, iron, manganese and atomic number 24 that may not cause harm to the people of Uganda.Consequently, there are few parts of the country that are found to have high amounts of these minerals and have traces of high ni trate and chromium levels in some areas. Aside from high amount of minerals, it was also reported that some parts of the country have found to be positive in Coliform bacteria. Contamination of the aquifers is attributed to deterioration of the borehole casings, leaching of sewage wastes, weathering of aquifer environment as well as poor sanitation condition in the areas around the aquifers (National Water Development Report 2005).In general, the approachability and preservation of water resources in Uganda solely relies on different environmental, sociological and cultural factors. The availability of freshwater resources depends on the distribution of water bodies on the country. It is known that freshwater resources in Uganda constitute a great part of the country. However, due to its uneven distribution and seasonality, availability of water is still a big problem on most parts of the country. Ugandans find it difficult to have an easy access to fresh and clean water.Women tog ether with their young are spending so much time and energy on walking a mile-long way just to begin water from areas with sufficient supply of clean water. The uneven distribution of water resources in the country also influences the agro-industry in the country. Cattle raisers tend to transfer from pasture to place just to find safe and sufficient water for the cattles. As a result, disease spread and transfer brought by the cattles becomes prevalent on various regions of the country (Xinhua News Agency).Meanwhile, uneven distribution of groundwater greatly influenced the accessibility of Ugandans to clean water. Regions endowed with productive groundwater are indeed rich in geological characteristics (National Water Development Report 2005). The occurrence of extreme weather conditions has a great effect on the availability and safety of water on the country. Heavy rains may cause to flooding and consequently may contaminate the water resources of the some regions in the countr y. Contaminated water may result to more serious problems such as disease outbreaks, epidemics and even death.Contaminated water is the key reason to the high and increasing mortality rate of Ugandans especially of infants (National Water Development Report 2005). It is reported that most number of mortality occurs on infants and this can be attributed to less accessibility to clean and safe water. Meanwhile, erratic rainfall and seasonality of the occurrence of rainfall in the country resulted to desertification of arable lands. These definitely affect several industries in the country especially those that greatly depend on water (i. e. agricultural industries) (Dauda, 2003).Some of the suspected major reasons of water resources deterioration in Uganda are rapid growth population, urbanization, industrialization, relentless environmental degradation and deforestation as well as pollution. High population density greatly influenced the availability of water resources in Uganda. The population of Uganda in 2007 is approximately 30. 9 million and more than half of it is comprised of infants. The country has an average annual growth rate of 3. 4% which is one of the highest growth rates in the globe. The demand for water relatively increased while the supply decreased with high population density.And as what the country is experiencing, there is no enough clean water for all. Increased population accompanied by urbanization and industrialization resulted to increased pollution and deforestation. Most of the land bodies are converted to industries which produces toxic wastes that pollute the environment especially water bodies. This contributes to the decreased supply of water in Uganda. Depleted water supply is also attributed to poor agricultural practices in the country such as cultivation, pastoral activities, and livestock practices. Poor sanitation is also identified as a accomplishable cause of freshwater shortage in Uganda.Some of the land owners that cu ltivate their own lands seem to be unaware of environmentally sustainable practices. They have poor knowledge on these methods that they do any practices which may pollute their environment. These practices accompanied by poor sanitation will indeed bring negative effect on Ugandas environment. Poor sanitation practices are among the factors that contribute to depleted water supply and water related diseases in Uganda. Fetching and purifying water are very labor intensive, considering the distance that Ugandans walk just to obtain clean and safe water.They often share and obtain polluted water from water resources where farm animals usually dwell. However, as an everyday routine, it became arduous to the people of Uganda to fetch water from distance places and to pull down so much time purifying the water that they fetched. People tend to ignore the hazard that the contaminated water may bring them they just make whoopie the water as ease without purifying it. As a result, develop ment of water related diseases became prevalent in Uganda (Dauda, 2003). Another major factor that leads to water shortage in Uganda is spheric warming.Majority of Ugandas water table, especially the northern and northeastern part is dry due to global warming and environmental degradation (Dauda, 2003). Global warming may also contribute to the occurrence on the extreme weather condition in the country such as El Nino and La Nina. Moreover, these parts of the country are experiencing wide fluctuations in the availability of water between wet and dry seasons as well as variations in the onset of rainfall as a result of the extreme weather conditions (National Water Development Report 2005).Prolonged drought, which leads to drying up of significant water tables of Uganda, has also threatened the food security in the country. Due to prolonged drought, production of staple foods of Ugandans such as sorghum and millet relatively decreased (EuropaWorld). still like any other country, Ug anda is rich in traditions and belief. They value their culture so much it comes to a point that their beliefs and traditions hinder the possibility of development in their country. There are existing cultural norms that are related to the water bodies in Uganda.Some of the water bodies in Uganda are believed to have special mend powers for many diseases and supernatural dwellers as well. Moreover, these water bodies have potentials for many significant uses such as hydropower resource and irrigation for agricultural industries. However, due to close cultural holdfast of people of Uganda to these water resources, the governing found it difficult to create potential programs that will optimize the use of the water resources in the country (National Water Development Report 2005).Aside from various problems stated previously that have great impact on freshwater availability, Ugandas neighboring regions seem to contribute on the water crisis that it is experiencing. Majority of Ugand as freshwater resources have existing crossing frontiers which bound the country from maximizing its use on its own water resources at heart its territory. Though they have legal riparian rights to have a share on the water resources, these transboundaries definitely affect the socio-economic growth of the country since water is considered to be as the key player in the development of Uganda (Encounter Uganda Well Health).For one thing, these transboundaries serve as the main competitors of Uganda from the available water resources. People of Uganda have bitty access to large water resources since they are restricted to come across the boundary of another country. Moreover, these crossing frontiers not only prevent Uganda from optimizing its available freshwater resources but source of food and employment as well (National Water Development Report 2005). In order to unravel the existing problems in Uganda, its government decided to make some modifications on its various arenas, m ost especially the water sector.Several studies and situational analyses are conducted by the water sector that leads to preparation of house-to-house strategy of water sector and investment strategies. The government has anticipated many factors and they do it possible that the strategies may still be implemented on the sector up to 2015. The government has already started implementing some of the strategies and one of these is Sector Wide Approach to Planning (SWAP). SWAP requires all stakeholders to participate in the planning and capital punishment of the sectors activities while optimizing benefits for all.The strategy has provided a regular budget on the programs that are made which is relatively different to the previous programs that the sector has made (National Water Development Report 2005). Another significant program that also filmed to promote sustainable management and development of water resources of the riparian regions is the Collaborative federation Program. The program is focused in improving the coordination of efforts of the different stakeholders. The program is also focused on harmonizing strategies and plans that involves sustainable management and development of the shared water resources.This makes Uganda very eager to have a close relationship with its neighboring regions. Uganda became enthusiastic with regard to making joint plan, management and development of the water resources that they shared. Ugandas aim on making collaboration with her transboundaries is for all of them to obtain fair benefits from the water resources as well as to ensure that they will get sufficient supply of clean water. Fair utilization and consumption of shared water provide a high opportunity for sustainable use of resources as well as sustainable growth and development.Moreover, Uganda will be able to support its economic and social objectives through collaborating with its cross frontiers (National Water Development Report 2005). The riparian c ountries including Uganda will have comparable advantages from the equitable use of shared water. While building a close relationship with the riparian countries, the potentials of the existing industries in Uganda may be developed through collaboration with her neighboring regions. Advancement in its industries may lead to economic development of the country and in turn advancement on the quality of life and well being of its whole nation.Meanwhile, there are potential struggles identified in the implementation of collaboration program between the riparian countries. Aside from the common objective that the riparian countries agreed on making the joint collaboration, these countries also have different interests which make a potential conflict between them. They made plans and implemented projects which do not take into consideration the wide coverage of the shared water resources. They do not anticipate the possible conflicts that may arise by implanting their plans.As a result, s ome of their individual plans for the development of their own countries are contradicting with the plans of other countries. Plans of other countries will not be possible if other countries plan will be allowed. Another issue that makes the joint program complicated is the mistrust among the cross frontiers. This issue seems to be ineluctable since the riparian countries have different objectives and interest in joining the joint program. They refuse to show their own data regarding the shared water resources as well as information of their plans and strategies.Since the riparian countries have no idea of the plans and programs of other riparian countries there are instances that the individual projects implemented are the same with other countries (National Water Development Report 2005). The last issue identified is the restoration of the environment. One of the minor objectives of the joint program is to conserve the environment however, it is found to be difficult to implement their plans and projects while not taking into consideration the possible negative effect that it may bring to their environment.The main concern here is the methods of the activities and projects as well as the way these are conducted. Countries located on the downriver of the shared water resources are threatened by the possible effect of the activities that the upriver countries are conducting. Also due to mistrust, they are not guaranteed that the upstream countries are performing the activities in a proper way. It is essential that both the upstream and downstream countries will conduct their programs and projects in such a way that these programs will not affect that conservation of environment that they are promoting in the country.Through this little start, there will be a great possibility that their countries will surpass big problems such as water crisis and most of all poverty.ReferencesBarlow, Maude. The global water crisis and the Commodification of the worlds water supply A Special Report issued by the International Forum on Globalization (IFG). Retrieved May 30, 2008, from http//www. thirdworldtraveler. com/Water/Global_Trade_BG. html Toure, Dauda. 2003. The millennium Development Goals Progress Report for Uganda. Retrieved May30, 2008, from http//www. undg.org/archive_docs/6197-Denmark_MDG_Report. pdf 2005. National Water Development Report Uganda. Retrieved May 30, 2008, from http//www. unesdoc. unesco. org/images/0014/001467/146760E. pdf Xinhua News Agency. 2006. Lakes in Uganda dry up due to prolonged drought. Retrieved May 29, 2008, from highbeam. com/doc database. Encounter Uganda Well Health. Retrieved May 29, 2008 from water_website database. EuropaWorld. 2003, February 21. Northern Uganda The Forgotten Crisis. Retrieved May 29, 2008, from http//www. europaworld. org/week117/northernuganda21203. htm