Urban Environmental Problems: Water Use and Management

Water issues require physical and community planning. Physical planning has to do with the distribution and safety of the water system to the different type of users and usage through efficient and reliable methods. Community planning recognizes that water challenges differ from localities based on local customs and limited resources. The complexity of water issues require a balance between physical and community planning within local and regional contexts so that citizens have access and develop responsibility over the multiple uses of water. Gleick claims that “physical solutions continue to dominate traditional planning approaches”. However, he adds that “these solutions are facing increasing opposition”. New methods are being developed to meet the demands of growing populations without requiring major new construction or new-large scale water transfers from one region to another. “More and more water suppliers and planning agencies are beginning to explore efficiency improvements, implement options for managing demand, and relocating water among users to reduce projected gaps and meet future needs”. In addition, “the connections between water and food are receiving increasing attention as the concerns of food experts begin to encompass the realities of water availability”. These shifts, however, have not come easily. “They have met strong internal opposition. They are still not universally accepted, and they may not be permanent. Nevertheless, these changes represent a real shift in the way humans think about water use” (Gleick, 2000). The water crisis faced by the city of Guadalajara illustrates Gleick’s proposition. With the drying up of its main source of water, Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest lake, it will cause far-reaching economic and ecological consequences for the extended region. In order to solve this issue, it is necessary to examine the underlying causes, which are centered on the inadequate and unsustainable management of the Lerma-Chapala river basin -- that extends over five states. Innovative approaches, although as yet insufficient, and institutional response towards integrated sustainable water management would promote a shift from centralized water management at the federal level to a multi-stakeholder and participative system based in river basins. The shift towards a decentralization of the decision-making processes will broaden social participation in these processes (Bertrab, 2003). Water issues must also include environmental planning. Postel poses the following question: “What is the ecological cost of appropriating this much additional water from natural systems?” Postel claims that using more rainfall for food production typically means clearing forests to make way for crops, while using more irrigation water means further straining rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Ad he adds that “more importantly, are there ways to satisfy human needs for water and food without sacrificing a dangerously high proportion of ecosystem services?” (Postel, 2005). In the context of increasing the transparency of water use and planning nationwide, the US Congress passed the Clean Water Act forty years ago to force polluters to disclose the toxins they dump into waterways and to give regulators the power to fine or jail offenders. Most states have passed pollution statutes of their own. However, in recent years, violations of the Clean Water Act have risen steadily across the nation. On Oahu, for instance, Sand Island WWTP has committed over three hundred effluent violations from 2004 to 2009 but no fine was ever imposed on this facility except for a formal enforcement in 2007 (New York Times, 2009). Community planning allows public participation and discretion. Stille highlights that, in India, for instance, Oswald and Mishra's Sankat Mochan Foundation are conducting a feasibility study for a waste-pond system at Varanasi. Even though about forty thousand traditional funerals are performed on the banks of the Ganges annually, the biggest source of pollution are the large sewage pipes that drain directly into the river. In order to stop this toxic effluent, the Indian government spent about a hundred and fifty million dollars building Western-style high-technology wastewater plants along the Ganges, but they are ill-suited to India, which is beset by power outages and monsoons. Therefore, the foundation has won the support of both the central and municipal governments. The final obstacle to building the ponds remains the state government of Uttar Pradesh (Stille, 1998). These papers advocate a decentralized water management system based on physical, community and environmental planning. These papers assume that the multiple uses of water is better discussed, distributed and allocated if they happen through community participation and ecological considerations. In order to agree on this approach, it is necessary to assess the technical, financial, and expertise of localities defending a decentralized method so that the complexity of water management is conducted accordingly and safely in the long term. References Bertrab, E. “Guadalajara’s Water Crisis and the Fate of Lake Chapala”, Environment and Urbanization, 15: 127, 2003. Gleick, P. “The Changing Water Paradigm”, International Water Resources Association, Water International, vl. 25, n. 1, pp 127-138, March 2000. New York Times. “Finding Water Polluters Near You”, Accessed on January 30, 2012. http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-waters/polluters/hawaii Postel , S. “Liquid Assets: The Critical Need to Safeguard Freshwater Ecosystems”, Worldwatch Institute, 2005. Stille, A. “The Ganges’ Next Life”, New Yorker, January 19, 1998.