Water is a natural thing for westerners, but a Sudanese needs an average of 65,438+0/3 times a day to get the daily water ration. A European uses about 135 liters of water every day, while residents in developing countries usually only use 10 liters of water every day. In Asia and Africa, women traditionally carry water for their families. They have to walk an average of 6 kilometers to reach the nearby river. If you can't bring enough water home alone, the children will come to help-they spend their time fetching water instead of going to school.
However, water is often insufficient, leading to frequent diarrhea and malaria. In the past 10 years, children who died of diarrhea exceeded the total number of victims of all armed conflicts after World War II. For example, because of lack of water, the whole family washes their hands in the same basin. Starting with the oldest male, when it's the youngest child's turn, the washed hands are dirtier than before. Children eat with these dirty hands. Before the Red Cross started the water supply project, the sanitary conditions in Macha, a small town in Zambia, were already very bad: malaria and dysentery were particularly prevalent among children. Because of the imperfect public health facilities, local schools have to be closed. Many villagers urinate in the bushes because there are not enough toilets. Especially in the rainy season, when sewage is washed away by the river, there is a danger of plague. For women in the village, they can only get 10 to 20 liters of water for their families every day. Life is really sad. The river is far from home, and they can never get enough water every day.
The Red Cross launched a large-scale aid project: drilling wells near houses, repairing and building new toilets, so that villagers can understand the importance of health habits. The school can be reopened. Pupils even put on clean school uniforms. Volunteers from Zambia Red Cross Society have contributed to this project, and health is the engine to promote good economic operation. In order to alleviate people's suffering and support the development of third world countries, government organizations and non-governmental organizations must pay more attention to water problems. The International Federation of Red Cross intends to make use of its experience in providing clean water and creating a hygienic environment. On February 24th, 2005, it adopted a plan 10, aiming at halving the number of people without access to clean water by 20 15.
On March 22nd, 2005, the theme of World Water Day was "The Source of Life". Water, as the liquid of life, nurtures human beings and millions of creatures between heaven and earth. However, in the 2 1 century, because of population growth, unreasonable use, pollution and global warming, the liquid of life on earth has shown a yellow card to mankind. Food is the most important thing for the people, and food production cannot be separated from adequate water sources. A study conducted by FAO on 93 developing countries shows that the speed of water use in many countries exceeds the speed of water regeneration, resulting in an increasing shortage of water resources. The shortage of resources brings harm to food security and human survival. Water is essential to ensure human health, and the improvement of health status is an important prerequisite for economic growth.
Claudia Sadof, an official of the World Bank, pointed out: "Water problem is a priority for a country to achieve economic growth." However, the relevant data provided by the United Nations are not optimistic: there are 1 1 100 million people in the world who do not have access to clean water, and about 6,000 children die of diseases caused by unsanitary water and substandard sanitary and clean conditions every day, which is equivalent to 20 large passenger planes crashing every day. In developing China countries, unsanitary water and unclean environment have become the main causes of people's illness.
A spokesman for UNICEF said: "Half of the schools in the world lack the most basic sanitary conditions, such as safe drinking water and clean toilets." Water resources is not only an environmental and economic issue, but also a social and political issue. Due to the exhaustion of life fluid, the number of "environmental refugees" in the world is increasing. Since 1990s, three-quarters of farmers and 1.5 urban population in the world have not got enough fresh water all the year round, and more people have been forced to leave their homes because of water than refugees who fled because of war. Half of the world's population lives in countries that share rivers and lakes with their neighbors. Due to the insufficient supply and uneven distribution of water resources, tensions have emerged in some areas. The dispute over water resources has become the potential source of regional or global conflicts and the fuse of war. Solving the problem of water shortage is a global movement. Searching for new water sources, redistributing water resources, raising people's awareness of water conservation, developing new technologies for recycling and strengthening international cooperation all require the participation of all mankind. The protection of water resources is inseparable from the whole environmental protection work.
WWF warns that global warming is causing Himalayan glaciers to retreat rapidly, threatening hundreds of millions of people in China, India and Nepal who depend on glacial meltwater. Happily, the world has reached a consensus on the solution to save lives. The United Nations Development Programme, the International Water Association and the Beijing Qingshui Alliance issued the Clear Water Declaration in Beijing: "Cherish water resources and make water clearer."
The liquid that saves life on earth waits for no one.
Water is a precious resource for human survival and development. Although the earth is divided into three parts and seven parts, the total water resources is 65.438+0.4 billion cubic kilometers, but seawater accounts for 97.2%, fresh water only accounts for 2.8%, and the reserves are only 370 million cubic meters, most of which are contained in Antarctic ice sheets and Arctic icebergs, and the surface fresh water available for human production and life is only 654.38+0.05 trillion cubic meters. Since the 1990s, the world's fresh water resources have become increasingly scarce, pollution has become increasingly serious, and floods and droughts have intensified, which has destroyed the balance and stability of the earth's ecosystem and directly threatened the survival and development of mankind. The total reserves of water on the earth are 65.438+03.86 billion cubic meters, of which fresh water only accounts for 0.9%; However, for lakes, rivers and shallow underground, fresh water only accounts for 0.02% of the total fresh water reserves.
With the population growth and economic development, the demand for water is getting faster and faster, and many countries are caught in the water shortage dilemma, and economic development is also restricted. However, due to the multi-sectoral nature of water resources development, various departments have different policies on water resources development and management, which hinders the comprehensive utilization of water resources and intensifies the contradiction between supply and demand of water resources.
On the other hand, people generally don't realize the seriousness of the destruction of water resources by human activities. In order to promote the comprehensive planning and management of water resources, strengthen the protection of water resources and solve the increasingly serious water problem, we should not only take technical measures, but also pay attention to social publicity and education. In addition to strengthening water resources management from the aspects of policies, laws and management systems, publicity and education should also be carried out to raise public awareness of water conservation. It is for the above reasons that the 47th session of the United Nations General Assembly decided on World Water Day according to the recommendation made by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Chapter 2 1 Agenda, aiming at making the whole world care about and solve the water resources problem. People must be soberly aware that the water crisis is likely to come before the food crisis or oil crisis.
In North America, 4,654.38 million people drink "potion" every day.
North America is rich in fresh water resources (about 13% of the world's fresh water resources), but sometimes it still feels the pressure of insufficient water resources. Glaciers and snowfields, as the main water sources of the Canadian prairie, are shrinking. Some cities still have problems of water shortage and hidden dangers of drinking water safety.
A survey of water resources shows that the drinking water of 4,654,380+million people in the United States contains a variety of pharmaceutical ingredients, including antibiotics, spasmolytics and sedatives. Although the content of drugs in drinking water is very small and will not immediately endanger health, scientists are worried that long-term intake of these drugs through drinking water may endanger health.
South America has 1/4 of the global water resources.
South America has a quarter of the world's water resources, while the population of the South American continent accounts for only one sixth of the world's population. However, the forest area in South America has been shrinking, and water resources are seriously threatened. In addition, the economic development in South America has also increased water consumption. Therefore, South America is definitely not at ease in protecting water resources.
654.38 billion people in Europe lack safe drinking water.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe recently issued a communique saying that there are still 1 100 million people in Europe who lack safe drinking water, and Europe and other parts of the world must attach great importance to the water problem.
People in Africa13 lack drinking water.
Due to the influence of global warming, the rivers in Africa are facing great threats, which will lead to a serious water shortage in a quarter of the African continent at the end of this century. The report found that rivers on the African continent are very sensitive to changes in rainfall. In West Africa, even a small amount of precipitation will reduce the river flow by 80%, which will lead to what scientists call "water refugees".
One third of the population in Africa lacks drinking water, and nearly half of Africans get sick from drinking unclean water. The problem of water resources is also likely to be the trigger of disputes or conflicts between some African countries. Many rural women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world walk several kilometers to find water every day. Because of this manual labor, these women and children have no chance to receive education at all, and they are busy with their families and livelihoods all day.
Oceania put forward a resounding slogan "Environment is a legal water user"
Even in sparsely populated Australia, water is scarce. Australia experienced a once-in-a-century drought in 2002, and the drought has eased since then, but since 2006, the drought has come again. The most seriously affected by drought is the Murray-Darling Basin.
The analysis of climate change in Australia by top researchers shows that the reduction of rainfall is likely related to global warming. In order to ensure the sustainable development of the ecological environment, the government has taken measures to establish a comprehensive water distribution and water rights management system, and clearly put forward a resounding slogan: "the environment is a legal water user."
The Ganges River in Asia is listed as one of the most polluted rivers.
Water pollution, flood and drought have become the three major water-related "disasters" facing South Asia. India's domestic water quality ranks third from the bottom among 122 countries in the global assessment, and more than 2 million tons of industrial wastewater are directly discharged into rivers every day. Drinking and using polluted groundwater for cooking by local residents has caused many health problems. Water pollution seriously affects the health of ordinary people. Ganges, the main river flowing through northern India, is listed as one of the most polluted rivers in the world.
According to the report of Reuters, the Israeli drip irrigation water-saving technology has made another breakthrough, realizing the use of ultraviolet rays to purify water and bacteria to treat organic sewage. 60% of Israel's land area is classified as arid area, and all the water resources in Israel are owned by the state. Today, five years after the outbreak of the Iraq war, millions of people in Iraq lack clean drinking water.
There are two main problems in China's "water": one is the shortage of water resources, and the other is the serious water pollution. According to some data, China is a country with severe drought and water shortage. The per capita freshwater resources are only 1/4 of the world average, ranking 1 10 in the world, and it is one of the countries with the poorest per capita water resources in the world. The per capita available water resources are only 900 cubic meters, and the distribution is extremely uneven. At the end of the 20th century, more than 400 cities out of more than 600 cities in China were short of water, among which 1 10 was seriously short of water, with a total water shortage of 6 billion cubic meters.
According to monitoring, the national wastewater discharge increased from 310.50 billion tons in 1980 to 63/kloc-0.50 billion tons in 2002. Groundwater in most cities has been polluted to varying degrees, and it is getting worse year by year. The increasingly serious water pollution not only reduces the use function of water bodies, further exacerbates the contradiction of water shortage, but also seriously threatens the drinking water safety and health of urban residents.
In order to alleviate the severe water resources situation: First, give priority to water conservation. This is mainly reflected in controlling demand and creating a water-saving society. In the process of national development, we should choose suitable development projects, establish the concept of "how much water is used", and put an end to the waste of water resources. At the same time, good management and technical means should be adopted to improve the utilization rate of water resources. Actively develop water-saving industrial and agricultural technologies, vigorously promote the application of water-saving appliances, and find and eliminate water leakage, including water appliances and water pipe networks. The second is pollution control. This requires that China's water pollution control strategy should be adjusted as soon as possible, from end control to source control and whole process control. Qian Yi believes that a large number of industrial enterprises in China are still in extensive production mode, and the treatment of industrial wastewater is not ideal. Even if the standard discharge is achieved, a large number of pollutants are discharged into rivers and lakes, and the pollution degree has exceeded the environmental capacity of rivers and lakes themselves. With the development of economy, the discharge of industrial wastewater will increase, and so will the pollutants. If cleaner production is vigorously promoted and source control and whole process control of pollutant discharge are implemented, pollutant discharge will be greatly reduced, and industrial production can also increase production without increasing pollution. The third is multi-channel open source. This mainly refers to the development of non-traditional water resources. Qian Yi pointed out that in order to improve water supply capacity, in the past, we mainly focused on developing traditional water resources, namely local surface water and groundwater. When we found that the groundwater level continued to drop and the surface water gradually dried up, we thought of long-distance water transfer. Long-distance water transfer not only requires very expensive infrastructure investment and operating costs, but also has difficulties in construction and management. At the same time, ecological impact is another important issue that people pay attention to in recent years.
Countries all over the world have turned to the development of non-traditional water resources. Non-traditional water resources include rainwater, reclaimed sewage, seawater and air water resources. According to reports, at present, the reuse rate of industrial water in China is only 60%, and urban sewage is almost unused. In Israel, the utilization rate of urban sewage reaches 90%, and in Los Angeles, the treated urban sewage is also used to water green spaces. The reuse of urban sewage not only reduces pollution, but also alleviates the contradiction of water shortage.
In addition, with the development of technology, the cost of seawater desalination tends to decrease, and seawater can be directly used as industrial cooling water and washing water. Many public health places in Hong Kong use seawater to flush toilets. Since the promulgation of People's Republic of China (PRC) Water Law (1988), the water administrative department of China government has designated July 1 ~ 7 as "China Water Week" every year. Considering that the theme and content of World Water Day and China Water Week are basically the same, starting from 1994, the time is changed to March 22 ~ 28 every year, so as to further raise the awareness of the whole society to care for, cherish, protect and manage water resources and promote the development, utilization, protection and management of water resources.
Irrigation water is not used effectively every year = several Yellow Rivers.
A large population and a small land, and uneven distribution of water resources in time and space are the basic national conditions and water conditions of our country. China's per capita water resources are only 2 100 cubic meters, which is 28% of the world average. The shortage of water resources has become the main restricting factor of economic and social development. According to statistics, China lacks more than 50 billion cubic meters of water every year, and more than 400 cities in more than 600 cities are "short of water".
It is understood that the causes of water shortage in the northern region can be summarized as congenital deficiency and acquired disorder; The lack of water in the south is mainly seasonal drought, and the pollution is aggravated; The southwest is short of water because the water is low and the fields are high, so it is difficult to use water. At the same time, the human factor should not be underestimated. China's water resources development and utilization methods are relatively extensive, and the unilateral water GDP output is only one-third of the world average. In China's annual agricultural irrigation water intake, the amount of water that has not been effectively utilized is equivalent to several Yellow Rivers. At present, China is in the stage of rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, and the demand for urban domestic water is increasing rigidly, and the deterioration trend of water quality has not been fundamentally controlled. According to the current water consumption level, China will approach the maximum value of available water resources by 2030.
Strict water resources management is imminent. 20 1 1 No.1 document of the Central Committee clearly requires the implementation of the strictest water resources management system and the establishment and implementation of "three red lines" for water resources management. 20 12 the State Council issued an opinion on implementing the strictest water resources management system and made a comprehensive deployment.
Chen Mingzhong said that in the future, the construction of water conservancy facilities will be accelerated, the water resources monitoring system will be established and improved, and the "three red lines" indicators will be included in the comprehensive evaluation system of local economic and social development, and the responsibility for poor implementation will be investigated. At the same time, we will focus on monitoring water users in large and medium-sized irrigation areas, high-water-consuming industrial enterprises and domestic service industries, carry out special inspections such as the approval of sewage outlets into rivers, improve the water price formation mechanism, and implement water conservation throughout the whole process of economic and social development and production and life.
1992,1On February 22nd, 1993, the United Nations General Assembly established World Water Day. In its resolution 58/2 17 of February 23, 2003, the General Assembly declared World Water Day on March 22, 2005, and the period from 2005 to 2065 as the International Decade for Action "Water for Life".
The theme of World Water Day in 2006 is "Water and Culture". The World Water Resources Development Report recently released by UNESCO has sounded nine alarm bells in the face of global water resources development problems.
The first alarm: water resources management, system construction and infrastructure construction are insufficient.
Due to poor management, lack of resources, environmental change and insufficient investment in infrastructure, about15 people in the world cannot get safe drinking water.
The second alarm: poor water quality leads to poverty.
In 2002, about 365,438+ten thousand people died of diarrhea and malaria in the world, of which nearly 90% were children under 5 years old.
The third alarm: the water quality in most areas is declining.
The diversity of freshwater species and ecosystems is rapidly declining, which is faster than that of terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Fourth alert: 90% of disasters are related to water.
Many natural disasters are the result of improper land use. The worsening drought in East Africa is a painful example.
Fifth alarm: agricultural water supply and demand are tight.
This water diversion has accounted for nearly 70% of the global human fresh water consumption.
The sixth alarm: urban water shortage
In 2030, the proportion of urban population will increase to nearly 2/3, resulting in a surge in urban water demand.
The seventh alarm: insufficient development of water resources
More than 2 billion people in developing countries have no access to reliable energy, and water is an important resource to create energy.
Eighth alarm: serious waste of water resources.
In many parts of the world, as much as 30% to 40% or more water is wasted.
The ninth alarm: water resources investment is lagging behind.
The average annual official development assistance to the water sector is about $3 billion, and financial institutions such as the World Bank will provide non-preferential loans of $654.38+0.5 billion, but only 65.438+02% of the funds will be used for those who need help most, and only 65.438+00% will be used for formulating water resources policies, plans and programs.