Sustainable Water Development Implications For The Future

International Journal of Water Resources Development
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Sustainable water development: Implications for

the future
Genady N. Golubev
To cite this article: Genady N. Golubev (1993) Sustainable water development: Implications
for the future, International Journal of Water Resources Development, 9:2, 127-154, DOI:
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Water Resources Development, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1993 127
Sustainable Water Development: Implications for the

Future
GENADY N. GOLUBEV
Assistant Director General, World Conservation Union, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland,
Switzerland
ABSTRACT This paper provides a review of the following principal water problems as
seen in the light of sustainable development strategy: the main functions of fresh water
in the Earth system; availability of water resources per capita by countries now and by
2025; the impacts of climate change; problems related to dams and reservoirs and to
water transfers; the issues of irrigation; water management as a skilful balance of water
supply and demand in a multidisciplinary space; water quality problems and their
management now and in the future; the need for comprehensive, basin-wide strategies
in planning; and management of water resources and the environment.
Introduction
In nature, water is at the centre of almost all major interrelationships. In human
society, water is in the middle of a number of crucial problems. In many
localities of the Earth these problems have become extremely acute, even critical.
In some places they are the source of social instability and are a threat to
international security. There is not the slightest doubt that, with further popula-
tion increase and under the 'water-business-as-usual' scenario, these problems
will become ever more acute, thus creating ever more instability. The solution
apparently lies in the strategy of sustainable water development within a broad
framework of sustainable development.
As will be seen in the next section, water has a number of important functions.
Following the general definition of sustainable development (World Commis-
sion on Environment and Development, 1987), sustainable water development
could be described as a set of actions securing the present functions of water
without jeopardizing the interests of future generations in this area.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse principal water problems as they exist
at present, to look at the trends and on this basis to try to anticipate implications
in the near future (2000-2005) and even more distantly (about 2020 and beyond).
Water development depends on a number of important factors, such as popula-
tion growth, changes in the Earth's ecosystem, the global economic and political
situation, etc. Only one important factor, namely population growth, can be
predicted to 2020 with any accuracy but not so the others. Therefore, this paper
is based on present-day analysis of the main problems related to water develop-
ment with some projections into the near and even more distant future.
The discussion is placed in the framework of the main functions of water.
128 G. N. Golubev
different patterns of national economic development and the forecast climate

change.
The Main Functions of Water

Water plays many roles both in nature and in economic life. Generalizing, one
can say that the main terrestrial functions of fresh water are as follows (Golubev,
1988):
(1) water is the most widely used natural resource;
(2) water is a unifying factor in ecosystems, in particular in river and lake
basins.
(3) Water is a major, if not the leading agent in the global cycles of matter, such
as erosion/sedimentation, and the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles.
Each function has a number of dimensions which should be kept in mind while
elaborating and pursuing national and international policies related to water
issues. The water resource function should be understood in quite a wide sense
because it includes also the role of water as a foundation of life and a necessary
condition of human health, as well as its role in the formation of floods and
droughts.
The multifunctional role of fresh water is rarely taken into consideration when
dealing with environmental problems. The principal water-related environmen-
tal problems emerge as the result of the use of water as a resource, but disregard
of its other functions may lead to errors and may not provide environmentally
sustainable development.
Water as a Resource
Water is the most widely used natural resource. The annual world withdrawal
of water is close to 4000 km3 kilometers (L'vovich & White, 1990). The use of the
other voluminous natural resources, such as coal or oil, is about three orders of
magnitude less. The policy implication of the 'bulkiness' of water as a resource
is that it is meaningless to compare water resources and their consumption or
demand at the global or even at the continental level; one has to look at the
issues at a level smaller than continental or subcontinental. This means also that
assessment or comparison of water resources of very large countries might be
quite misleading because average figures may conceal areas of both favourable
and difficult water resources situation within the one country.
A natural unit for water resources management is a river/lake basin or a
ground water aquifer. In contrast to an arbitrary territory, within a river/lake
basin a maximal manageable area may be up to the whole of the basin. The
water quality problems are also basin-specific and can be more easily managed
at that level.
However, the political and administrative boundaries both within and be-
tween states rarely coincide with the water divides. At a national level, this leads
to an inconvenient situation when water management should be carried out
within river basins, while most of the other activities are confined to administra-
tive units. At an international level, it creates numerous conflicts, mainly over
water resources use. It is known that no less than 40% of the world's population
live in international river basins, which formerly numbered 214, including 23
Sustainable Water Development 129
basins shared by four or more countries (Widstrand, 1980). Currently, due to the
disintegration of the USSR, the number of international basins has increased.
Two major categories of problems exist related to water as a resource: its
availability and its quality. The former is more typical of arid and semiarid
regions, while the latter could be found anywhere, correlating more with the
pressure of man's activity rather than with natural conditions.
One of the features of non-sustainable development is deteriorating water
quality. In many localities there is enough water but it cannot be used without
proper treatment. The very complex issues of water quantity and quality call for
their integration into sustainable development strategies. One has to address,
therefore, a complex, interdisciplinary issue of sustainable development in
which water resources problems are a major, in many cases principal constraint.
Water as a Principal Unifying Agent in Ecosystems

Water is a unifying factor in most ecosystems. It is the main substance in
maintaining the functioning of living organisms. Water plays a key role in the
biological processes as well as in many physical and chemical phenomena. It
also links together various parts of terrestrial ecosystems. It erodes, dissolves
and transports substances, in this way making interconnections among the
components of ecosystems.
The role played by water in ecosystems' functioning can be compared to that
of blood in the human body. Natural waters are a complex mixture of solutions
and suspended matters at a certain temperature. As the characteristics of blood
describe the state of the body, the parameters of the natural water drained from
a particular ecosystem reflect the state of the system. This is particularly clear at
a river/lake basin level. Any considerable changes in a watershed are mirrored
somehow in the quantity and quality of river/lake water and its regime. With
a massive and exponential increase in human activity it is inevitable that the
natural water regime is altered. The functioning and state of aquatic ecosystems
also changes owing to man-made impacts both on the watershed and in the
water body.
To control water quantity and quality one has to use complex, interdisci-
plinary approaches. Following this line, the water management converges with
the environmental management of water bodies and their basins. The consider-
ation of water problems as those deeply ingrained into the terrestrial systems'
fabric has led to the ecosystems approach to water management. This approach
becomes of high priority when the traditional, 'in-stream' methods can no longer
help in providing a required yield and expected quality of water. The trend is
towards environmental management of watersheds as the main line of approach
in water management strategy. One can expect that, by the first quarter of the
next century, this strategy will by necessity be predominant.
Water as a Major Agent in the Global Cycles of Matter

In many cases water is a key factor in major global environmental problems. The
global hydrological cycle is one of the main life-supporting mechanisms of the
Earth system. Changes in the biosphere, foremost the changes in vegetation
cover and land use due to man's activity, lead to alterations in the regional links
of the hydrological cycle and thereby to those in the global cycle. The conse-
130 G. N. Golubev
quences of changing climate are superimposed on this process, making the

overall picture even more complicated.
The hydrological cycle is more than a water cycle (Golubev, 1983). Natural
waters differ greatly from chemically clean water. Over 100 000 km3 of precipita-
tion falls annually on the world's land surface. Of this quantity, over 40 000 km3
runs off into the oceans and closed basins carrying along a considerable amount
of such substances as sediments and dissolved matter as well as heat energy.
Water is an active agent which erodes, dissolves and carries away the matter in
global cycles constituting important life-supporting systems. Annually, the riv-
ers of the world bring to the oceans about 22 billion tonnes of sediments and 3
billion tonnes of dissolved matter (L'vovich, 1974). The transport of substances
by water within continents is much higher, exceeding the values of the outflow
to the oceans by at least one order of magnitude.
Man-made impacts on the continents' natural processes lead to drastic alter-
ations in the transport of substances and therefore have profound impacts on the
global cycles of matter. This issue will be discussed again when talking about
irrigation.
Many acute environmental problems are, in fact, water-related. Such issues as
deterioration of natural, agricultural and silvicultural systems are either a
consequence of a changed water regime or, vice versa, alterations of the systems
lead to variation of such important characteristics as the water-holding capacity
of soils, interception of precipitation, infiltration capacity, evapotranspiration,
etc. In the same way, floods and droughts are more than just excess or deficit of
water. Their frequent occurrence may be a sign of disruption in the territorial
system in question. Solutions of such interdisciplinary, complex problems re-
quire deep understanding of the main mechanisms controlling the Earth's
life-supporting system.
An attempt to understand it from the point of view of the natural sciences is
being made through the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)
and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). This approach must be
complemented by research into the socio-economic problems of global change.
However, one must go beyond understanding of the global strategies of preven-
tion and adaptation, where cooperation of all the countries in the world is
expected.
International cooperation in this area has started with elaboration of the
Convention on Climate Change which is now in the process of negotiations in
the more distant future it should evolve into a broader system of interrelated
conventions on the global biogeochemical cycles, with the hydrological cycle as
a key variable, establishing in this way a mechanism for the governance of
global commons.
Implications of Climate Change

Climate and the global hydrological cycle are so much interrelated that in fact
they are different sides of the same process of water exchange in the ecosphere,
based on the global energy balance and global atmospheric circulation. There-
fore, the forecast climate change will exert profound impacts on all the main
functions of water discussed above.
When approaching fresh water as a resource one deals usually with such
principal hydrological parameters as mean annual runoff and its variations in
time, as well as maximum and minimum flow. These parameters depend, first
of all, on climate. Moreover, reaction of the hydrological parameters on climate
variations is mostly non-linear, that is, the change in water resources is more
profound than the initial change in climate.
For instance, Revelle & Waggoner (1983) calculated that, if precipitation in the
western United States had decreased by 10%, mean annual runoff would have
decreased in different parts of that territory between 12 and 50%.
The science of hydrology has accumulated quite a number of physically
sound, statistically valid and stable regional relationships between the character-
istics of climate and water resources parameters. These relationships are used for
regional and local hydrologic calculations and forecasts. They have different
forms, such as empirical formulae, deterministic and stochastic mathematical
models, maps of different parameters, etc. A good part of this enormous wealth
of regional hydrology is based on the assumption of a stable, oscillating climate.
A changing climate would render invalid many relationships presently used.
To predict water resources changes on the basis of the relations mentioned
above, one must know the expected changes in local (regional) climate. As long
as the regional climate change forecast is unreliable, the same low level of
reliability would adhere in the prediction of water resources changes. The only
possible way forward seems to be scenario building, based on the 'what if'
approach to the climatic parameters.
The reaction of water resources systems to climate change may be even more
non-linear than that of runoff. It should be particularly true for well-designed
and effective systems, especially for those where justified water demand grows
quicker than increase in water supply. For example, Nemec & Schaake (1982)
calculated for the Pease River, in the south-western USA, that if precipitation
drops by only 10%, guaranteed supply of a certain amount of water would
require expansion of the volume of an existing water reservoir by 150-200%.
One can expect particularly profound impacts of climate change on water
resources and water management systems in zones of transition from one type
of water regime to another, in other words, in zones with considerable horizon-
tal gradients of hydrological parameters. Such is, for example, the situation in
Sahel.
It is known that semi-arid territories are very vulnerable to climate oscilla-
tions. Equatorial and tropical regions represented by various kinds of savannah,
where agriculture depends on variations of precipitation or on a sometimes
unreliable water supply for irrigation, would suffer greatly from the impacts of
climate change. There, climate change would mostly be seen through changes in
the water regime. In its turn, the latter would determine the changes in both
natural and man-made ecosystems with subsequent socio-economic implica-
tions.
Along with the changes in water resources parameters there will be changes
in the transport of sediments and dissolved matter. These would reflect the
impacts of climate change on all the three main functions of water discussed
above.
The understanding of the hydrological cycle, its interrelations with the func-
tioning of ecosystems and the biogeochemical cycles is far from being complete
and more fundamental studies need to be supported. Without fundamental
research elaboration of the long-term strategy for sustainable water development
is hardly possible.
132 G. N. Golubev
Issues of Water Availability, Related Policies and Perspectives

Water Resources Assessment
Global water resources may be characterized by the amount of precipitation
falling on the continents and/or by river runoff therefrom. As mentioned earlier,
these figures are correspondingly about 100 000 and 40 000 km3 per year. Stable
river runoff, which is the most convenient to use, is about 12 000 km3, and is the
most valuable, renewable component of water resources. One should bear in
mind that this figure is stable, within natural oscillations, as long as the global
hydrological cycle is not perturbed. To river runoff should be added the
resources of groundwater, freshwater lakes and glaciers, which contain both
renewable and non-renewable components, depending basically on the intensity
of their use.
On the other hand, consumptive use of water in the world is less than
4000 km3 per year. A ratio between the available resources and their use at the
global level looks quite favourable but, in fact, is not so for many parts of the
world. The average global figures hide enormous local differences in the water
supply /demand ratio.
To compare the water resources and their demand at the global or even
continental level for the purposes of water management is misleading. The most
used natural resource is so bulky that one cannot think seriously for the coming
few decades of aligning the resources and demands for continents or even for
large countries. Therefore, it is the characteristic feature of water problems that
they are local. Global water issues and water-related problems are in fact an
amalgam of the local problems.
The amount of fresh water available per capita per year in a certain country
may indicate how serious are its water-related economic and environmental
problems. For some countries, such as those having predominantly a transit flow
(e.g. Egypt) or those having quite different conditions of river run-off formation
in various parts of a country (e.g. Chile), this index is misleading. For very large
countries it is also misleading. In addition, a difference in climate between, say,
tropical and temperate latitudes would not put countries with a similar amount
of water resources into the same category because of the distinction in evapora-
tion. And yet, for the world-wide total of countries, an analysis of this index
might be useful for the sake of comparison. The few countries with the specific
conditions mentioned above would not confuse the overall picture.
A level of 500 km3 per person per year is extremely low. Falkenmark (1986)
believes that this figure is a threshold for national sustainable development.
Presently, 15 countries (out of 145: those for which the author had available data
[WRI, 1990] with a population of 110 million are facing this situation. A very low
level of water resources (between 500 and 1000 m3 per person per year) is
characteristic of 12 further countries with a population of 120 million. For these
27 countries, located mostly in arid areas of the world, the water shortage
determines the whole life of the nations and is, therefore, an ever growing factor
of economic and, hence, political instability. For countries with an acute deficit
of water resources it becomes a matter of life or death and may determine the
most important, strategic decisions of governments.
A low level of available water resources can be considered to be between 1000
and 5000 m3 of water per person per year. There are 58 countries with a total
population of 3420 million in this range. In those countries the water quantity
issues are of high importance within the national strategies. Altogether, in 1990,
about 60% of the countries with a population of 3.6 billion, or almost 70% of the
current world population, are facing problems of water scarcity. They are mostly
developing countries, and the water resources shortage is in fact a major if not
the main obstacle to social and economic progress.
About 40% of the countries in the world possess over 5000 m3 of water per
person per year. On average, they do not seem to suffer from water availability
problems. In fact, however, even in those countries water supply problems may
be quite acute due to uneven distribution of water resources in space and time.
For example, Chile has on average over 35 000 m3 per person per year, but the
northern part of the country is the driest desert in the world with the most acute
shortage of water supply.
Given current population projections, many more countries in the developing
world will enter the zone of water shortage during the next few decades. By
2025, about 1.4 billion people in 45 countries will have less than 1000 m3 per
person per year, that is, they will be facing an acute water deficit. Approximately
three-quarters of the world's population in about 100 countries would then live
under conditions of water shortage or, in other words, in a state of environmen-
tal, economic and political instability.
By 2025 conflicts over water problems are likely to increase enormously.
Clearly, mankind would not be able to carry on in the business-as-usual style.
The only way out is a transition to sustainable water resources development as
part of overall sustainable development.
Problems of Water Resources Control: Time

Water management in a river/lake/aquifer basin or any other locality is basi-
cally the skill and art of balancing water supply and demand. The main
renewable source of water is rivers. When the water demand exceeds the value
of the stable Cbasic') river flow for some prolonged period of time, the need to
control river runoff by building dams comes on to the agenda. Currently
damming is one of the main elements in water resources development.
In the world today there are almost one million man-made lakes and ponds.
Their total volume exceeds 6000 km3 and their useful volume is about 3000 km3.
Among the man-made lakes there are 30 000 very large reservoirs with a volume
exceeding 1 x 106 m3 each. The total area of these reservoirs, including
impounded lakes, is about 600 000 km2 (Voropaev & Avakyan, 1986).
Comparing the total useful volume of the reservoirs with stable river runoff,
one can say that the secured water supply in the world has increased by 25%.
On the other hand, because of these reservoirs, the intensity of water exchange
in river systems has decreased considerably. The average world water exchange
has diminished five times, that is, mean renewal of water in the river systems
used to be 20 days and now takes 100 days. A number of fundamental ecological
consequences have arisen. In particular, the natural self-purification capacity of
rivers has been reduced. This capacity is based on the ongoing consumption of
oxygen from the air by a turbulent water flow with the subsequent oxidation of
(mainly) organic pollutants carried by the stream.
Of particular note is the fact that the creation of very large reservoirs
profoundly changes both the hydrologic and ecologic regimes of river systems
and the adjacent territories.
134 G. N. Golubev
The tendency to construct large reservoirs is characteristic of the last two or

three decades but their construction in developed countries has now almost
stopped. Among the reasons are the high costs of construction and relocation of
the people from the zone of inundation, enormous losses of land resources,
serious and poorly foreseen ecological implications, profound changes in the
hydrologic regime both upstream and downstream of the dam, disruption of the
traditional patterns of life, and incompatibility of the interests of different social
groups which will be affected by the project.
Even more significant is that the efficiency of many existing hydraulic systems
is under re-evaluation. For instance, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
project in the USA, created in 1930s, is a system of about 20 dams with reservoirs
which should have provided cheap energy, convenient navigation and flood
protection, and should have served as the foundation for speedy economic
development. The TVA was regarded usually as a good example of a successful
solution to the problem of regional development. This opinion has been con-
tested (Chandler, 1984). It is stated that the evidence does not support the widely
held belief that the TVA has created affluence in the region.
Quite a number of dams have been built in the former USSR The largest 250
reservoirs, with a volume of over 100 million m3 each, contain more than 98%
of total stored water. No less than 1200 m3 are stored, or about a quarter of the
country's annual river runoff.
Most of the reservoirs in the Soviet Union, including the largest, are situated
on flatlands. Land losses due to inundation amount to over 8 million ha;
moreover these used to be highly productive lands of floodplains and river
valley terraces. The decision to build such gigantic reservoirs on flat terrain were
made possible because the value of land to be lost was not taken into account,
since it did not have a perceived price.
Besides the loss of agricultural lands as a most valuable resource, the man-
made lakes in the USSR have brought a number of other environmental
problems. Among them are: deterioration of water quality; unstable and, hence,
unfavourable hydrologic regime of rivers downstream of the dams; interception
of nutrients by the dams; rise in groundwater level with subsequent changes in
biological productivity of the natural and man-made ecosystems; translocation
of people and disruption of traditional economic activities; deterioration of
fisheries, particularly of valuable species.
On the positive side, the non-polluting hydroelectric plants play an important
role in the energy supply system of the country, in particular covering evening
peak demands. The navigation has improved. Irrigation has been developed,
which is beneficial in some places but not everywhere because of the environ-
mental consequences of irrigation. In summary, the full benefits
(economic-cum-environmental) of the large reservoirs on the plains in the USSR
are at least dubious.
The world's Mass media frequently bring stories to the attention of the public
about hydraulic projects, discussing their consequences and reaching mostly
negative conclusions. However, in-depth scientific analysis, similar to that made
by White (1988) for the Aswan Dam, is usually lacking. It is a very difficult task
to assess combined economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of
large dams at the stages of project design, implementation and exploitation but
it is necessary for the development to be sustainable.
To make more water resources available in developing countries, construction
of more dams may be required, but additional problems emerge here. Scudder
(1980, 1989) says that in most cases in Africa the interests of the local river-and
lake-basin populations are not considered by river-basin planners. "Big dams are
a classic example of urban bias because they are primarily single-purpose
schemes for the generation of hydroelectric power which is intended almost
exclusively for the urban-industrial sector of the national economy" (Scudder,
1980, p.392). The analysis made for five relatively small reservoirs in Kenya and
Zimbabwe has also shown that the local population do not benefit in any way
from the presence of the new lakes, whether it is a matter of availability of
drinking water, sanitary installations and electrify or the increase of food
resources (Roggeri, 1985).
Tropical natural conditions bring additional ecological problems as compared
with the temperate latitudes. First of all, the level of morbidity rises as son as a
new man-made lake appears. The vector-borne diseases such as malaria or
schistosomiasis find favourable grounds to flourish in addition, the deterioration
in quality of the reservoir water in comparison with the original river water
increases the number of cases of diarrhoea and other intestinal diseases.
Reservoirs have recently begun to appear in the zone of humid equatorial
forests where yet further environmental problems emerge. Apparently the very
first large lake built in that zone is Tukuri in the Amazon area, with a
hydropower station of 8000 megawatt. There, decay of the submerged vegeta-
tion consumes all available oxygen in the water and leads finally to anaerobic
decomposition of the biomass with subsequent production of highly poisonous
hydrogen sulphide (Tundisi, 1989). Deadly encephalitis-type disease cases are on
the increase there. Similar biogeochemical conditions are to found in Surinam on
the much smaller Brokopondo scheme, where the smell of hydrogen sulphide
was so strong that the operators of the hydropower plant had to wear gas
masks. In spite of this experience the Electricite de France is building a
hydropower plant at Petit Saut, Guyane, without removing forest from the
future lake bed. Some 300 km2 of forest will be flooded. Knowing already the
most environmentally damaging effects, the decision has none-the-less been
made in order to supply energy for urban expansion (Power, 1989).
Apparently, the behaviour of reservoirs and their impacts on the environment
are profoundly influenced by the prevailing natural conditions. A special com-
prehensive and world-wide study of this relationship might be helpful for water
. resources and environment planners.
The many negative consequences of building dams and artificial lakes are a
serious argument against damming. However, he initial statement made in this
section is still valid: in order to increase the secured supply of water resources
one has to construct dams. All the pros and cons of each project must be
carefully analysed; moreover no rigid, universal methodology can be recom-
mended. Not only solid knowledge but also ingenuity should be applied in
denning the measure of human intervention into nature which, in order to be as
close to sustainable development as possible, should be at the junction between
art and science. The final decision must be a compromise between engineering,
economic and environmental objectives. A comprehensive assessment of a large
hydraulic project is a costly exercise but the projects themselves are much more
expensive, they are designed to last at least 100 years and the implications of a
wrong decision may be very profound and long-lasting.
One of the problems in sustainable water development is to change not only
136 G. N. Golubev
the water management strategy but also the minds of the managers. Many of the
world's water resources development experts are too narrow-minded and do not
consider environmental and socio-economic issues to be an integral part of water
management. Proper training and awareness-building are therefore important
aspects of sustainable water development.
Some members of the environmental movement are against all major hy-
draulic projects. Probably the most conspicuous opponents of large dams,
Goldsmith & Hildyard (1984) wrote the following about the High Aswan dam:
"All that we can hope for is the ruins of that dam may serve a salutory function
as a permanent monument of the folly, or of the cynicism, of those who now
direct the organisations which have financed so much destruction and so much
misery throughout the world, a monument set in a vast muddy wasteland where
once the fertile soil nourished happy and sustainable communities". These lines
were published at the beginning of the seven-year period of low flow of the Nile
River which could had been devastating for Egypt if Lake Nasser had not
existed. The dam has literally saved the country from a calamity and this is solid
justification for the carefully planned construction of dams around the world.
Based on this analysis one can say that the heyday of dam construction is
over. However, future water resources development in some areas may require
additional damming, mostly in developing countries.
Problems of Water Resources Control: Space

At some stage of water resources development, when not only the stable part of
river runoff and accessible groundwater resources but also economically and
environmentally feasible impounded river waters have mostly been used,
projects of interbasin water transfers emerge.
Throughout the history of water transfers, their discharge, length of the
conveyance routes and other parameters have grown exponentially. At the
beginning of this century, water discharges of the largest transfer schemes were
between 0.5 and 1 km3 per year, of 15-30 m3 s"1. Currently they are of the next
order of magnitude. New projects of yet another order of magnitude have been
proposed, but their feasibility, at least in the immediate future, is questionable.
Schemes of water transfers have been both accomplished and suggested in such
differing countries as the former USSR, the USA, China, Canada, India, Mexico
and others (Golubev & Biswas, 1979; Biswas et al., 1983; Golubev & Biswas,
1985).
In the USA the peak of interest in large, interbasin water transfer projects was
in the 1960s. The growing demand for water, mainly for irrigation and mostly
in the south-western and south-central parts of the country, prompted water
engineers to design impressive schemes for the reallocation of water practically
all over the continent. The water would have been diverted from the seemingly
abundant north-west of the USA and Canada.
Later, mainly in the 1970s, more modest, but still quite large diversion
schemes were contemplated to solve water shortage problems. A number of
studies have been undertaken to identify and evaluate the alternative strategies
to replenish or offset the dwindling Ogallala Aquifer in the High Plains.
California was seeking alternative sources of water to replace those taken from
the Colorado River and to bring more water mainly to the southern part of the
state.
Now, in the early 1991s, it is correct to say that none of the aforementioned
projects has been accomplished. This fact reflects changes in public attitudes
towards large-scale hydraulic projects in general and water transfer schemes in
particular, the main reasons for which, providing useful lessons for other
countries, are as follows:
(a) The main user of water was to be irrigation. However, the cost of the
transferred water would be, by an order of magnitude, higher than the cost
of water used for irrigation now. Local shortages of water pressed farmers
to use it more efficiently. Besides, there is an excess of agricultural products
in the USA for both domestic and international markets even without further
development of irrigation.
(b) The environmental effects of large water transfer projects are complex and
numerous. Even now, when we have much better insights into the environ-
mental phenomena than 20 years ago, production of environmental impacts
is uncertain if expressed in physical terms and impossible if expressed in
monetary terms.
(c) The legal and political issues to be solved are very complex. The public in
Canada objected to giving water to their southern neighbour and finally a
decision has been made 6n this matter. The transfer of water from one state
to another within the USA is no simpler, without mentioning multistate
water exchange.
These difficulties in accomplishing large-scale water transfers are apparently
valid for other countries as well, though they may take different forms in
accordance with national circumstances. The case of the bygone Soviet Union
supports this conclusion.
Approximately 16% of the total river runoff in the USSR flows down form the
nation's southern continental watershed, of industrial and agricultural produc-
tion are located there (Voropaev & Velikanov, 1985). The water shortage in that
vast area is aggravated by diminishing runoff due to water withdrawals and
increasing water pollution. Besides, fresh water inflow into a number of large
and closed lakes, such as the Caspian Sea, Aral Sea, and other, has to be
maintained.
These considerations led water resources planners to design a number of
water transfer schemes. However, they disregarded the obvious necessity for
drastic improvements in water use efficiency in all branches of water manage-
ment, in particular in irrigation. Unfortunate experiences with the environmental
consequences of completed large hydraulic projects (dams, irrigation systems,
canals, etc.) did not lead to any lessons being learnt because of the then
prevailing water development strategy, which neglected both the environmental
and economic considerations.
The political climate has, of course, changed and among the first waves of
criticisms form the public was that addressing costly, inefficient and environ-
mentally damaging water projects. Plans for massive water transfers were under
heavy attack on grounds similar to those mentioned in the case of the USA, plus
the overall inefficiency in water management. As a result, all construction and
design works related to water transfers were stopped by a special government
decision. This was the first remarkable achievement by the growing environmen-
tal movement in the former USSR. The government's decision has pushed
towards more efficient and more sustainable water resources management.
138 G. N. Golubev
The last decade has not brought a further increase in the number and size of
world-wide water transfer projects as was implicitly suggested in the 1970s
(Golubev & Vasiliev, 1979). The main reason is the very high cost of such
projects, the environmental uncertainties associated with them as discussed
above, and a general tendency towards paying more attention to a reduction in
water demands, that is, to more intensive water management. This tendency will
continue in the near future.
However, the current, generally negative world-wide attitude to large water
transfer schemes may change in the more distant future. More efficient use of the
locally available (e.g. interbasin) water should certainly come first. Water trans-
fers may then become competitive again, if:
(a) water diversion costs, including environmental costs, were to be drastically
reduced because of progress in technology and /or much higher price for
water than at present were to be acceptable;
(b) acute water shortage or serious deterioration of water quality threatening
environmental and, hence, political stability in some areas were to prompt
a political decision on transfer (note that any political decision might be
environmentally unsustainable),
(c) the forecast climate change may bring unexpected consequences. For in-
stance, it may drastically influence current distribution of the areas of excess
or deficit of water, and make the difference between them much more
profound than it is now.
Water-related Problems of Irrigation

In a quest to stabilize and increase yields of agricultural products mankind has
been irrigating fields for millennia. Most ancient civilizations were built on
irrigated agriculture but the main expansion of irrigated land has occurred
during this century when its area has increased five-or sixfold, reaching a figure
of about 250 million ha. Thought constituting only about 15% of the world's
arable land it provides approximately one-third of total agricultural produce.
In the 1980s the growth of irrigated areas slowed down considerably. There
are several reasons for this: the high cost of new projects, being from $1000 to
$2000 per hectare on average but sometimes reaching $20 000 (Yudelman, 1985);
uncompetitiveness of irrigation projects as compared with other areas of invest-
ment; shortage of suitable lands or water; loss of irrigated areas due to
salinization or waterlogging; deterioration of irrigation systems. In some coun-
tries both the government and the public have realized the enormity of the
environmental costs involved in the development of irrigation.
Transformation of a natural landscape into an agricultural system brings very
pronounced changes to the state and regime of the territory, and even more so
in the case of irrigated agriculture. A new, almost completely artificial ecosystem
is created. The dominant processes become different: in place of small amounts
of water which are not sufficient to penetrate the whole of the soil profile, the
area receives large inputs of water changing all aspects of the soil regime. Not
only is field or an irrigation system under very strong human influence but, in
many cases, the transformation touches a river basin as large as the Colorado,
Amudarya or even the Nile.
Experience shows us that whatever area is under the influence of irrigation, be
it a river/lake basin, an engineering system or a field, it has a tendency to

environmental deterioration unless proper management is applied. The litera-
ture is full of such cases both past and present. Nothing is free from nature: the
more one upsets it, the more one has to pay for the disturbances.
Perhaps the largest environmental catastrophe in the world is that the of
the Aral Sea basin, caused by massive and unsustainable irrigation develop-
ment.
The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world by surface area. It is a
closed lake with only two rivers, the Amudarya and Syrdarya, entering it. The
basin is a traditional area of irrigation, which has been practised there for
millenia. The present state of the lake is a result of both the ration of flow into
the sea versus the evaporation from it, and water losses in the basin due to
irrigation. The lake level was relatively stable from 1900-1960 during which time
the area of irrigation did not change much. The decision was the made to
expand the level of irrigation considerably, specializing in cotton production.
The irrigated area has now almost doubled and comprises about 8 million ha. As
a result, ever more water from the two rivers has been used for irrigation and
ever less, if any, has flowed into the Aral Sea.
Between 1960 and the present day the water level, volume and surface of the
lake have shrunk considerably. The lake ecosystem has been destroyed. New
desert systems with loose salts on the surface are to be found on the former lake
bottom. The salts are blown away by the wind, contaminating large areas
around the lake. The adjacent terrestrial ecosystems have changed, mainly
towards more desertification. The water quality in the lower reaches of the
Amudarya and Syrdarya is very poor due to concentration of agricultural
chemicals coming from upstream. In spite of unacceptable quality the river
waters are the main source of domestic water supply, though they are not good
even for irrigation.
The drastic changes in the physical environment have led to a noticeable
deterioration in the quality of life there, including the state of human health. The
traditional economic activities have also been destroyed. The whole area sur-
rounding the lake is in a state of environmental catastrophe. The situation is not
much better in the middle reaches of the two rivers: the water quality is poor;
the efficiency of water usage for irrigation is low; the level and methods of
application of pesticides and defoliants are troublesome; the state of human
health as the result of environmental deterioration is disturbing.
The solution to the Aral Sea problem goes well beyond that of lake manage-
ment. A drastic change must be made in the strategy of socio-economic
development and possible approaches are being discussed. When a decision has
been implemented and some socio-economic achievements made, the state of the
Aral Sea will also improve because of the enhancements in the basin.
Irrigation is the world's main user of water, taking 70% of all the water
consumed. In arid and semi-arid countries the figure is much higher: in Egypt,
for instance, it is 98%. And yet the efficiency of irrigation is very low. The
average figures cited in the literature vary considerably, from about 50% down
to as low as 37% (Postel, 1986). However, one has to bear in mind that some of
the unused water seeps down, replenishing groundwater, or comes back into the
river as return water.
To take again an example from the former Soviet Central Asia, if the efficiency
of the irrigation systems there had been just twice as high, the region would
140 G. N. Golubev
have saved an amount of water comparable to that to be provided by the

suggested large, costly and environmentally damaging water transfer schemes
discussed in the previous section. Additionally, the conservation of water would
have produced clearly positive environmental effects, both on the spot and in
the Aral Sea. Similarly, many dams and other water engineering systems
throughout the world would not be necessary if water for irrigation had been
used more efficiently.
The methods for improving the efficiency of irrigation are well known.
Maintenance of optimal soil humidity in the root zone and a reduction of
evaporation are the objectives which should be pursued both for water saving
and higher harvest yield.
Transition from traditional gravity systems to sprinkler irrigation gives an
increase in efficiency of about 40% and, from sprinkler to drip systems, a further
20% (Postel, 1985). The typical efficiencies of these systems are, therefore, some
50, 70 and 85% respectively. Generally, speaking, more water is saved and less
damage is done to the environment. Besides, more efficient methods provide
also more uniform watering of irrigated fields and, hence, produce a better
harvest. Unfortunately, the high cost and technological complexities of the more
progressive irrigation systems prevent them from being more widespread.
Sprinkler systems probably account for 5-10% and drip systems for less than 1%
of the total irrigated area world-wide.
There are several reasons for the inefficient use of water but the main one is
that the price for it, if any, is well below its social cost. In many cases irrigation
water is either free or at least below the maintenance costs, ignoring the capital
investments made in construction of the projects.
In his analysis of performance of large public irrigation systems in a number
of countries Repetto (1986) points out that governments collect from users
(farmers) barely 10 to 20% of the costs of building and operating the systems.
Government subsidies range from 75 to 99% of the total costs. Nobody, includ-
ing the farmers, is financially at risk for the success of irrigation projects.
Wastage of water is chronic, operation and maintenance are poor, and water
conservation opportunities are neglected. Large irrigation systems bring exten-
sive environmental impacts. If water diverted for irrigation were used efficiently,
the need for additional and costly irrigation projects would lessen or disappear
altogether.
Disproportionate use of water for irrigation leads to a number of environmen-
tal effects, the main one being a rise in groundwater level. Continuous growth
of groundwater level, because of excessive leaching of irrigation water and poor
drainage, leads in many cases to waterlogging which is accompanied in arid
areas by salinization of soils. The damage caused by salinization and waterlog-
ging to both agricultural production and the environment is very high. The
world level of soil salinization covers about 60 million ha, or close to quarter of
the total irrigated area.
While the main environmental problems of irrigation at a field or farm level
are waterlogging and salinization of soils, the principal effect for a river basin is
a drastic increase in the transport of salts. There are many data on the increasing
salinity of river waters due to development of irrigation in the basin upstream.
The total transport of salts with drainage outflow from irrigated fields world-
wide is about 2000 million tonnes a year (Glazovsky, 1989). It has become a
major component in biogeochemical cycles, quite comparable, for instance, with
the world transport of dissolved matter by rivers, which is 3000 million tonnes
annually.
One of the main problems in designing irrigation development in a river basin
in a sustainable way is to deal properly with the expected drastic increase in
transport of dissolved salts. In many cases this is accompanied by a growth in
wind transfer of salts. The principal methodology in solving the problem is an
analysis of the present and future equations of water and salts balances. There
are no hard and fast rules because each large area is unique and successful
solution of the problem should always be a case of applying both skills and
imagination.
Development of irrigation, particularly in tropical countries, is usually accom-
panied by a number of social implications. One of the most important is the
growth of diseases associated either with vectors such as malaria, schistosomia-
sis and onchocerciasis or with a deterioration in drinking water quality leading
to problems such as diarrhoea.
A brief review of implications of irrigation leads us to some hard questions:
is it sustainable to create technological systems which bring about so many
impacts on various aspects of human activity that it is impossible to say whether
the net result is actually positive or negative? Is it efficient to make huge
investments in irrigation systems without any sizeable economic return? Is it
equitable to obtain contributions to irrigation development in the form of funds
or resources from practically everybody in a country, state or district while the
benefits accrue only to selected groups in the society concerned?
These questions do not necessarily require negative answers. Rather, they
remind us that the full costs of irrigation, including the environmental and social
ones, are very high and, therefore, decisions on irrigation development must
consider them. Besides, such decisions would depend on the natural, in particu-
lar meteorological conditions: in arid areas agriculture without irrigation is
impossible, while in more humid territories irrigation might be only complemen-
tary.
In many cases, irrigation development strategies are formulated on the
basis of political decisions pursuing certain national objectives, such as creating
independence in the food supply. But even in these cases one has to consider
as far as possible the environmental and social implications of such new
projects.
An increase in the efficiency of irrigation and construction of drainage systems
are among the main routes in sustainable water development for the near future.
At the same time, there will be a limited increase of irrigated areas. For the more
distant future there is not much suitable land or available water in the world for
a drastic expansion of irrigation. The largest unused areas are in Africa and
South America. The pressing demand for food might push towards a further
increase of irrigated areas but certainly on the basis of much higher efficiency in
the use of water.
Controlling the Water Demand

Efficient regional water management is a skill of balancing demand and supply.
Traditionally, the approach to the balancing act used to be by means of
increasing the supply to meet the growing demand. However, the use of water
142 G. N. Golubev
is inefficient in practically all countries and sectors of the economy. Here there
is enormous room for improvement, besides which, a reduction in water
demand leads usually to less damage to the environment. Both conservation of
water and subsequent preservation of the environment are correct steps towards
regional sustainable development.
The problems of sustainable water resources development for irrigation and
the corresponding reduction in water use have been discussed in the previous
section.
In those developed countries where irrigation is not widespread, like Ger-
many, the UK or France, industry consumes between 71 and 87% of the total
water use, while in the former USSR, Japan and the USA, where irrigation plays
a considerable role in water management, it is between 31 and 46% (WRI/IIED/
UNEP, 1988, Table 21.1). Per capita consumption of water by industry in the
USA is 995 m3 per year while in the other five countries mentioned it varies
between 305 and 584 m3. The amount of water consumed per unit of an
industrial product varies by more than 10 times depending mainly on the
technology applied and, hence, large savings of water can be made in industrial
production.
The main strategic technological approach is to recirculate water within the
factory once it is withdrawn from the source. In the USA in 1978 every unit of
water withdrawn for industrial purposes was used 3.4 times. It is expected that
by the year 2000 this ratio will be increased to 17 times. If so, US industry would
then use 45% less water than in 1978, in spite of the considerable growth in
production (Postel, 1985). A similar strategy is being applied in other developed
countries. On the other hand, if a unit of water is used for only one industrial
cycle, it may often mean it goes back to the river as untreated or poorly treated
effluent.
The urban population uses no more than 10% of total withdrawals but. this is
the most expensive water because of the need to build and maintain complex
water supply systems. It is known that up to 50% of water is lost by leakage in
many urban distribution networks. To that figure one has to add losses from
leaking taps, toilets and other household devices. The most efficient way to
alleviate water shortages in large cities is to pay priority attention to leakage
control. This seemingly simple solution requires laborious and persistent efforts
and additional investment and is therefore not very popular among urban water
managers. Another way to economize water use in cities is to substitute
household fixtures by more efficient devices, some of which may cut water use
by 50-70%.
Using less water does not necessarily mean being more dirty. Ancient Rome,
with a population of one million, provided up to 1000 litres of water per person
per day. With the present per capita supply of Rome of about half as much, the
inhabitants are apparently better off in terms of personal hygiene.
Control of water demand is an efficient method of regional water manage-
ment. The classic example is Sweden, where water demand grew steadily and
quickly from the mid-1940s through to the mid-1960s. A law was then passed
forcing industry to recirculate its process water resulting in a very rapid decline
in water demand (Falkenmark, 1977).
There is no doubt that the increase of efficiency in water use by means of the
reduction of water demand is going to be the main strategic path of sustainable
water management both for the near and more distant future.
Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management

The art and science of sustainable regional water management lies in skilful
control and a balance of demand and supply in the basin without deterioration
of the environment. Many actors play their roles in this and, therefore, one also
has to balance the different, often conflicting interests and objectives of various
social groups and sectors of the economy. Besides, one has to keep in mind the
need to reconcile the short- and long-term objectives. It is not surprising that
often not only the best but even an optimal solution in choosing alternatives in
water management cannot be found. The way out is in defining so-called
non-inferior solutions where "any improvement in one criterion can be achieved
only at the expense of degrading another alternative" (UNEP, 1989).
Naturally, conflicts can be solved and a consensus reached only by means of
trade-offs among different interest groups. That is why we witness the ardent
debate by the 'green' movement members and the public at large on various
aspects of water management strategies in many different countries of the
world.
Proper regional (better to say, basin) water management should be based on
a multicriterial and multidisciplinary approach. It stresses the need to combine
technical, economic, environmental, legal, institutional and political actions
because none of these taken in isolation can provide effective and lasting
solutions.
Traditionally, technical (engineering) methods of water management have
been the main tool permitting control of both supply and demand, as discussed
earlier. However, there are many examples of failures when a purely engineer-
ing approach has been applied. The technological means of water management
can be and usually are at the centre of action, but if applied without the right
kind of economic, environmental, institutional and legal support they bring
about more problems than solutions.
Economic approaches pursue wise and efficient water management through a
proper set of incentives. Currently, water is underpriced or not priced at all
practically everywhere, which makes water management unsustainable. Studies
for a fossil fuel electric power station in the USA have shown that a fivefold
increase in the price of water would lead to a fiftyfold decrease in its use.
Likewise, a 10% increase in the price of municipal water supply would result in
a 1.5-7% drop in water demand (Rogers, 1985).
The following quotations represent the correct stand towards the issue of
water costs and prices (Interaction Council, 1990):
All costs related to the provision of water (conveyance costs, capital invest-
ments and maintenance of irrigation, drainage and other public systems)
must be included in the water price in order to satisfy the principle of
accurate pricing. Even if these costs were incorporated, the water price
would still not reflect its environmental and economic price (e.g. the cost of
increasing salinization and contamination of rivers). Charges should there-
fore be applied to ensure a proper relative price so that users become aware
of the costs.
And further:. "No country can afford to have wrong relative pricing, as this
would jeopardize sustainability". But, perhaps, no country currently has water
prices as required and major shifts in the national policies are necessary.
144 G. N. Golubev
Economic instruments in water "management may have various forms: pricing

(e.g. a floor price applicable to all users, progressive prices depending on the
quantities diverted, differentiated prices in accordance with the sector of water
economy, etc.); charges and penalties for improper use; taxes for general or
specific uses of water (e.g. for groundwater pumping); leasable or tradable
permits for amounts of water withdrawn or polluted, and others.
Legal and administrative approaches may play an important role in sustain-
able water management. The Swedish case of the water pollution law
influencing water demand discussed in the previous section is a good example.
The management of international water bodies provides a special and very
complicated dimension of the whole issue. An international 'Good Neighbour'
principle is widely accepted: a state should act in such a way as to avoid causing
appreciable and unreasonable harm to the territory of a neighbouring state.
Numerous bilateral and multilateral treaties between states on water issues have
been adopted. And yet, the existing rules of customary international law
prohibiting such water consumption or pollution that causes substantial damage
to the interests of other riparian states on an internationally shared water body
are often not implemented in practice. While individual nations are giving teeth
to their water legislation, international cooperation is lagging behind and needs
to be promoted.
Very important, if not the most important are the institutional components in
multi objective water management. Different interest groups are often repre-
sented by different pieces of governmental machinery whose objectives are in
conflict. For example, the optimal control of a reservoir may be seen in a
different way by departments of energy, fishery and irrigation. Another source
of institution-related conflicts is the difference of local (regional) and national
objectives in river (lake) management. No less important are the political factors
in regional (basin) water management. The public should be involved on an ever
increasing •" in the decision-making process.
Propei il (basin) water management is the key factor in the socio-eco-
nomic de i t of any area and it is an important determinant of whether
or not tht pment would be sustainable.
Issues of Water Quality, Related Policies and Perspectives

Natural Freshwater, Development and Water Quality
Under natural conditions most freshwater is of acceptable quality. It is water
shortage and not water quality which usually impedes the initial stages of
economic development.
In fact, natural water is a solution of many different compounds together with
suspended particulate matter and dragged rocks. The contents of dissolved
matter in river water usually are below 1 g I"1. Tubidity is within limits or can
easily be treated even at home. Harmful substances are not found. Patches of
natural water in rivers with unacceptable chemical and physical characteristics
are exceptions to the rule. They are usually to be found in some areas with arid
climates or in special geochemical circumstances. Natural waters from lakes or
underground are more frequently of unacceptable quality.
• The peculiarity of natural drainage systems of river or lake basins or aquifers
is that during the process of economic development they are gradually con-
verted to playing the role of a sewer rather than being a drain. It has been
mentioned already that water properties reflect somehow the state of the
drainage basin. While the processes in the basin are natural, the water carries
along natural substances. But as soon as human activities such as agriculture,
industry, construction, etc. intensify the fluxes of matter and in this way begin
contributing to changes in the natural processes, the chemical and physical
properties of the water start changing.
Take the example of the River Rhine basin. Economic development there is
reflected in changes of various characteristics of the chemical composition of the
water. The natural chloride content of the River Rhine water is about 10-20
mg I"1. Owing to industrial development in the basin in the last 100 years the
concentration has increased by such an order of magnitude that in 1980 at the
German-Dutch border it was 168 mg I"1 (Oudshoorn, 1981). The increase of
wastes in the basin because of the explosive economic development after the
Second World War led to the growth of organic, biodegradable material in the
water and, hence, to a deficit of oxygen, reaching its minimum in 1971 when
progressive building of water treatment plants started. Since the 1950s and in
particular from one 1960s steep increases (four- to sixfold) in the concentrations
of nitrate and phosphate have occurred because of the marked growth in
application of chemical industry products for agriculture and domestic pur-
poses.
Due to economic activities the speed and intensity of flux of chemical
substances in the environment increase and, hence, their inputs to natural waters
augment. Concentration of the compounds usually carried by the river water
goes up. At the same time, new, artificially created compounds appear, some-
times in large quantities. The total number of natural and man-made substances
polluting natural waters is up to 1000. For instance, in the USSR the list of
variables with maximum permissible concentrations established by the govern-
ment in water sources used for communal water supply is 640. In water bodies
used for fisheries the number of variables is 147; moreover only some belong to
both lists (Stadnitsky & Rodionov, 1988).
The report of the Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS, 1988)
based on practical considerations of water quality requirements, pollution prob-
lems and health "effects, groups water quality parameters into the following
broad categories:
• microbiological indicators (related to human health): total coliforms, fecal

coliforms, intestinal nematodes;
• particulate matter (with regard to surface waters and their uses): total
suspended solids, turbidity, transparency;
• indicators of organic pollution (related to surface waters and their use):
dissolved oxygen (DO), biological and chemical oxygen demand (BOD and
COD), phosphate, chlorophyll a;
• nutrients (key factors for aquatic life and various water uses): nitrate, nitrite,
ammonia, phosphate;
• salinity and specific major ions (an essential factor in determining the
suitability of water for most uses): total dissolved solids, electrical conduc-
tivity, pH, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, sulphate,
bicarbonate, boron, fluoride, hardness;
• inorganic micropollutants (with adverse effects on all non-industrial uses):
146 G. N. Golubev
Table 1. Major pollution problems in different water bodies

Water pollution problem
Specific to Ubiquitous
Type of water body water body occurrence
Rivers Pathogens
Organic Matter Heavy metals
• Suspended Matter
Acidification
Lakes and Reservoirs Eutrophication
Acidification
Organic
micropollutants
Groundwaters Salinization
Nitrates
aluminium, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper,

cyanide, hydrogen sulphide, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, mercury,
molybdenum, nickel, selenium, vanadium, zinc;
• organic micropollutants (with adverse effects on humans and aquatic life).
There are many, including polychlorinated biphenils (PCBs), benzene, ben-
zo(a)pirene, etc., and pesticides (DDT, aldrine/dieldrine, HCH, etc.).
Major Water Pollution Problems

Different patterns of economic development determine certain sets of water
pollutants. Combined with various hydrological and other natural conditions
they cause a variety of water pollution problems. The problems can be grouped
as shown in Table 1 (GEMS, 1988). The level of pathogens is in direct proportion
to the density of population in the basin and to the level of socio-economic
development. Even in Western Europe pathogenic contamination is not fully
controlled. In developing countries it is widespread downstream of cities and in
densely populated rural areas because of the lack of sanitation and sewage
treatment. Pathogens are a major contributing factor to the high morbidity and
mortality due to gastro-intestinal infections. In developed countries water taken
for drinking purposes is treated before delivery while in developing countries
this is not necessarily the case.
In India, only eight cities and towns out of 3119 have full sewage treatment
facilities and 217 have partial facilities. The Yamuna River flowing through New
Delhi receives daily 0.2 million m3 of untreated sewage. As a result, the index of
pathogenic contamination increases within the city 3200 times reaching 24
million coliform organisms per 100 millilitres of water (WRI, 1986). A high level
of pathogenic and organic matter pollution is observed along the Ganges River
where a special programme to clean the great river is under implementation.
Organic matter discharged into water in dissolved or suspended form is the
largest pollutant group and occurs mainly with domestic sewage effluent. In
some localities such industries as pulp and paper or food processing provide a
considerable addition. The geographic distribution of organic matter pollution
largely coincides with that of pathogenic contamination.
Industrialized countries spend considerable funds on the development and

maintenance of water purification facilities introducing, as well as the expansion
of primary (mechanical) and secondary (biological) treatment of wastewater,
tertiary (chemical and biological) treatment. The overall quality of water in
rivers of the OECD countries has improved since the 1970s as demonstrated by
increased amounts of dissolved oxygen (DO) and decreased values of biochem-
ical oxygen demand (BOD) (WRI, 1986). The dissolved oxygen content in the
lower reaches of the Rhine has been growing steadily since the beginning of
1970s having increased over that period about twofold (van Baardwijk, 1990).
However, in developing countries where water treatment facilities are poor or
non-existent and the levels of dissolved oxygen necessary for the natural
degradation of pollutants are low because of a usually higher temperature, this
kind of pollution is predominant and keeps on growing. The problem is
connected with a low level of sanitation in developing countries with over 1.5
billion people lacking facilities. In spite of efforts throughout the International
Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade of the United Nations (1981-90),
as well as national and bilateral aid projects, the growth of sanitation in the
Third World is unable to keep up with the increase in population, particularly
in large cities. It is clear, however, that the water pollution by pathogens and
organic matter is basically the result of underdevelopment and, therefore, the
cardinal solution to the problem lies not only in expansion of the water
treatment and sanitation facilities (which is still necessary),. but in overall
sustainable development.
Suspended matter in river waters is predominantly soil particles carried away
due to erosion. The total amount of sediment transport by rivers into the World
Oceans is at least 22 billion tonnes per year (L'vovitch, 1974). The amount of soil
moved within river basins is, at the minimum, five times higher (Golubev, 1983).
World average concentration of suspended sediments in rivers is approximately
0.5 g I"1 with variations from below 0.02 in rivers with forested basins to over
40 g I"1 in the Yellow (Huanghe) River. Human activities considerably increase
sediment transport.
Fine soil particles usually adsorb phosphorus compounds on their surface.
This is the fertile silt brought to the fields during floods by many rivers
including the famous case of the Nile in its pristine state. If dams are constructed
they usually intercept almost all sediments, not allowing phosphorus to move
downstream. Management actions in the basins, having as their primary pur-
pose soil erosion control, would at the same time also control phosphorus
transport. This leads to negative feedbacks on fertility of the natural and
agricultural ecosystems situated downstream on the floodplains and on produc-
tivity of the fisheries. One can see again the complexity of the interrelations and
the importance of the role of water problems in territorial environmental
management.
Acidification of lakes in Scandinavia has been the first manifestation of a
complex problem of acid deposition and its impacts. As to acidification of
natural waters, this phenomenon is characteristic of areas with a low natural
buffering capacity situated close to highly industrialized territories. It is no
surprise that the problem appeared first on the Fenno-Scandian and Canadian
shields composed of cristalline rocks. It then spread over larger territories both
in Europe and North America with some patches in developing countries.
Acid deposition into lakes, rivers and their basins increases acidity of water
148 G. N. Golubev
from pH values of about 6.0 to 5.0 or less, that is, by 10 times or more. Acidic
water mobilizes metals, particularly aluminium. At about pH = 5, aluminium is
most lethal to fish because it precipitates in their gills as aluminium hydroxide,
reducing the oxygen content in the blood. In Sweden, of 85 000 existing lakes,
acidification affects 15 000. Some 4500 lakes have almost no fish life and 1800
lakes are so badly acidified that they are close to lifeless. Local management of
acidification is costly: each year in Sweden several thousand lakes receive more
than 100 000 tonnes of lime at a cost of nearly 100 million kronor (Acid Magazine
1987). However, it is not a permanent solution since most of the bicarbonate ion
delivered to a lake is used up in two or three years.
The permanent solution lies in a change of technology in industry, transporta-
tion and energy production on a continental scale, that is, in international
cooperation in Europe, the Americas or Asia. Some steps in this direction have
been made in Europe through the Convention on Transboundary Air Pollution
and subsequent protocols on sulphur oxides and nitrous oxides and in North
America by means of the Canadian-American negotiations. One can expect that
this pattern of regional cooperation may in the future be applied to other regions
suffering from long-range pollution.
The word 'eutrophication' literally means 'the process of becoming well fed'
(Vollenweider, 1980). Excessive loading of nutrients into lakes, reservoirs and
estuaries, as well as marine coastal waters, leads to an explosive growth of
aquatic plants such as algae or macrophytes. In turn, this causes a number of
economic losses such as deterioration of domestic water quality, decline of
recreational value of a lake, depression of fisheries, clogging of waterways, etc.
Eutrophication is a slowly developing natural process, but in many places it has
accelerated greatly as a result of human activities in water bodies' basins,
becoming in this way the process of environmental degradation. For the last
20-30 years it has predominantly been a problem of developed countries, both
West and East. In Third World countries, the problem has not yet reached
alarming proportions but in a number of locations (Philippines, Brazil, China,
Morocco, etc.) it has become a serious nuisance, in the first place for domestic
water consumption.
In most cases phosphorus is the primary cause of eutrophication. Sometimes
nitrogen may play the leading role. Eutrophication control strategies are usually
limited to the control of phosphorus. The drainage basin is considered as a
whole and measures are based on a thorough analysis of the sources of
phosphorus, costs to eliminate or decrease them, social and political circum-
stances. In the OECD countries some progress has been achieved but, perhaps,
this should be qualified in terms of deterring eutrophication and not dominating
it.
Excessive concentration of nitrates in drinking water may create problems for
human health, in particular a blood disease in infants and a risk of cancer for
adults. The introduction of denitrification in the water treatment process will
lead to a doubling of the cost of drinking water. In Table 1 the problem of high
nitrate content is marked for groundwaters. In fact, this problem can be found
also in rivers or lakes, but groundwater is the most difficult case, because once
a pollutant is in an aquifer it will remain there for a very long time even if there
is no new leachate contamination from the surface.
Nitrogen fertilizers applied in large quantities in developed countries are not
fully consumed in agroecosystems and on average at least 15% of nitrate leaches
down and away (Frissel, 1977). This is the main reason for the increase in
concentration of nitrates in ever more rivers and groundwaters of Europe. In
Britain, 125 groundwater sources exceeded the WHO guidelines value of
10 mg T 1 in nitrate-N compared with 90 in 1980 and 60 in 1970 (GEMS, 1988).
The pollutant is already in the unsaturated zone, moving down, and virtually
nothing can be done about it. There are similar trends in France, Germany and
other countries. High level of nitrates can also be found in other localities,
including developing countries where the main sources are unsewered areas of
high population density and domestic animals.
Salinization of waters is mainly associated with irrigation. Reduction of river
discharges due to withdrawals for irrigation and inflow of the returned waters
considerably increase the salinity of river waters. It is particularly the case for
arid regions, for example in rivers Colorado, Syrdarya and Amudarya where the
actual salinity in the lower reaches of those rivers far exceeds 1 g I"1, sometimes
in Syrdarya rising to 3 g I"1. The irrigation waters percolating through the soil
profile add to the accumulation of salts in groundwater and to waterlogging
unless proper drainage is built.
Heavy metals and arsenic are a serious problem in many parts of the world.
Their main source is industrial wastes. They may be found either as trace
elements in treated (but not actually purified) effluents or in more concentrated
form on dumping sites. In both cases they are a cause of water pollution and,
therefore, of concern. Many municipal water treatment plants also receive
industrial wastewater are a source of water pollution by heavy metals as well.
Mining and smelting are another source of this kind of water pollution, particu-
larly in developing countries. The sediments can also be enriched with heavy
metals.
The main controlling strategy for heavy metals lies in improvements in
technological processes. Considerable successes have been achieved along this
line in the OECD countries. In The Netherlands emissions of mercury, cadmium,
chromium, lead and zinc into surface waters and through the sewerage system
were curtailed in the period 1975-90 by 6-12 times (van Baardwijk, 1990).
Mercury and cadmium loads (both dissolves and particulate) in the Rhine River
during 1971-83 were reduced by 4-10 times (GEMS, 1988).
Tighter water quality standards on trace elements and micro-organic pollu-
tants have led to cases of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes from
western to developing countries. This was a major factor in concluding in 1989
the Basle Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes.
Currently about 70 000 chemical compounds are in production and use, most
of them being organic substances. Release of part of the organic compounds into
the environment is unavoidable. Deterioration of water quality due to organic
micropollutants is generally associated with industrial effluents from major activ-
ities like manufacture of synthetic products and pesticides, the iron and steel
industry, petrol refining, the pulp and paper industry, the textile industry, coal
mining and many others.
The concentration of organic micropollutants in rivers, lakes or groundwater
is generally below 10 ng I"1 or 0.01 parts per billion. Only in cases of extremely
acute pollution does the concentration of organic chemicals exceed 1000 ngl" 1 or
1 part per billion (GEMS, 1988). Such low concentrations make monitoring very
complicated and, hence, in many cases impossible. Results of the measurements
are not always reliable and are difficult to compare. And yet the monitoring of
150 G. N. Golubev
these pollutants is necessary because of their high toxicity. For instance, 1 g of

PCBs can make up to one billion litres of water unsuitable for freshwater aquatic
life.
The global picture of the geographic distribution of water contamination by
synthetic organic micropollutants is not clear enough. One can say that they can
be found almost everywhere with some spots of high toxicity in industrial areas
or where the application of pesticides is not properly controlled.
Water Quality Problems: a Look from the Time and Space Points of View
A certain historical sequence in the water pollution problems discussed above
can be observed in Western Europe and North America (GEMS, 1988): patho-
gens, macro-organic pollution and oxygen deficit (from to 1900s to 1950s);
eutrophication (1960s-1970s); heavy metals (1970s); acidification, organic mi-
cropollutants, and nitrates (1970s-1980s). The problems have been addressed
with a certain delay as compared with public concern about them. The degree
of success is mixed. It is more visible in combating pollution by pathogens,
organic wastes and heavy metals and less successful with the other problems.
Perhaps the more complex the problem and the more deeply it is integrated into
the development activities over the basin, the more difficult it is to control.
The sequence is repeated in other countries but the problems appear in much
more rapid succession than they did in Western Europe. The rapidly industrial-
izing developing countries as well as the Eastern European countries and the
new states in place of the former USSR have full sets of the above-mentioned
problems which considerably impede further socio-economic development. In
the most heavily polluted spots (both water and air) the question arises: what is
more heavily damaged, the environment by man or man by his environment?
Finally, in the least developed countries the situation regarding water pollution
can be compared in general with that in Europe at the beginning of the century:
some (sometimes severe) contamination by pathogens, organic wastes and
industrial by-products. However, some modern organic chemicals carried not
only by the waterways but also through the atmosphere can be detected even
there. One can say that totally pristine waters can no longer be found on this
planet.
A more detailed geographic picture of the water pollution problems across the
continents is yet to be developed. The existing number of observation points is
insufficient and to get a world-wide picture one should combine the monitoring
data with an analysis of the natural and socio-economic factors of water
pollution.
Strategies for Water Quality Control

If the process of economic development is not integrated with proper environ-
ment-oriented actions, natural waters usually deteriorate and the problem of
water quality emerges. Note that the chemical and physical parameters of water
are a hydrological problem belonging to the natural sciences, while water quality
is an interdisciplinary (socio-economic, technological, natural, cultural, etc.)
problem. The chemical and physical properties of water exist in nature indepen-
dently of human society, while the water quality standards are established by
national governments. In many countries the water quality standards are based
on the recommendations of international organizations, such as those for drink-

ing water quality developed by the WHO (WHO, 1984).
The water quality standards are different for different purposes: drinking
water, raw water for public supply, irrigation, industrial use, fisheries, recre-
ation. For a particular river or lake one has to establish certain water quality
standards keeping in mind requirements of the users. Naturally, the require-
ments for drinking water supply and fisheries are the highest, the latter being
even more demanding as the water taken for drinking purposes can be treated
before delivery.
Water quality standards are an important tool for environmental manage-
ment. The polluters might pay either penalties if the effluents do not meet the
established standards or taxes which are proportional to the cumulative degree
of pollution. These policies help in solving a number of water pollution prob-
lems in developed countries. However, they do not work in most developing
countries for a number of reasons ranging from the lack of equipment for water
quality measurements to institutional difficulties in adopting and then enforcing
water pollution control laws if they exist at all. They did not work either in the
countries with so-called centrally planned economies, because economic signals
and tools did not play any considerable role in that economic system.
It is accepted that water pollution comes from two different sources: point and
non-point, though the division between them is not always clearly distinct. Point
source pollution comes from municipal sewage treatment plants and industrial
waste. The main sources of non-point pollution are agriculture, livestock raising
and human settlements without sanitation.
In western countries considerable success has been achieved in treating the
point sources (OECD, 1985), though even in those countries there is a room for
improvements. However, in rapidly industrializing countries such as Brazil,
India, China, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, etc., point source water pollution is in
general on the increase. According to Helmer (1987), only 10 of the 60 countries
in this category have established effective laws, regulations and enforcement
infrastructures to cope with the pollution problems. The situation is not much
better, if at all, in the Eastern European countries and the former USSR.
Along with 'usual', 'ordinary' deterioration of water quality, there is an
increasing number of emergency situations when, because of mismanagement, a
storage with communal or industrial wastes is broken and a wave of
catastrophic pollution flows down the river. Perhaps the most notorious case
was the spill of toxic chemicals into the Rhine at Basle, Switzerland, in Novem-
ber 1986. Such cases of point source water pollution are extreme, since the
consequences may last for long time. The strategy followed should pursue
improvement in the technological processes as well as strong legal and economic
punishment of those personally responsible.
Penalties or taxation as tools to control water pollution cannot be successful in
dealing with the non-point sources. One has first to address agricultural prac-
tices, such as methods of tillage, fertilizers and manure application, irrigation
procedures, etc. Management of non-point pollution from urban and rural
settlements is also a very important area, particularly in developing countries.
What might be the implications for the future of water quality problems? Such
problems perhaps depend even more on economic development than on the
water quantity problems. Therefore, sustainable socio-economic development of
a certain locality or an entire country would predetermine the intensity and type
152 G. N. Golubev
of water quality issues. There is no doubt that the exchange of matter would be
more active in the near future due to the increasing economic activities. To stop
or to deter the water pollution stemming therefrom one has to integrate
environmental considerations into the economic activities. The costs of pollution
control would go up if considered in the short-term perspective but in the long
run it will be more economical to prevent pollution and not to fight it. In the
more distant future the state of water quality is likely to depend on the successes
and failures of sustainable development in a given locality.
Sustainable Basin Development: a Principal Way to Control Water Quantity

and Quality Problems
Broadly speaking, in order effectively to control non-point source pollution one
has to elaborate the strategy of the river/lake basin management. As the first
step in this respect the strategies to control both water quantity and quality
should be combined. But this would also lead to the control of soil management
(erosion, salinization, etc.) which, in turn, would necessitate working out the
strategy for land use in the basin.
On one hand, this cannot be done without proper regard for the natural
features of the basin, including analysis of processes supporting or opposing
unfavourable environmental problems. On the other hand, it cannot be done
without consideration of objectives and goals of socio-economic development in
the basin.
In this paper, starting with the problems of water demand/supply* interaction
and with the elementary problems of water pollution one has come finally to the
need for a comprehensive strategy for sustainable development of the basin in
question.
This is the reason why the main strategic approach of UNEP to water
resources issues lies in the EMINWA (Environmentally Sound Management of
Inland Waters) Programme formulated in 1986 and adopted also in the currently
implemented United Nations System-Wide Medium-Term Environment Programme
for 1990-1995 (UNEP, 1988). EMINWA aims to assist governments to introduce
a comprehensive, environmentally sound approach to the planning and manage-
ment of freshwater resources, thus promoting sustainable development of whole
inland water systems. The first priority is to help countries sharing common
river/lake/aquifer basins to develop their water resources in a sustainable
manner and to use them without conflict.
It has been shown here that the business-as-usual approach in water develop-
ment leads to critical water shortages and deteriorating water quality. It is
imperative that the world community addresses these problems through sustain-
able water development with the utmost urgency as a matter of survival.
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Sustainable Water Development Implications For The Future

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International Journal of Water Resources Development

ISSN: 0790-0627 (Print) 1360-0648 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cijw20

Sustainable water development: Implications for

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Sustainable Water Development: Implications for the

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Problems of Water Resources Control: Space

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it a river/lake basin, an engineering system or a field, it has a tendency to

have saved an amount of water comparable to that to be provided by the

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Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management

Economic instruments in water "management may have various forms: pricing

Issues of Water Quality, Related Policies and Perspectives

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Table 1. Major pollution problems in different water bodies

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Major Water Pollution Problems

Industrialized countries spend considerable funds on the development and

these pollutants is necessary because of their high toxicity. For instance, 1 g of

Strategies for Water Quality Control

on the recommendations of international organizations, such as those for drink-

Sustainable Basin Development: a Principal Way to Control Water Quantity

Falkenmark, M. (1977) Reduced water demand -- results of Swedish anti-pollution program,

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