Inter Basin Water Transfers - Research Paper Example

Inter Basin Water Transfers Introduction Water is an important element in life and all life as we know it would not be able to survive without water. Water has a number of uses like; irrigation, fishing, domestic uses in homes, hydroelectric production among its many other uses. In some countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina water has a wide range of uses; it is supplied from a number of sources within the countries’ geographical region. This report intends to discuss the hydro geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the water supply and demand, water pollution, relevant water related treaties, water costs, future needs and demands of water and inter basin water transfers. Geographical location Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in south Eastern Europe on the western Balkan region. It has a total surface area of 51209 km squared of which land accounts for 51197 km squared and sea accounts for 12.2 km squared (Omeragic, 2009). The longest river is called Drina which is 346 km long and the largest lake being Busko Blato which is 55.8 km squared. Hydrological resources include; 20000 km of rivers and brooks (Drina, Sava, Bosna, Vrbas, and Una) 400 ha of lakes (Busko, Blato, Visegradsko, Jablanicko, and modrac’ Busko Blato is the largest lake in Bosnia) 1400 ha of seacoast. Hydro geography The country is divided into eight basic river basins, which belong to Danube river basin, Sava River and its tributaries, Una River with Korana and Glina, Vrbas, Bosna and Drina (Hudson 2009). All the water in this country is managed by three water management companies; public enterprise of the Sava river basin, Directorate for water located in Bijeljina and Public enterprise for the Adriatic Sea basin (Jovancic, 2008). Water supply and demand Water demand in this country is high as it is used for different purposes like irrigation, fishing, domestic purposes, industrial purposes, commercial purposes and so on. Fishing and fish farming is a popular economic activity in Bosnia and a lot of the water there is used for fish farming. Marine aquaculture is also carried out in Bosnia using cages located in the Adriatic Sea at Neum (Omeragic, 2009). Water is used for agricultural purposes like irrigation where water is directed to farms from water source for farming and other irrigation purposes. Water is supplied from a number of sources like; lakes, rivers, dams, sea basins, water reservoirs, Examples include; Black sea basin, Sava river, Black and Adriatic seas and neretva and Trebincjica water reservoirs. Water stress is related to the overusing of water in relation to the general population whereby if the population is large and water resources are low his could lead to a strain in the water that is available (Krinner, 1999). Desertification is a major water stress in some parts of Bosnia and this is caused by climatic changes and conditions which lead to a decline in the surface water which is the most easily accessible. Tendency towards desertification is accelerated by some mankind activities like clearing land for farming which leads to loss of trees which help to support the water cycle. Water over exploitation is a good example of activities that cause desertification. This over use of both surface and ground water is having a serious effect on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Water Pollution and Sanitation Water pollution is a global problem affecting many countries in the world. This is where by waste matter both organic and inorganic waste matter is dumped into water bodies hence affecting water life and making the water unfit for human consumption and use. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country that is adversely affected by water pollution. In this country industrial and human waste is dumped into water bodies hence polluting the water. However the country has a sewerage system that has helped to combat this problem and to help in the disposal and treatment of both human and industrial waste. Nonetheless, only a small percentage of waste waters receive at least some treatment (Jovancic, 2006). It should be noted that destruction of infrastructure, military and industrial facilities during recent war in Bosnia has resulted in enormous contamination of soil and surface and ground water. Reduction in industrial activity due to the recent war and conflicts led to auto purification of plenty of surface waters. Water related treaties Currently there is no agency that governs trans water boundaries several Un agencies have cropped up to help with this like UNEP, UNDP, UNESCO, WHO, FAO and UNIDO. Some of these treaties include: The Danube convention a vital legal continuation of a tradition of regional management along the Danube dating back 140 years. As a political document, it provides a legal framework for integrated watershed management and environmental protection along a waterway with tremendous potential for conflict (Wolf, 2001). The Jordan River is shared by five riparian hence a treaty was created to monitor its use and developments hence avoiding any conflicts between these five nations. Water disputes have arisen involving Bosnia but they have successfully been solved proving that nations can share a common water resource without any conflict (Wolf, 2001). Political and military conflicts between Bosnia and Serbia have produced mistrust concerning cross border water contamination hence they had to sign international and regional treaties. Cost of water The cost of spreading water can sometimes be high especially in areas like Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is because big water projects and dams have to be built on rivers which require large sums of money and man power. In this country water supply is satisfactory only in bigger cities where as rural areas have to rely on local water sources. Many infrastructural objects including water supply and drainage facilities have been damaged hence increasing the cost of water supply and drainage. The financing of water management goes primarily through the taxation system which happens to be split into three sections; water use, protection and drainage fee. Fee collected through the taxation system is used in water management. Only little contributions come from international loans which are released for bigger investments and restructuring projects in the water sector. Future needs and sources of water Future needs and sources of water in Bosnia will be determined by population growth and climatic and environmental factors. Once the population increases in size the needs for water will be higher hence other alternative water sources will have to be found to cater for this. Climatic conditions like rainfall and environmental factors like vegetation cover will also affect the future water sources in this country. Water recycling plants have been put in place to help recycle and conserve water for future use (Bezdrob, 1998). Dams have been built on Danube river to help conserve water and also other renewable water sources have been established (Barbalic & Ristic, 1994). Bosnia has more than 34 water catchment areas along its river basins which could be used for future water production. In order to enhance and ensure that future water sources are preserved adequate water management must be incorporated and strict laws regarding water pollution should also be put in place. Only a significantly small percentage of water sources have been exploited up to now and so the remaining sources need to be protected for future purposes. Inter basin water transfer Inter basin water transfer is another method that can be used to help distribute water to areas or water basins that have less or little water. It is done by building trenches which help to divert water from one river basin to another, which has little water. This method can be used in Bosnia for future water distribution to help curb the rising demand for water in that country. However this could also lead to conflicts as there are other people who could be affected by this since their water supply would have to be reduced. Inter basin water transfer has a number of risks and benefits. One major benefit is the equal distribution of water allover in a certain region hence ensuring that water is available for irrigation and other uses even to those places where water is in scarcity (Berkoff, 2007). It also helps to control flooding in areas where the water basin is too high by diverging excess water to areas or river basins with water scarcity. Drainage of water logged areas is another benefit of inter basin water transfer hence rehabilitating land from swampy regions for agricultural use. It can lead to distribution of aquatic life species from one water basin to another which could help in improving fish farming. Risks like spreading of invasive water life species and diseases could occur (Hugh, 2009). Another risk is that the recipient water basin may not be fully prepared to manage and handle the increased water volume hence leading to catastrophes like floods. It could also prove to be expensive to build the water channels and require a lot of man power which may not be easily available. Inter basin water transferee in Bosnia and Herzegovin Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country that has a number of rivers that have a lot of water. However there are some regions that have water scarcity and water can be transferred there through inter basin water transfer. This method can help in conducting irrigation in the dry parts of the country for farming. It can also aid in fish farming since this is a major economic activity there in Ilidza as fish ponds and dams are filled with constant water supply from the other rivers which have a lot of water (Omeragic, 2009). Inter basin water transfer is also being used in industrialization where industries are creating water treatment areas which are being supplied by rivers like Drina to provide water for industrial processes (Dravis, 2009). However this method has some negative effects in that polluted water from one basin is finding its way to other basins hence leading to the spread of toxins and diseases. Conflicts are also being created due to disruption of water flow and reduction of water in some rivers which are being used by some people elsewhere. Resolution of inter basin water transfers in a global context From a global point of view, this method has had a great impact on many hydrological fields and the environment in general. For instance inter basin water transfer has brought about climatic changes in many regions because surface water has been made available rainfall has increased in those regions hence changing the climatic pattern. It has also increased water in water catchment areas hence improving vegetative life in those regions for example areas around the Nile in Egypt. Inter basin water transfer has also led to the rise of the water table and aquifer in many regions of the world which were dry enhancing that underground water can also be reached more easily and without a lot of effort (Mutale, 2011). It has also led to increase of water levels and volumes in lakes hence saving those lakes from drying up. Nonetheless inter basin water transfer has brought about global conflicts due to depletion of some water resources like dams built on the Nile for hydroelectric power production have led to reduction of water in the lower Nile regions like Egypt which has resulted in political wrangles (Zabel, 1999). Other conventions created to combat the problem created by inter basin water transfers are the Danube conventions and the Spanish and Portuguese river conventions which were created to solve political problems arising due to this. Conclusion All in all I think inter basin water transfer is a good thing that will help solve the global problem of water scarcity especially in regions like Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe despite the few risks that it may pose. References Molle, F., & Berkoff, J. (2007). Irrigation water pricing: The gap between theory and practice.Cambridge, MA: CABI North American Office. Natural resource management strategy: Eastern Europe and Central Asia. (2000). 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