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Case study : |
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Floods
& Droughts - Case study
Flood stories 2000: Mexico, Ghana and Mozambique
Mexico: In June 2000,
heavy rains ruptured the wall of an open sewer in Mexico. This
forced 6,000 people out of their homes in the low-income areas
of Chalco valley. Although emergency shelters were available,
many residents camped on their roofs to protect their homes
from looting. Residents blamed the spill on the local authorities
for failing to install piped sewerage.
In northern Ghana, clean drinking
water became scarce three months after severe floods. Water
sources had been polluted by tons of untreated human and industrial
waste. More than 200 dams, wells and boreholes in the upper
West Region were reported to be polluted with sewage and used
engine oil. In addition, the floodwater had submerged refuse
dumps due to rising river levels. The costs of the flooding
raised dramatically due to the need to resettle people in other
areas and to rehabilitate the polluted dams in the three northern
regions.
The widespread floods in Mozambique
in February 2000 made international headlines. Coupled with
the lack of access to adequate sanitation and drinking water,
nearly 800,000 people were put at increased risk of infectious
diseases. The dam management was criticised, for example with
claims that water had not been released in time, but it is possible
that, with such overwhelming floods, better dam management would
have had only slight effects. The key issues were to strengthen
existing monitoring and early warning systems, to control settlement
of flood plains and promote activities to limit human and economic
casualties and a new flood is threatening in 2001.
Drought in SE Asia
In 2000, loss of livestock due to a serious drought in South
Asia and the Near East caused the death of many people. In southern
Afghanistan, the entire population (300,000 families) of the
Registan desert fled when their water sources dried up. In Pakistan,
the drought in Baluchistan and Sindh provinces were reported
to be the worst in the country's history. This has led to indirect
appeals to India to help battle the drought. Forty years ago
Pakistan and India signed the Indus Treaty, to officially recognise
that the Indus River is the main source of water for both countries.
In Iran, 18 of the counties and 28 provinces also faced a severe
drought. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq also dropped
to about 20% of their average flow.
Drought
in Kenya
Kenya experienced its worst drought in 40 years in 2000 and
the President claimed it put 80% of the Kenyan population at
risk. The World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed that 3.3 million
people were seriously affected. Acute shortages of food, water
and insecurity forced 15 primary schools in Kenya's north-central
Samburu district to close, according to the local district education
officer. Nairobi City Council had to ration water in the city
from May.
Drought in Central
Asia and water as a political tool
Shared water resources in the drought-affected nations of Central
Asia have been used to bargain between countries. For example,
in 1999 Kyrgyzstan succeeded in getting much needed coal from
Kazakhstan after closing down water reservoirs. In 2000, Uzbekistan
cut water supplies to Kazakhstan, citing non-payment of debt.
Kazakhstan asked Tajikistan to release more water to Uzbekistan,
in return for Uzbek electricity. The aim of this exchange was
the hope that water flowing to Uzekistan would be likely to
also flow to Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, a proposed Chinese water
diversion project involving the Ertis (Irtysh) River poses more
water problems for Kazahstan, as the river provides the drinking
water for the industrial northeast region of the country.
Water shortages due to drought
and war in Ethiopia
A long-term drought as well as the effects of civil war has
afflicted the Somali region of Ethiopia. The drought affected
8.3 million people. Heavy rainfall in April 2000 brought some
relief, but the continuing conflict has restricted efforts to
sort out the water supplies and sanitation in the region. The
aid programme includes the installation of water reservoirs
and digging or repairing wells. Emergency repairs have been
conducted by UNICEF, associated with the distribution of water
treatment chemicals and jerry cans throughout the hardest hit
areas. ‘Donor fatigue’ and cynicism about the use
of aid is a serious barrier to the international relief efforts
to improve water supplies in the region.
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