SE Asia needs integrated plan to deal with water problems: ADB

MANILA, Jan 19: Southeast Asian countries need to work together to develop a water management plan to cope with increased world demand in coming decades, experts said here today, reports AFP.

The world will need 600 billion dollars by 2010 for the distribution and treatment systems demanded by growth of population, industry and agriculture, said Anil Agrawal, a New Delhi-based technical advisor from the Global Water Partnership.

Agrawal, whose group is bringing together water specialists at an Asian Development Bank (ADB) conference in Manila, warned only 10 to 15 percent of the money would come from international agencies and the rest would have to be generated by governments and the private sector.

No estimate was available for Southeast Asia's water needs but a draft paper by the partnership's Southeast Asian Technical Advisory Committee said available water in the region would drop in the future.

As the total population of Southeast Asia rose from the present level of 550 million people to 800 million by 2025, the amount of "natural water" available per person would drop from 27 cubic meters per day to 18, the committee warned.

Less than 50 percent of the population in Southeast Asia's rural areas had access to safe water while more than 50 percent of the urban population enjoyed such supply.

Hans-Juergen Springer, an ADB officer, said 70 percent of water in the region went to agriculture while 20 percent went to industry and 10 percent to households.

Mai Flor, the committee's Philippine representative, told reporters Southeast Asia was "one of the luckier regions" since it had an abundant supply of water but warned there was a problem with potable water.

Southeast Asian countries often faced a growing urban population, a lack of a regulatory framework for water, frequent flooding with large numbers living in floodplain areas, pollution, deforestation and inadequate and inefficient water infrastructure, Flor said.

Singapore faced the problem of sourcing its water from another country while Vietnam, Laos and Thailand shared the same river basin source, Flor added.

"In many countries of Asia, we may have to go beyond political boundaries," warned ADB regional agriculture director Akira Seki.

Among the measures needed to deal with decreasing water supply were further research and development for technologies that minimise pollution and raise efficiency of water use, according to the draft paper, such as the use of crops suited to more arid conditions.

Governments, the private sector and multilateral and bilateral groups were also urged to mobilise funds and ensure there was no duplication of efforts, the committee wrote.

Torkil Jonch-Clausen, chairman of the Global Water Partnership said: "We have a serious problem of scarce water but it is a problem that can be solved if we put our minds to it."