Asia & Pacific

CHINA - Chinese thought and political leaders recognize water shortages as one of the greatest threats to China's ongoing growth. Though the average Chinese citizen already has an average water footprint one third the size of an American’s and half the size of an Average Englishman, China's available water supply has shrunk 13 percent and continues to decline. Billions of dollars of investment have gone into the water sector, which employs two million people employed in the water sector and the Government is leading plans to formulate their economy within a "water saving society". They are now bringing their ideas to other African and Asian leaders facing similar challenges. Will a Chinese "water saving society" form a new development model for developing countries?

JAPAN - Tsunamis, droughts, hurricanes, landslides, and floods are driving thousands of people away from their homes and economic activities every year. The dramatic destruction caused by disasters continues to grab global attention, but once the cameras depart, the real story does not end. With basic infrastructure gone, and natural environments disturbed, clean water and basic sanitation becomes critical for survival. This was noticeable recently after the devastating Tsunami that hit Japan. What is the situation there now? How could one of the world’s most "resilient" countries be affected so hard by the devastation? What are Japan's measures to overcome the disaster, and to avoid similar disasters in the future?

INDIA - As sanitation rises on India's agenda, some creative approaches to the problem have proven successful. A few years ago, the northern state of Haryana launched the "No toilet, no bride" campaign, which spurred the construction of a large number of toilets as parents promised not to marry their daughters into homes lacking sanitation facilities. In other places, microfinance has enabled local entrepreneurs to go into the sanitation business. How does a toilet change the life of millions of Indians a year? What creative solutions are there and what are the challenges?

In the past fifteen years, Manila's growing urban population has demanded a significant increase in water supply and sanitation services and facilities. This is a challenge which the city has certainly risen to: Since 1997 the city has doubled the number of people served with potable water, from 3.1 million to 6.1 million. But service provision is not the only water management challenge for Manila. As a flood prone city, Manila faced a catastrophe in 2009 when Typhoon Ketsana submerged more than 80 per cent of the city, spreading sewage and pollutants in the process. What strategies helped Manila tackle these challenges?

INDIA - PAKISTAN - Known for standing against all the odds of time and conflict since 1960, the World Bank-brokered water-sharing treaty between India and Pakistan has proven to be a political success story. However, technically speaking, it might not live much longer. The treaty gives India exclusive use of all of the waters of the Eastern Rivers and their tributaries before the point where the rivers enter Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistan has exclusive use of the Western Rivers. Pakistan also received one-time financial compensation for the loss of water from the Eastern Rivers. Climate change in the Himalayan region coupled changing rainfall patterns and plans to build massive hydropower plants on India’s side could change the water balance in the region forever. A basin-wide, complex system of managing water resources is therefore needed to prevent any tensions arousing across the border at a flash point in the near future.

INDIA - Sharing water cross India's political borders has been a negotiable matter for the Indian government and its counterparts. However, within India, a dialogue between the different Indian states on water sharing has yet to prove as successful. Within India, 16 out of 18 major river basins are shared between two or more states. While water is placed under the central command of the government, different states have yet to engage in discussions to see common riparian interests for water access and environmental protection. A River Boards Act, and An Interstate Water Disputes Acts provided basic legal frameworks for water sharing within India, but the different states still differ on parameters, indicators, and guidelines to resolve current and potential conflicts in addressing water-sharing issues.

INDONESIA - The 2010 Sumatra Earth quake and Tsunami sent shock waves across hundreds of Indonesian Islands; however, humanitarian loss in certain islands was higher the others, although they experienced the same destructive effects. Apparently, the difference in human loss was particularly due to the different cultures of resilience in the different islands, which can be traced down to traditional songs on what to do when the water comes. How resilient are our cultures? And how long does it take for a generation to forget the atrocities of the previous generation?   Do we teach children what do when the floods come? And how important is out cultural heritage?