(ii) Water wastage Generally speaking, there are high levels of water wastage. Grass and other vegetation that would otherwise perish in the region’s arid conditions are watered. More water is used than is needed in agriculture and for a wide range of indoor uses, from toilets to dishwashers, showers and swimming pools. Much water is lost in irrigation and municipal water-supply systems. Water that could be re-used after it has been used once is not being re-used. We are also failing to take maximum advantage of opportunities to use surface water and groundwater together (for example, by storing surplus surface water in wet years in aquifers for retrieval in dry years). Water providers do not always coordinate their water-supply programmes with one another, resulting in the duplication of facilities and plans. Cities are also not collaborating sufficiently closely with farmers to improve efficiency in water use: a portion of the water used at the farm level could be salvaged and sent to cities. (iii) Conflict, complementarity and competition Issues of conflict, complementarity and competition arise when all uses draw their water from the same source (e.g., a river, groundwater). When water is abundant, water-quality problems are reduced: water available for agricultural use in the form of streams or groundwater is also available for fishing, transport, leisure, domestic use and other ends. However, when there is a shortage of water for irrigation, there is also a shortage for other uses. Levels of pollution and salinity in the remaining water increase, as do the levels of competition and conflict over it. The major types of interaction are summarized in table 4. TABLE 4. CONFLICTS, COMPLEMENTARITY AND COMPETITION IN WATER USE
Agriculture Municipal/ domestic Industry Environment Transport Hydropower
Agriculture • • /+ • /+ • /+ • /+ • /+
Municipal/ domestic • • /+ • /+ • /+ • /+
Industry
• • /+ • /+ • /+
Environment
Transport
Hydropower
X X X
X X
X
Source: Meinzen-Dick, R., and Bakker, M., 1999, ‘Complementarities, competition and conflicts’ in M. Bakker, R. Barker, R. Meinzen-Dick and F. Konradsen (eds), Multiple Uses of Water in Irrigated Areas: A Case Study from Sri Lanka, SWIM Paper 8, International Food Policy Research Institute/International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Key • Conflict and competition. + No conflict or competition. X Complementarity.
Points to Note (a) Agriculture to itself. Conflict and competition arise over the distribution of water for irrigation between different parts of the agricultural sector and increase as water supplies become short. Water quality is also an issue, because poor drainage increases the potential for a rise in salinity; (b) Agriculture to all other sectors. Agriculture is complementary to all other sectors, since seepage water can be used to recharge groundwater and thus supply other sectors. However, in most cases, especially in drought years, agriculture competes fiercely against all other sectors for water, as certain quantities must be set aside to satisfy the needs of those sectors. Conflicts over water quality also arise between agriculture and the municipal/domestic, industrial and environmental sectors, because agrochemical run-off and the minerals leached through water seepage and percolation contaminate water, making it unsuitable for use in the other sectors named; 12