The water issue

Let’s look at some dreadful data on the water issue that were collected by the World Wild Life Fund, or WWF, Turkey branch: 

* Each year 250 million people are infected by diseases from polluted water, about five million of them die of such illnesses.

*  Turkey has a 110 billion cubic meters of usable water potential, 16 percent of which is for drinking and using water for other purposes, 72 percent of which is for irrigation in agriculture and 12 percent for industrial use.

*  In order for a country to become rich in water resources, the average per capita water amount should be at least 10,000 cubic meters.

*  With consumption of an average 1,430 cubic meters per person, Turkey is a water-poor country.

*  Canada is the country with the richest water resources with an average of 92,000 cubic meters of water yearly.

*  Jordan, with a yearly average of 138 cubic meters of water resources per person and Israel, with 124 cubic meters, are at the bottom of the list.

*  In the last 40 years, Turkey has lost a total of 1.3 million hectares wetland, equal to the total size of three Van Lakes.

*  The world population has tripled in the last century and water consumption increased six times in the same period.

*  Amount of water consumed by a child in developed countries is 30 or 50 times more than that of a child born in developing countries.

*  Ethiopia, hosting 84 percent of the Nile, needs water.

*  Daily water consumption in Canada is 150 to 200 liters. But it is no more than 10 liters in Chad, Niger and Mali. This is the amount that we consume in modern toilet flush tanks at once.

Not one but four events

The press will duly cover the Water Forum, so let’s have a look to three other meetings, the most important of which is the Alternative Water Forum, www.alternatifsuforumu.org, to be held on March 22 at Santralistanbul.

Organizers begin with a punch-line from the environment minister in charge of economy and industry, Veysel Eroğlu, "Come and invest in water!" The market he points out is worth 60 billion euros, 90 percent of which is about dam construction. Private sector has approximately 1,400 dam projects and the State Water Works Authority, or DSİ, has about 600. These energy and water plants, which will be randomly built on rivers without making any serious impact analysis and cost-benefit analysis beforehand, are the apple of the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, eye. Mr. Minister’s judgment about the projects is clear: "All I am saying is that these plants will be built. No one can stop this. Could there be such a thing? This is the decision of the state, the government." In fact, water has no place in the reckless and environment-unfriendly development model of the government.

Turkey is far away from the environment-related discussions in the world. Reaching water resources is, as a matter of fact, a "Human Right." It is considered to be community property, and life-blood for ecosystems. Water accessibility is not an issue that could be left to the market alone. Not enough numbers of nongovernmental organizations will attend the water forum to address these issues. Most of them have failed to have accreditation. The Santralistanbul meeting will be a response to this drawback.

Endorsed by the Heinrich Böll (www.boell-tr.org) and Latin America Water Tribunal (www.tragua.com) the third activity in advance of the water forum was Istanbul Water Tribunal. The tribunal convened earlier this week at the old Tobacco Depot in the Tophane district, Istanbul, with the objective of making contributions to water-related disputes. The tribunal reinterpreted the law and produced alternative and fair solutions to water disputes. In this year’s session, three cases in Turkey and two cases from Latin America were discussed. Verdicts will be announced today.

The fourth event is "No to Water Commercialization Platform," www.suplatformu.net, which voices, "Water belongs to people and cannot be sold."