Running Rivers Dry

With the rain pouring down again this morning, you would think that worrying about water might be the last thing on my mind. But a BBC Panorama programme reminded me that it’s not just the arid parts of our world that face an uncertain future when it comes to establishing and maintaining a sustainable water supply.

On Sunday I was invited to a local church here in Bristol to share in their harvest celebration and to speak about the work HOPE International UK does in bringing clean sustainable water supplies to rural Ethiopia. The context of a Harvest Celebration caused me to reflect on the fact that so often we bring our offerings of fruit and vegetables to the table, giving thanks for such provision without giving a moments thought that without first harvesting water, we wouldn’t have this provision to celebrate. How pertinent that on the following evening the BBC should broadcast a programme raising the issue of the stress and environmental impact we are having in the UK as increased demand for water has a detrimental effect on the rivers that course our beautiful country.

Given that we are able to turn on a tap and get as much water as we want, 24/7, it’s not surprising that most of us probably take this precious resource for granted and have no idea how much we actually use on a day-to-day basis. For the producers of Panorama this seemed like a good vox pop opportunity, asking the people of Wroughton near Swindon just how much water they thought they used.

So, how much do you think you use (in litres) a day? 20 litres, 40 litres, 100 litres?

Have a watch of this snippet: How Much water do you use?

Panorama claim we all use around 160 litres a day. The UN estimate that on average a UK citizen uses more like 300 litres a day. As you will see if you watch the programme, the ‘typical family’ used as guinea pigs are metered at 450 litres a day. Whatever the correct average, we use too much, pure and simple.

Most rivers in the UK are now at the limit of what we can draw from them without having a detrimental impact on them. We are reducing their flow rates, causing a destruction of habit as they silt up and stagnate.

Of course, it’s not jus the water we see that we are all using. Prof John Anthony Allan of SOAS won the Sockholm Water Prize back in 2008 for his work on the idea of virtual water, that is the water used to produce the goods and food we consume (e.g. 1kg of beef needs 15000 litres of water to produce, wheat, 1300 litres per kg).

Water is wealth. It is foundational to food production and to industry. There is an economy built on water that we too often fail to recognise or consider because we think water is an abundant resource. It is, but we are using it faster than it is being replenished by the natural water cycle. What’s more, we are exploiting the most easily-accessed water so we can produce food and consumer goods as cheaply as possible. As one farmer on the Panorama film states, he pumps water straight out of the river so he can produce ‘affordable food’. What we need to ask ourselves is whether we can afford this kind of affordability.

Is money the only measure of affordability, or is it time we factored other measures into the equation? Can we afford to exploit our rivers so we can have cheap food?

The truth is, when things become cheap, we don’t value them - hence £12 billion of perfectly edible ‘affordable’ food goes to landfill every year in the UK.

Water is a finite resource. The amount of water on the planet is fixed. We need to value it, and the sources from which it comes, reducing our consumption and demanding better, more sustainable usage before our rivers run dry.

For some tips take a look at Waterwise.

You may also find the following words and images can be used as an informative meditation on the issue - River Wensum Under Threat

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