It's World Day for Water, a global observance, and this year it is being held under the theme "Water and Culture" and it focuses on the impact our behaviors and activities have on the availability and quality of our water resources. Stakeholders in the water sector set up a fair at the Battlefield Park to educate the public in particular the young about the importance of the compound made from two hydrogen and one oxygen.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
It's the one resource that we take for granted maybe largely because we think that the water supply is inexhaustible, after all we are bountifully blessed with this resource. The truth however is that the water resource is exhaustible so much so that on the occasion of World Water Day Chief Meteorologist Carlos Fuller told us that within a few years water will become the subject of wars.
Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorologist
"When we had very few people living in the country and when we had few users there was no problem, water in Belize was inexhaustible. However when you go to San Pedro now and you turn on your tap it is not because the rain fell from the sky, it is because we took saltwater and desalinated it and piped it into people's homes. When you go to Placencia, the same thing is the case; we didn't desalinate, we borrow it from Big Creek under a pipe under the lagoon into Placencia. If that occurs everywhere then barter becomes a problem and in fact we believe the next big war we are going to see around the word won't be because of terrorist activity, it won't be because of the need for petroleum; it is because people will need water and the stronger people are going to take water from the poorer people, the weaker people."
While that may sound alarmist fuller says that it's not especially because of the way the resource is treated. To change that and avoid the water wars fuller says a different view of the resource needs to be taken.
Carlos Fuller,
"Water is not only something that The Met Service measures but the private companies bottle it and sell it, BWS pipes it into your homes, the Department of Environment makes sure that you don't dispose too much waste in our rivers. So many agencies have something to deal with water and we wanted to get everybody here together so people can appreciative that."
But more than appreciation there is also a need for equity in its distribution.
Carlos Fuller,
We have a set amount of water throughout the world, that has not changed and it will never change. The water is located in three areas in the seas and in the rivers, the water that we see and feel; it is in our clouds and in the rain that falls, and it is stored in icecaps and it is just recycled everyday, constantly. However, that water is not shared equitable. In Belize for example Corozal gets 60 inches of rain, P.G. gets 160 inches of rain so Corozal gets too little, PG gets too much. At certain times of the year, in March to May the entire country gets too little but in July, August and September we get too much.
If we look at certain rivers, we have overexploited the river near Orange Walk because of the sugar industry and the usage and so it is a dead river while we have some rivers in the south, Monkey River, Sittee, and so on which are not being exploited and so the water resource there is rich. So we have to share equally the use of that water. If one or two persons are drinking from a river its not a problem but if a million people are drinking from the river and a million people are also dumping their waste into the same river then the river cannot sustain itself so we need to ensure that we manage that resources very equally among everybody."
And on this day fuller leaves everybody with just one message, it may seem simple but its one that can readily be appreciated.
Carlos Fuller,
"To appreciate every drop of water that you are suing. Water is not that big sea that you see in front of you, it is not that river that is down there, it is not the pipe that you are turning on; its each drop that you need when you are either bathing, drinking, cooking, swimming. Each drop is very important because what you drink tomorrow, you will cook in the next day, and bathe in the day after that and so every drop is important, it is not to be wasted."
And every single one of these displays by various organizations carried that message to those in whose life it has the greatest impact on: the young, who should never be an enemy of water.
Tomorrow will be celebrated as World Meteorological Day.
