By Beth D. MSc AEES (Advanced Enviornmental & Energy Studies)
Coffee, animal production, cotton, cut flowers, etc are water thirsty crops. A 1 kilo jar of coffee uses 20,000 ltrs or 20 tonnes of water to produce it. Coffee is a major Ethiopian export, yet Ethiopia cannot access water from the Blue Nile for irrigation as Egypt has agreements put in place during the British involvement in that area allowing it use of all of the Blue Nile extractions.
When we eat Jaffa oranges from Israel, we are taking water out of an extremely water stressed region and most likely out of the river Jordan. The country Jordan cannot access this water anymore due to Israel’s use of the entire river flow.
Some countries have to import food as their water sources are insufficient to grow food for their populations. However, many other countries do not need to import, yet they still rely on poorer water-stressed regions to provide food for them.
America exports a great deal of water in the form of grain and beef. It is thought that enough water to float a battleship is needed to grow a 1000 lb steer. It takes 1000 tons of water to produce 1 ton of wheat. The water-stressed states should be looking further than domestic and industrial use if real progress is to be made on water conservation.
Flood irrigation needs to be stopped and trickle-drip or spot irrigation procedures need to be adopted. Furthermore, the idea of “making the desert bloom” by installing dams and irrigation channels needs to be put on the shelf. When we divert water away from its natural routes, we deprive one healthy eco-system in order to create two stressed eco-systems. Neither one has adequate supplies to sustain a bio-diverse enviornment.
And then there is rainwater harvesting, stopping deforestation, wetland conservancy… all these things create healthier rivers, groundwater systems and feed into lakes.