New InterLink: August 2023 edition

The Value of Water

At the UN 2023 Water Conference in March, the Danish Water Forum held a side-event in collaboration with the World Bank called “The Economics of Ground Water in Times of Climate Change”. At the side-event, the World Bank’s new report “The Hidden Wealth of Nations” was revealed, which focuses on our problematic handling of groundwater. The report states that approximately 49% of the world’s water supply for drinking water comes from groundwater, along with 43% of all water for irrigation, covering approximately 38% of the irrigated agricultural land.

The report further states: "Groundwater also sustains ecosystems that depend on it almost everywhere, especially in climate frontier areas. Yet its importance has been underappreciated, undermining its potential for boosting growth, reducing poverty, and buffering against climate shocks. Hidden below the Earth’s surface, this common-pool resource is subject to barely visible depletion, with impacts that can be difficult to reverse. Undervaluing this natural capital undermines tapping its potential for development and threatens some hard-won gains in regions that have heavily relied on it.”

Groundwater is found all over the globe; it is only a matter of availability and quality. In some places, groundwater supply is challenged due to overexploitation, and in other places it is abundant without being exploited. An example of the first is entire cities that are sinking; the second example is the Horn of Africa, where reportedly cubic kilometres of groundwater are waiting at a depth of 800 metres.

But groundwater’s value is one thing, water in general is another. I miss a water sector that draws attention to water’s value to a much greater extend. Water is inextricably linked to all the other major agendas and challenges our world is facing. Water and energy are interlinked, as water demands energy, and energy demands water. Water shortage and excess is heavily linked to and climate change. Water is completely essential in the world’s increasing food production. Water is vital for human health and liveability, and for community development.

We need politicians and policymakers to understand the value of water, and to prioritise the investment in proper water infrastructure, and in that way contribute to a sustainable way of managing our precious water resources.

It could be interesting to set up a formula in order to be able to calculate the value of water. In our booklet "Water in the World: local and global challenges", a few statements are made regarding the value of water. One of these is: If the entire world’s population had access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, the total global scale of diseases could be reduced by up to 10%.

As you can read in the case stories throughout this edition, water holds value in so many different ways. Common for them all are that they are completely essential in upholding the infrastructure around us.

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Enjoy reading,
Michael Ramlau-Hansen