25 February 2014: The Global Water Forum (GWF) has published a discussion paper that argues that water scarcity is mainly a problem of poor governance and not of resource depletion or population growth, as is commonly believed.

Using examples from India and Pakistan, the paper, titled ‘The Problem with Problems of Water Scarcity in South Asia,’ shows that prevailing ideas about water scarcity lead to supply-side solutions that ignore social and political tensions, and the demand-side solutions needed to address them.

The paper argues that the idea that water scarcity is primarily due to resource depletion and population growth obscures three important facts: inequalities shape access to and control over water; water scarcity is usually due to bad management and land-use practices; and increasing water scarcity does not automatically lead to conflict.

The author, Paula Hanasz, Australian National University, makes the case that, while population growth, industrialization, and environmental change have worsened per capita water availability in South Asia, technological fixes to increase supply and the creation of markets to use water more efficiently have not solved the problem.

Instead, her paper calls for demand-side solutions because “water crises are never about water; they are always interconnected with other social, political, economic, and environmental factors, such as the degree of conflict already present, the strength of rule of law, or economic conditions.”

She concludes that state agencies and other water managers must do more than increase availability of, and access to, water. Rather, she suggests, they must recognize that water scarcity is due to competing priorities, for example, between hydropower, fisheries, and domestic use, which must be addressed in an equitable way.

The GWF is an initiative of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Governance at the Australian National University. [Publication: The Problem with Problems of Water Scarcity in South Asia]