Managing water in the face of scarcity

Transcription

1 Managing water in the face of scarcity Subject/ target grade: High school civics or science elective. Duration: Two 50 minute periods Setting: Classroom for entire lesson, or part classroom, and part outdoors Materials and Equipment Needed: Overhead projector, small pieces of paper for voting exercises Learning Objectives: Students will be able to: Define a river basin, and recognize the upstream-downstream linkages of water in a river, which affect water use and management considerations. Understand the functions of a river basin commission. Develop a fair process for decision-making that involves articulation of guiding principles, adhering to guiding principles, representation and sustainability. Explain the concept of first and second order water resources, and articulate the importance of each. Recognize and respect multiple stakeholder perspectives in the context of river basin management. Michigan Content Expectations: C6.1.4 Address a public issue by suggesting alternative solutions or courses of action, evaluating the consequences of each, and proposing an action to address the issue or resolve the problem. C6.2.1 Describe the relationship between politics and the attainment of individual and public goals Participate in a real or simulated public hearing or debate and evaluate the role of deliberative public discussions in civic life Identify typical issues, needs, or concerns of citizens (e.g., seeking variance, zoning changes, information about property taxes), and actively demonstrate ways citizens might use local governments to resolve issues or concerns. Lesson Core The Guiding Question: What skills and approaches do we need in order to effectively allocate and manage water resources in the context of water scarcity? Engage: When we consider the experiences of others, we learn more about ourselves, and also gain new and useful perspectives. In this lesson, we will think about how to manage shared water when it is scarce. This is a very real issue for a growing number of people. According to the World Health Organization, water scarcity affects one in three people on the planet. 1 People in circumstances of water scarcity face 1 n/index1.html 1

2 a range of challenges. Today we will consider a case study from the other side of the world. Building on prior knowledge: What is a river basin? What is the difference between a river basin and a watershed? What happens downstream if we dump chemicals in the water upstream? What happens downstream if we remove water upstream? Is the amount of the water in a river the same all year round? Pre-teaching: Can anyone find Sri Lanka on the map? The Menik Ganga River Basin is in the country of Sri Lanka. It is in a location of water scarcity. This basin, like many areas in this region of the world, has one monsoon season. What do you know about monsoons? The basin receives about inches of rain per year, concentrated in this monsoon season. Very little rain falls between May and November. Many different types of users rely on water of the Menik Ganga for various purposes, but the river has insufficient water to meet all of their demands. This is an interesting river basin. It is the home to an annual, sacred ceremony that brings together thousands of people from two different traditions (Buddhist and Hindu). (A brief video clip may be shown, such as this one, which is 43 seconds: RU. Others can be found by searching kataragama festival ). In order for this festival to take place, people who make a pilgrimage here require clean water to drink. Also, one of the sacred ceremonies of the festival is the water cutting ceremony that takes place in the river. After this ceremony, the water is considered sacred and beneficial to bathe in. Thus, the temple requires clean water from the river in order to continue this tradition. Another interesting aspect of this river basin is a national park located near the mouth of the river. Wildlife here include three threatened species: The Sri Lankan Leopard, The Sri Lankan Elephant, and the Wild Water Buffalo. The park is a safe haven for one of the denses populations of leopards in the world. This river is also important to people in small cities and villages for drinking, cooking and bathing, and for irrigating local farms that provide most of the food people consume (they do not have money to buy their food from grocery stores as we do). The water of the Menik Ganga river is also used to irrigate fields of sugar cane for commercial sugar production, and to irrigate tea plantations in the highlands. In addition, people living outside of this river basin have even less water, and are demanding that water be transported from the Menik Ganga to the river near them (the Kirindi Oya). Explore: The challenges of the Menik Ganga river basin are accentuated by the fact that no strong organization exists to help make decisions about water allocations (who uses water when, and how much). This is a common challenge worldwide. Some people who study water scarcity speak of first and second order water resources. What might the terms first order and second order imply? What do you think first and second order water resources are? o In this case, first order refers to the resource itself. First order water resource is the actual water. Second order water resources are the human resources required to manage water, 2

3 particularly in the face of water scarcity. Which is more important to ensuring a sustained water supply? o Interestingly, when we compare experiences across the world, we find that countries with less actual water (less first order resource) but more effective water conservation, management and innovation (more second order resource) often fare better in having the water they need for their activities and lives than countries that have more water, but weaker water management. Therefore it is important that we learn about how to effectively participate in managing water resources. Today we will put ourselves in the position of people in the Menik Ganga, and we will consider how to effectively make decisions about water management. A River Basin organization usually has a chair person. What do you think some of the responsibilities of the chair person might be? What other positions would such an organization have? Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Technical advisors, etc. How would you make decisions within such an organization? If you represented one of the villages who needs this water for water supply, how would you like the organization to make decisions? In this exercise, each of you will come from one of the user groups in the Menik Ganga. We will condense these down into the following five user groups: 1. Tea Estate: Your irrigation has been banned for the month of October, when you need water the most. (Why would this be, class? This is near the end of the dry season. At this time, the entire river basin has less water, so there is less to share. Crops also need water then.) Your profits are negative. You are the only employer. Cost: 1 unit for 15 people employed. (See below for explanation of the concept of cost units) 2. Veheragala farmers You were able to cultivate only 12 times in 36 seasons due to lack of water. 7,000 people rely on this agriculture for food. Cost: 1 unit per 100 people fed. 3. Kataragama Water Supply 4,000 households lose safe water for drinking and cooking in the dry season. Cost: 1 unit per 175 households with safe drinking water. 4. Kataragama Temple Currently, you are unable to perform the ritual ceremony, and provide bathing and sanitation for 120,000 pilgrims who flock here each year. Cost: 1 unit per 2,000 pilgrims. 5. Yala Wildlife Park: Animals that are globally threatened are dying in your park because water is not flowing far enough down the river to reach you. Cost: 1 unit per 300 animals (including large and small animals, some of which are threatened). We will consider that all of the water of the Menik Ganga in the dry season is divided into 100 units. This is the total amount of water available, from which you will allocate some to labor, wildlife, etc. If, for example, you decide to employ 90 people at the tea estate, this will use 6 units of water (one unit for 15 people employed. 90/15=6), and there will be 94 units of water remaining in the river. (See note below for a recommended table that the secretary and treasurer can prepare on the black board, which will help to illustrate the concept of units and to account for different proposals during the negotiation process). 3

4 Count off from 1 to 5, around the room. You now belong to the respective user group. Now, sit close to the other members of your group. Your first task is to vote to determine the members of your river basin committee. These are the people who will take leadership in making decisions about how water is allocated in the river basin. You can vote for someone within or outside of your group. Members of the committee should be fair and skilled for the task at hand. Your committee will include a 1) chair person, 2) vice chair, 3) secretary (who will be doing quite a bit of basic math, keep in mind), and 4) representatives of each user group. Take out a small piece of paper and write the name of the person you elect for each position, next to the numbers 1, 2 and 3. (Have a student collect papers, tally the vote, and announce the members of the river basin committee.) You will be attending a meeting of the river basin committee. This is a very important meeting in which decisions will be made about how water will be allocated throughout the coming year. In order to prepare for this, meet with the other members of your group to determine: a) at least two principles that you think should guide the decisions of the river basin commission (for example, sustainability of resources into the future, equity, recognition of the stakeholders that lack a voice of their own, etc.) b) your demands for water through the coming year, in terms of units of water, c) your justification for why other members of the river basin should support your demands, d) how you propose the rest of the water be allocated., e) your justification for why the water should be allocated in these ways. Also, vote for the spokesperson for your group. You will have 12 minutes to discuss and prepare your response, which you will bring to the larger river basin commission meeting. The chair person, vice chair, and secretary will meet separately during this time. You will determine: At least two principles that you think should guide the decisions of the river basin commission What process you will apply to hear all cases and facilitate a fair decision within the timeframe of the committee meeting (20 minutes)? Use your time wisely. Leave time at the end to join your user group, hear their proposal, and weigh in on this proposal. Remember that all elected officials are also coming from a particular background that is very important to them. For all people in this river basin, some points that you may consider are projected (see power point). These include: Is employment of one person beneficial to only that person? What are the other benefits of having people employed in a family? In a society? If we relied upon local farms for our food supply, how important would it be for those farms to provide food? How would we value this relative to other things in life? What are the implications of drinking unsafe water? The Kataragama festival and ceremonies help to build peace between people in a country that is prone to war. Some people feel that observing such traditions is at the very core of their moral life. 4

5 Who has responsibility to watch over animals that are going extinct worldwide? If people always prioritize ourselves, what will happen to the animals of the world when we face situations as that of the Menik Ganga? What is to become of the Sri Lankan leopard? Remember that solutions require compromise. They also can bring about innovation. If you bring creative and useful ideas to the committee, and not only demands, others will probably be more receptive to your case. What will you as a stakeholder do to compensate for the limited amount of water available? What are some innovative solutions? Now, the river basin committee meeting shall begin. Committee members, come to the front of the room. The meeting is now in the hands of the chairperson and the vice chair. You have 10 minutes to agree upon your guiding principles. You will then have 15 minutes to decide how water will be allocated through the coming year, in a way that supports these guiding principles. Remember that each user group has a delegated representative. The secretary will take notes for all members to see. Other citizens of the river basin, remember that these are your elected officials. If you do not agree with the process or the results of this meeting, you have a right to speak up about this. (Teacher steps to back of room and allows the chairperson to take over.) Note: This is also a useful exercise in simple accounting and math skills. A clear depiction of the costs and benefits of different scenarios will be important to the group s effective decision-making. A treasurer and secretary will have primary responsibility for showing these scenarios through the bargaining process. One good way for students to assess water allocation scenarios is for the secretary to prepare a table on the black board, as follows: Unit Benefit Total proposed units benefits a b c d e (=b*d) 1 15 Peo. employ ed Peo. fed HH with water Pilgrims water Animals survive Supporting students during exploration: What can we do when we have many demands on limited water resources? How to we determine who gets to use what water when? Water resource management is a general term that applies to efforts to make coordinated and sustainable decisions about how various user groups use water. Types of management groups include watershed committees and river basin organizations. What is different between a river and a lake in terms of how one group s use of water may affect another group? The water of a river flows from upstream to downstream. The things we put into water upstream affect the quality of water for people and other beings downstream. People living upstream may have plenty of water, but as more people upstream take more water, less and less is left for the people and other beings downstream. Looking at the map of the Menik Ganga basin, which water users will be most vulnerable to water shortages? Why? 5

6 The Yala National Park would be the most vulnerable, because it is near the mouth of the river. All of the users upstream get to access the water before them. Anticipated Student Explanations Students may think that the amount of water available is more important to water sustainability than water management. The discussion around this point is a very useful introduction and conclusion to this exercise. Students may think that human water supply is the most important water allocation. Anticipated Student Misconceptions, Problems and Challenges Students are likely to allocate all 100 units of the available water, without thinking to set some water aside for other natural uses and processes. When allocating water, students may not consider seasonal differences, and the fact that water demand is greater during the dry season, while water availability is less. Students may have difficulty recognizing the significance of a sacred ceremony to people of another culture. Students may need some encouragement to come up with creative solutions rather than to simply focus on which group gets how much water. Elaborate: Let s think back to the concept of first and second order water resources. Which of these have you been giving most attention in your discussion so far? Are there ways you could use water differently as individual groups and as an entire river basin commission in order to achieve the same goals with less water? Will the same amount of water be available all year round? Will you and other living beings have need for the same amount of water all year round? How do your solutions take this into account? Evaluate: Chairperson, please present the verdict to the river basin commission. Allow room for comment and response. Determine whether this is a final decision. Justify why you have made this decision. The other river basin citizens, now take out a piece of paper. Vote for next year s chairperson. Supporting students during evaluation: There were a total of 100 units of water in the Menik Ganga. Did you use it all? If so, what will become of all of the other living things and natural processes that require water in order to survive or take place? If we use up every last drop of the water in the river, are we likely to have a healthy system next year? Will you vote for the same person as your chair? Why or why not? Do you feel that the decision made was appropriate and fair? Will it protect water resources of the river basin for the future? What issues have you left out? (For example, students may have ignored the issue of the water users from another basin lobbying to divert water from the Menik Ganga to another river). What advice would you give to other river basin commissions based on what you have learned from this experience? 6