March 22nd is World Water Day
Water Scarcity Facts:
• Nearly 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water
• By 2025, it is expected that 3.4 billion people will be living in countries defined as water-scarce
• Lack of safe water and adequate sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness
• Out of the 2.2 million unsafe drinking water deaths in 2004, 90% were children under the age of five
• One dollar invested in water supply and sanitation can provide an economic return of up to 34 times, depending on the region
• In developing countries, more than 90 per cent of sewage and 70 per cent of industrial wastewater is dumped untreated into surface water
(Sources: United Nations’ Water for Life, 2007; and WaterAid, 2005)
Communities Thrive as Stewards of Water Services
Accessing a clean and constant supply of water is a goal for many of the communities EcoLogic supports. Witnessing the direct link between deforested lands and diminished water sources has further compelled the communities of Olanchito, Honduras and Totonicapán, Guatemala to take charge of their water sources and the forests that protect them. Unwilling to wait for national efforts, these rural communities have begun to effectively and affordably fill this pressing need.
(Photo: Honduras, Todd Shapera)
With EcoLogic’s support, community water committees have organized to create and manage safe and reliable water delivery services. Each community builds, maintains, and administers their system relying primarily on volunteer labor from users. Requiring the digging of meter-deep trenches kilometers-long and the laying of pipe; these systems can take months to years to construct. In Honduras, the committees charge a monthly minimal fee for maintenance materials and improvements. Deforested areas near springs or along streams are restored in order to protect water quality and supply from erosion and siltation.
To participating households this service has been life-changing: reductions in water-borne diseases, increased hygiene in the home, and a significant decrease in time and energy spent transporting water. With EcoLogic's participatory approach, communities have developed a profound sense of the relationship between their stewardship activities and the well-being that a clean and constant water supply provides.
In the southern buffer zone of Pico Bonito National Park, the demand to replicate these services currently exceeds local capacity to expand. There are currently 22 communities on the waiting list, eager to begin building and managing systems that will deliver safe and reliable water to their homes. EcoLogic is collaborating with the local Association of Water Committees to coordinate the technical, organizational, and material resources needed to meet this need.
If you would like to contribute to our efforts to expand access to clean and constant water, please click the "Donate Now" button on the right hand column or mail a check to our Cambridge office.
Learn More:
THE LAST DROP: Confronting the possibility of a global catastrophe
by Michael Specter October 23, 2006, The New Yorker
CLR's Interview with Fred Pearce, author of When Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century, 2006
United Nation’s Water for Life, 2007 (pdf)
EcoLogic advances conservation of critical natural resources in rural areas of Latin America by promoting sustainable livelihoods that affirm local cultures and by strengthening community participation in natural resource management.
EcoLogic is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
EcoLogic Development Fund
25 Mt. Auburn Street
Suite 203
Cambridge, MA 02138
USA
617-441-6300
