Water Rights in Southeast Asia and India

Water is the most precious resource on our planet. For the greater part of human history, water has been in abundant supply in most regions of the world and therefore an accessible resource for the vast majority of humanity. Sadly, this is no longer the case. In 2015, according to the United Nations, close to 800 million people have no access to safe, clean water sources and the number continues to climb. It is a crisis propelled by two factors: (1) surging population in the developing world and (2) water depletion and/or contamination caused by global warming and rampant unchecked pollution. Today, global population stands at approximately 7.1 billion and is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. The current level of water insecurity that affects nearly 800 million people will be exacerbated in future decades by growing population, pollution, and climate change.

Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. It is an emerging democracy that is confronted with major development and human rights challenges after decades of oppressive military rule. Waterborne and food-borne diseases are common. The infectious disease ratio in the country is high including malaria and typhoid fever. The large ratio of rural inhabitants, 70 percent, combined with a high poverty index pose significant challenges that threaten water, sanitation quality, and access. The marginalization of indigenous groups, such as the Karen population, has been an ongoing human rights issue for decades. Moreover, there are significant health, economic, and development gaps between the rural and the urban areas of the country. Southeast Asia accounts for 60 percent of global population yet has only 36 percent of global water resources. Myanmar has abundant water sources and has the second highest per capita rate of renewable water resources in Southeast Asia. The problem rests with water access, infrastructure, and quality control. About 29 percent of the population from 2010 estimates are children of 0–14 years, declining from 39 percent in 1980.¹ The estimated population of children under the age of 5 years was 6.6 million, approximately 11.7 percent of the total population.²

Cambodia is one of the least-developed countries in the world and the poorest in Southeast Asia, which hinders progress on a range of important human development and water security issues. The Human Development Index (HDI) is calculated annually by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and published in the annual Human Development Report. It ranks 185 countries out of 193 UN member states. Eight countries are not included due to a lack of data. The low ranking of Cambodia at 138 reflects systemic issues of poverty that impact crucial development in numerous areas including water security. In 2012, 20.5 percent of the population was living below the poverty line and approximately 79.8 percent were rural citizens. In general, water and sanitation access in the country is unstable and inadequate for millions of citizens. Since water security is closely related to sanitation and health, these deficiencies pose significant challenges for the government.

India is the second most populous country in the world and is burdened by significant poverty and income inequity. It has 16 percent of the global population and only 4 percent of the global water resources. By 2050, the population is expected to reach 1.6 billion people, surpassing China. Water stress is clearly evident in India and as population surges this situation will be exacerbated to the point of water scarcity in many parts of the country. Inevitably, providing clean, safe water for citizens and water for agriculture will be difficult challenges. There are 400 million citizens living below the international poverty line of (USD 1.25 per day) and a population of 167 million Dalit’s who suffer chronic and systematic social and economic discrimination that has endured for centuries. The marginalization of minority groups and vulnerable populations in India is widespread and this reality extends to water health and security. Water scarcity, climate change, drought, flooding, water delivery infrastructure at the rural level, extreme poverty, waterborne diseases, and water pollution are combined challenges that confront the Indian government and people. As a comparative illustration on the accelerating scarcity of water, per capita water availability was 5177 m³ in 1951 and lowered to 1545 m³ in 2011.

Indonesia is a rising economic power that is characterized by extremes of wealth and poverty. According to water development experts, Indonesia has the worst drinking water in Southeast Asia and there are wide gaps between the urban/rural water access and water quality. Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populated country. It is a diverse country that stretches over 17,504 islands. The water access and sanitation situation is generally improving yet inadequate in many areas. In 2012, 93 percent of the population had an improved source of drinking water in the urban areas. In the rural areas, the figure is 76 per-cent. Sanitation coverage is less comprehensive with 73 percent of the urban population and 44 percent of the rural population utilizing an improved sanitation source.

Laos is a small, landlocked, poverty stricken nation with major development challenges. There are 17 provinces, one municipality and one special region, 142 districts, 10, 912 villages with 68 percent of the population living in the rural areas. In 2010, water supply in the rural areas was estimated at 52 percent, sanitation coverage at 40 percent, 72 percent water coverage in the urban areas, and 86 percent urban sanitation coverage. Malaria is a significant problem in remote, mountainous regions of the country. There is poor service and health delivery in remote parts of the country and these barriers present an ongoing development challenge. Waterborne and food-borne diseases are the most common health challenges facing the population. There is a strong correlation between waterborne and food-borne diseases. The government has designated 72 poor districts as a priority for targeted development. Accordingly, there are wide gaps between the urban and the rural water quality and access. The Lao Constitution was adopted on August 15, 1991 and amended in 2003. It has two articles that specifically address water and the environment. Article 19 states: All organizations and citizens must protect the environment and natural resources: land surfaces, underground resources, forests, animals, water sources, and the atmosphere.

China is the most populous country in the world and is burdened by substantial poverty and income inequity. There are 100 million economic migrants in China. The country is vulnerable to both drought in the north and flooding in the south. Moreover, China, which has 20 percent of the global population, has only 7 percent of global water resources. Survey data from the WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water and Sanitation note that over 90 million Chinese do not have access to an improved water source and 450 million citizens do not have access to improved sanitation. These are major development problems which severely impact health, development, and water quality. Increasing water shortages in the north, where approximately 64 percent of the population live, pose significant human rights, environmental, and economic crises for China. Between 1978 and 2010, 600 million Chinese were lifted out of poverty.¹ Although China has achieved rapid advances in elevating citizens out of extreme poverty and the many forms of deprivation that go along with it, the sheer size of the Chinese population that continues to live in socioeconomic distress impedes overall progress on a range of important issues including water security and health. Approximately 55 percent of the population is rural.

The Philippines is a developing country with a high rate of poverty and considerable water-related development obstacles to overcome. Income inequality is a major and ongoing development barrier. With an annual population growth rate of 2.1 percent, the country is projected to face water shortages by 2025. Nine major cities in the Philippines were classified in a 2010 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency as water critical areas: Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Davao, Baguio, Angeles, Cagayan de Cro, Zamboanga, and Iloilo. There are pro-nounced gaps in water supply and quality between the urban and the rural areas. These gaps are exacerbated by a high poverty ratio and a large rural population. The country has 7,110 islands and a land area of about 300,000 square kilometers. There are 96,000 square kilometers of agricultural land which comprises 32 percent of the total landmass. Agricultural lands and the farmers and populations they sustain will be dramatically affected by climate change. In total, there are 138 cities, 1,496 municipalities, and 42,027 barangays.

Thailand is a rapidly developing country that is impeded by income inequality and a high ratio of rural poverty. A large proportion of the population live in the rural areas many of which are underdeveloped such as Issan and the northern regions. Marginalization is a common development issue in Thailand most noticeably with the northern hill tribes who have faced decades of underdevelopment. Half-a-million northern hill tribe persons, who are an indigenous population, have been denied citizenship by the Thai government which precludes them from essential services such as health care and education. Although Thailand has abundant water resources, water quality and access is inconsistent. Many impoverished rural areas lack a consistent and safe water supply. Numerous Thai rivers have been found to contain 30–60 times more pathogens, heavy metals, and poisons than safety regulations allow. Although Thailand is making progress on the rural development and water quality standards, the competition for development and profit often conflicts with sustainable and healthy development practices. For instance, the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong province comprises 117 industrial plants including 45 petrochemical factories, 8 coal fired power plants, 12 chemical fertilizer factories, and 2 oil refineries.

Vietnam is a rapidly developing country that is challenged in some regions by a wide income inequality and high incidents of rural poverty. A large proportion of the population live in the rural areas where water quality and water access are often inadequate. Incidents of disease and health complications are consistently higher in the rural areas compared to the urban settings in developing countries. There is evidence of growing pollution in the coastal, ground, and surface waters of Vietnam. Downstream sections of many rivers provide evidence of poor water quality. Pollution and sewage are contaminating many freshwater sources. From 2009 to 2013, six million cases of waterborne diseases were registered by health authorities for a combined cost of 400 billion VND. Malaria, typhoid, dysentery, and cholera pose consistent health threats to the population. The country is divided into 64 provinces with a total area of 331,052 square kilometers. Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam. Climate change will clearly have an impact in terms of flooding because 70 percent of the country rests at 500 meters above sea level or less. Experts have widely predicted that flooding will be a major effect of climate change and lowland nations such as Vietnam are particularly vulnerable to the range of negative development implications that will occur.

The growing global recognition among citizens, governments, and civil society that water is a precious and fragile resource is a hopeful sign. Through crisis often comes opportunity and ingenuity and these are the precise developments urgently required today to address water scarcity and related issues. Moreover, the expected global population surge from 7.1 billion (2015) to 9.7 billion (2050) will place considerable strains upon available water resources. There are an estimated 800 million people today without an adequate water supply and this number is expected to reach approximately 50 percent of global population by 2050.