40 Percent of the World's People — More Than 2 Billion Human Beings— Have No Access to Clean Water

Water for Humans recognizes the critical need of ensuring sanitation and safe drinking water today and in the future. We work to eliminate current contamination by creating sustainable solutions to waste-water treatment and management.

So, it comes as no surprise to Water for Humans and many of our followers that the world is on pace to experience unprecedented water shortages this century. And we're not talking three or four decades from now--but rather starting in this decade!

An article published by the University of Arizona (U of A) paints a poignant picture of what the world will look like in the near future if we do not take action. Facing the twin challenges of a surging global population--particularly in the developing countries, and the depletion of groundwater supplies, many millions of people are in danger of not having access to safe, clean drinking water and reliable sanitation.

The article referenced below U of A article points out that the inadequacy of surface water supplies, salination of land, and conversion of agricultural land to other uses all spell disaster when it comes to ensuring we have enough safe drinking water. None of these developments is conducive to irrigated agriculture.

We invite you to read the highlights of the U of A article and consider joining our cause at Water for Humans to to provide low-cost, clean water solutions to under-served populations while ensuring that water remains a local, public resource. Thank you for your support!


Global Water Shortage Looms In New Century

Highlights of University of Arizona Article on Global Water Shortage

1. The World Bank reports that 80 countries now have water shortages that threaten health and economies while 40 percent of the world — more than 2 billion people — have no access to clean water or sanitation.
   
   
   
2. A story in The Financial Times of London began: "Water, like energy in the late 1970s, will probably become the most critical natural resource issue facing most parts of the world by the start of the next century." This analogy is also reflected in the oft-repeated observation that water will likely replace oil as a future cause of war between nations.
   
   
   
3. According to the World Bank, world-wide demand for water is doubling every 21 years, more in some regions. Water supply cannot remotely keep pace with demand, as populations soar and cities explode.
   
   
   
4. Since 1900, there has been a 6-fold increase in water use for only a 2-fold increase in population size. This reflects greater water usage associated with rising standards of living (e.g., diets containing less grain and more meat). It also reflects potentially unsustainable levels of irrigated agriculture.

Water for Humans' 501(c)3 Status

Water for Humans has submitted Form 1023 to the IRS to become a 501(c)3 corporation. The application was done by Misha Sandusky and Joseph Helt, two 3^rd year law students at Seattle University. This was a project for their course on nonprofits which they took during their last term in law school. Both of them graduated on Sunday, May 15^th. Judith Andrews, Misha and Joe’s professor and a practicing attorney in Seattle, followed the progress of the application and is serving as our legal representative to the IRS. We feel that we are well prepared to respond to any questions from the IRS to clarify our status. We will keep you informed as the application winds its way through the IRS for approval.

Water for Humans Spring Newsletter: April 2011

Saludos from all of us at WFH (which means “Hi” in Spanish)!

Your steadfast support has made a big difference to people in Oaxaca, Mexico – mothers and fathers who are looking to WFH for help in giving their families safer homes and healthier lives.

They send their thanks and we join them: WFH exists because of you!

Some of you have asked me what WFH has achieved so far in 2011. The answer is…a lot!

Meet Ofelia Carrada Maribel Lopez

Last year, your gift provided key seed funding to plan a new sustainable water treatment facility in Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla. Until we reach that important goal, WFH is working in small ways to help the community access clean water.

Professor Ofelia Carrada Maribel Lopez teaches 3^rd grade at Valentin Gomez Farias Elementary School, located in the village. Prof. Ofelia said, “Sometimes when you run out of waterjugs and children are still thirsty, they have to drink water from the tap and this causes many diseases.” She tells us that clean filtered water from the tanks already in place would allow the school to stop buying expensive bottled water – and spend the money instead on school supplies.

How is WFH helping Ofelia and her students?

WFH, with full participation from INSO, is raising funds to install filtration systems on the elementary school’s water tanks. Estimated Project Cost: $500 

Meet Ines Avelina Barroso 

Donations like yours are making it possible for WFH to reach into new communities. Ines is a new community partner in the Victor Bravo Ahuja district of the municipality of Santa Lucia del Camino in Oaxaca City. She wrote to Water for Humans and INSO and asked for our help solving her neighborhood’s chronic water shortages.

This is what Ines told us: “Our neighborhood was a landfill and quarry before becoming a residential district. Originally, water service consisted of two spigots; over time, the delivery system was expanded. Now, due to the population growth it is extremely insufficient.  Last year, during the dry season most residences received water only two times per week for few hours per day. The water…is not potable.”

 

How is WFH helping Ines and her family?

Together with INSO, we have designed 8,000-gallon rainwater catchment systems – a pilot project to be tested in eight homes in the neighborhood homes. WFH submitted a grant proposal on May 2 to the Seattle International Foundation to fund this innovative, low-tech, sustainable solution. Estimated Project Cost: $6,000

On the ground with Nelly, WFH staff in Oaxaca

Your contributions in 2010 made it possible for WFH to hire a half-time staff member in Oaxaca – Nelly Fernandez Tellez. We are grateful (and Nelly is, too)!

Nelly gives WFH a human face – something difficult to do when an organization is headquartered thousands of miles away. She makes sure that community partners in Oaxaca – organizations like INSO and individuals like Ofelia and Ines – have someone they can talk to. Nelly also provides us with critical, on-the-ground updates about the changing situation in Oaxaca.

Recently, Nelly told us:

• The election of Daniel Ramirez in Villa de Etla means the treatment plant project will go forward.
• The newly elected mayor of Santa Domingo Barrio Baja Etla, Severo Jesús Santiago Ruíz, is a close confidant of the prior mayor, Maria Soledad Diaz Gonzalez, one of WFH’s greatest champions in Oaxaca.
• Ex-mayor Diaz met with State Water Commission Rolando García Rodrigo Varela to bring him up to speed on status on replacing the derelict treatment plants in Santa Domingo. During the meeting, he committed his support for our approach and project, which is another key milestone for us.

In Seattle with Rick and Stan

Your assistance motivates WFH’s co-founders, Rick McKenney and Stan Brown to keep focused on the mission: provide low-cost, clean water solutions to underserved populations while ensuring that water remains a local, public resource.

Rick reports, “Seattle University law students, Misha Sandusky and Joe Helt, are working to complete our Federal IRS 501(c)3 paperwork, as part of a course led by Judy Andrews on nonprofit legal issues.” This is an important step in WFH’s growth and stability (although we continue to be gratefully to our fiscal sponsor, A.W.I.S.H).

Stan adds, “We have recruited eight board members, twelve advisers and nineteen dedicated volunteers (in the areas of translation, marketing, development, economics, web development, public health, environmental engineering and cultural affairs).”

Want to volunteer and help the people of Oaxaca? Just contact Rick RickM@WaterforHumans.org or Stan StanB@WaterForHumans.org

What’s next for WFH?

Watch your email inbox in the coming weeks for an important announcement: WFH is partnering with crowdrise.com, an online social networking and philanthropy website, in an innovative fundraising campaign to make sure that Ines and Ofelia’s dreams come true.

Thank you!

You are a person who cares about the world we live in and have demonstrated that by supporting Water for Humans. Our new friends in Oaxaca’s Central Valley say, “Muchas gracias!”

 PS: You can stay in touch with the Water for Humans team by reading our blog or following us on Facebook – almost 300 people already “like” WFH!

Community Well Water Analysis in Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla

From Nelly Fernandez Tellez Water for Humans-- Mexico Operations

On 25 April, I paid a visit to the community of Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla.

I was there to obtain a copy of the results from annual analysis of community well water conducted last year, and to talk with the manager of the water committee.

Initial results show the water is fairly good quality, however the well pump failed last year and the new replacement pump is starting to show some corrosion.  Currently, the municipality does not have the funds to perform new water analysis, and they have asked Water for Humans to help them determine the root cause of the pump failure and better understand the water quality.

In response we are invigorating the costs of performing a more complete water analysis, and forecasting the funding requirements to support this request.

Severe Water Shortages Predicted Within A Few Decades

Scores of people worldwide are in trouble. Safe, clean drinking water, already a very precious resource, is predicted to become extremely precious--and harder to find, within a few decades. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences warns us that by the year 2050, more than 1 billion people--living in major cities in the developing world, will face water shortages. That is equivalent to roughly 20 percent of the world's current population!

More than 3 billion people are predicted to experience water shortages "at least one month of every year." Climate change is expected to worsen this already catastrophic problem, as the warming of the planet is likely to cause another 100 million people who live in cities to not have adequate access to safe drinking water.

Water for Humans has been documenting this world-wide crisis with sound science and in partnership with other environmental sustainability organizations. You can fine clear and compelling statistics on the severe magnitude of the global water shortage on the Water for Humans website.

The below report is not to be taken lightly. Too often we read or hear about dire warnings, and if they are far enough into the future, we tend too often to become "tuned out" to such credible calls for action. We encourage you to read this article, and then we invite you to join Water for Humans in our international campaign to provide low-cost, clean water solutions to underserved populations while ensuring that water remains a local, public resource.

1 Billion City Dwellers May Face Water Shortages By 2050, Study Says

By 2050, more than 1 billion city dwellers may face water shortages if no new infrastructure is built or no new water conservation efforts are undertaken, according to a new National Academy of Sciences study [1]. More than 3 billion people may suffer similar water shortages at least one month of every year, according to this study. The shortages are projected to hit mega-cities ranging from Beijing to Delhi, Mexico City, Lagos and Tehran.


This recently released study looks only at water availability within a metropolitan region. Many more people lack access to clean water if problems of inadequate water quality or delivery within cities are taken into account.


To define “water shortage,” the study used a standard of 100 liters per person per day, which the World Health Organization says is the minimum a person needs for “optimum” long-term health and sanitation.


Researchers found that urban population growth will account for most of the big projected increases in water shortage. Climate change may add an additional 100 million more people to live without adequate water supplies unless cities take measures on time.


Common infrastructural solutions to address water shortages such as transporting water longer distances, building dams and desalination are all expensive. Better ways to address shortages, says one of the study’s authors Rob McDonald of One solution, are more efficient water use by agriculture and industry, payments to farmers to reduce areas of irrigated agriculture, and removal of non-native water-hungry vegetation such as eucalyptus.


“The thing I’m really worried about,” says McDonald, “is how the poorest cities are going to be able to afford to get water to their residents. Right now, many poor cities have trouble delivering clean water to their residents, and unless new capital is available for investment the situation will get worse.


“There’s a real shortfall in investment right now in solving this problem, and the developed countries in my opinion need to play a larger role in helping close that shortfall.”



Footnote: [1] McDonald, R.I. … [et al.] (2011). Urban growth, climate change, and freshwater availability. PNAS, Published online before print 28 March 2011. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1011615108 [open access]

Source: Robert Lalasz, Cool Green Science, 28 Mar 2011

International Organization Calls for Renewed Focus on Sustainable Sanitation

In an effort to prompt greater awareness and action among the world's leading governments, the United Nations has strengthened the "Sustainable Sanitation 5-Year Drive to 2015". Read article below for details.

The hope is that by taking this significant measure, the United Nations will put political pressure on various countries, including developed, developing, and under-developed nations, to meet this critical part of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

"Ensuring Environmental Sustainability" is the 7th of 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were created in September of 2000 to address--on a worldwide scale, the paramount issues of universal primary education, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, and halving extreme poverty--all by the target date of 2015. All of the world's countries and leading development institutions formed this blueprint more than a decade ago to meet the needs of the world's poorest people.

Water for Humans adamantly endorses this action by the United Nations. Nearly 1 billion people are unable to access clean, safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion people live without adequate sanitation. About 84% of water-related deaths worldwide are of children under the age of 15! Water for Humans finds these deplorable and inhumane conditions unacceptable.

Would you like to play a vital role in helping us reduce by 50% the number of people who have no access to safe drinking water? Do you want to use your talents to help Water for Humans deliver the world's most precious resource to the hundreds of millions of people who risks their lives to get it? If you would like to join our humanitarian cause, we encourage you to visit our Water for Humans website and learn how you can positively impact the many thousands of people who need your help.

Thank you for your support!

Sustainable Sanitation: The Five-Year-Drive to 2015

April 15, 2011

As a follow-up to International Year of Sanitation (2008) and in the effort to attain sanitation and hygiene Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets, Sustainable Sanitation 5 Year Drive to 2015 (5YD) was conceptualized by the United Nation Secretariat Advisory Board (UNSGAB) members.

The idea being that, ‘the 5YD is an advocacy vehicle to keep sanitation high on the political agenda, promote national coordination, improve sanitation monitoring while supporting sustainable sanitation solutions – all in all in an effort to meet the sanitation target.

The Drive aims to invigorate, galvanize and re-focus international, regional and national activities in the field of sanitation and maintain the momentum through raising awareness and facilitating action. The concept was drafted based on a recommendation made in The UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) report of 2010.

The Five Year Drive was officially adopted by Resolution A/RES/65/153 of the UN General Assembly on December 20, 2010 and now serves as a tool for engaging countries as well as non-state stakeholders for improving access to sanitation worldwide.

The official launch of 5YD will take place in the presence of the UN Secretary General during the UNSGAB (United Nation Secretariat Advisory Board) meeting to be held from June 21-23, 2011 in New York City.

In addition, regional launches are planned at the 4th South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN IV) in April 2011 and at the 3rd African Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (AfricaSan3) in July 2011.



Source: UNSGAB ((United Nation Secretariat Advisory Board) , Dec. 21, 2010