David Richardson
MY GRANDFATHER used to say he always had a bath before the Norfolk Show. He was joking, of course. He usually had one before Christmas as well – whether he needed it or not.
Bathing wasn”t such a regular habit in grandfather”s day. When I was a child we only did it as a regular thing on Friday nights. I suppose we must have been a bit smelly by today”s standards, although I don”t remember being conscious of it. If everyone was the same it probably wouldn”t have been noticed. We were guided by the old saying that too much bathing weakened you and we used a lot less water than we do now.
ICE CORES
I was reminded of all this when I went to a science exhibition and lecture, mainly for children, mounted by the Science Park on the edge of Norwich by several organisations whose activities are concerned with water in all its forms. Contributors included The British Antarctic Survey, which displayed samples of Antarctic ice cores and as it melted you could hear gases trapped for millions of years escaping like Alka-Seltzer into the atmosphere. Other exhibitors included the Institute of Food Research, the John Innes Institute and the Teachers Science Network which, along with all the others, were trying to enthuse children to take science as a subject by exposing them to the “wow” factor.
Although it was mainly for schools, I”m a big kid and thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. I learned a lot, too, and some of it was relevant to farming. Let me share some of it.
Of all the water on the planet 97% is in the oceans and is saline. Two-thirds of the remaining fresh water, or 2% of the total, is locked in ice at the poles, while less than 1% is available for human consumption in lakes, rivers and underground aquifers. Here in the UK the average person uses 135 litres every day. That includes bathing, flushing toilets, washing the car and drinking. If these trends continue that figure seems set to rise by 40% over the next 20 years. In the USA they are already using amounts of that order. But it is not just Americans who have increased their usage. The world population has doubled since 1950, but the amount of water consumed has increased sixfold.
Closer to home, it is estimated that 80% of the world”s water is used by farmers. That average figure is clearly not correct in the UK, where most farmers still rely on rainfall. But if water becomes short in the hotter developing countries, and the number of people living in water-stressed countries is projected to rise to 3bn by 2025, their ability to feed themselves, let alone export fruit, vegetables, flowers to the west, as many do, will be compromised.
Some UK potato growers and other fresh crop specialists, who irrigate, might view that with satisfaction and conclude that it might mean higher prices and better margins. But before they become too excited they should be aware of the pressures on water supplies building up in this country, especially in the southeast.
Conversations I have had with people in the water supply business have made it clear that even long-term irrigation licences are far from secure. Such people are appalled at government plans to increase the number of houses in the southeast by at least 0.5m and possibly 1m. “We don”t have enough water to satisfy domestic and industrial demand already,” they complain. “How do they expect us to supply many more homes?”
Like it or not, they must tackle the problem. In preparation for action they are, among other things, reviewing all farm abstraction licences across the southeast. If it becomes necessary to supply the new urban customers, they will reduce or cancel licences in order to free supplies for the new housing estates. The water suppliers do not pretend it is fair, they don”t claim it is reasonable, they just say they will have no alternative.
FOOD PRODUCTION
Once again, home food production for the nation, taken for granted for so long, will be in jeopardy. Only this time it may not be possible to replace it with imports. For exporters who produce them will be running out of water, too. As debate on the policies over which the general election will be fought intensifies, short-termism on food still rules.