1. Understanding the Problem
· The United Arab Emirates faces major challenges in water management as the water demand grows annually (Michel et al., 2012). There are several infrastructure projects kicked off to meet the demand and avoid future water shortfall. However, the real problem of the United Arab Emirates is not the availability of water sources and its water treat facilities, but it is the lack of clear cut policies on water management leading to serious water wastage in the country. These are the realities of its water management conditions:
· The United Arab Emirates has a 550 litres per day per capital water consumption (Becken, 2014). Reports since the turn of the 21stcentury showed that the country has not been able to reduce their water consumption per capita. If this is compared with the international average of 170-330 litres per day, the United Arab Emirates could have been wasting more than 220 litres of water per day. While the United Arab Emirates, like all the GCC countries, has one of the lowest water ground sources, it has the highest water consumption that could rival other developed countries in the West.
· Compared with Luxembourg which had only 80 litres of water per capita consumption, it could be said that the United Arab Emirates is wasting too much water. Denmark has only 117 litres of water per capital consumption while the United Kingdom has only 129 litres of water per capita consumption (Grant, 2016). The United Arab Emirates could not reason out that it is a developed country and it has a tremendous market base to be supported with water as the United Kingdom only consumes less than quarter of its per capita consumption. The wastage of the United Arab Emirates is impossible to be attributed to its growth and development.
Issue of Empathy
· The wastage of water in the United Arab Emirates also becomes a social and ethical problem as it borders in the line of being passive to the needs of others. In Africa, large percentage of water goes to agriculture with only 10% going to the household (Oku & Asubonteng, 2015). With only 20 litres of water per capita consumption, people in Africa are suffering from much need of water. The per capita consumption of the Africa is only 3.636% of the per capita consumption that the United Arab Emirates has. With only 10% used in drinking and cooking, only 2 litres of water are used by people in Africa for their personal use.
· As much as we live in an ecosystem connected to each other, the water consumption of the United Arab Emirates could affect that of Africa. While the UAE desalinates water, it should be noted that it also affects the water balance of our marine life. If people in the United Arab Emirates conserve water, they could invest water supply on agriculture, thereby increasing food production. This could mean that they can help supply food in the sun-stricken Africa to help them in reducing water supply for agriculture and increasing water for household consumption.
· The Principle of Equity and Proportionality is a primary element that the United Arab Emirates should have (Kazemi et al., 2017). It means that proportionate response in the face of limited resources to provide for those who are at most immediately at risk. People in Africa at risk because of lack of water supply. It is the responsibility of the United Arab Emirates to make sure there is equity in the way they are using limited resource – which is water. There is a need to be in solidarity with those who are suffering in Africa and not to think of self alone.
References
Becken, S. (2014). Water equity–Contrasting tourism water use with that of the local community. Water resources and industry, 7, 9-22.
Grant, G. (2016). The water sensitive city. John Wiley & Sons.
Kazemi, A., Eek, D., & Gärling, T. (2017). Equity, Equal Shares or Equal Final Outcomes? Group Goal Guides Allocations of Public Goods. Frontiers in psychology, 8.
Michel, D., Pandya, A., Hasnain, S. I., Sticklor, R., & Panuganti, S. (2012, November). Water challenges and cooperative response in the Middle East and North Africa. In US-Islamic World Forum (pp. 11-15).
Oku, E. E., & Asubonteng, K. O. (Eds.). (2015). Harnessing Land and Water Resources for Improved Food Security and Ecosystem Services in Africa. United Nations University Institute for Natural Resourc.
