Water Scarcity and Health

Intro: Water Scarcity - Dripping Dilemma

• Definition: Critical imbalance: available freshwater insufficient for human & ecological demands.
• Types:
  • Physical (availability-limited): Common in arid/semi-arid regions; natural water resources unable to meet all demands.
    • Climate change impact: ↑extreme weather (droughts), altered precipitation, ↑evaporation, glacial melt.
  • Economic (access-limited): Sufficient water available, but poor governance, lack of investment in infrastructure, or inadequate human capacity restricts access.
• Thresholds (Falkenmark Indicator): Annual renewable freshwater per capita:
  • Water Stress: < 1700 $m^3$
  • Water Scarcity: < 1000 $m^3$
  • Absolute Scarcity: < 500 $m^3$

⭐ Over 1.7 billion people currently live in river basins where water use exceeds recharge (UN-Water).

Direct Health Effects - Parched Perils

• Dehydration & Heat-Related Illnesses (HRI):
  • Reduced water intake → dehydration, electrolyte imbalance.
  • Exacerbated by ↑ ambient temperatures.
  • Spectrum: heat cramps, heat exhaustion, life-threatening heat stroke.
  • Vulnerable: elderly, infants, outdoor workers, individuals with chronic illness.
• Acute Kidney Injury (AKI):
  • Severe dehydration → ↓ renal perfusion → prerenal AKI.
  • Chronic dehydration can contribute to chronic kidney disease (CKD).
• Malnutrition:
  • ↓ Water availability → impacts crop yields & livestock → food insecurity.
  • Contributes to undernutrition, stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies.
• Compromised Personal Hygiene:
  • Insufficient water for handwashing, bathing.
  • ↑ Transmission of fecal-oral pathogens (e.g., diarrhea, dysentery).
  • ↑ Skin & eye infections (e.g., trachoma, scabies).

⭐ Heat stroke is a medical emergency characterized by core body temperature >40°C ($>104°F$) and Central Nervous System (CNS) dysfunction.

Indirect Health Effects - Ripple Ills

Water scarcity creates far-reaching "ripple" health problems:

• Malnutrition & Food Insecurity:
  • ↓ Crop yields & livestock productivity → undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, especially in vulnerable groups.
• Vector-Borne Diseases (VBDs):
  • Altered water body distribution → changes vector breeding sites (mosquitoes, snails).
  • ↑ Risk: Malaria, Dengue, Schistosomiasis.
• Mental Health Impacts:
  • Eco-anxiety, stress, depression from livelihood loss & displacement.
• Conflict & Displacement:
  • Competition for scarce water → social tensions, conflicts.
  • Forced migration → overcrowded settlements, ↑ disease risk.
• Reduced Hygiene & Sanitation:
  • Insufficient water for handwashing/cleaning → ↑ diarrheal diseases (cholera), skin/eye infections (scabies, trachoma).

⭐ Water scarcity is projected to displace between 24 million and 700 million people by 2030.

Interventions & India - Adaptive Actions

• Key Interventions:
  • Water conservation: Rainwater harvesting, watershed management, wastewater reuse.
  • Efficient usage: Drip/sprinkler irrigation, reduced agricultural water footprint.
  • Policy: Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), community participation, robust governance.
  • Public Health: Enhanced surveillance for water-borne diseases, POU water treatment, hygiene promotion.
• India's Adaptive Strategies:
  • National Water Mission (NWM): Goals: conservation, minimize waste, equitable distribution.
  • Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM): Targets Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to all rural households by 2024.
  • Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY): Participatory groundwater management.
  • PMKSY (Per Drop More Crop): Micro-irrigation.

⭐ Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) supplies 55 lpcd quality water via FHTCs.

High‑Yield Points - ⚡ Biggest Takeaways

• Climate change worsens water scarcity, ↑ risk of water-borne diseases (cholera, typhoid, dysentery).
• Limited water access impairs hygiene practices, promoting feco-oral disease transmission.
• Droughts contribute to food insecurity and malnutrition, weakening community resilience.
• Contamination of scarce water (pathogens, chemicals) poses severe acute and chronic health risks.
• Altered water availability impacts vector ecology, changing dengue and malaria patterns.
• Water scarcity fuels mental health issues, social conflicts, and climate-induced migration.