Thursday, July 15, 2010 -
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are at “extreme risk” of instability as a result of poor access to clean water, Yale Environment 360 reported on Monday.
The two countries are ranked among the top ten nations facing possible unrest as a result of water shortages, according to the report which cited a June 24 survey from UK-based consultancy Maplecroft.
The report ranks Uzbekistan sixth and Turkmenistan ninth of countries contending with severe water stress levels. Somalia, Mauritania, Sudan, Niger, Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt and Syria are also listed as among the ten most-afflicted countries.
The report analyzed water resource accessibility in 165 countries using four criteria: access to drinking water and sanitation, availability of renewable water, the relationship between water supply and demand, and the country’s economic dependency on water.
Tensions have already flared in Uzbekistan, Egypt and Pakistan as a result of water shortages, the report noted.
Though 87 percent of the Uzbek population has access to water, ongoing water disputes with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan place Uzbekistan at high-risk for water security problems, Maplecroft said.
In Turkmenistan, rural dwellers sometimes resort to drinking water from open wells and polluted irrigation canals, according to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).
Even in Turkmen cities such as Turkmenobat, Dashoguz and Balkanabat, water is only available to residents for three hours each day, according to IWPR.
“Climate change and increasing demands from population growth will cause a worsening of water stress over the coming decades,” said Maplecroft environmental analyst Dr. Anna Moss last month. “There is a risk of water stress exacerbating future risks of conflict, although there is evidence that water scarcity may also foster cooperation instead, within and between states and up to regional levels.
“It is essential for business to monitor the risks in their supply chains and operations where they might face current and future exposures.”