World Water Council president defends Ilısu Dam project
Tuesday, March 20, 2007-Turkish daily news
Other countries don't have the right to object to the much-critisized Ilısu Dam project, says president of the World Water Council, Loic Fauchon, noting that the focus should be on the good of the general public
BARÇIN YİNANÇ
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News
Water scarcity, water crisis, water wars; these are not new concepts for the public. We have been familiar with this phenomenon. Recently, however, there is more talk about climate change.
Because of the stories about global warming are more spectacular, it's true that the public started to forget about the water shortage problem,� warned the president of World Water Council, Loic Fauchon, in an interview yesterday with the Turkish Daily News.
Turkey will host the fifth World Water Forum in 2009 and Fauchon is in Istanbul to kick off a meeting that took place yesterday to start the two-year preparatory process leading to the forum.
According to Fauchon, climate change and water scarcity are two interrelated issues. The exact implications of climate evolution over the water resources are not well known. �However, what we know and what worries us a lot is that in 20 years time, there will be 60 mega cities of 10 million or more habitants about the size of Istanbul; most will be in poor countries with no financial or technical capacity to solve water and sanitation problems,� warned Fauchon, who is also the president and executive director of the Marseilles Water Supply Company. According to Fauchon there are thousands of �sanitation bombs� that are �thrown below the table, waiting to explode in 10�20 years time.� Without water, you have pollution, with pollution comes epidemics and when you have an epidemic that starts in a mega city you don't know where it will stop; warned Fauchon.
Water shortage is also at the root of the immigration issue; an acute problem the world tries to tackle. �If you have no water, you have no energy, no energy, no development. We take the luggage and we leave. Think about one part of Africa immigrating to Europe,� said the French water expert.
The World Water Council's main goal is to promote the efficient conservation, protection, development and management of water at all levels. In the two-year preparatory process, experts will look after solutions. �One of our priority is to secure water resources,� said Fauchon. There are many ways to secure water resources and one of it, is through building dams.
When reminded that Turkey's policies to built dams such as the Ilısu project meets objections from the international community, Fauchon's answer was clear-cut: �For some countries it's easy to give lessons. In France in my region Marseilles, we built dams; thousands of people were displaced. However, we did it for the public benefit. Turkey is not the only country to face such criticism. Nevertheless, is it right for other countries that have suffered from the same problems to come and give lessons. I do not think so. Building dams has its advantages and disadvantages. Turkey will find the right balance and the right solution. But can a country as big as Turkey or France say, �I won't built a dam I won't have energy.' Will it just buy oil to secure energy. As the council we are not here to give lessons but to exchange experiences.�
Another priority issue upon which the council will focus is the financial aspect. �Before portable phones we need potable water. Before guns we need taps,� Fauchon laments about the fact that more resources are attributed to research and investment made on cell phones than water.
Some argue that a market approach to water management would help the situation. Can we treat water as a commercial commodity such as oil. The answer of Fauchon is yes and no. According to Fauchon, water should always remain in the hands of the public sector. A private firm could do the management, but the water resources should not be privatized.
As to selling a country's water to another country, Fauchon advises trans-boundary cooperation in case the water in question comes from a trans-boundary river.
Turkey is one of the countries that has problems with its neighbors, Syria and Iraq, on sharing the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates. According to the World Water Council president, the forum could serve as a platform to facilitate and solve regional problems. �Turkey talks to its neighbors about water sharing. In fact the Iraqi minister of water is in Istanbul,� reminded Fauchon. He also recalled presiding a meeting between experts from three countries last year in Mexico.
Water is considered a major cause of international conflict in the new millennium. Fauchon, however, does not believe there will be water wars. �Over 50 years, my observation is that problems over water have been solved through negotiations. Water should be an element of peace not war. What I am more concerned about is not regional disputes but the alarming emergence of mega cities with insufficient water resources. This will be a bigger problem to deal with,� concluded Fauchon.
