Global Environment Outlook 3 (GEO 3)

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FRESHWATER

and UNICEF 2000) — less than in any other region of the world. The situation is worse in rural areas, where only 31 per cent of the population have improved sanitation, compared to 78 per cent coverage in urban areas. During the past decade, several countries have started to address the water quality problem by implementing large-scale programmes and action plans to rehabilitate degraded streams and depleted aquifers. These programmes are typically given legislative or statutory authority such as that provided by Thailand’s National Water Quality Act, the Philippine Water Quality Code, India’s Environment Protection Act, China’s Water Law and the Republic of Korea’s Water Quality Preservation Act (UNESCAP 1999). Success stories with respect to rehabilitation and protection of water quality of rivers come from those countries where water policies promote a multisectoral and multidisciplinary approach to the management of water resources. Clean-up campaigns for rivers, canals, lakes and other water bodies have become widespread. The

programmes have often been successful in improving water quality and, occasionally, have led to the adoption of new water quality standards and water use regulations. They have also increased awareness of the need to reduce pollutant loads through wastewater treatment, reuse and recycling of sewage and industrial wastewater, introduction of low-cost technologies, and strict control of industrial and municipal effluent. There have been a number of successes in water reuse and recycling in the industrialized countries of the region. Water quality has been improved in China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore as a result of initiatives to address water pollution. In Japan, the government has set environmental quality standards and made remarkable improvements: in 1991, 99.8 per cent of water samples met standards for heavy metals and toxins in Japan (RRI 2000). In 2000, the rate of industrial wastewater treatment across China was 94.7 per cent (SEPA 2001). Action in Singapore means that Singaporeans can now enjoy drinkable piped water straight from the tap.

References: Chapter 2, freshwater, Asia and the Pacific

WHO and UNICEF (2000). Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report . Geneva and New York, World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/Globass essment/Glassessment7.pdf [Geo-2-112] World Commission on Water (1999). World’s Rivers in Crisis - Some Are Dying; Others Could Die. World Water Council http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/Vision/6902B03 438178538C125683A004BE974.htm [Geo-2- 110] World Bank (2000). Health and Environment. Environment Strategy Paper. World Bank http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/essd/essd.nsf/Global View/HealthandENV.pdf/$File/HealthandENV.pdf [Geo-2-113]

UNDP, UNEP, World Bank and WRI (2000). World Resources 2000-2001 . Washington DC, World Resources Institute UNEP (1999). GEO-2000 . United Nations Environment Programme. London and New York, Earthscan UNEP (2001). Nepal: State of the Environment 2001. Bangkok, MoPE/HMGN/ICIMOD/ SACEP/NORAD/UNEP UNESCAP (1999). ESCAP Population Data Sheet, Population and Development Indicators for Asia and the Pacific, 1999. Bangkok, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific United Nations Population Division (2001). World Population Prospects 1950-2050 (The 2000 Revision) . New York, United Nations www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2000/ wpp2000h.pdf WHO (2000). Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response. Global Cholera Update. World Health Organization http://www.who.int/emc/diseases/cholera/choltbl19 99.html [Geo-2-109]

Australia State of the Environment Committee (2001). Coasts and Oceans, Australian State of the Environment Report 2001 (Theme Report). Canberra, CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Department of the Environment and Heritage Kwun, S. (1999). Water for Food and Rural Development, Country Paper of the Republic of Korea Regional Consultation Meeting for ICIDVision for Subsector. Kuala Lumpur, 17–19 May 1999 Pierce, F. (2001). Death in a Glass of Water. The Independent. 19 January 2001 http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=515 08 [Geo-2-106] RRI (2000). Japan Environmental Policy. Resource Renewal Institute http://www.rri.org/envatlas/asia/japan/jp-conc. html#Water [Geo-2-107] SEPA (2001). Report of the State of the Environment in China 2000. Beijing, State Environmental Protection Administration UNCSD (1999). Lake Toba–Lake Champlain Sister Lakes Exchange. United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/success/watenfed.htm [Geo-2-108]