THE global war on water literacy cannot be won due to repeated mistakes as people try to manage water ecosystems. The magnitude and frequency of water-related challenges appear as if communities have never learnt anything towards preserving one of the precious commodities in human history. In this regard, water reservoirs, small scale, large or underground have not been spared the careless and negligent wrath of pollution, siltation or overfishing.
Water is life, water is key to human survival and livelihood protection services but the human hand continues to commit water crimes despite regular water conservation adverts, Press releases, awareness raising campaigns and education.
Water literacy, viewed as a culmination of water-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours designed to empower communities with lifelong water saving and conservation skills.
Water, a key livelihood component for sustainable human living, industrial, ecological services and agricultural production continues to be under threat from impacts of climate change and human wastefulness. As a stand-alone entity, water falls under sustainable development goal (SDG6) — clean water and sanitation for all.
This goal, although it works better when integrated with SDG3 (good health and wellbeing), SDG4 (quality education), for water literacy, SDGs14 and 15, life under water and land including SDG13 — climate action. Some of the challenges with regards to SDGs is the failure of countries to sufficiently localise these SDGs and that too many actors on the ground appear not so keen to get behind SDGs.
Water literacy is normally affected by lack of overall understanding of issues that contribute to water resources, systems and lack of ongoing water resources education, designed to remind and keep people aware of their water governance duties and stewardship.
The relevant water systems should not be divorced from human activities such as deforestation, land degradation, unsustainable mining practices, disposal of industrial effluent into water bodies, among others. When it comes to water conservation, everyone should be concerned thereby becoming environmentalists.
For quite a few years, communities have watched helplessly while major dams, rivers and streams including seas and oceans are polluted by powerful industrialists, reckless companies and errant individuals.
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Water education, knowledge and information are essential factors when it comes to water conservation because everyone has an intrinsic duty to save water, forests and ecosystem services. Despite water being such a precious commodity, water crimes continue to be committed even by those responsible for its safety and security.
Water is not only a basic requirement but a sustainable human right too but people continue to abuse water rights and engage in large-scale contamination, siltation, overfishing, deforestation and land degradation.
Humanity is guilty as individuals, households, communities, companies and governments, in the absence of strong laws or just a disregard of the laws and regulations, enabling water offences continuing to rise. In urban areas, no stream or river is safe due to sewage contamination, stream bank agriculture due to rising urban agriculture and disposal of industrial chemicals into rivers by companies.
The prescriptive methodologies designed to save water should be integrated with indigenous knowledge systems and tools. The interconnectedness of water issues to socio-cultural and technological points of view are key, lifesaving and people centred in promoting environmental sustainability and fighting the changing climate.
Both the formal and informal methodologies need to continue being practised, reshaping and transforming water usage to save lives and transform agricultural production.
Water literacy is a cross-cutting and interdisciplinary issue which is not necessarily subject specific although having major relevance to sciences. Water literacy has the power to enable individuals and communities to have knowledge of where the challenges are coming from. For this reason, water literacy should not be treated in isolation from environmental literacy and impacts of climate change.
This is a chained and interconnected process that heavily depends on each other and is closely-linked to water knowledge, water education, water culture and attitudes, among others.
Communication is a key ingredient of water literacy as water knowledge, education and information are communication driven. In this view, it is significant in communicating water-related knowledge both at local and international levels. Because water is a natural resource open to abuse, it can also be communicated through socio-cultural and formal contracts.
Knowledge and conservation of water resources give citizens direction of where water comes from and how it can be conserved.
Water literacy does not only rest upon SDG6 (clean water and sanitation) but also embraces SDG3 — health and wellbeing for water and sanitation purposes. This is critical in unpacking health-related ailments that are water driven hence they need to be in the public domain always.
There are very few institutions and organisations that have excelled in managing water resources hence many countries are equally guilty of water crimes but mask the deeds through water propaganda. People’s living habits have a strong bearing on how they manage water daily, regarding surface and underground water.
The bulk of the water people encounter is abused, wasted, contaminated, poorly harvested, recycled and reused. Knowledge of local landscapes and their sacredness are key to community-based water management techniques hence they help to shape human behaviours, transform attitudes and contribute to sustainable water cultures.
At the end of it all, water literacy should play multiple roles in empowering citizens with functional knowledge and skills to pass on to the next generation. The next generation needs to be useful citizens who know the value of water for sustainable living. So goes the adage, “when the well is dry, we know the worth of water.”
- Peter Makwanya is a climate change communicator. He writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted on: [email protected]
