As swimmers return to the Seine, experts see hope for other long-polluted rivers – World News Report
“Paris has shown that it is possible to bring even the most polluted rivers back to life,” said Dianna Kopansky, Head of the Freshwater and Wetlands Unit of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “But if we’re to ward off a looming freshwater crisis, the world is going to need a lot more success stories like this.”
A compendium of UNEP reports released this week found that 50 per cent of countries currently have one or more type of water-related ecosystem – rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers – in a state of degradation. To count as degraded, water bodies have to be polluted or have low water levels. The report is part of an effort to monitor progress on UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which calls for everyone on Earth to have access to clean water and sanitation by 2030.
The degradation of freshwater bodies, the report found, has had a profound effect on communities around the world, imperiling drinking water supplies, risking food shortages and hampering hydro-electric production.
By 2025, 1.8 billion people are likely to face what the Food and Agriculture Organization calls absolute water scarcity and two-thirds of the global population is expected to be grappling with water stress.
India is nine years into a $4 billion push to clean the famously polluted Ganges River. Credit: AFP/Air Pano
Water pollution is often dire in urban areas, which have long grappled with the issue, from the leaded pipes of ancient Rome, to the Great Stink on London’s Thames River in the 1850s to the infamous immolation of the United States’ Cuyahoga River.
The new reports from UNEP found that it is possible to buck such historical trends. But countries must ensure degraded ecosystems are prioritized in protection and restoration policies and plans. Nations should also take a more holistic approach to protecting water bodies, addressing threats like pollution and climate change together, experts say. Also key, is ensuring freshwater ecosystems remain connected.
In recent years, many countries have begun to embrace this approach, giving some of the world’s most famous waterways a glow up.
India is nine years into a US$4 billion push to clean the famously polluted Ganges River. London, currently relying on a leak-prone 150-year-old sewer system, has invested in building a 25 kilometres Super Sewer. The Hudson River, which skirts New York City, is rebounding following a decades-long effort to clean up chemical contamination. And last year, dozens of countries launched the Freshwater Challenge, a drive to revive 300,000 kilometres of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands, the largest restoration push of its kind.
The Seine cleanup, which is in its ninth year, is especially ambitious. French officials laid thousands of kilometres of pipes and installed a network of underground pumps and tanks to prevent untreated sewage and rainwater from entering the river. A key part of France’s efforts has been undertaking regular ambient water quality monitoring. This has been essential to keep efforts on track and ascertain safety of the water, which is also a key finding from one of UNEP’s reports that encourages countries to incorporate citizen science into their national monitoring programmes.
Ultramarathoner Mina Guli ran the length of the Seine River earlier this year to raise awareness about the dangers facing freshwater ecosystems. Credit: Mina Guli
Earlier this summer ultramarathoner and clean water advocate Mina Guli completed a 30-day, 830-kilometre run along the length of the Seine ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, to raise awareness about the world’s looming water crisis and the urgent need to restore rivers.
“For too long, we have undervalued and overlooked our rivers, treating them as little more than pipes for water and overflows for sewage,” said Guli. “Healthy rivers are central to water and food security, reversing nature loss, adapting to the worsening impacts of climate change and driving sustainable development.”
Guli, who is now planning a campaign to run along 20 rivers across six continents, is moderating a UNEP-led event this week at Stockholm’s World Water Week, a global gathering that explores freshwater-related issues.
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August 27, 2024, 17:05 GMT
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