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Manejo Técnico de Lenguas English IV

# 7 WATER ISSUES

Tourism: A Thirsty Business

Tourism is a thirsty business. Peak tourist seasons are generally during the driest months of theyear. Tourism development is most intense in coastal areas and on islands, where potable water is typically scarce. Vast amounts of water are needed during the construction phase, as well as once thetourists have started to arrive. However, local communities are often not allowed to access infrastructure built to ensure safe drinking water for tourists. Tourism also generates significant quantitiesof waste water, which many destinations in poor countries do not have the infrastructure to process effectively. Often, sewage generated by resorts is dumped into waterways or pumped out to sea.In many parts of the world, tourism’s demand for water has resulted in:

•Appropriation of water supplies to the detriment of local domestic and agricultural needs

•Overexploitation of aquifersand reservoirs

•Lowering of the groundwater table

•Contamination of freshwater by saltwater intrusion

•Pollution and contamination of waterways

•Conflict between local communities andtourism interests

Examples include:

A. Zanzibar: tourists typically consume 15 times more water than local residents on a daily basis.

B. Bali: while the Indonesian island’s popular golfcourses use 3 million litres of water every day, villagers on some parts of the island reportedly have to walk up to 3km to collect water from a well.

C. Botswana: the first luxury tourist lodge toopen in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve boasts a swimming pool for guests and was allowed to drill a borehole to access water. Meanwhile, the government refused to re-open a borehole that was usedby the indigenous Bushmen, forcing them to make a 300km round trip or collect water from depressions in the sand. .

D. Costa Rica: villagers from the small inland town of Sardinal demonstrated...