MAKING EVERY DROP COUNT - IELTS READING

A
The history of human civilization is entwined with the history of ways we have learned to manipulate water resources. As towns gradually expanded, water was brought from increasingly remote sources, leading to sophisticated engineering efforts such as dams and aqueducts. At the height of the Roman Empire, nine major systems, with an innovative layout of pipes and well-built sewers, supplied the occupants of Rome with as much water per person as is provided in many parts of the industrial world today.

Lịch sử của nền văn minh con người gắn chặt với lịch sử các cách thức mà chúng ta đã biết để vận dụng tài nguyên nước. Khi dân cư dần dần mở rộng, con người phải lấy nước từ các nguồn ngày càng xa, dẫn đến các nỗ lực kỹ thuật phức tạp như xây đập và cống dẫn nước. Ở đỉnh cao của đế chế La Mã, chín hệ thống lớn, với một bố trí sáng tạo của ống và cống được xây dựng khá tốt, đã cung cấp cho mỗi cư dân Rome lượng nước giống như lượng nước cung cấp cho mỗi người ở nhiều nơi trong thế giới công nghiệp ngày nay.

B
During the industrial revolution and population explosion of the 19th and 20th centuries, the demand for water rose dramatically. Unprecedented construction of tens of thousands of monumental engineering projects designed to control floods, protect clean water supplies, and provide water for irrigation and hydropower brought great benefits to hundreds of millions of people. Food production has kept pace with soaring populations mainly because of the expansion of artificial irrigation system that makes possible the growth of 40% of the world’s food. Nearly one-fifth of all the electricity generated worldwide is produced by turbines spun by the power of falling water.

Trong cuộc cách mạng công nghiệp và sự bùng nổ dân số của thế kỷ 19 và 20, nhu cầu về nước tăng lên đáng kể. Việc xây dựng chưa từng có với hàng chục ngàn dự án kỹ thuật hoành tráng được thiết kế để kiểm soát lũ lụt, bảo vệ nguồn nước sạch, và cung cấp nước cho thủy lợi và thủy điện đã mang lại nhiều lợi ích cho hàng trăm triệu người. Sản xuất lương thực đã theo kịp với các việc dân số tăng cao chủ yếu là do việc mở rộng các hệ thống thủy lợi nhân tạo để có thể tăng sản lượng lương thực thế giới lên 40%. Gần một phần năm tất cả nguồn điện được tạo ra trên toàn thế giới được sản xuất bởi các tua bin quay bằng sức mạnh của nước.

C
Yet there is a dark side to this picture: despite our progress, half of the world’s population till suffers, with water services inferior to those available to the ancient Greeks and Romans. As the United Nations report on access to water reiterated in November 2001, more than one billion people lack access to clean drinking water: some two and half billion do not have adequate sanitation services. Preventable water-related diseases kill an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 children every day, and the latest evidence suggests that we are falling behind in efforts to solve their problems.

Tuy nhiên, có một mặt tối về bức tranh này là mặc dù chúng ta đã tiến bộ nhưng một nửa dân số thế giới vẫn còn khổ sở với các dịch vụ về nước yếu kém hơn so với thời Hy Lạp và La Mã cổ đại. Theo báo cáo của Liên Hợp Quốc về việc tiếp cận nguồn nước được nhắc lại trong tháng 11 năm 2001, hơn một tỷ người không được tiếp cận với nguồn nước sạch để uống và khoảng hai tỷ rưỡi người không có các dịch vụ vệ sinh đầy đủ. các bệnh liên quan đến nước có thể ngăn ngừa được đã giết khoảng 10,000 đến 20,000 trẻ em mỗi ngày, và bằng chứng mới nhất cho thấy rằng chúng ta đang bị thất bại khi nỗ lực giải quyết những vấn đề này.

D
The consequences of our water policies extend beyond jeopardizing human health. Tens of millions of people have been forced to move from their homes – often with little warning or compensation – to make way for the reservoirs behind dams. More than 20% of all freshwater fish species are now threatened or endangered because dams and water withdrawals have destroyed the free-flowing river ecosystems where they thrive. Certain irrigation practices degrade soil quality and reduce agricultural productivity. Groundwater aquifers* are being pumped down faster than they are naturally replenished in part of India, China, the USA and elsewhere. And disputes over shared water resources have led to violence and continue to raise local, national and even international tensions.

Hậu quả của chính sách về nước của chúng ta đã lan rộng đến mức gây nguy hiểm cho sức khỏe con người. Hàng chục triệu người đã bị buộc phải di dời khỏi nhà của họ – thường chỉ được địa phương cảnh báo hoặc bồi thường qua loa – để nhường chỗ cho các hồ chứa đằng sau đập. Hơn 20% của tất cả các loài cá nước ngọt đang bị đe dọa vì đập và việc xả nước đã phá hủy hệ sinh thái sông “có dòng chảy tự do” nơi mà các loài này đang sinh sống. Một số tập quán tưới tiêu làm suy giảm chất lượng đất và làm giảm năng suất nông nghiệp. Các tầng chứa nước ngầm đang được khai thác nhanh hơn lượng bổ sung tự nhiên ở một số nơi như Ấn Độ, Trung Quốc, Mỹ và các nơi khác. Và tranh chấp về tài nguyên nước dùng chung đã dẫn đến bạo lực và tiếp tục tạo ra những căng thẳng ở địa phương, quốc gia và thậm chí quốc tế.

E
At the outset of the new millennium, however, the way resource planners think about water is beginning to change. The focus is slowly shifting back to the provision of basic human and environmental needs as a top priority – ensuring ‘some for all,’ instead of ‘more for some’. Some water experts are now demanding that existing infrastructure be used in smarter ways rather than building new facilities, which is increasingly considered the option of last, not first, resort. This shift in philosophy has not been universally accepted, and it comes with strong opposition from some established water organizations. Nevertheless, it may be the only way to address successfully the pressing problems of providing everyone with clean water to drink, adequate water to grow food and a life free from preventable water-related illness.

Tuy nhiên, ngay từ đầu của thiên niên kỷ mới này, các nhà hoạch định tài nguyên đã bắt đầu thay đổi cách về nước. Họ đang quay trở lại chú ý hơn về việc cung cấp các nhu cầu cơ bản của con người vì đây là ưu tiên hàng đầu để đảm bảo nguyên tắc “thiểu số vì đa số” thay vì “đa số vì thiểu số”. Một số chuyên gia về nước hiện nay cho rằng cơ sở hạ tầng hiện tại có thể được sử dụng một cách thông minh hơn là việc xây dựng các cơ sở mới, mà ngày càng được xem là lựa chọn của cuối cùng. Sự thay đổi trong triết lý này đã không được chấp nhận rộng rãi, và đi kèm theo đó là sự phản đối mạnh mẽ từ một số các tổ chức bảo vệ nguồn nước. Tuy nhiên, nó có thể là cách duy nhất để giải quyết thành công những vấn đề cấp bách của việc cung cấp cho tất cả mọi người nước sạch để uống, để trồng cây lương thực và một cuộc sống không có các bệnh liên quan đến nước có thể phòng ngừa được.

F
Fortunately – and unexpectedly – the demand for water is not rising as rapidly as some predicted. As a result, the pressure to build now water infrastructures has diminished over the past two decades. Although population, industrial output and economic productivity have continued to soar in developed nations, the rate at which people withdraw water from aquifers, rivers and lacks has slowed. And in a few parts of the world, demand has actually fallen.

May mắn thay và bất ngờ là nhu cầu về nước không tăng nhanh như một số dự đoán. Kết quả là, áp lực để xây dựng các cơ sở hạ tầng về nước đã giảm trong hai thập kỷ qua. Mặc dù dân số, sản lượng công nghiệp và năng suất kinh tế vẫn tiếp tục tăng cao ở các nước phát triển, tỷ lệ mà mọi người rút nước từ các hồ chứa nước, sông và hồ đã chậm lại. Và ở vài nơi trên thế giới, nhu cầu này đã thực sự giảm.

G
What explains this remarkable turn of events? Two factors: people have figured out how to use water more efficiently, and communities are rethinking their priorities for water use. Throughout the first three-quarters of the 20th century, the quantity of freshwater consumed per person doubled on average; in the USA, water withdrawals increased tenfold while the population quadrupled. But since 1980, the amount of water consumed per person has actually decreased, thanks to a range of new technologies that help to conserve water in homes and industry. In 1965, for instance, Japan used approximately 13 million gallons* of water to produce $1 million of commercial output; by 1989 this had dropped to 3.5 million gallons (even accounting for inflation) – almost a quadrupling of water productivity. In the USA, water withdrawals have fallen by more than 20% from their peak in 1980.

Điều gì giải thích về sự thay đổi đáng ghi nhận này? Có hai yếu tố là con người đã tìm ra cách để sử dụng nước hiệu quả hơn, và cộng đồng đang suy nghĩ lại về ưu tiên của họ khi sử dụng nước. Trong suốt ba phần tư đầu tiên của thế kỷ 20, lượng nước ngọt được tiêu thụ trên đầu người trung bình tăng gấp đôi; như ở Mỹ, lượng rút nước tăng gấp mười lần, trong khi dân số tăng gấp bốn lần. Nhưng kể từ năm 1980, lượng nước tiêu thụ mỗi người đã thực sự giảm, nhờ vào một loạt các công nghệ mới giúp tiết kiệm nước tại nhà và tại các xưởng công nghiệp. Ví dụ năm 1965 Nhật Bản sử dụng khoảng 13 triệu gallons nước sản xuất 1 triệu đô sản lượng thương mại; năm 1989 lượng tiêu thụ này đã giảm xuống còn 3,5 triệu gallon (thậm chí hơn do lạm phát) – khoảng bốn lần lượng nước tiêu thụ năm 1965. Ở Mỹ, lượng nước tiêu thụ đã giảm hơn 20% so với mức đỉnh vào năm 1980.

H
On the other hand, dams, aqueducts and other kinds of infrastructure will still have to be built, particularly in developing countries where basic human needs have not been met. But such projects must be built to higher specifications and with more accountability to local people and their environment than in the past. And even in regions where new projects seem warranted, we must find ways to meet demands with fewer resources, respecting ecological criteria and to smaller budget.

Mặt khác, các đập, cống dẫn nước và các loại cơ sở hạ tầng khác sẽ vẫn phải được xây dựng, đặc biệt là ở các nước đang phát triển, nơi nhu cầu cơ bản của con người đã không được đáp ứng. Nhưng các dự án như vậy phải được xây dựng hiện đại và có trách nhiệm hơn với người dân địa phương và môi trường của họ so với trong quá khứ. Và ngay cả trong các khu vực có các dự án mới có vẻ đảm bảo này thì chúng ta vẫn phải tìm cách để đáp ứng nhu cầu với ít nguồn lực hơn, tôn trọng các tiêu chuẩn sinh thái và với ngân sách ít hơn.

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