Is the Delta Running Out of Water?

By Tar Pa Lu

The delta region is a place overflowing with water. It is a land where waterways are the main routes of travel and where fresh water can be found simply beneath the houses. Without boats, it is difficult to move from one house to another.

Boats and motorboats are essential not only for daily transportation but also for attending social events, funerals, and for children going to school. Just as motorcycles and cars are used on land, people in the delta rely heavily on boats. In fact, it is often said that without a boat in the delta, it is like losing one’s legs. The long stilt houses that stand above the water are symbols of communities living in flood-prone areas.

Water and the delta, water and the Ayeyarwady Region — these are things that cannot be separated. There were once countless places where fresh water could easily be obtained. But now the situation seems to have reversed.

People have begun to question whether the water beneath their homes is safe to drink, whether the water in their fields might be contaminated, or whether the water they are consuming could contain toxic substances such as lead. We may be approaching a time when such doubts become unavoidable.

A region built upon water may now be facing a growing water shortage. Even in an area rich in freshwater, a lack of safe drinking water can itself be considered a form of water scarcity.

In recent years, reports and studies have increasingly revealed that arsenic contamination has been found in water sources across many parts of Myanmar. Some experts, however, are said to be reluctant to speak openly about the issue.

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with a water researcher from Myanmar who is currently receiving medical treatment abroad. According to the person who introduced us, the researcher was speaking while undergoing treatment at a hospital.

“Arsenic was first detected in the Ayeyarwady Region around 1992,” the researcher began. “It was discovered back then, but the levels were relatively low.”

The researcher recalled field operations conducted at that time as part of a joint initiative between UNICEF and rural water supply programs.

“At that time, we tested around 40 to 50 wells in a single village. With support from the United Nations, wells were drilled free of charge. They were what we called shallow wells, not deep ones, wells that could be dug using simple hand pumps,” he explained.

Because those shallow wells were located within soil layers where water could easily seep through, substances from surrounding layers could also enter the groundwater, he added. The wells he referred to were typically around 100, 150, or 200 feet deep.

When I told him that in my township of Pantanaw many villages once relied on wells only 20 to 25 feet deep, he responded with a remark.

“When you were younger, wells that shallow might have worked,” he said. “But nowadays, water no longer comes out at those depths.”

The researcher then asked me a question: when did I first learn about arsenic contamination? For someone from the Ayeyarwady delta to be asked this by a scientist suggested he may have been trying to gauge public awareness.

As someone born in the 1990s, I only became aware of arsenic in the region’s drinking water after entering the journalism field in 2012. It took more than a decade for me to learn that the water in my own township could contain arsenic.

I still remember reading a news report early in my career as a trainee journalist stating that drinking water in Kyaunggon Township in the Ayeyarwady Region contained arsenic.

“At that time, arsenic was mostly detected in shallow wells,” the researcher continued. “But now we have identified two sources.”

One of the sources, he explained, is linked to agriculture.

“In farming, the use of chemical fertilizers and phosphorus has increased. Runoff from these chemicals seeps into compact underground soil layers. Over many years, through cycles of rain and drying, the substances gradually infiltrate deeper layers,” he said.

Another source of arsenic, he said, may come from geological formations in the Bago Yoma mountain range. Minerals dissolving from rock layers can seep into groundwater systems.

He explained that geological pressure, rock formations, and natural processes involving the movement of water through underground layers all contribute to the phenomenon.

Such natural processes occurring in mountainous areas often go unnoticed, he said, adding that under current circumstances it can also be difficult to decide whether it is appropriate to openly discuss these issues.

According to research conducted by the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, nearly 124,000 wells were tested in the Ayeyarwady delta. The study found that around 71 percent contained arsenic levels exceeding the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The findings were published in studies conducted in late 2023 and early 2024 by researchers from the University of Portsmouth.

The research highlighted the high levels of arsenic contamination in drinking wells across the Ayeyarwady delta and warned that the situation poses a serious risk to public health.

Long-term consumption of arsenic-contaminated water can increase the risk of skin diseases, cancer, lung disease, bladder disease, kidney disease, and heart conditions, according to health assessments.

Within the Ayeyarwady Region, townships such as Kyonpyaw, Kyaunggon, Thabaung, Pantanaw, Hinthada, and Zalun have been identified as areas facing the highest arsenic risks.

International studies, including those by the University of Portsmouth, have also identified several locations in the region as arsenic contamination hotspots. In particular, Kyonpyaw and Kyaunggon townships frequently appear in water research papers as areas with some of the highest arsenic concentrations.

Because arsenic has no smell and no taste, it cannot be detected by ordinary observation. Residents in these areas therefore need to systematically test the water from their wells to ensure its safety, the water researcher emphasized.