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Water
Published in P.K. Tewari, Advanced Water Technologies, 2020
There is a growing need to develop a science- and technology-based water security system that is economically and environmentally sustainable. Since time immemorial water has been regarded as a free gift from God to mankind, which is one of the important factors responsible for the present worldwide water scarcity and quality crisis. Efforts to address these issues and improve cooperation and understanding on all water-related matters continue worldwide. Technologies for avoiding water wastage and promoting the recycling and reuse of water of appropriate quality have great potential to deal with the water crisis. It is imperative to ensure balanced use of water across different sectors: domestic requirements (drinking and cooking as well as cleaning, washing, etc.), industrial needs, energy production, agriculture and other uses. Sustainable management strategies may involve measures and mechanisms to (i) conserve available water resources; (ii) enhance availability of and access to water resources; (iii) minimize pollution of water resources from industrial and domestic activities; (iv) purify water by mitigation of contaminants; and (v) carry out treatment and recycling of wastewater. Science and technology offer solutions addressing several of the above water-related issues. For example, drip irrigation for agriculture is an efficient water-saving irrigation method. The drippers deliver water directly to the soil adjacent to the root system, which absorbs the water immediately, and thus evaporation loss is minimal.
Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Arab Region
Published in Velma I. Grover, Amani Alfarra, Water, Sustainable Development and the Nexus, 2019
Water resources play a crucial role in the web of food, energy, climate, economic growth, and human security challenges that the world economy faces over the next two decades (Beck and Walker, 2013). A common definition for water security is "access to safe drinking water and sanitation; and to water for other human and ecosystem uses" (Hoff, 2011). Wise management of water is going to be crucial for food security and sustainable agriculture (FAO, 2014), water as a constraint or enabler for economic growth and development in the short, medium and long term future. Decisions on how to conserve, manage and use water need to be made on the basis of commonly accepted and scientifically robust definitions and water accounting methods. This involves the assessment of (efficient) use of water at field, irrigation scheme and river catchment scales; the consideration of additional dimensions of productivity; and macro-economic assessments of the water-related agricultural economy contribution to GDP and global trade.
An integrated approach to water resources and flood risk
Published in Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, Integrated Flood Risk Management, 2023
Part 1 of the guideline lists overarching principles of IWRM which may be summarized as follows: Water is necessary for sustainable development (all lives, development and environment) so that integrated management is necessary and IWRM is beneficial for all.Objective of IWRM is to attain water security.River basin is an appropriate unit for IWRM. IRBM is IWRM at river basin level.IWRM progress is an evolutional “spiral process”. Evolution may be triggered by disasters, crisis, change of political leadership, socio-economic development, environmental conditions, technical innovation etc.The need of IWRM should be understood by top politicians, participated by all stakeholders including bottom-up process in transparent and accountable manner.All stakeholders participating to coordinating process for integration should be aware of and faithful to their own mandates and responsibilities in a clearly defined administrative and institutional structure of a society. There are some definitions on water security. Among them, the following by African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) at Tunis, 28 January 2008 would be reasonable and the simplest, that is: Water security is the capacity to provide sufficient and sustainable quantity and quality of water for all types of water services and protect society and the environment from water-related disasters. It is the state of water being sufficiently and sustainably secured in good quality and quantity free from water-related disasters.
Implementing the GEOSS water strategy: from observations to decisions
Published in International Journal of Digital Earth, 2023
Richard Lawford, Sushel Unninayar, George J. Huffman, Wolfgang Grabs, Angélica Gutiérrez, Chu Ishida-Watanabe, Toshio Koike
Given the challenges of water security, water managers must address the effects of more diverse releases of complex contaminants, meet growing public demand for more active adaptation to increasing climate change impacts, and respond to growing expectations for water sustainability. At the same time, scientists continue to seek improvements in collecting and analyzing water data, principally via remote sensing, as they work to improve our understanding of the Earth system and its water and energy cycles. Alcamo et al. (2005) launched the Global Water System Project which explored the complex interactions between the natural water cycle and the modifications that the water cycle undergoes because of human interactions and its interactions with the abiotic environment. The need to observe the water system in a more comprehensive way was one of the principal findings from those global and regional studies.
Urban climate resilience and water insecurity: future scenarios of water supply and demand in Istanbul
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2022
Irem Daloğlu Çetinkaya, Mahir Yazar, Sultan Kılınç, Başak Güven
Cities are places with relatively high requirements for water to enhance the livelihoods of their high-density populations and to provide food and maintain industrial production (Hoff et al. 2014). In order to fulfil their essential functions, cities are highly dependent upon both their hinterlands, which supply them with water and other natural resources, and on urban water infrastructure (I et al. 2014). As a result, many cities have focused on both small- and large-scale water infrastructure projects to mitigate the impacts of current and future climate change to enhance water security (Sahin et al. 2017; Vogl et al. 2017; Kumar et al. 2021), and scholars have increasingly focused on how water security can be incorporated into urban resilience planning and actions (Bogardi et al. 2012; Hoekstra, Buurman, and Van Ginkel 2018; Sitas et al. 2021). Achieving water security requires sustainable water-management practices that include local communities in decision-making processes. Studies have shown that water-security strategies implemented through top-down governance structures lead to the uneven transformation of rural and urban gradients into new hydro-social territories (Hommes et al. 2019; Boelens, Vos, and Perreault 2018); and exacerbate inequalities in access to drinking water across multiple urban and rural areas (Torio, Harris, and Angeles 2019).
Water shortage risk mapping: a GIS-MCDA approach for a medium-sized city in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2020
Maria José de Sousa Cordão, Iana Alexandra Alves Rufino, Priscila Barros Ramalho Alves, Mauro Normando Macêdo Barros Filho
Long-term droughts and water scarcity represent a water security risk for populations living in arid and semi-arid cities. Water security is usually defined as the capacity to manage water resources and make these available to communities with adequate quantity and quality. However, the rising pressure on water resources in urban areas, with population growth, infrastructure and economic development, and changing consumption patterns, demands the development of new approaches and strategies for urban planning and water management (McDonald et al. 2014; Buurman, Mens, and Dahm 2017; Millington 2018). These approaches must include the design of strategies with the future goals for sustainable water supply (Brown, Keath, and Wong 2009; Wong and Brown 2009; Chesterfield et al. 2016). The future goals are related to the ‘ideal state’ to sustainable urban water management, in a flexible institutional environment with an adaptable hydro-social contract (Wong and Brown 2009), and optimising the use of water resources by the city itself. Hydro-social contract predicts the circulation of water in the cities as a combined physical and social process (Swyngedouw 2009). Social power relations shape it; expressed through institutional arrangements and physically represented through the water infrastructure (Wong and Brown 2009).