Showing papers on "Water scarcity published in 2006"

Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options.

Abstract: Presentation de l'editeur : This report aims to assess the full impact of the livestock sector on environmental problems, along with potential technical and policy approaches to mitigation. The assessment takes into account direct impacts, along with the impacts of feed crop agriculture required for livestock production. The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Livestock's contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally large. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency. Major reductions in impact could be achieved at reasonable cost

Human Development Report 2006 - Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis

Abstract: Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains our environments and supports livelihoods – but it is also a source of risk and vulnerability. In the early 21st Century, prospects for human development are threatened by a deepening global water crisis. Debunking the myth that the crisis is the result of scarcity, this report argues poverty, power and inequality are at the heart of the problem.In a world of unprecedented wealth, almost 2 million children die each year for want of a glass of clean water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and young girls are forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water, restricting their opportunities and their choices. And water-borne infectious diseases are holding back poverty reduction and economic growth in some of the world’s poorest countries.Beyond the household, competition for water as a productive resource is intensifying. Symptoms of that competition include the collapse of water-based ecological systems, declining river flows and large-scale groundwater depletion. Conflicts over water are intensifying within countries, with the rural poor losing out. The potential for tensions between countries is also growing, though there are large potential human development gains from increased cooperation.

Interannual and seasonal variation of the Huanghe (Yellow River) water discharge over the past 50 years: Connections to impacts from ENSO events and dams

Abstract: The Huanghe, the second largest river in China, is now under great pressure as a water resource. Using datasets of river water discharge, water consumption and regional precipitation for the past 50 years, we elucidate some connections between decreasing water discharges, global El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and anthropogenic impacts in the drainage basin. Global ENSO events, which directly affected the regional precipitation in the river basin, resulted in approximately 51% decrease in river water discharge to the sea. The degree of anthropogenic impacts on river water discharge is now as great as that of natural influences, accelerating the water losses in the hydrological cycle. The large dams and reservoirs regulated the water discharge and reduced the peak flows by storing the water in the flood season and releasing it in the dry season as needed for agricultural irrigation. Thus, as a result, large dams and reservoirs have shifted the seasonal distribution patterns of water discharge and water consumption and finally resulted in rapidly increasing water consumption. Meanwhile, the annual distribution pattern of water consumption also changed under the regulation of dams and reservoirs, indicating that the people living in the river basin consume the water more and more to suit actual agricultural schedule rather than depending upon natural pattern of annual precipitation. The combination of the increasing water consumption facilitated by the dams and reservoirs and the decreasing precipitation closely associated with the global ENSO events over the past half century has resulted in water scarcity in this world-famous river, as well as in a number of subsequent serious results for the river, delta and coastal ocean.

Global challenges in water, sanitation and health.

Abstract: The year 2005 marks the beginning of the "International Decade for Action: Water for Life" and renewed effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) to reduce by half the proportion of the world's population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015. Currently, UNICEF and WHO estimate that 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water supplies and 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation. Providing safe water and basic sanitation to meet the MDGs will require substantial economic resources, sustainable technological solutions and courageous political will. We review five major challenges to providing safe water and sanitation on a global basis: (1) contamination of water in distribution systems, (2) growing water scarcity and the potential for water reuse and conservation, (3) implementing innovative low-cost sanitation systems, (4) providing sustainable water supplies and sanitation for megacities, and (5) reducing global and regional disparities in access to water and sanitation and developing financially sustainable water and sanitation services.

A review of residential water conservation tool performance and influences on implementation effectiveness

Abstract: Water scarcity and household water consumption has received increasing attention on national public agendas in recent years. At the same time a number of important demand-side management (DSM) studies have been reported on by non-academic institutions, and there is a need for a comprehensive, up to date review of the impacts of DSM tools and the factors which influence their effectiveness. This paper aims to address an apparent lack of coverage in the academic literature by presenting a review of residential DSM tools using reports of recent DSM campaigns in the western (developed) world. The central objectives are to understand the potential for residential DSM tools to save water in different types of household under varying conditions and to identify influences on implementation effectiveness. In the discussion, we explore causes of uncertainty in DSM planning including the non-transferability of trends and existing methods of evaluation, and describe some of the resulting problems. The conclusions off...

Virtual versus real water transfers within China

Abstract: North China faces severe water scarcity—more than 40% of the annual renewable water resources are abstracted for human use. Nevertheless, nearly 10% of the water used in agriculture is employed in producing food exported to south China. To compensate for this ‘virtual water flow’ and to reduce water scarcity in the north, the huge south–north Water Transfer Project is currently being implemented. This paradox—the transfer of huge volumes of water from the water-rich south to the water-poor north versus transfer of substantial volumes of food from the food-sufficient north to the food-deficit south—is receiving increased attention, but the research in this field has not yet reached further than rough estimation and qualitative description. The aim of this paper is to review and quantify the volumes of virtual water flows between the regions in China and to put them in the context of water availability per region. The analysis shows that north China annually exports about 52 billion m3 of water in virtual form to south China, which is more than the maximum proposed water transfer volume along the three routes of the Water Transfer Project from south to north.

Virtual water trade: an assessment of water use efficiency in the international food trade

Abstract: . Amid an increasing water scarcity in many parts of the world, virtual water trade as both a policy instrument and practical means to balance the local, national and global water budget has received much attention in recent years. Building upon the knowledge of virtual water accounting in the literature, this study assesses the efficiency of water use embodied in the international food trade from the perspectives of exporting and importing countries and at the global and country levels. The investigation reveals that the virtual water flows primarily from countries of high crop water productivity to countries of low crop water productivity, generating a global saving in water use. Meanwhile, the total virtual water trade is dominated by green virtual water, which constitutes a low opportunity cost of water use as opposed to blue virtual water. A sensitivity analysis, however, suggests high uncertainties in the virtual water accounting and the estimation of the scale of water saving. The study also raises awareness of the limited effect of water scarcity on the global virtual water trade and the negative implications of the global water saving for the water use efficiency and food security in importing countries and the environment in exporting countries. The analysis shows the complexity in evaluating the efficiency gains in the international virtual water trade. The findings of the study, nevertheless, call for a greater emphasis on rainfed agriculture to improve the global food security and environmental sustainability.

India's Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future

Abstract: India faces a turbulent water future and the current water development and management system is not sustainable.Unless dramatic changes are made and made soon in the way in which government manages water, India will have neither the cash to maintain and build new infrastructure, nor the water required for the economy and for people. This Report examines the evolution of the management of India's waters, describes the achievements of the past, and the looming set of challenges. The Report suggests what changes should be considered and how to manage the transition from the ways of the past to the ways of the future in a principled but pragmatic manner. This report focuses on two basic issues-the major water-related challenges facing India, and the critical measures required to address them. It calls for a reinvigorated set of public water institutions to sustain water development and management in India. The study examines the evolution of water management in India, describes the achievements of the past, analyses the challenges ahead, and suggests ways of evolving a sustainable water management system.

Water and economic development : The role of variability and a framework for resilience

Abstract: The article advances the hypothesis that the seasonal and inter-annual variability of rainfall is a significant and measurable factor in the economic development of nations. An analysis of global datasets reveals a statistically significant relationship between greater rainfall variability and lower per capita GDP. Having established this correlation, we construct a water resources development index that highlights areas that have the greatest need for storage infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of rainfall variability on water availability for food and basic livelihood. The countries with the most critical infrastructure needs according to this metric are among the poorest in the world, and the majority of them are located in Africa. The importance of securing water availability in these nations increases every day in light of current population growth, economic development, and climate change projections.

The global challenge for adequate and safe water

Abstract: This paper was presented as a lecture for the 2005 Clarke Prize. It addresses the global challenge for adequate and safe water through several cases involving water scarcity and quality. The first case, in Namibia, exemplifies water scarcity and the harnessing of water science and technology to extract water for potable use from a nontraditional source – domestic wastewater. The second case focuses on water scarcity and the implications for national stability and regional peace, illustrated by Israel and its neighboring countries. The third discussion is related to water quality, specifically the lack of safe drinking water in the developing world. Drawing from these cases, it is shown that global water scarcity and quality problems involve complex technological, societal, cultural, economical, and political aspects.

Institutional Adaptation of Water Resource Infrastructures to Climate Change in Eastern Ontario

Abstract: Institutional barriers and bridges to local climate change impacts adaptation affecting small rural municipalities and Conservation Authorities (CAs are watershed agencies) in Eastern Ontario (Canada) are examined, and elements of a community-based adaptation strategy related to water infrastructures are proposed as a case-study in community adaptation to climate change. No general water scarcity is expected for the region even under unusually dry weather scenarios. Localized quantity and quality problems are likely to occur especially in groundwater recharge areas. Some existing institutions can be relied on by municipalities to build an effective adaptation strategy based on a watershed/region perspective, on their credibility, and on their expertise. Windows of opportunity or framing issues are offered at the provincial level, the most relevant one in a federal state, by municipal emergency plan requirements and pending watershed source water protection legislation. Voluntary and soon to be mandated climate change mitigation programs at the federal level are other ones.

Drought concepts and characterization : Comparing drought indices applied at local and regional scales

Abstract: A better knowledge of droughts is required to improve water management in water scarce areas. To appropriately cope with droughts, there is the need to adopt adequate concepts relative to droughts and water scarcity, to properly use drought indices that help characterize them, including ones relative to their severity, and to develop prediction tools that may be useful for early warning and that may reduce the respective lead time needed for appropriate response. In this paper, concepts relative to drought and other water scarcity regimes are discussed aiming both to distinguish droughts from other water scarcity regimes and to base a common understanding of the general characteristics of droughts as hazards and disasters. Three main drought indices are described aiming at appropriate characterization of droughts: the theory of runs, the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). Their application to local and regional droughts in the region of Alentejo,...

Towards better water security in North China

Abstract: Water shortages and related environmental degradation in North China are major issues facing the country. As runoff from the mountainous parts of the region steadily decrease and water resources become overcommitted, serious water and environmental problems have resulted. These include drying-up of rivers, decline in groundwater levels, degradation of lakes and wetlands, and water pollution. Thus, 4000,km of the lower reaches of the Hai River – some 40% of its length – has experienced zero flows and, as result, parts of this river have become an ephemeral stream. The area of wetland within the Basin has decreased from 10,000,km2 at the beginning of 1950s to 1,000km2 at present. Over-extraction of groundwater occurs beneath 70% of the North China Plain, with the total groundwater over-extraction estimated at 90,billion m3. Thus, problems of water shortage and related environmental issues in North China have become the most significant limiting factors affecting sustainable development in this important region of China. This paper addresses the water security issues facing North China in the 21st Century using the Hai River basin as an example. We describe hydrologic cycles under changing environments, water-saving agriculture, assessment of water resource security, and efforts towards achieving integrated catchment management.

A grid-based assessment of global water scarcity including virtual water trading

Abstract: A 0.5-degree grid-based assessment of the scarcity of global water resources including virtual water trading has been made. The three components of water availability considered for each grid were local runoff, routed flow from upstream and virtual water trading. Several assumptions were postulated to convert country-base estimations of virtual water trading to grid values. The results show that unequal spatial distribution of global water resources had been considerably neutralized by virtual water trading. A large proportion of people in the Middle-East, North-Africa and Sub-Sahara region are able to relieve their water stress through virtual water import. The paper also reports two hypothetical scenarios with extremes of natural flow availability based on the presence and absence of routed upstream flow.

Climate Variability and Water Resources Degradation in Kenya: Improving Water Resources Development and Management

Abstract: This report attempts to fill that gap for two of the most important water-related issues facing the effects of climate variability and the steady degradation of the nation's water resources. The study reported here concluded that the El Nino-La Nina episode from 1997-2000 cost the country Ksh 290 billion (about 14 percent of GDP during that period). During El Nino-induced floods, this cost primarily arises from destruction of infrastructure such as roads, water supply infrastructure, and pipe networks. The largest costs incurred during the La Nina droughts (1998-2000) were from loss of industrial production and other costs arising from reduced hydropower generation, as well as from crop and livestock losses. These costs are felt throughout Kenyan society.

Access and Resilience: Analyzing the Construction of Social Resilience to the Threat of Water Scarcity

Abstract: Resilience is a vital attribute that characterizes a system's capacity to cope with stress. Researchers have examined the measurement of resilience in ecosystems and in social-ecological systems, and the comparative vulnerability of social groups. Our paper refocuses attention on the processes and relations that create social resilience. Our central proposition is that the creation of social resilience is linked to a community's ability to access critical resources. We explore this proposition through an analysis of how community resilience to the stress of water scarcity is influenced by historically contingent mechanisms to gain, control, and maintain access to water. Access is defined broadly as the ability of a community to actually benefit from a resource, and includes a wider range of relations than those derived from property rights alone. We provide a framework for assessing the construction of social resilience and use it to examine, first, the different processes and relations that enabled four communities in northern California to acquire access to water, and second, how access contributed to their differential levels of resilience to potential water scarcity. Legal water rights are extremely difficult to alter, and given the variety of mechanisms that can generate access, our study suggests that strengthening and diversifying a range of structural and relational mechanisms to access water can enhance a community's resilience to water scarcity.

Is India Ripe for Integrated Water Resources Management? Fitting Water Policy to National Development Context

Abstract: Water scarcity has emerged, especially during the past decade, as an important theme in discussions on India's future. Global discourse suggests that India, and other developing countries in Asia and Africa, can respond to water scarcity and the resultant water poverty facing their people by embracing 'integrated water resources management, a package of best practices for improved management of water resources with strong emphasis on direct demand-side management. This paper addresses five questions about the IWRM paradigm with respect to India: (1) Is water poverty of countries caused by their water scarcity? (2) Would embracing IWRM help alleviate India's water poverty? (3) Is implementing IWRM feasible in India in today's context? (4) Has implementing IWRM helped counter water scarcity and poverty in other countries with a development context comparable to India's? And, finally, (5) What should be the priorities and roadmap for improving the working of the water sector in India? The paper reviews recent evidence from around the world to analyse these questions and concludes with a discussion of implications for water sector reform discussions in India.

Rainwater harvesting in India: some critical issues for basin planning and research

Abstract: Often, as a frantic response to problems of water scarcity and consequent hardships faced by both urban and communities, India has invested heavily in rainwater harvesting. Unlike investment in large water resource systems, these efforts, by and large, lack hydrological planning and sound economic analysis: research on the impact of local water harvesting/groundwater recharge activities in India is very sparse. This paper identifies sex critical issues in rainwater harvesting efforts in water-scarce regions of India. First: there is no emphasis on potential local supplies and the demand they have to cater for: local supply potential is low in most water scarce regions, a fact compounded by poor reliability, and demand far exceeds the supply potential. Second: there are complexities in the economic evaluation of RWH, due to lack of scientific data on inflows, runoff collection and storage efficiency, beneficiaries, value of the incremental benefits generated and scale considerations. With higher degrees of basin development, the marginal benefit from water harvesting at the basin level reduces, while marginal cost increases. Third: in many basins, there is a strong ‘trade-off’ between maximizing hydrological benefits and improving cost effectiveness. Fourth: many water-scarce basins are characterized by wide disparity in demand between upper catchments and lower catchments, so that there is a trade-off in maximizing benefits of upstream water harvesting with optimizing basin-wide benefits. Fifth: in many water-scarce basins, local water harvesting merely divides the hydrological benefits rather than augmenting them. Finally, poor integration between surface water and groundwater systems, and lack of inclusion of natural recharge, ultimately leads to reduction in potential for artificial recharge in hard rock areas.

The global dimension of water governance: Nine reasons for global arrangements in order to cope with local water problems

Abstract: Where water problems extend beyond the borders of local communities, the catchment area or river basin is generally seen as the most appropriate unit for analysis, planning and institutional arrangements. In this paper it is argued that addressing water problems at the river basin level is not always sufficient. It is shown that a substantial part of today’s water issues carries a (sub)continental or even global dimension, which urges for a governance approach that comprises coordination and institutional arrangements at a level above that of the river basin. This paper distinguishes and reviews nine developments that support this argument: • Local issues of water scarcity and flooding will be enhanced or weakened by human-induced global climate change. • Local problems of water pollution are often intrinsic to the structure of the global economy. • There is a growing presence of multinationals in the drinking water sector. • Several national governments are developing plans for large-scale inter-basin water transfers. • An increasing number of water-short countries seek to preserve their domestic water resources through the import of water in virtual form. • Global trade in water-intensive commodities offers the opportunity of global water saving if this trade is from countries with high to countries with low water productivity. • The water footprints of individual people are increasingly externalised to other parts of the world, so that many local water problems are strongly related to consumption elsewhere. • Some people around the world have comparatively high water footprints, which raises the question of whether this is fair and sustainable. • Due to its increasing scarcity and uneven distribution across the globe, water is gradually becoming a geopolitical resource, influencing the power of nations. The described developments raise the question of what kind of institutional arrangements could be developed to cope with the global dimension of water issues. A few possible directions are identified in an explorative analysis: an international protocol on full-cost water pricing, a water label for water-intensive products, a disposal tax on goods that will cause water pollution in their waste stage (to be used for pollution prevention and control), international nutrient housekeeping, minimum water rights, maximum allowable water footprints, and tradable water footprint permits.

Wetlands and Natural Resource Management

Abstract: 1 Wetland Functioning in a Changing World: Implications for Natural Resources Management J.T.A. Verhoeven, B. Beltman, D.F. Whigham, R. Bobbink 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Clarity on Wetlands and Water Use 1.3 Wetlands and Environmental Flows 1.4 Wetlands and Water Quality 1.5 Biogeochemical Insights 1.6 Wetlands and River Fisheries 1.7 Wetlands and Climate Change 1.8 Further Developments in Wetland Science and its Applications References Section I The Role of Wetlands for Integrated Water Resources Management: Putting Theory into Practice 2 Restoring Lateral Connections Between Rivers and Floodplains: Lessons from Rehabilitation Projects H. Coops, K. Tockner, C. Amoros, T. Hein, G. Quinn 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Threatened Life at the Aquatic--Terrestrial Interface 2.3 Reconnecting Side-Channels Along the Rhone (France) 2.4 Rehabilitation of Side-Channels of the River Danube (Austria) 2.5 'Environmental Flows' for Rehabilitating Floodplain Wetlands (Australia) 2.6 Lessons from Rehabilitation Projects References 3 Sustainable Agriculture and Wetlands F. Rijsberman, S. de Silva 3.1 Agriculture and Wetlands: Introduction 3.2 Water for Food, Water for Environment 3.2.1 'Ecosystems Produce the Water Used by Agriculture' 3.2.2 'Irrigated Agriculture Uses 70% of the World's Water' 3.2.3 'Water Scarcity: Fact or Fiction?' 3.3 Producing More Rice With Less Water 3.4 Towards a Dialogue Among Agronomists and Environmentalists 3.4.1 Water, Food and Environment Issues in Attapeu Province, Lao PDR 3.5 Research on Sustainable Agriculture and Wetlands 3.6 Conclusions: Towards Sustainable Agriculture and Wetlands? References 4 Sustainable Water Management by using Wetlands in Catchmentswith Intensive Land Use C. Yin, B. Shan, Z. Mao 4.1 Semi-Natural Wetlands Created by Humans Before the Industrial Age 4.2 Water Regulation by the Multipond Systems 4.2.1 Research Site Description 4.2.2 The Regulation Process for the Crop Water Supply by the Pond System 4.3 Other Ecological Functions of Ancient Semi-Natural Wetlands in a Modern Scientific Context 4.3.1 Sediment Retention Within the Watershed 4.3.2 Nutrient Retention and Recyling 4.3.3 Landscape Complexity and Biological Diversity 4.4 Wetlands and Human Activities in Harmony 4.5 Protection of Semi-Natural Wetlands Together with Natural Wetlands References Section II Wetland Science for Environmental Management 5 Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment J. Vymazal, M. Greenway, K. Tonderski, H. Brix, U. Mander 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Free Water Surface Constructed Wetlands 5.2.1 Free Water Surface Wetlands for Treatment of Wastewater and Non-Point Source Pollution in Sweden 5.2.2 The Role of Wetlands in Effluent Treatment and Potential Water Reuse in Subtropical and Arid Australia 5.3 Constructed Wetlands with Horizontal Sub-Surface Flow 5.4 Constructed Wetlands with Vertical Sub-Surface Flow 5.4.1 Danish Experience with Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands 5.4.2 Constructed Wetlands with No Outflow 5.5 Hybrid Constructed Wetlands 5.6 Trace Gas Fluxes from Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment 5.7 Conclusion References 6 Tools for Wetland Ecosystem Resource Management in East Africa: Focus on the Lake Victoria Papyrus Wetlands S. Loiselle, A. Cozar, A. van Dam, F. Kansiime, P. Kelderman, M. Saunders, S. Simonit 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Wetlands and Inorganic Carbon Retention 6.3 Wetlands and Nutrient Retention 6.4

The Economic Impact of the South-North Water Transfer Project in China: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis

Abstract: Water resources are unevenly spread in China. Especially the basins of the Yellow, Hui and Hai rivers in the North are rather dry. To increase the supply of water in these basins, the South-to-North Water Transfer project (SNWT) was launched. Using a computable general equilibrium model this study estimates the impact of the project on the economy of China and the rest of the world. We contrast three alternative groups of scenarios. All are directly concerned with the South-to-North water transfer project to increase water supply. In the first group of scenarios additional supply implies productivity gains. We call it the "non-market" solution. The second group of scenarios is called "market solution". The market price for water adjusts such that supply and demand are equated again. In the third group of simulations the economic implications of China's capital investment in infrastructure for the water South-North water transfer project is analyzed. Finally, the investment is combined with the increased capacity of water. If an increase in water supply in China leads to an increase in productivity of their water-intensive goods and services (non-market solution) this would result in a huge positive welfare effect from increased production and export. The effect on China's welfare would still be positive, if a market for water would exist (market solution), but the world as a whole would lose. The negative effect for the rest of the world is largely explained by a deterioration of its terms-of-trade. Well functioning water markets in China are unlikely to exist.