Interbasin Water Transfers and Water Scarcity in a Changing World: A Solution or a Pipedream?

The world is increasingly forced to face the challenge of how to ensure access to adequate water resources for expanding populations and economies, whilst maintaining healthy freshwater ecosystems and the vital services they provide. Now the growing impacts of climate change are exacerbating the problem of water scarcity in key regions of the world. One popular way for governments to distribute water more evenly across the landscape is to transfer it from areas with perceived surpluses, to those with shortages.While there is a long history of water transfers from ancient times, as many societies reach the limits of locally renewable water supplies increasingly large quantities of water are being moved over long distances, from one river basin to another. Since the beginning of dam building that marked the last half of the 1900s more that 364 large-scale interbasin water transfer schemes (IBTs) have been established that transfer around 400 km³ of water per year (Shiklomanov 1999). IBTs are now widely touted as the quick fix solution to meeting escalating water demands. One estimate suggests that the total number of largescale water transfer schemes may rise to between 760 and 1 240 by 2020 to transfer up to 800 km³ of water per year (Shiklomanov 1999).The wide range of IBT projects in place, or proposed, has provoked the preparation of this review, including seven case studies from around the globe. It builds on previous assessments and examines the costs and benefits of large scale IBTs. This report assesses related, emerging issues in sustaining water resources and ecosystems, namely the virtual water trade, expanding use of desalination, and climate change adaptation. It is based on WWF's 2007 publication "Pipedreams? Interbasin water transfers and water shortages".The report concludes that while IBTs can potentially solve water supply issues in regions of water shortage - they come with significant costs. Large scale IBTs are typically very high cost, and thus economically risky, and they usually also come with significant social and environmental costs; usually for both the river basin providing and the river basin receiving the water

Global water: issues and insights

This book brings together some of the world’s leading water researchers with an especially written collection of chapters on: water economics; transboundary water; water and development; water and energy; and water concepts. Introduction Freshwater governance holds a prominent position in the global policy agenda. Burgeoning water demand due to population growth and rising incomes is combining with supply-side pressures, such as environmental pollution and climate change, to create acute conditions of global water scarcity. This is a major concern because water is a primary input for agriculture, manufacturing, environmental health, human health, energy production and just about every economic sector and ecosystem. In addition to its importance, the management of freshwater resources is a complex, multidisciplinary topic. Encompassing a range of fields in the physical and social sciences, the task of sustainably meeting human and environmental water needs requires a depth and breadth of understanding unparalleled by most other policy problems. Our objective in this volume is to provide knowledge and insights into major issues and concepts related to freshwater governance. The book is divided into five themed parts: Economics, Transboundary governance, Development, Energy and Water Concepts. A part addresses each theme and opens with an introduction that provides an overview of key topics. For example, the introduction to the economics section presents two main foci: measuring the value of water and managing trade-offs between different water uses. The thematic case studies discuss issues such as water pricing in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, finance of water supply and irrigation infrastructure and improving agricultural production with enhanced water management. The aim of the volume is to accessibly communicate academic research from the many fields of freshwater governance. Too often, academic research is paywalled and/or written in a style that caters to colleagues in the same field, rather than a broader audience from other disciplines, the policy-making community and the general public. This open-access book presents the research of a range of global experts on freshwater governance in brief, insightful chapters that do not presume a high level of pre-existing knowledge of their respective subjects. This format is intended to present knowledge on the key problems of and solutions to global freshwater challenges. The final part presents research from several United Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) supported water research Chairs and Centres. Support and coordination of the insititutions highlighted in this part of the book is provided by UNESCO. One water research Chair is The Australian National University – UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Governance, which was established in April 2010 and works with partners in southern Africa, UNESCO, the Global Water Partnership and other organisations to: (1) increase the skills, capacity, networks and potential of leaders and prospective water managers and policy-makers; (2) sustain and strengthen institutional capacity (especially in southern Africa) by providing a platform for collaboration and institutional development; and, (3) develop innovative research, tools, case-studies, and insights on water economics, water governance and equity. Established by the ANU–UNESCO Chair, the Global Water Forum (GWF) seeks to disseminate knowledge regarding freshwater governance and build the capacity of students, policy-makers and the general public to respond to local and global water issues. The GWF publishes accessible, subscription-free articles highlighing the latest research and practice concerning freshwater governance. A broad range of water-related topics are discussed in a non-technical manner, including water security, development, agriculture, energy and environment. In addition to publishing articles, reports and books, the GWF is engaged in a range of activities, such as the annual Emerging Scholars Award and hosting a portal to educational resources on freshwater. We hope that you enjoy reading this book and, more importantly, gain an improved understanding of the complex freshwater-governance challenges facing us all on a global scale and at a local level

Safe reuse of treated urban wastewater in Praia, Cape Verde: a case study

Dissertação para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia e Gestão da ÁguaCape Verde is one of the countries where the socio-economic development and growth are diminishing due to problems of water scarcity. The effects are more noticeable in the city of Praia, with a population of about 131.719 inhabitants2. This is due to the rapid urban development and the consequent special needs such as irrigation, industry and tourism. The region has suffered for several consecutive years the phenomenon of drought, which makes this occurrence an easily predictable one and turns the lack of water into a factor that constrains the development and well-being of the city. Consequently, it is imperative to recognize the value of water and to create a good strategy to ration its use, along with finding ways to mobilize new resources. The presented study was developed using a methodology based on the use of the treatment, purification and reuse of wastewater technology, as well as secure ways reusing it for compatible proposes. The work also includes a technical and economic analysis related to the development of the implementation project, in which were studied several alternatives that allow the reuse of treated water from the city of Praia to the current flow, as well as for future expansions. The presented results indicate that there must be followed an objective orientation in order to define the quality parameters and the complementary actions necessary to ensure a safe re-use of water from the direct point of view of human health to the green areas, such as agricultural areas or spaces for public use. Thus, it’s important to consider the preparation and development of awareness campaigns for the population of Cape Verde, involving local authorities and the social formation as a driving force to promote the efficient use of water, knowledge of the quality parameters and prevent waterborne diseases. To improve the monitoring of water quality in general is essential to plan and organize a study of international comparison of water quality laboratories in different regions, and promote the development of specialized seminars to improve technical capacity. To promote the treatment and reuse of treated water are virtual training platforms to develop and promote the exchange of experience in these fields. These initiatives will be strengthened through research and technical assistance to assess the potential and develop specific projects of self-wastewater treatment and reuse

Integrated Water Resources Management Karlsruhe 2010 : IWRM, International Conference, 24 - 25 November 2010 conference proceedings

In dieser Arbeit werden dual-orthogonal, linear polarisierte Antennen für die UWB-Technik konzipiert. Das Prinzip zur Realisierung der Strahler wird vorgestellt, theoretisch und simulativ untersucht, sowie messtechnisch verifiziert. Danach werden Konzepte zur Miniaturisierung der Strahler dargelegt, die anschließend zum Aufbau von Antennengruppen verwendet werden. Die Vorteile der entwickelten Antennen werden praktisch anhand des bildgebenden Radars und des Monopuls-Radars gezeigt

Water in the Green Economy: Capacity Development Aspects

This book discusses needs related to capacity development for water resources management, including water supply and sanitation, in the context of the green economy. It showcases theoretical and practical approaches with proven success. Most contributions come from members and partners within the interagency mechanism, UN-Water. The 11 case studies in this book range from innovative design and delivery of capacity development programs related to water in the green economy, market mechanisms, and quality control procedures supporting capacity development success towards the practical implementation of programs to enhance individual and institutional capacity

Water for People, Water for Life

This report documents the serious water crisis we are facing at the beginning of the 21st century. This crisis is one of water governance, essentially caused by the ways in which we mismanage water. But the real tragedy is the effect it has on the everyday lives of poor people, who are blighted by the burden of water-related disease, living in degraded and often dangerous environments, struggling to get an education for their children and to earn a living, and to get enough to eat. The executive summary offers an analysis of the problem as well as pilot case studies for water management and recommendations for future action

Water in the Arab World

This volume is intended to serve as a water handbook. It represents the collective knowledge about water resources management acquired over recent years, both within the World Bank water team and with counterparts working in the Arab countries of North Africa and the Middle East (MNA). The chapters offer a cornucopia of ideas and themes. Some chapters are based on background papers prepared for the 2007 "MNA Development Report on Water." Others draw on sector work prepared at the request of client countries. Yet others summarize observations based on study tours or other learning events sponsored by the World Bank. Upon reviewing this lodestone of embedded knowledge, we realized that bringing together our observations and analyses could serve a useful purpose for public officials, other practitioners, academics, and students who are interested in learning more about the complexities of managing water resources management in one of the driest parts of the world