Voices from the Source: Struggles with Local Water Security in Ethiopia

This report explores local water security in two different sites in Ethiopia, Shinile and Konso. This issue cannot be reduced to a single diagnostic such as measures of water use or presence of an improved source. The pressures of water security on livelihoods and household-level responses are discussed and local and national government responses are examined

Promoting Demand Management Strategies

In Asia-Pacific, urban centres will face water insecurity as a result of climate change and the impacts of urbanisation. To achieve urban water security in the Asia-Pacific region, water managers can use a variety of demand management tools to alter the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and society towards water resources. In Europe, urban water security is affected by droughts and scarcity. The European Commission has stated that demand management should come first and that alternative supply options are only considered once the potential for water efficiency has been exhausted. In order to achieve urban water security in the Asia- Pacific region, existing institutional frameworks between Europe and Asia-Pacific can be used to exchange best practices and lessons learnt from European urban centres implementing demand management strategies

Water Security

Climate change, as the dominant paradigm in natural resource policy, is obsolete and should be replaced by the water security paradigm. The climate change paradigm is obsolete because it fails to adequately resonate with the concerns of the general public and fails to integrate fundamental sustainability challenges related to economic development and population growth. The water security paradigm directly addresses the main reasons climate change ultimately matters to most people—droughts, floods, plagues, and wars. Additionally, this new proposed paradigm better integrates climate change concerns with other pressing global sustainability challenges—including that economic development and population growth will require 50% more food and energy and 30% more water by 2030 regardless of climate change. The water security paradigm orients all natural resource policies toward achieving a sustainable quantity and quality of water at acceptable costs and risks. Water security improves upon the climate change paradigm in several ways: it (1) replaces carbon footprints with water footprints as the metric for sustainability monitoring and reporting, (2) restructures natural resource governance at the watershed level with regional, rather than hierarchical, leadership, (3) integrates security and public health concerns into natural resource policies, (4) encourages investment in infrastructure for drought and flood resilience, and (5) facilitates the sustainable implementation of human rights

Australia’s water security part 2: water use

This report argues that Australia has a need for greater water use efficiency and the identification and utilisation of alternative water resources to avoid potential conflict between users. Summary Australia is one of the highest per capita water consumers in the world. Understanding the way that a country uses its available resources and where demand is likely to rise is important when assessing the long-term likelihood of a supply-demand gap. In Australia, growing urban populations, economic growth led by industry expansion and a goal of increasing agricultural production, will all contribute to rising water demand to 2050. Most basins in the country, however, have reached their allocation limits. Users will increasingly compete for water allocations and trade-offs will be necessary. There is a need for greater water use efficiency and the identification and utilisation of alternative water resources to avoid potential conflict between users. Key points Water use in Australia has led to the full allocation of much of its available surface water. The agriculture sector is the largest water consumer, accounting for just over half of all water consumed in Australia. Population growth and industry expansion will require greater water access in the future. This will likely lead to trade-offs between water users and increased competition for limited water resources. Groundwater, in particular, requires greater management and regulation to ensure more equitable and environmentally sustainable water use. To meet future water demand alternative water resources will be required. This includes increased water recycling, desalination, groundwater extraction and demand-side management

Developing and applying water security metrics in China: experience and challenges

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. In recent years the ‘water security’ concept has gained both increased public profile and also traction in policy-making circles in China. Moreover its strategic significance for the country has been more frequently addressed by central government. Indicators characterizing the major components of water security, such as socio-economic conditions, water resources, water environment, and aquatic ecosystems, have been used to develop composite metrics and measure China's progress towards water security at different spatial scales including national, provinces, cities, and river basins since the early 2000s. Aiming at providing sound decision-making, however, there are still critical methodological challenges to this now well-established practice — for example, the selection, banding and aggregation of indicators, and consideration of stakeholder participation

INDIGENIZING WATER SECURITY

The term ‘water security’ continues to gain traction in the water resources literature with broad application to human health and longevity of water supply. In this body of literature, water security holds a strong anthropogenic focus, particularly on utilitarian needs and water resource demands of society. There is presently little reference in the literature to ‘water security’ from an Indigenous perspective in Canada. Water has many symbolic meanings to Indigenous people including but not limited to a sacred gift, a life form, and a medicine. These Indigenous ways of knowing are not captured in the current definitions of water security. The purpose of this research is to explore opportunities for an ‘Indigenous’ water security and in so doing make a contribution to the water security discourse. Data for this research emerged from semi-structured interviews with Indigenous participants each representing varied backgrounds and communities from across Saskatchewan. Using an approved interview guide, this qualitative research approach identified themes from the participant interviews specific to an Indigenous perspective on water security. The results clearly indicate that water security from an Indigenous perspective embraces much more than water quality and water availability. At least six themes emerged from this research that speaks to a more holistic framing of water security than that found in the current western science literature. It is shown that an Indigenous water security includes water as a life form, water as connected to the spirit world, women as water-keepers, water as relational to human ethics, water as foundational to Indigenous culture, and the linkage between water and landscape. This broader, Indigenous understanding of the term provides a transformative understanding of water security that not only enriches the narrative but contributes positively to reconciliation between settler state and Indigenous peoples through social learning. While an Indigenous understanding of water security includes a much broader, holistic framing of the term this research also reveals that Indigenous people feel they have little water security. This divergent perspective illustrates the tension between traditional values and belief systems and the current condition of water in many Indigenous communities. The lack of water protection, upstream contamination, challenges facing water treatment, and the inability to govern water are just some of the factors contributing to low water security as reported in this research. An Indigenous understanding of water security encapsulates ‘two-eyed seeing’ by including the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing and the strengths of western knowledge

A Study of Governance: The Saskatoon South East Water Supply System

The concept of water security increasingly frames global discussion of water issues. In 2012, water security became the local frame for water discussions in Saskatchewan when the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority was renamed the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency and the 25 Year Water Security Plan was rolled out. This research uses a qualitative approach to understand if the adoption of “water security” language by the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency is a signal of governance change and as a result was matched with changes to water planning and management in the Saskatoon South East Water Supply region. The analysis looked for factors of anticipatory governance as an approach supportive of the water security framework in three data sources: the Water Security Agency’s 25 Year Saskatchewan Water Security Plan, interviews with stakeholders from a subsection of the South Saskatchewan River Basin, and a social network map. Results from the study suggest that pockets of change in planning and management activities have occurred, specifically an increase in support of participatory decision making strategies. However, outside of this the majority of activities remain reflective of traditional water governance approaches in the Saskatoon South East Water Supply region. Therefore, it is likely additional work towards governance change will be needed to fully embrace an approach capable of supporting the water security framework and in turn enhance water security in Saskatchewan

Assessing Water Security in Water-Scarce Cities: Applying the Integrated Urban Water Security Index (IUWSI) in Madaba, Jordan

Water security is a major concern for water-scarce cities that face dynamic water challenges due to limited water supply, climate change and increasing water demand. Framing urban water security is challenging due to the complexity and uncertainties of the definitions and assessment frameworks concerning urban water security. Several studies have assessed water security by granting priority indicators equal weight without considering or adapting to the local conditions. This study develops a new urban water security assessment framework with application to the water-scarce city of Madaba, Jordan. The study applies the new assessment framework on the study area and measures urban water security using the integrated urban water security index (IUWSI) and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a decision management tool to prioritise and distinguish indicators that affect the four dimensions of urban water security: drinking water, ecosystems, climate change and water-related hazards, and socioeconomic aspects (DECS). The integrated urban water security index (IUWSI) highlights the state of water security and intervention strategies in Madaba. The study reveals that urban water security in Madaba is satisfactory to meet basic needs, with shortcomings in some aspects of the DECS. However, Madaba faces poor security in terms of managing climate- and water-related risks. The IUWSI framework assists with a rational and evidence-based decision-making process, which is important for enhancing water resources management in water-scarce cities