Basins of the Future: Sustainable Water Management for Resilient Cities and Ecosystems
Basins of the Future” typically refers to a program and agenda by the International Water Association (IWA) focused on sustainable water management within river basins, particularly connecting urban areas to their surrounding watersheds. It emphasizes the need for integrated approaches that consider the entire basin ecosystem and involve various stakeholders.
IWA’s Basins of the Future Initiative
The IWA’s Basins of the Future promotes the connection between urban stakeholders and their basins. Building on the IWA Principles for Water Wise Cities, the IWA Action for Basin-Connected Cities aims to guide cities, industries and their basins in the sustainable planning and management of water resources across scales, from catchment to consumer, meeting growing demands and responding to the challenges of climate variability and change. This is through building partnerships across scales; demonstrating and promoting approaches that work and through advocacy for improved regulation, policy and financing.
The Growing Water Crisis
Over 1.4 billion people currently live in river basins where the use of water exceeds minimum recharge levels, leading to the desiccation of rivers and depletion of groundwater. Increasing water scarcity and climate change impacts, coupled with rising demand and competition between multiple users such as cities, industry, agriculture and the environment, are putting unprecedented pressure on river basins worldwide.
The problem
Water scarcity is affecting most of the world’s population, and climate change, growing populations and changing demands will only amplify water issues. Therefore better water planning is crucial, but improving our planning requires understanding how much water have and how it will change in the future.
How to measure and understand water resources?
In order to make effective water planning and policy decisions, countries need to build a solid understanding of the current state water resources and how these will change in the future. Preliminary questions for water managers include:
- How much water is in my basin?
- How is the water being used?
- How does this change under climate and development scenarios?
Tackling these questions is challenging for a number of reasons. Using data and models can assist build our understanding and inform robust discussion and planning decisions. However there is a high cost associated with collating data, integrating with models and data processing systems.
CSIRO identified a need for easy to use, rapid approaches for preliminary basin planning of water resources.
These approach should then be followed by more rigorous modelling and assessment tools to lower the uncertainty of the assessment.
Sustainable Water Management Solutions
To address these challenges requires the sustainable management of water to optimize the use of water resources; addressing climate risks to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience; and actions at the catchment level to protect water sources, increase water efficiency and improve water allocation.
Core Concepts: Basins of the future
- Basin-Connected Cities: The IWA’s program highlights the interconnectedness of urban areas and their surrounding river basins, emphasizing that cities rely on and impact the health of the entire basin.
- Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): The agenda promotes the principles of IWRM, which aims to manage water resources in a holistic and sustainable way, considering ecological, social, and economic aspects.
Key Goals:
- Sustainable Water Management: The program aims to improve water quality and quantity, ensure water security, and protect the ecological health of river basins.
- Climate Resilience: Addressing the impacts of climate change on water resources is a crucial aspect of the agenda, including strategies for adaptation and mitigation.
- Policy and Governance: The program advocates for effective policies, regulations, and governance structures that support sustainable basin management.
- Technological Innovation: The agenda encourages the use of innovative technologies and approaches for water management and monitoring.
Conclusion
Addressing the global water crisis requires an integrated approach based on sustainable water resource management, a better understanding of current and future challenges, and enhanced cooperation between cities and their basins to ensure optimal water use. IWA’s Basins of the Future initiative provides a practical framework for achieving these goals by strengthening partnerships, developing effective policies, and supporting technological innovation to ensure water sustainability and resilience to climate change.
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References
1- Basins of the Future
https://iwa-network.org/programs/basins-of-the-future/
2- Basin Futures
https://research.csiro.au/basinfutures/
