Almost half of world’s population lives in areas where re is not enough water at least one month per year. “If we do nothing, more than five billion people will suffer from water shortages by 2050,” said UNESCO Secretary general Audrey Azoulay at presentation of World Water Report 2018. At present, water shortage is about 3.6 billion people.
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Climate change, population growth and rising consumption are reasons for increasing lack of water, said Azoulay. This is why water management needs to be reconsidered. Governments should rely more on role models from nature than before. This is only way to avoid “conflicts around water”.
Water is particularly scarce in areas on West coast of United States, in many parts of China and India and in Middle East. According to report, Global water demand is currently rising by one percent per year. The authors predict that consumption of households in particular will increase significantly in coming years. In some African and Asian regions, private water consumption could triple, double in South and Central America.
Some of reasons for this are population growth, economic development and changing patterns of consumption. In addition, climate change is changing global water cycle: “Humid regions tend to become even drier and dry,” report says.
According to UNESCO, reservoirs and sewage plants are no longer sufficient
Construction measures such as reservoirs, irrigation channels and sewage treatment plants were no longer sufficient, said Richard Connor, main author of report. Both cities and rural areas would have to be greener for better water management. The authors propose a series of natural-based solutions for water management. Forests are to be reforested, wetlands restored and cities to be built more environmentally friendly. This is more sustainable and in long run more cost-efficient than traditional infrastructure. “Nature plays a unique role in regulating different functions in water cycle,” said Connor. These skills should be exploited by mankind.
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The report called example of a successful green water management New York. Since 1997, city has been protecting its three largest watersheds by providing incentives for farmers and or landowners to process country in a sustainable way. According to report, water from se areas can be used unfiltered so that New York saves more than 300 million dollars a year in water treatment.
Chinese cities should be able to store more rain water
According to report, China also relies on natural-based solutions, for example with sponge city concept, i.e. sponge City concept. With help of green roofs, permeable floor coverings and recycled wetlands around city area, about 70 percent of rainwater can be stored in 16 cities by 2020. This could significantly improve water supply in cities.
Such nature-based strategies, however, would not be used anywhere in world, study authors criticize. Green measures estimated less than one percent of investment in infrastructure and water management. This is also because y are less visible and refore “more likely to be considered less efficient”, said Connor. They would be easy to implement in fast-growing cities of many emerging countries, said Connor: “Instead of everything with concrete see words, one could think again and keep more Green zone”, for example through green roofs or walls.
