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Global Sustainable Water Management: A Systematic Qualitative Review
Water quality and quantity decline due to anthropogenic factors and climate change, affecting 2.3 billion people in water-scarce areas, of whom 733 million reside in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Therefore, this review paper examined sustainable global water management by focussing on four sustainable development goal (SDG #6) indicators, including water use efficiency in agriculture, integrated water management, transboundary water cooperation, and water user participation. The review covered articles from 2016 to 2023, using Scopus and Web of Science databases with specific selection criteria. A total of 216 sources were downloaded, and after data screening, 72 articles were analysed along with additional supplementary materials such as books, conference papers, and United Nations documents. The finding indicates emerging trends in sustainable water management for agriculture, including water-efficient technologies like alternate wetting and drying, drip irrigation, mulching, etc. However, careful implementation is required to address environmental concerns, prevent water pollution, minimise yield reductions, and ensure long-term sustainability. Moreover, integrated water resource management has faced challenges in practical implementation due to governance structures, economic circumstances, cooperation, and collaboration among stakeholders. While over 600 treaties aim to promote international water cooperation, only a few have been effective. In addition, out of 500 transboundary groundwater sources shared by countries, only six have dedicated treaties to govern their use. Thus, clearly defined rights, responsibilities, and sustainable management practises for each shared aquifer would foster the sustainability of these resources. Moreover, engaging communities through inclusive policies, dialogue, and empowerment is vital for sustainable water management. Investment in community education and capacity-building fosters transformative change and addresses global water management challenges, securing the future of precious water resources.
Journal Article
Blue–Green Infrastructure for Flood and Water Quality Management in Southeast Asia: Evidence and Knowledge Gaps
In Southeast Asia, projections of rapid urban growth coupled with high water-related risks call for large investments in infrastructure—including in blue–green infrastructure (BGI) such as forests, parks, or vegetated engineered systems. However, most of the knowledge on BGI is produced in the global North, overlooking the diversity of urban contexts globally. Here, we review the literature on BGI for flood risk mitigation and water quality improvement in Southeast Asian cities to understand the scope of practical knowledge and identify research needs. We searched for evidence of local types of BGI in peer-reviewed and grey literature and assessed the performance of BGI based on hydrological, societal, and environmental metrics. The body of literature on BGI in Southeast Asia is small and dominated by wealthier countries but we found evidence of uptake among researchers and practitioners in most countries. Bioretention systems, constructed wetlands, and green cover received the most attention in research. Evidence from modelling and laboratory studies confirmed the potential for BGI to address flooding and water quality issues in the region. However, practical knowledge to mainstream the implementation of BGI remains limited, with insufficient primary hydrological data and information on societal and environmental impacts. In addition, the performance of BGI in combination with grey infrastructure, under climate change, or in informal settlements is poorly studied. Future research and practice should focus on producing and sharing empirical data, ultimately increasing the regional knowledge base to promote efficient BGI strategies.
Journal Article
Ensemble Boosting and Bagging Based Machine Learning Models for Groundwater Potential Prediction
Due to the rapidly increasing demand for groundwater, as one of the principal freshwater resources, there is an urge to advance novel prediction systems to more accurately estimate the groundwater potential for an informed groundwater resource management. Ensemble machine learning methods are generally reported to produce more accurate results. However, proposing the novel ensemble models along with running comparative studies for performance evaluation of these models would be equally essential to precisely identify the suitable methods. Thus, the current study is designed to provide knowledge on the performance of the four ensemble models i.e., Boosted generalized additive model (GamBoost), adaptive Boosting classification trees (AdaBoost), Bagged classification and regression trees (Bagged CART), and random forest (RF). To build the models, 339 groundwater resources’ locations and the spatial groundwater potential conditioning factors were used. Thereafter, the recursive feature elimination (RFE) method was applied to identify the key features. The RFE specified that the best number of features for groundwater potential modeling was 12 variables among 15 (with a mean Accuracy of about 0.84). The modeling results indicated that the Bagging models (i.e., RF and Bagged CART) had a higher performance than the Boosting models (i.e., AdaBoost and GamBoost). Overall, the RF model outperformed the other models (with accuracy = 0.86, Kappa = 0.67, Precision = 0.85, and Recall = 0.91). Also, the topographic position index’s predictive variables, valley depth, drainage density, elevation, and distance from stream had the highest contribution in the modeling process. Groundwater potential maps predicted in this study can help water resources managers and policymakers in the fields of watershed and aquifer management to preserve an optimal exploit from this important freshwater.
Journal Article
Water and the future of humanity : revisiting water security
This unique, engaging, and highly authoritative volume enlightens readers on changes needed in the way society accesses, provides, and uses water. It further shines a light on changes needed in the way we use food, energy, and other goods and services in relation to water, and offers projections and recommendations, up to 2050, that apply to water access challenges facing the poor and the common misuse of water in industry, agriculture, and municipalities. Written by an unparalleled slate of experts convened by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the book takes on one of the most critical issues on the planet today. In a frank yet optimistic assessment of major developmental challenges, but also opportunities, facing future generations, the author elucidates linkages between water and a range of other drivers from various disciplinary and stakeholder perspectives. Ultimately portraying the belief that Humanity can harness its visionary abilities, technologies, and economic resources for increased wellbeing and sound stewardship of resources, the book presents an optimistic statement stressing actions scientists, policy makers, and consumers can and must take to meet the water management challenges of a warming planet anticipating nine billion inhabitants by 2050.
Book
A Global Assessment of Groundwater Recharge Response to Infiltration Variability at Monthly to Decadal Timescales
Predictions of groundwater fluctuations in space and time are important for sustainable water resource management. Infiltration variability on monthly to decadal timescales leads to fluctuations in the water tables and thus groundwater resources. However, connections between global-scale climate variability and infiltration patterns and groundwater are often poorly understood because the relationships between groundwater conditions and infiltration tend to be highly nonlinear. In addition, understanding is further hampered because many groundwater records are incomplete and groundwater tables are often anthropogenically influenced, which makes identifying the effects of infiltration variability difficult. Previous studies that have evaluated how infiltration variability controls groundwater are based on a limited number of point measurements. Here, we present a global assessment of how infiltration variability is expected to affect groundwater tables. We use an analytical solution derived from Richards' equation to model water level responses to idealized periodic infiltration variability with periods that range from months to decades, to approximate both the effects of short-term and long-term climate variability and thus infiltration patterns. Our global-scale assessment reveals why infiltration variability would lead to periodicity in groundwater recharge in particular regions. The vadose zone strongly dampens short-term (seasonal and shorter) variations in infiltration fluxes throughout most of Earth's land surface, while infiltration cycles exceeding 1 year would yield transient recharge, except in more arid regions. Our results may help forecasting long-term groundwater tables and could support improving groundwater resource management.
Journal Article
Water quality in distribution systems
\"Distribution systems represent the last barrier available to water systems to maintain safe and high-quality water, and this manual provides a 'first stop' for common distribution system water quality challenges. M68 offers practical guidance and best management practices for maintaining and improving distribution system water quality. It will help drinking water utilities and professionals understand the factors that affect water quality, ways to address them and best practices for optimizing distribution system water quality.\"-- Page [4] of cover.
Book
Integrated Water Resources Management in Cities in the World: Global Challenges
Water scarcity and accessibility remain persistently amongst the most prominent global challenges. Although there is a wide agreement among international organizations that Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and water governance are key to overcome water-related challenges, global assessments of the progress made by cities is lacking. This paper for the first time analyses the challenges of water, wastewater, municipal solid waste and climate change in cities. We used empirical studies (125 cities) based on the City Blueprint Approach and developed a statistical estimation model to estimate IWRM performances of another 75 cities. These 200 cities in total represent more than 95% of the global urban population. This comprehensive global picture enables us to evaluate the existing gaps in achieving water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities). The best performing cities were Amsterdam and Singapore. Unfortunately, most cities do not yet manage their water resources wisely and are far from achieving the SDGs. For instance, targets regarding drinking water supply are still a challenge for many cities in Africa and Asia and challenges regarding sanitation are high in cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The same holds for solid waste management, climate adaptation, and people living in informal settlements. In another paper we will address the solution pathways to these global challenges.
Journal Article