Water, Climate Change, and Sustainability

Vishnu Prasad Pandey, Sangam Shrestha, David Wiberg, Vishnu Prasad Pandey, Sangam Shrestha, David Wiberg

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781119564539
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Naturwissenschaften
• Subtopic: Geophysik

WATER, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND SUSTAINABILITY

An in-depth review of sustainable concepts in water resources management under climate change

Climate change continues to intensify existing pressures in water resources management, such as rapid population growth, land use changes, pollution, damming of rivers, and many others. Securing a reliable water supply—critical for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—requires understanding of the relation between finite water resources, climate variability/change, and various elements of sustainability. Water, Climate Change, and Sustainability is a timely and in-depth examination of the concept of sustainability as it relates to water resources management in the context of climate changerisks.

Featuring contributions by global authors, this edited volume is organized into three sections: Sustainability Concepts; Sustainability Approaches, Tools, and Techniques; and Sustainability in Practice. Detailed chapters describe the linkage between water and sustainable development, highlight the development and use of new measuring and reporting methods, and discuss the implementation of sustainability concepts in various water use sectors. Topics include localizing and mainstreaming global water sustainability initiatives, resilient water infrastructure for poverty reduction, urban water security for sustainable cities, climate actions and challenges for sustainable ecosystem services, and more. This important resource:

• Reviews contemporary scientific research and practical applications in the areas of water, climate change and sustainability in different regions of the world
• Discusses future directions of research and practices in relation to expected patterns of climate changes
• Covers a wide range of concepts, theories, and perspectives of sustainable development of water resources
• Features case studies of field and modelling techniques for analyzing water resources and evaluating vulnerability, security, and associated risks
• Discusses practical applications of water resources in contexts such as food security, global health, clean energy, and climate action

Water, Climate Change, and Sustainability ?is an invaluable resource for policy makers water managers, researchers, and other professionals in the field, and an ideal text for graduate students in hydrogeology, climate change, geophysics, geochemistry, geography, water resources, and environmental science.

Section II
Sustainability Approaches, Tools, and Techniques

5
Approaches and Tools to Assess Water‐Climate‐Sustainability Nexus: A Systematic Review

Olusola O. Ololade^1*, Enoch Bessah², and Marinda Avenant¹

¹Centre for Environmental Management, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

²Pan African University, Institute of Life and Earth Sciences (Including Health and Agriculture), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, State, Nigeria

^*Corresponding author

ABSTRACT

This chapter presents a systematic review of approaches and tools used to assess the water–climate–sustainability (WCS) nexus. A total of 139 peer‐reviewed articles published between January 2016 and January 2019 were identified from the Scopus database, based on selected keywords. Out of these articles, 77 were selected based on a set of criteria. In the second round, articles related to overviews and reviews were excluded in order to identify the articles that employed the distinct features of WCS‐nexus assessments. Our findings showed that the WCS‐nexus assessment shifted from its original roots in the engineering sciences to an interdisciplinary and multi‐sectoral field with environmental science, agricultural and biological sciences, earth and planetary sciences, and social science taking the lead. Our review indicated that Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) was the concept that best fitted the WCS‐nexus assessment idea. Furthermore, water sustainability research mostly occurs in locations subjected to water scarcity problems, and that river basins or watersheds were the highest scale at which WCS‐nexus studies were carried out. This makes WCS‐nexus studies a truly transboundary issue that will require regional policies and agreements to be put in place.

5.1. INTRODUCTION

Sustainable management of water resources in the twenty‐first century faces significant challenges that crosses political, administrative, economic and ecological boundaries. Water can be a critically limiting element to socio–economic development, especially in semi‐arid and arid regions where the resource is limited (Feng et al., 2018; Mycoo, 2018). Globally, river basins are vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures like population growth (Falkenmark and Molden, 2008; Wang et al., 2018), climate change and variability (Meko et al., 2007; Overpeck and Udall, 2010), agricultural pollution, urbanization, and unsustainable water resources management practices. All these factors pose challenges to sustainable water resources management (Vadiati et al., 2018). The challenge to balance water provision and basic human demands with economic development and healthy ecosystems is becoming increasingly difficult (Berggren, 2018). Water is therefore not only the most important substance for sustaining life on earth, but plays an important role in other resources and sectors (Kresmann et al., 2018; Ololade, 2018).

Climate change is a major driver of global environmental change with the potential to have adverse impacts on water quantity and quality, now and in the future (MEA, 2005; IPCC, 2014; World Bank Group, 2016). Climate change adaptation will therefore play an important role in future water resources management (Garrote, 2017). There is therefore a need to explore methods for assessing the impacts and adaptation measures in relation to water resources management. The revolution that took place in the water resources management sector over the last century called for the development of new tools and approaches to address new challenges associated with complex water systems, including economic analyses related to water resources (Garrote, 2017). Considering the uncertain climate and cumulative impacts thereof, on water resources in the future, more creative problem solving and management strategies are needed.

Assessing sustainability at a geographical scale requires that water management strategies include climatological scenarios, which directly influence the amount of water in watersheds (Mattos et al., 2019). Water resources are, however, highly dynamic due to variable meteorological patterns (Mattos et al., 2019). This variability is expected to increase in future and poses a threat to a large portion of the world’s population in terms of water security (Vörösmarty et al., 2010). The impacts of climate change are already affecting the hydrological cycle at global, regional and local scales (IPCC, 2014), causing hydrological stress in many regions (Barnett et al., 2005; Henriques et al., 2008; Seneviratne et al., 2010; Seager et al., 2013). The sustainability of water resources is not limited to the impact of environmental change on quantity, but also on quality and availability, which are largely dependent on future socio‐economic scenarios (Garrote, 2017). The alteration of water resources by extreme events due to climate change will consequently have a negative impact on socio–economic development. Sustainable development relies on cross‐cutting interlinkages ranging from ethical, and socio‐cultural, to political‐economic issues (Atampugre et al., 2016). The challenges associated with the sustainable management of water is even more serious in arid and semi–arid regions (Feng et al., 2018), making the water‐climate‐sustainability (WCS) nexus an important topic to review.

Water scarcity, which could be defined as the deficit between water availability and demand without providing for environmental flows (Gu et al., 2017), is already causing competition between water users, resulting in social conflicts. Water scarcity is expected to become more severe in future as climate models project a consistent decrease in water availability, especially in semi–arid regions where the socio‐economic backbone of the region may collapse due to its over‐dependence on rain‐fed agriculture (Garrote, 2017). Water scarcity may also occur in water rich regions due to poor water quality (Friesen et al., 2017), and inadequate policies and management strategies that should have secured water for present and future use. Around the globe, countries like the United States of America (Morckel, 2017), Brazil (Dobrovolski and Rattis, 2015) and Iran (Madani, 2014) have experienced water crises mainly due to poor management strategies (Mattos et al., 2019). Even though water demand will increase due to climate change (Nkomozepi and Chung, 2012), socio–economic drivers are expected to have the biggest influence on water sustainability (Alcamo et al., 2007; Garrote, 2017). It is, therefore, critical that climate, soc...