Assessment of Water Resources Sustainability in Mainland China in Terms of Water Intensity and Efficiency

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kui Xu ◽  
Lingling Bin ◽  
Xinyi Xu
2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 1221-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi M. Peterson ◽  
John L. Nieber ◽  
Roman Kanivetsky ◽  
Boris Shmagin

Author(s):  
A. J Gana ◽  
M. F. Amodu

Water resources sustainability is essential to life because all living things and some non-living things need it to complete their processes. The water usage is rising, hence pressure on the availability, and some instances rose to crisis level. These pressures were due to population growth, increases in irrigated land, deforestation, soil and land degradation, and wastages. Engineering is one of the majors’ components in tackling water resources sustainability. Therefore, this paper reviews the general concepts of sustainable water resources from an engineering and management perspective. The method adopted to realize the aim of the research was a thorough literature review. Engineering has three sub-components, these are Ecological, Economic, and social sustainability. Failure in one of these sub-components is a failure of the component. The literature revealed that Water resources sustainability is a multifaceted discipline therefore, engineering discipline alone would not solve it. However, this paper proffered some recommendations and the way forward. These recommendations are the steps required at the watersheds level, the engineering strategies aspects, and the management strategy. It concluded that a holistic approach where all shareholders will be involved is an ideal approach.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1278-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry W. Mays

There are many people on Earth today that live with severe water shortages and severe lack of sanitation, particularly among the poor. These people for the most part do not understand the knowledge base of methodologies of harvesting and conveying water and sanitation methods that have been around for thousands of years. A survey of ancient water technologies used in semi-arid and arid regions is presented in this paper. The survey will include methodologies used by Mesopotamians, the Persians, the Egyptians, and the Nabataeans. The attempt here is to explore how these traditional methods developed by the ancients in semi-arid and arid regions of the world could possibly be used to help solve the present-day water resources sustainability problems, especially in developing parts of the world. The advantages of the traditional knowledge of ancient water technologies are explored with the goal of determining ways to help poor people with water shortages and sanitation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 831-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Kohler

Water is a vital natural resource, demanding careful management. It is essential for life and integral to virtually all economic activities, including energy and food production and the production of industrial outputs. The availability of clean water in sufficient quantities is not only a prerequisite for human health and well-being but the life-blood of freshwater ecosystems and the many services that these provide. Water resource intensity measures the intensity of water use in terms of volume of water per unit of value added. It is an internationally accepted environmental indicator of the pressure of economic activity on a country’s water resources and therefore a reliable indicator of sustainable economic development. The indicator is particularly useful in the allocation of water resources between sectors of the economy since in waterstressed countries like South Africa, there is competition for water among various users, which makes it necessary to allocate water resources to economic activities that are less intensive in their use of water. This study focuses on economy-wide changes in South Africa’s water intensity using both decomposition and empirical estimation techniques in an effort to identify and understand the impact of economic activity on changes in the use of the economy’s water resources. It is hoped that this study will help inform South Africa’s water conservation and resource management policies


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