The global water crises: a cross-national analysis of metabolic rift theory

Unchecked consumption, extraction, and growth have resulted in severe damage to ecological systems. Fresh water issues constitute one of the great challenges for political ecologists. On the one hand, there is a human health and development crisis and over 700 million people still lack access to clean, safe drinking water. On the other hand, there is a growing environmental water crisis regarding water scarcity, water stress, and freshwater resource depletion. This analysis utilizes metabolic rift theory to demonstrate the disruptive consequences that human development and agriculture have on the water cycle. I use two-way fixed effects longitudinal regression for 176 nations from 1970-2015 to test how agriculture, capital, international aid, governance, and civil society are associated with two important water indicators: access to water and water stress. I find that agriculture is associated with higher levels of water stress and higher levels of water access. Higher GDP per capita and international aid increase water access but have no significant relationship with water stress. Additionally, international non-governmental organizations and environmental treaty ratifications are associated with decreased water stress, but also decreased water access. Therefore, I find that the disruptive processes of capital and development have differential impacts on these two interrelated water outcomes. This political ecological analysis suggests that simple solutions that address water access or water stress alone, without considering the interrelated aspects of global water issues, may inadvertently influence other facets of the world's growing water concerns. Furthermore, agriculture and development create an ever-growing metabolic rift in the processes that allow fresh water to replenish itself, leading to future global issues of water access and stress.

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Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing to Water Governance and the Mitigation of Climate Change Effects

10.31237/osf.io/49nre ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ilham Ali ◽

Jay Famiglietti ◽

Jonathan McLelland

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Management ◽

Remote Sensing ◽

Water Stress ◽

Satellite Remote Sensing ◽

Water Governance ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Sensing Data ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Water Issues

Water stress in both surface and groundwater supplies is an increasing environmental and sustainable management issue. According to the UN Environment Program, at current depletion rates almost half of the world's population will suffer severe water stress by 2030. This is further exacerbated by climate change effects which are altering the hydrologic cycle. Understanding climate change implications is critical to planning for water management scenarios as situations such as rising sea levels, increasing severity of storms, prolonged drought in many regions, ocean acidification, and flooding due to snowmelt and heavy precipitation continue. Today, major efforts towards equitable water management and governance are needed. This study adopts the broad, holistic lenses of sustainable development and water diplomacy, acknowledging both the complex and transboundary nature of water issues, to assess the benefits of a “science to policy” approach in water governance. Such negotiations and frameworks are predicated on the availability of timely and uniform data to bolster water management plans, which can be provided by earth-observing satellite missions. In recent decades, significant advances in satellite remote sensing technology have provided unprecedented data of the Earth’s water systems, including information on changes in groundwater storage, mass loss of snow caps, evaporation of surface water reservoirs, and variations in precipitation patterns. In this study, specific remote sensing missions are surveyed (i.e. NASA LANDSAT, GRACE, SMAP, CYGNSS, and SWOT) to understand the breadth of data available for water uses and the implications of these advances for water management. Results indicate historical precedent where remote sensing data and technologies have been successfully integrated to achieve more sustainable water management policy and law, such as in the passage of the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. In addition, many opportunities exist in current transboundary and interstate water conflicts (for example, the Nile Basin and the Tri-State Water Wars between Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) to integrate satellite-remote-sensed water data as a means of “joint-fact finding” and basis for further negotiations. The authors argue that expansion of access to satellite remote sensing data of water for the general public, stakeholders, and policy makers would have a significant impact on the development of science-oriented water governance measures and increase awareness of water issues by significant amounts. Barriers to entry exist in accessing many satellite datasets because of prerequisite knowledge and expertise in the domain. More user-friendly platforms need to be developed in order to maximize the utility of present satellite data. Furthermore, sustainable co-operations should be formed to employ satellite remote sensing data on a regional scale to preempt problems in water supply, quantity, and quality.

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Introduction: Fresh Water and Its Features

10.1093/oso/9780198863427.003.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Laurence Boisson de Chazournes

Keyword(s):

Fresh Water ◽

Finite Resource ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Water Issues

This introductory chapter offers a preview of the challenges and opportunities attached to water. It presents the features of water as a finite resource and the challenges that accompany its management and protection. The tensions that pertain to and opportunities associated with the different uses of water are highlighted. Moreover, the relevance of a disciplinary inquiry when examining water issues is explained. The chapter also gives an overview of the key developments since the first edition of this book was published. Overall, the chapter introduces the various themes in the book and frames the issues at the heart of this study.

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GLOBAL WATER ISSUES AND THE WORLD WATER COUNCIL

JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association ◽

10.1111/j.1752-1688.1997.tb03528.x ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 513-518

Author(s):

Mahmoud Abu-Zeid ◽

Ken Lum

Keyword(s):

The World ◽

Water Issues ◽

Global Water

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Quantifying freshwater resource in coastal barriers: the joint use of transient electromagnetic and magnetic resonance soundings

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-9-5261-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 5261-5294

Author(s):

J.-M. Vouillamoz ◽

J. Hoareau ◽

M. Grammare ◽

D. Caron ◽

L. Nandagiri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Sea Level ◽

Fresh Water ◽

Groundwater Resources ◽

Spatial Knowledge ◽

Western India ◽

Transient Electromagnetic ◽

Freshwater Resource ◽

Aquifer Properties ◽

Rainfall Patterns

Abstract. Many human communities living in coastal areas in Africa and Asia rely on thin fresh water lenses for their domestic supply. Population growth together with change in rainfall patterns and sea level will probably impact these vulnerable groundwater resources. A spatial knowledge of the aquifer properties and the use of groundwater model are required for the sustainable management of the resource. This paper presents a ready-to-use methodology for estimating the key aquifer properties based on the joint use of two non-invasive geophysical tools together with common hydrological measurements. We applied the proposed methodology on a coastal sandy barrier in South-Western India. We found that the joint use of magnetic resonance and transient electromagnetic soundings allows to map the fresh water lens and to estimate the specific yield, the hydraulic conductivity, the water salinity and the water table recharge. From the geophysical results, we estimate the fresh water reserve to range between 400 and 700 l m−2 of surface area according to the location and to the season. Using time lapse geophysical measurements and common groundwater monitoring, we also estimate the recharge of a rainy event to be about 100% of the rain, and the net recharge at the end of the monsoon to be less than 10% of the rain. Thus, we conclude that a change in rainfall patterns will probably not impact the groundwater resource since most of the rain water recharging the aquifer is flowing towards the sea and the river. However, a change in sea level will impact both the groundwater reserve and net recharge.

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Climate-water governance: a systematic analysis of the water sector resilience and adaptation to combat climate change in Pakistan

Water Policy ◽

10.2166/wp.2020.113 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Hafiz Qaisar Yasin ◽

Jessica Breadsell ◽

Muhammad Naveed Tahir

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Governance ◽

Irrigation Management ◽

Policy Formulation ◽

Infrastructure Development ◽

Water Sector ◽

Global Issues ◽

Leadership Policy ◽

Combat Climate Change ◽

Water Issues

Abstract Climate change and water security have become the most challenging global issues of this era, especially for developing countries like Pakistan. Amid many hindrances, poor governance has been identified as one of the most pressing reasons for ineffective action to tackle multifaceted and integrative climate-water issues in Pakistan. This article, therefore, applied a systematic literature review methodology to examine the current climate-water governance archetype, including key areas, major elements, critical gaps, and potential strategy in Pakistan. This study found that key climate-water governance areas in Pakistan are: river basin and watershed management, agriculture and irrigation management, urban and domestic water issues, floods, droughts and disaster management, groundwater management, and transboundary management. Moreover, it is revealed that the major governance elements are political commitment and leadership, policy formulation and regulation, institutional capacity and coordination, stakeholder engagement, and resource management, technology, and infrastructure development. The article also discusses how Pakistan has not effectively employed most of the identified governance elements to tackle its climate-water problems, lacking mostly in political, policy, institutional, coordination, and infrastructure aspects. In conclusion, a four-dimensional governance strategy, encompassing leadership, policy, institutions, and stakeholders is proposed to improve water sector resilience and adaptation to combat climate change in Pakistan.

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Industry and water security: overarching conclusions

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2001.0190 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 43 (4) ◽

pp. 101-103

Author(s):

Björn Stigson

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Fresh Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Best Practice ◽

Water Security ◽

Public Private Partnerships ◽

New Public ◽

Internal Operations ◽

Framework Conditions ◽

Water Issues

Fresh water is key to sustainable development. World Business Council for Sustainable Development members are addressing fresh water use 'within the corporate fenceline'. However, to address water issues 'outside the corporate fenceline' will require creative new public-private partnerships. Government's role is to provide sound framework conditions that will encourage businesses to invest time, staff and resources to address vital fresh water issues. Industry is committed to best practice within its internal operations and is ready to enter into partnerships to address broader fresh water issues.

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