The gender difference in behaviour and intentions of households toward water saving practices in Katchi Abadis of Lahore, Pakistan

Water resources sustainability and conservation are crucial to controlling water scarcity in the world. This research examines the gendered perception of households in 12 Katchi Abadis of Lahore to conserve water by focusing on their habits, attitude, intention, norms, and behaviour. This is a qualitative research design with in-depth interviews as a method. Respondents were selected by adopting the purposive sampling technique. The debate revolves around the question: which one among men and women in the slum, will be responsible to show proper water managing intentions and behaviour? Is there any difference among men and women in slums on water-saving attitude, norms, intention, and behaviour? 24 face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with youths, adults, and elderly males and females. Thematic analysis was used for analysis. It was revealed that people in homes acknowledged the worth of water, but poverty, unemployment, and government unresponsive behaviour caused hindrance to efforts to save water. There is a long list of hurdles that retards the process to conserve water. This research recommended conducting studies on the practices of water in households with actual measurements, not only for self-reported data, but it should also assess, and observe actions of individuals towards the environment.

Review: Sustainable Water Resources Engineering and Management; Nigerian Perspective

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.

Analysis Of Water Resources Sustainability in the Batang Kuranji Basin, Padang with The Nedbør Afstrømnings Model (NAM)

The Batang Kuranji watershed is an area that plays a vital role in the water resources preservation and conservation in Padang city. However, recently the sustainability of these water resources has suffered hydrologically, marked by a sharp fluctuating flood discharge. This study aims to measure the water resources sustainability in the Batang Kuranji watershed. The method used in this research is Nedbør Afstrømnings Model (NAM) modeling and an integrated approach. The results of NAM showed that the most prominent parameter values ​​are TIF (0.9), TG (0.965), CK1 (0.23), and CK2 (1.1), which indicate an infiltration transformation in this watershed. The integrated analysis showed that deforestation and population growth are the main factors for this issue, and the land-use conversion also affected these problems. Reducing the population growth rate, evaluating the urban development, reforestation, and improving water infrastructure along rivers-side will reduce the risk of watershed damage and maintain its sustainability.

Improving Water Sustainability through Modeling Optimum Sites for Riparian Forest Reforestation

The margins of Brazilian rivers are considered Permanent Preservation Areas—APPs, due to the riparian forest’s water resource preservation capacity. However, a significant portion of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome, in which the Jacaré River basin is located, has suffered increasing deforestation over the past decades. This research aimed to use a methodology integrating Geographic Information System (GIS), fuzzy logic, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and sensitivity analysis to model the selection of riparian protected area stretches that presents the best successful riparian forest reforestation using a real case, the Jacaré river basin, whose characteristics are often in Brazilian watersheds. To identify the main drivers that influence reforestation success, we carried out a broad and detailed bibliographic research. To establish the relative importance among the drivers, we conducted a survey with experts. The results showed that areas with moderate chances of reforestation prevail in the studied region. Due to the areas’ distribution pattern, a significant portion of the best sites were grouped, forming regions that create environments that favor aquatic and riverside life development and ecological balance maintenance, thus bringing together fundamental characteristics to improve water resources sustainability. The best sites have dystrophic or eutrophic soil, with a slope of up to 15%. Besides, they are mainly covered by grass and are close to forest fragments with low vulnerability.

Developing a water strategy for sustainable irrigated agriculture in Mediterranean island communities – Insights from Malta

The future sustainability of irrigated agriculture in Mediterranean island communities faces a raft of economic, environmental and socio-economic challenges. Many of these are inextricably linked to the extreme levels of water scarcity that exist in the region. With a focus on Malta, we developed a water strategy to identify the priorities for action to support decision makers, practitioners and the agrifood industry in achieving agricultural and water resources sustainability. The methodology involved a combination of evidence synthesis, to inform the development of a Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response framework. These priorities were then used to define a set of key actions under three thematic pillars of sustainability (environment, economy and society). Our analysis confirmed that irrigated agriculture in Malta is not only impacted by environmental factors such as the challenging climate and geography of the region but also strongly influenced by a range of economic (tourism development, European Union accession) and societal (population growth, environmental regulation) drivers of change. The developed strategy is underpinned by priority actions relating to improved water and soil management. The reduction of water and energy footprints in crop production, the establishment of demonstration farms and the support of policies that promote ‘value adding’ activities are examples of key priority actions for the environmental, economic and societal pillar, respectively. Regarding the scale of intervention, the analysis distinguishes research as being important for supporting many of the economy-focused actions.

Assessment of Agricultural Water Resources Sustainability in Arid Regions Using Virtual Water Concept: Case of South Khorasan Province, Iran

Cropping pattern plays an important role in providing food and agricultural water resources sustainability, especially in arid regions in which the concomitant socioeconomic dangers of water shortage would be inevitable. In this research, six indices are applied to classify 37 cultivated crops according to Central Product Classification (CPC). The respective 10-year data (2005–2014) were obtained from Agricultural Organization of South Khorasan (AOSKh) province. The water footprint concept along with some economic indicators are used to assess the water use efficiency. Results show that blue virtual water contributes to almost 99 percent of Total Virtual Water (TVW). In this occasion that an increasing pressure is exerted on groundwater resources, improper pattern of planting crops has to be beyond reproach. The improper cropping pattern in the study area led to the overuse of 346 × 106 m3 of water annually. More specifically, cereals cultivation was neither environmentally nor economically sustainable and since they accounted for the largest share of water usage at the province level, importing them should be considered as an urgent priority. Vegetable cultivation could be further increased—instead of other water-intensive crops such as fruits—at the province level, not only due to their low TVW, but also to their higher financial output.