An Integrated Assessment of Investments towards Global Water Sustainability

Andrea M Bassi,Zhuohua Tan,Sophie Goss

doi:10.3390/w2040726

Abstract

To date there has been limited research on integrated water resource management, specifically regarding investments, from a global perspective, largely due to the complexity of the problem and to generally local water management practices. Water demand and supply are very often affected by international factors and with global climate change, population growth and increasing consumption, water management is now more than ever a global issue. This paper gives an overview of current and impending water problems while assessing investment needs for integrated water management as a possible solution to projected water challenges. The analysis compares a business as usual case (BAU) to a scenario in which investments improve water efficiency use across sectors to curb demand, increase innovative supply from desalination and enhance conventional water resources management measures. System dynamics modeling is employed to represent the structural factors influencing water demand and supply in the context of an integrated framework including cross-sectoral linkages. The analysis confirms that sustainable water management is feasible, but it requires investments in the range of $145 billion per year between 2011 and 2050 (0.16% of GDP or $17/person/year) and timely, effective action.

Highlights

Economic growth and poverty alleviation are inextricably linked to the access to clean water.Known as the Falkenmark index, there is general consensus that when people have access to less than1700 m3 of water per year, a considerable proportion of them will be trapped into poverty [1].Currently 700 million people live under conditions that provide them with less than 1700 m3 of water per year [1]
If no new measures are taken to reduce demand, under a business as usual case (BAU) scenario, total water supply is projected to increase by 41%, reaching 8,105 km3, between and 2030—primarily driven by world population and GDP growth, and mitigated by an increase in agriculture productivity
Water is a vital component of the earth’s ecosystem and input in economic activities and people’s livelihood, which has in turn imposed consistently growing pressure on water resources through increasing over-withdrawal and pollution, leaving some one-third of the world’s population under water stress

Summary

Introduction

Economic growth and poverty alleviation are inextricably linked to the access to clean water.Known as the Falkenmark index, there is general consensus that when people have access to less than1700 m3 of water per year, a considerable proportion of them will be trapped into poverty [1].Currently 700 million people live under conditions that provide them with less than 1700 m3 of water per year [1]. Economic growth and poverty alleviation are inextricably linked to the access to clean water. Known as the Falkenmark index, there is general consensus that when people have access to less than. 1700 m3 of water per year, a considerable proportion of them will be trapped into poverty [1]. 700 million people live under conditions that provide them with less than 1700 m3 of water per year [1]. Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population growth in the last century [2]. There is no global water scarcity, many countries in arid and semi-arid regions are already exploiting more than 40% of their renewable sources and an increasing number of regions are chronically short [2]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion