Ecology and equity: key determinants of sustainable water security

Abstract

Trends in water consumption indicate that demand for water for household and industrial uses in developing countries could double as a proportion of total water demand in the next 25 years. Scope for expansion of water supply will, at the same time, be limited because development of irrigation and urban water supplies is becoming increasingly expensive, and often involves high costs in terms of environmental degradation and human resettlement. Without fundamental reform of water management, the rapid growth in urban water demand will require large transfers of water from irrigated agriculture, thereby threatening food security. Hence, water supply and demand should be managed in an integrated fashion, simultaneously considering all uses and sources. This will call for the establishment of community centred food and water security systems and national water trusts. Once such systems and Trusts are established there could be a legally binding Global Water Convention on the model of the Global Convention on Climate and Biodiversity. The details of such a Global Water Conventions can be finalized at one of the future Stockholm Water Symposia. There are uncommon opportunities today for a water-secure world through synergy between technology, public policy and peoples' participation.