Hydrological Studies and Water Resource Concerns in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Water supply shortage has become a pressing issue in Southeast Asia in recent years. While on the one hand water demand is escalating with rapid economic development, urbanisation and related population concentrations, on the other, surface water supply sources are increasingly being threatened by the resultant land use changes. Therefore, any understanding of the region's water supply concerns necessarily takes into account the hydrological processes and changes consequent to human interference of the natural environment. Changes to the environment that curtail the quantity of water supply and affect its quality will in turn have implications for water resource issues in megacities and other urban areas. Equally critical to the supply of water are water resource and management issues, in particular, the adequate provision of safe water for human consumption, regarded as not only meeting a basic need but also a human right. This paper provides an overview of hydrological processes and water resource concerns and suggests the scope for further investigation, particularly by geographers.