Urban Water Security Research Articles

Correction: Aboelnga, et al. Urban Water Security: Definition and Assessment Framework. Resources 2019, 8, 178

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]

Perspectives of current and future urban water security in Iran

Water plays a quintessential role in the lives of individuals and communities. In recent decades, population growth, migration from rural to urban areas, industrialization, and climate change have increasingly jeopardized the sustainability of cities, especially in developing countries, including Iran. The purpose of this study is to assess recent and future perspectives for urban water security in Iran. To do so, the paper extends previous water security studies within the region by collecting data on urban water security from a cohort of cities rather than a single location. To assess the state of water security in the recent past, from 2013 to 2019, we introduce a dedicated framework comprised of five dimensions and twelve indicators. In estimating future water resources for Iran in the period up to 2100, ensemble-based hydro-climatic regional climate model projections for RCPs 4.5 and 8.5 were analyzed in time and space.The results show that four of the five dimensions of present-day urban water security, including accessibility, availability, water health and sanitation, and the economic value of water, all demonstrate general improvements in water-related urban infrastructure, whereas the environmental indicator depicts a decreasing trend. Future projected trends for Iran's hydro-climate show a general decline in its net availability from already scarce conditions and also increased variability due to climate change.In general, the study indicates both advances in Iran's urban water security recently and severe implications for future water availability in certain regions and periods in the decades to come. The study also advises policymakers to seek to mitigate the water crisis in so far, as also enforced by climate change, by increasing the appropriate infrastructure and using new technologies in the water and wastewater industry.

Advancing urban water security: The urbanization of water–society relations and entry–points for political engagement

ABSTRACT We seek to advance a critical and relational concept of urban water security that theorizes urban processes in relation to the hydro-social dynamics that produce experiences of water securities and insecurities at multiple scales. Our intention is to set out an analytical framework that both examines the social relations that underpin water insecurity and goes beyond the urban as merely the context in which water provision and risk take place. We seek to mobilize this concept to envision meaningful water policies and hydro-social practices to enhance social equity and empowerment for urban communities.

EGYPT’S WATER SECURITY SITUATION IN THE CONTEXT OF ASIA WATER DEVELOPMENT OUTLOOK APPROACH

Water Security is very urgent for sustainable development in Egypt. Growing population needs more food production, water for drinking, hygiene, and to respond to economic activities which rely on access to more water. Worldwide, Water Poverty Index was used to express the water sector status and challenges. However, this index does not adequately represent the water sector status since its calculation is only based on available water resources and population. The scarcity index does not reflect the demand, the degree of water availability, efficiency, vulnerability, reuse, and water quality. To overcome such situation, the Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO) was developed to investigate the actual water security status and its impact on the socio-economic and environmental development. The presented framework for assessment of Water Security comprises five Key Dimensions: (i) household water security, (ii) economic water security, (iii) urban water security, (iv) environmental water security, and (v) resilience to water-related disasters. According to the AWDO Methodology, Assessing Water Security in five dimensions will represent more accurately the inherent tension among water uses that emerge as water resources come under increasing stress. It may also be used to measure the outcome of integrated water resources management. In this paper the AWDO will be applied to assess the Water Security status in Egypt, evaluate its applicability, and recommend the necessary modifications added and removed parameters to suit the Egyptian local conditions. تحقيق الأمن المائي هو مصدر اهتمام وقلق متزايد لدى المهتمين بالشأن المائى وحاجة ملحة للتنمية المستدامة في مصر. فيحتاج النمو السکاني إلى مزيد من إنتاج الغذاء ومياه الشرب النقية واحتياجات النظافة العامة والأنشطة الاقتصادية التي يعتمد نموها على المزيد من المياه. حاليا يتم استغلال الموارد المائية المتاحة فى مصر بشکل تام فضلا عن اعادة الاستخدام والتدوير، وتواجه البلاد ندرة مائية متزايدة بسبب المخاطر المفروضة على تدفقات مياه النيل من دول المنبع. لقد تم استخدام مؤشر الفقر المائى في جميع أنحاء العالم، للتعبير عن حالة قطاع المياه والتحديات التي يواجهها. ومع ذلک، فإن هذا المؤشر لا يمثل وضع قطاع المياه بشکل کاف لأن حسابه يعتمد فقط على الموارد المائية المتاحة وعددالسکان ولا يعکس مؤشر الندرة الطلب المتزايد على المياه، وکفاءة النظام، وحساسيته، والتباين في الامطار وتدفقات النهر بين السنوات المختلفة، وإعادة الاستخدام، وجودة المياه. وفى هذا الصدد فقد تم تطوير إطار عمل جديد لتقييم مؤشر الأمن المائي على أساس منهجية تنمية المياه الآسيوية (AWDO) للتحقق من حالة الأمن المائي الفعلية في مصر وتأثيراتها المختلفة.

City scale water audit of a pilgrimage town in South India

The water need of a religious pilgrimage town in South India would typically be much larger than a regular town where religious pilgrims and ritual activities do not add to the water burden of the municipality. To understand this added water burden, a city scale audit was carried out to estimate the water supply, demand and deficit at Guruvayoor, which is a pilgrimage town in South India. Guruvayoor is popularly known for the Sri Krishna Temple which is visited daily by an average of 10,000 devotees. For the entire municipality, 11,117 open wells, including 144 public wells within the municipal area. The study revealed that increased dependency on ground water sources without proper implementation of rainwater harvesting (RWH) facilities demonstrated a potential threat for the water security of the town. Increased water distribution by water tanker trucks, mostly operated by the unorganized private sector, imported 2.5 MLD of water from the outer bounds of the city to meet the commercial and institutional demand. The results of this investigation showed that urban water security will likely be subject to such external water suppliers, suggesting the need for further research to understand the implications of such a distributed water supply panel on urban water security. Key words: Urban water security, Pilgrimage town, Guruvayoor, water audit, water demand, South India.

Assessing the Effects of Land Cover Land Use Change on Precipitation Dynamics in Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area from 2001 to 2019

The change of spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation has an important impact on urban water security. The effect of land cover land use change (LCLUC) on the spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation needs to be further studied. In this study, transfer matrix, standard deviation ellipse and spatial autocorrelation analysis techniques were used. Based on the data of land cover land use and precipitation, this paper analyzed the land cover land use change and its influence on the spatial and temporal distribution pattern of precipitation in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The results showed that from 2001 to 2019, the area of cropland, water, barren, forest/grassland in the GBA decreased by 44.03%, 8.05%, 50.22%, 0.43%, respectively, and the area of construction land increased by 20.05%. The precipitation in the GBA was mainly concentrated in spring and summer, and the precipitation in spring tended to increase gradually, while the precipitation in summer tended to decrease gradually, while the precipitation in autumn and winter has no obvious change. It was found that with the change of land cover land use, the spatial distribution of precipitation also changed. Especially in the areas where the change of construction land was concentrated, the spatial distribution of precipitation changed most obviously.

Assessment of Environmental Water Security of an Asian Deltaic Megacity and Its Peri-Urban Wetland Areas

Achieving urban water security requires sustaining the trade-offs between the exploitation of water/environmental resources and ecosystem services. This achievement not only reduces the pollution and contamination in the environment, level of water stress, but also secures good ambient water quality and future for people’s well-being and livelihoods. Changes in land use and land cover and growth of impervious structures can immediately generate severe ecological and social issues and increase the level of natural or manmade risks, affecting the condition of ecosystem services within and in the vicinity of an urban region. As a result of these transformations and further exploitation, due to the growing anthropogenic pressure, surface water and groundwater quality can be deteriorated compared to ambient water quality standards (for both chemical and biological pollutants). Based on land use and land cover (LULC) data retrieved from remote sensing interpretation, we computed the changes of the ecosystem service values (ESV) associated with the LULC dynamics, water quality and, finally, urban water security during the pre- and post-monsoon periods of 2009, 2014 and 2019 in Kolkata, an Asian deltaic megacity, and its peri-urban wetlands named East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW). The area under wetlands reduced comprehensively in 2009–2019 due to the conversion of wetlands into various other classes such as urban settlement, etc. The quality of surface water bodies (such as rivers, lakes, canals and inland wetlands) deteriorated. The groundwater quality is still under control, but the presence of arsenic, manganese and other metals are a clear indication of urban expansion and related activities in the area. As a result, there was a change in the ESV during this timeframe. In the pre-monsoon period, there was an increase in total ESV from US$53.14 million in 2009 to US$53.36 million and US$59.01 million in 2014 and 2019, respectively. In the post-monsoon period, the ESV decreased from US$67.42 million in 2009 to US$64.13 and US$61.89 million in 2014 and 2019, respectively. These changes can be attributed to the peri-urban wetlands and the benefits or services arising out of them that contribute more than 50% of the total ESV. This study found that the area under wetlands has reduced comprehensively in the past 10 years due to the conversion of wetlands for various other uses such as urban expansion of the Kolkata City, but still, this peri-urban wetland supports the urban water security by providing sufficient ecosystem services. In conclusion, the transformation in extent of the water-related ecosystem is a crucial indicator of urban water security, which also measures the quantity of water contained in various water-related ecosystems. Quantitative analysis of the LULC change, hence, is important for studying the corresponding impact on the ecosystem service value (ESV) and water quality that helps in decision-making in securing urban water future and ecosystem conservation.

Influence of Tide and Runoff on Saltwater Intrusion in the Qiantang River Estuary, China

Qiantang River Estuary, as one of main fresh water resources for urban zone, has been threatened by salt water intrusion. Due to the combined influence of tide and runoff, the mechanism of saltwater intrusion is extremely complex. In view of this, research on the variation characteristics of chlorinity along Qiantang River Estuary is conducted based on chlorinity data. Further, analysis on effects that tide and upstream runoff exerting on chlorinity at intake is carried out to ensure urban water security. The chlorinity and tide data was obtained synchronously from automatic real-time monitoring systems at Zhakou, Qibao, Cangqian, Yanguan and Ganpu stations with sampling interval of 5 minutes. Results show that chlorinity Yanguan and Ganpu are mainly influenced by tide with period of 12.4 h; chlorinity at other stations are affected by runoff obviously. The peak chlorinity values at all observed stations increase with increase of tide ranges. The increase of upstream runoff enables to reduce the peak chlorinity. It is feasible to extract water under average tide and average runoff.

Urban drinking water security in Gujarat

Gujarat has made important strides to ensure that most parts of the state become water secure. In 2005, Gujarat was one of the few states that recognized that its urban areas were its ‘engines of growth’ and made significant investments in urban infrastructure. A state-wide water supply grid was constructed to transfer inter-basin water from perennial surface water sources to water-scarce areas. While these schemes have improved household-level access to municipal water supply, service levels have not improved. In this paper, we argue that along with infrastructure creation, there is a need to focus on monitoring, operation and maintenance of existing system and improving efficiency. We analyze information available from the performance assessment system (PAS) setup by the CEPT University for monitoring of urban services in India. It has annual information of water service delivery in all the urban areas of Gujarat from 2010. We assess urban drinking water supply on three key aspects: equity, service quality and financial sustainability. We also identify a few key intervention areas related to increased accountability, efficiency and equity in delivery of water supply services.

Assessment of the Construction of a Climate Resilient City: An Empirical Study Based on the Difference in Differences Model.

Facing climate risks has become a common problem for mankind and a topic of great importance for the Chinese government. To thoroughly implement the overall requirements for the construction of an ecological civilization and effectively improve the capacity of cities to adapt to climate change, China launched the pilot construction of “Climate Resilient Cities” in 2017. In this paper, 16 prefecture level cities in Anhui Province of China were selected as the research objects, and the multi-level grey system evaluation method was used to measure the climate resilience of these regions. We used the difference in differences method to evaluate the effect of the pilot policy of “Climate Resilient Cities.” The pilot policies of the “Climate Resilient Cities” showed a significant contribution to the regional climate resilience, and, after isolating the impact of other factors on the regional climate resilience, the pilot policies of the “Climate Resilient Cities” increased the climate resilience of the pilot cities by four percentage points. The pilot policies of the “Climate Resilient Cities” had a significant contribution to the urban infrastructure development and ecological space optimization, as well as non-significant impacts to the urban water security, emergency management capacity-building, and science and technology innovation initiatives.

Toward Urban Water Security: Broadening the Use of Machine Learning Methods for Mitigating Urban Water Hazards

Due to the complex interactions of human activity and the hydrological cycle, achieving urban water security requires comprehensive planning processes that address urban water hazards using a holistic approach. However, the effective implementation of such an approach requires the collection and curation of large amounts of disparate data, and reliable methods for modeling processes that may be co-evolutionary yet traditionally represented in non-integrable ways. In recent decades, many hydrological studies have utilized advanced machine learning and information technologies to approximate and predict physical processes, yet none have synthesized these methods into a comprehensive urban water security plan. In this paper, we review ways in which advanced machine learning techniques have been applied to specific aspects of the hydrological cycle and discuss their potential applications for addressing challenges in mitigating multiple water hazards over urban areas. We also describe a vision that integrates these machine learning applications into a comprehensive watershed-to-community planning workflow for smart-cities management of urban water resources.

Urban Water Security: A Comparative Assessment and Policy Analysis of Five Cities in Diverse Developing Countries of Asia

Urban Water Security: A Comparative Assessment and Policy Analysis of Five Cities in Diverse Developing Countries of Asia

Coupling of SWMM With 2D Hydrodynamic Model for Simulation of Sponge City Construction Scheme

Sponge city is a new urban stormwater management concept proposed by China to solve the urban water environment and security problems. The stormwater management model (SWMM) is one of the most commonly used urban stormwater and sponge city simulation models. SWMM is coupled with a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model based on the finite volume method to establish a coupled 1D and 2D hydrodynamic model in this research. The coupled model can simulate the drainage pipe network, sponge measures and flood inundation at the same time. A predictor-corrector method with good stability was used in the coupled model to ensure the non-negativity of the water volume of the 2D model cell. The sponge city construction scheme for a community in Beijing was simulated and analyzed using several design rainstorm processes with different return periods based on the proposed model. It is proved that the coupling model can be applied to sponge city construction problems and sponge measures can reduce the flood inundation and the load of drainage network system by simulating the drainage conditions and ground waterlogging before and after the reconstruction of the drainage community.

Plumbing vs Nudging: The Lasting Effect of Efficiency Improvements on Water Conservation

Abstract Mega-cities worldwide are facing water security challenges. We investigate two solutions to urban water security: improving plumbing and nudging consumers. We show that improving plumbing alone generates long-lasting effects in water conservation. Using anonymised water consumption data based on water bills from 1.5 million accounts in Singapore over 10 years, our staggered difference-in-differences estimates show that a nation-wide Home Improvement Programme reduces residential water consumption by 3.5%. The effect persists for a decade and is observed across population subgroups. The efficiency improvements also help in mitigating the effect of extreme environmental conditions on water use. Nation-wide nudging through peer comparison may not achieve similar outcomes.

Urban water security priorities – an Australian industry perspective

Abstract Urban water security is a critical element of sustainable development, and sustainable water management requires a participatory and collaborative approach across all stakeholders. However, the literature suggests that there can be diverse and potentially conflicting views within community and expert groups. This research aimed to understand the extent of views within a group of industry professionals on objectives, themes and definitions of urban water security. Using 22 semi-structured interviews with participants from Queensland, Australia, we found that, for the group, the priorities for urban water security are water quality and human health, quantity of supply to meet efficient demand, and reliability and resilience of supply systems. We also found diverse views on the importance of sustainability, water-related hazards, environment and ecosystem health, affordability and risk to water security in the urban context. We conclude that there is agreement within the water service provider group on priority needs, and suggest there is potential for community and service providers to agree on urban water security needs. The research findings support operationalisation of security concepts, highlight potential barriers to achieving urban water security, and provide insights for further engagement with urban water stakeholders.

Socio-political processes must be emphasised alongside climate change and urbanisation as key drivers of urban water insecurity

AbstractUrban water security is of critical global and local importance. Across many parts of low- and middle-income countries, urban water security either remains elusive or is becoming stressed. Rapid urbanisation and climate change are two key drivers of resource insecurity and at the forefront of urban water discourse. However, there are manifold and complex socio-political processes functioning alongside these megatrends that are often underemphasised. Drawing on three urban case studies in Ethiopia, we highlight these structural issues and the need for their continued consideration to fully understand and address urban water insecurity. Household water-use surveys, semi-structured interviews and participatory exercises with community residents, stakeholders and informal water vendors were used as part of a mixed-method approach in three urban areas. We found that government-managed urban water supplies were intermittent and unsafe, resulting in economic, health and time-use burdens for households, and that the socio-political dimensions reproducing urban water insecurity have historical roots. We argue that the uncertainty of climate change and unprecedented urbanisation do not offer sufficient explanation for why urban water insecurity persists. Moreover, we call for caution in only employing these narratives, to avoid obscuring deeply rooted challenges within socio-political systems. We call for socio-political processes to continue to be a central component of future interventions that seek to improve urban water insecurity.

Urban water security in South Asia: Crucial policy lessons from the Nepalese town of Bidur

AbstractThe rapidly urbanizing and highly populated South Asian region is facing a water crisis. As a key response, large centralized water systems are being put in place, replacing small and community‐based systems. In this discussion note, we present the case of Nepal's town of Bidur to show that Himalayan South Asian towns cannot ensure water supply by neglecting community‐based and small‐scale water supply systems. Using insights from qualitative and quantitative data collected during 2014–2019, we argue that decentralized and community‐based urban water systems are more resilient than large ones during disasters. Our argument is based on the analysis of Bidur's response to the 2015 earthquake as well as the COVID‐19 pandemic. We show that a mixed approach of large and small water supply schemes provides a promising solution to water insecurity in the South Asian towns. This approach can be realized by promoting diversity of water management strategies and creating research‐informed planning and discussion forums at the community and municipality levels. We also recommend municipalities to formulate a comprehensive water security strategy, considering the current and future scenarios of water demand and supply.

Unraveling intractable water conflicts: the entanglement of science and politics in decision-making on large hydraulic infrastructure

Abstract. The development of large infrastructure to address the water challenges of cities around the world can be a financial and social burden for many cities because of the hidden costs these works entail and social conflicts they often trigger. When conflicts erupt, science is often expected to play a key role in informing policymakers and social actors to clarify controversies surrounding policy responses to water scarcity. However, managing conflicts is a sociopolitical process, and often quantitative models are used as an attempt to depoliticize such processes, conveying the idea that optimal solutions can be objectively identified despite the many perspectives and interests at play. This raises the question as to whether science depoliticizes water conflicts or whether instead conflicts politicize science–policy processes. We use the Zapotillo dam and water transfer project in Mexico to analyze the role of science–policy processes in water conflicts. The Zapotillo project aims at augmenting urban water supply to Guadalajara and León, two large cities in western Mexico, but a social and legal conflict has stalled the project until today. To analyze the conflict and how stakeholders make sense of it, we interviewed the most relevant actors and studied the negotiations between different interest groups through participant observation. To examine the role of science–policy processes in the conflict, we mobilized concepts of epistemic uncertainty and ambiguity and analyzed the design and use of water resources models produced by key actors aiming to resolve the conflict. While the use of models is a proven method to construct future scenarios and test different strategies, the parameterization of scenarios and their results are influenced by the knowledge and/or interests of actors behind the model. We found that in the Zapotillo case, scenarios reflected the interests and strategies of actors on one side of the conflict, resulting in increased distrust of the opposing actors. We conclude that the dilemma of achieving urban water security through investing in either large infrastructure (supply augmentation) or alternative strategies (demand-side management) cannot be resolved if some key interested parties have not been involved in the scientific processes framing the problem and solution space.

Water Security of Cities and Their Regions

Urban water governance and management is a complex policy area and quantification through indices can help obtaining insights into this complex matter. Particularly the quantification of urban water security goals could help carry out comparisons, assessments, prioritise actions and investments, track progress and inform decisions. This paper builds on Van Ginkel et al. (2018) who developed an urban water security dashboard. The urban water security dashboard characterises the water security of cities by taking a systems perspective based on the pressure-state-impact-response framework. Van Ginkel et al. (2018) applied the water security dashboard to 10 cities that differ in terms of economic development level and climate. This paper adds two cities: Nur-Sultan and Almaty. Continental cities in a relatively arid climate are not part of the original set of 10, which also did not include any Central Asian cities. The discussion in this paper will focus on the situation in Nur-Sultan and Almaty and further adds to Van Ginkel et al. (2018) a discussion on the relation between water security of cities and water security of the regions they are located in.

Site-scale Urban Water Mass Balance Assessment (SUWMBA) to quantify water performance of urban design-technology-environment configurations

Historically, little consideration has been given to water performance of urban developments such as “hydrological naturalness” or “local water self-sufficiency”. This has led to problems with increased stormwater runoff, flooding, and lack of local contributions to urban water security. Architectural design, water servicing technologies and environmental conditions are each known to influence water performance. However, most existing models have overlooked the integration of these factors. In this work, we asked ‘how the water performance of urban developments at site-scale can be quantified, with joint consideration of architectural design, water servicing technologies, and environmental context (i.e. climate and soil)’. Answering this question led to the development of a new method and tool called Site-scale Urban Water Mass Balance Assessment (SUWMBA). It uses a daily urban water mass balance to simulate design-technology-environment configurations. Key features include: (i) a three-dimensional boundary focussed on the “entity” of development (ii) a comprehensive water balance accounting for all urban water flows, (iii) methods that include key variables capturing the interactions of natural, built-environment and socio-technological systems on water performance. SUWMBA's capabilities were demonstrated through an evaluation of a residential infill development case study with alternative design-technology-environment configurations, combining three dwelling designs, seven water technologies and three environmental contexts. The evaluation showed how a configuration can be identified that strikes a balance between the conflicting objectives of achieving the desired dwelling densities whilst simultaneously improving water performance. For two climate zones, the optimal configuration increases the total number of residents by 300% while reducing the imported water per capita and stormwater discharge by 45% and 15%, respectively. We infer that SUWMBA could have strong potential to contribute to performance-based urban design and planning by enabling the water performance of dwelling designs to be quantified, and by facilitating the setting of locally-specific water performance objectives and targets.