water scarcity Articles
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Water scarcity projections
Things are changing globally — and long term trends are not very encouraging. The map here and its included commentary tell an extremely complex story. Water scarcity already affects every continent and around 2.8 billion people around the world at least one month out of every year. More than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. It mostly affects arid and deserted areas, ...
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Water policy at science–policy interface – challenges and opportunities for India
Water scarcity is a serious concern in emerging economies, as it impacts human development, livelihoods, environment and economic growth. Policies should be formulated in a way that reflects the problem of water scarcity and is oriented towards providing solutions. The science–policy interface can play a key role in translating scientific knowledge into policy action and in mitigating water ...
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Coping with water scarcity. An action framework for agriculture and food security
This report aims to provide a conceptual framework to address food security under conditions of water scarcity in agriculture. The purpose of this report is twofold. First, to define a water accounting framework that allows water scarcity to be interpreted objectively. Second, to indicate where and how agricultural water management can play a more proactive and effective role in response to ...
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The temporal–spatial assessment of water scarcity with the Water Poverty Index: a study in the middle basin of the Heihe River, northwest China
This paper details an application of the Water Poverty Index (WPI) to evaluate the state of water resources in an inland river basin using a case study of the Heihe River Basin (HRB) located in northwest China. The WPI includes five components (resources, access, capacity, use, and environment) and has 13 indicators; each indicator is assigned an equal weighting. The selected set of ...
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Climate Change-Induced Water Scarcity: A Threat to Human Health
Climate change might affect the development of water scarcity least in some areas of the world. Water scarcity means not only the availability but also the quality of water and sanitation. Climate change might reduce the capacity of the state to provide health care to the population. Thereby, climate change has direct and indirect impacts on human security and hence health effects may result from ...
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Evaluating water scarcity in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region by using a climate moisture index (CMI) indicator
Increasing water scarcity in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region has underscored the need to improve our understanding of the management of water resources. Using total evapotranspiration (TET) and precipitation (P) data of the past 16 years this study used a modified version of the climate moisture index (CMI) in order to evaluate water scarcity throughout the SADC region, ...
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Informal network utilisation and water distribution in two districts in the Khorezm Province, Uzbekistan
Abstract: This paper analyses informal networks and their utilisation during a period of water scarcity in an upstream and a downstream district in the Khorezm Province, Uzbekistan. The evaluation is based on an organisational theory approach on informal networks. Communication patterns between farm managers, district water departments and district governors in a year with a sufficient amount ...
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Return of the Leviathan?
Hydropolitics in the developing world revisitedThe paper focuses on the evolution of water management regimes, water scarcity, and the transition to a new water legislation in South Africa that occurred with the passing of the 1998 National Water Act. It takes issue with the analysis offered by Turton & Meissner in their 2002 article ‘The hydrosocial contract and its manifestation in society: A South African case study’ (in Hydropolitics and ...
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Environmental change and migration in Sub-Saharan Africa
Environmental changes are especially pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Land degradation is nowadays a major concern for 32 countries in Africa, and over 300 million people in SSA face water scarcity (UNEP, 2008). To what extent are environmental factors likely to trigger migration in SSA? To shed some light on the question, this paper provides the latest figures and information. The ...
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Global Monthly Water Scarcity: Blue Water Footprints versus Blue Water Availability
Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide. We improve upon past efforts by using estimates of blue water footprints (consumptive use of ground- and surface water flows) rather than water withdrawals, accounting for the flows needed to sustain critical ecological functions and by ...
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The role of proximity in problem identification: risk of water scarcity in Texas
This project seeks to determine whether proximity to major water sources (e.g. rivers or lakes) is associated with the public's perception of water scarcity. From a theoretical perspective, this project will aid our collective understanding of problem identification. From a practical perspective, this relationship could help inform decision makers about where support or resistance to a water ...
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Water-Related Business Risks
Water scarcity, pollution, climate change, and other problematic global water trends pose major challenges to businesses now and will continue to do so in the years ahead. The following article summarizes relevant concepts and provides a non-exhaustive overview of case studies, existing risk management tools, and global players. Continue reading the full ...
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Exploring water indices and associated parameters: a case study approach
In the past 20 years, over 50 water indices have been developed to characterize human-water systems within the frameworks of water scarcity, water poverty, water vulnerability, and water security. This study compares existing water indices in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to better understand which parameters (or lack thereof) contribute to the usefulness of water indices. Drawing on knowledge about ...
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Challenges of Developing an EU Strategic Approach to Water Scarcity
Water scarcity is a serious and growing problem in a number of EU Member States. EU water law has traditionally focused on water quality issues. However, the introduction in 2000 of the Water Framework Directive has provided the first coherent legal tool to address water scarcity and this has been supported by further policy aimed directly at water scarcity. However, there are also many local ...
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What Is Water Scarcity?
Whether it’s from drought or lack of access, more than a billion people around the world don’t have enough clean water Acute drought conditions and dwindling natural water resources are focusing more attention on what continues to be a worldwide problem: a lack of access to fresh, potable water. Water scarcity can be defined as a lack of sufficient water, or not having access to ...
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Water markets as a response to scarcity
Existing water governance systems are proving to be quite ineffective in managing water scarcity, creating severe risk for many aspects of our societies and economies. Water markets are a relatively new and increasingly popular tool in the fight against growing water scarcity. They make a voluntary exchange possible between interested buyers and sellers of water rights. This paper presents ...
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Measuring Water Stress
There are different ways to measure how deeply the demand for water exceeds the supply and what it means Water scarcity and water stress are terms we hear often, but what exactly do they mean? It depends on how they are measured. Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator One widely used method of measuring water scarcity is the Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator, also known as the Falkenmark indicator ...
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America`s Water Risk: Water Stress and Climate Variability
The emerging awareness of the dependence of business on water has resulted in increasing awareness of the concept of “Water Risk” and the diverse ways in which water can pose threats to businesses in certain regions and sectors. Businesses seek to secure sustainable income. To do so, they need to maintain a competitive advantage and brand differentiation. They need secure and stable ...
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Hydropolitics is what societies make of it (or why we need a constructivist approach to the geopolitics of water)
Although the study of hydropolitics (i.e. the geopolitics of water) is mainly an offshoot of the discipline of International Relations (IR), the use of IR conceptual tools remains largely implicit in the literature. As a result, theoretical exploration has been very limited in hydropolitics and is usually cast within IR's traditional divide between realism and liberalism. This is problematic ...
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How Drones Can Help Mitigate Water Stress & Scarcity
The facts surrounding water stress and scarcity make for alarming reading, with millions of people around the world now facing serious issues where water resources are concerned, with the situation being exacerbated by climate change, human activity, ageing infrastructure, contamination, water mismanagement and conflict. Figures show that four billion people (which is nearly two-thirds of the ...
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