Istanbul: the challenges of integrated water resources management in Europa’s megacity

Abstract

Effective integrated water resources management (IWRM) and developments impacting on water resources are recognized as key components of environmentally sustainable development. Istanbul (Turkey) is a very large metropolitan city with a population of approximately 14 million. Istanbul is one of the 23 megacities (metropolitan areas with a population of more than 10 million) in the world and one of the most rapidly growing cities in Europe. The annual population growth is 2.8 %. The population growth in the city is almost twice the overall rate of the whole of Turkey, because of a large in-migration. The present study is a baseline assessment of IWRM of Istanbul and also provides a critical review of Istanbul's future challenges. The assessment is part of an action on water governance (City Blueprints) in the context of the European Innovation Partnership on Water of the European Commission. The City Blueprint indicator approach and process have been applied as first step of gaining a better understanding of IWRM and the challenges ahead. This is done by using well-established and high-quality data sets, a relatively cost-effective online survey and a relatively simple questionnaire. Istanbul has set a good example to the challenges faced in water supply in megacities, where illegal settlements on watershed zones posed a threat to scarce water resources. Despite these enormous efforts, the projected future population growth and climate change in Istanbul will necessitate further major transitions towards sustainable IWRM. This holds for all aspects of the water cycle: water quality, water quantity, water supply and sanitation, coping with extreme weather events (floods and droughts), as well as for the protection of the sources of water, i.e. ecosystem conservation. Istanbul is a place where problems emerge and solutions need to be found. The time window available to do this is rapidly closing. As such, this review of IWRM of Istanbul confirms the conclusions of the World Economic Forum that water 123Environ Dev Sustain (2016) 18:1-17 DOI 10.1007 supply is one of the top three global risks for both the impact and likelihood. Our framework has been applied for nearly 40 cities, and the results for Istanbul are discussed in the broader context of recent initiatives on water governance and smart cities by the European Commission.

Assessment of the Sustainability of Water Resources Management: A Critical Review of the City Blueprint Approach

“…The first step in the strategic planning process is that stakeholders are identified and information is provided for a baseline assessment. Hereafter, long-term goals and priorities are set resulting in follow-up actions leading to measures that promote sustainable IWRM (Philip et al 2011;Van Leeuwen and Sjerps 2015). The City Blueprint Framework (CBF) aims to be the first step in strategic planning and consists of 24 indicators divided over eight broad categories, i.e., 1) Water security, 2) Water quality, 3) Drinking water, 4) Sanitation, 5) Infrastructure, 6) Climate robustness, 7) Biodiversity and attractiveness, and 8) Governance.…”

City Blueprints: baseline assessments of water management and climate change in 45 cities

“…The review is also carried out to provide a better separation between the local UWCS management performance in cities and the 'context' of cities, i.e., the social, environmental and financial trends and pressures in countries. A critical evaluation of the method is provided by Van Leeuwen and Sjerps (2015b). Scores 0 (concern) to 10 (no concern) BCI Blue City Index Ò , the arithmetic mean of 24 indicators which varies from 0 to 10 Stakeholders Water utility, water board, city council, companies, NGOs, etc.…”

“…Similar challenges remain on the agenda for Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European cities. For instance, Istanbul faces water scarcity from rapid urbanization and as a result of climate change (EEA 2012;Van Leeuwen and Sjerps 2015b). In fact, climate change will affect many cities in areas where the blue water footprint exceeds the blue water availability (Hoekstra et al 2012;EEA 2012;FAO 2015) or where groundwater supplies are diminishing as an estimated 20 % of the world's aquifers are overexploited (UN 2014).…”

The Pluralistic Water Research Concept: A New Human-Water System Research Approach

“…It was originally promoted in the political arena, but today it is also acknowledged, applied and discussed in science [10,11]. According to the definition of the Global Water Partnership, IWRM can be understood as "a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems" [12].…”