Water crisis: From conflict to cooperation—an overview

Abstract

The quantity of freshwater available per person in the world has been and continues to decrease due to a combination of factors, including population increase, water pollution, inadequate planning and management of transboundary and other shared waters, and inefficient operation of water supply and distribution systems. Consequently, there is an increasing potential for water scarcity, crisis and associated conflicts around the world in the future, especially in developing regions, if the current trend in water consumption and management practices continues. In this fast-changing and highly-interconnected world, the problems related to water crisis and conflicts are numerous, complicated and challenging. Efforts to effectively resolve these problems require a clear vision of the future water availability and demand as well as new ways of thinking, developing and implementing water planning and management practices. The present study attempts to offer a comprehensive account of the above issues and also some important guidelines for advancing research in this direction. Assessments of past, present and future statuses of the world's water are reviewed. Major water initiatives and their targets, successes and failures are highlighted. The urgent need for new ways of thinking, including an integrated framework (encompassing both the "hard sciences" and the "soft sciences"), water education and training and communication of the water issues and our studies to the different stakeholders in the water sector, is also discussed.

Hydropsychology: the human side of water research

“…There is no doubt that these aspects have indeed been extensively addressed in water-related studies, in one way or another (see, for example, Shiva 2002, Iyer, 2007, Biswas et al 2009, for some details; see also Sivakumar, 2011 and the references therein). However, such studies have largely been limited to water quantity, quality and socio-economic aspects, including the applications of scientific methods such as the Delphi Technique, Expert Systems and Decision Support Systems.…”

“…Lorey 2003; see also Sivakumar, 2011, for some general details). The consequences of lack of water are being disseminated in the simplest and most blunt way, particularly for the layman to access and understand, as has been done in an article entitled "Water shortages foster terrorism" (Sutherland 2003), a report from Tokyo for BBC News, quoting the presentation by Mona El Kody, the Chair of the National Water Research Unit in Egypt, at the Third World Water Forum.…”

“…The fact that the majority of these deaths are among children under five years of age clearly highlights the dangerous situation we are already in. Projected increase of future population (UN 2007) and impacts of global climate change (increases in the frequency and magnitude of droughts, floods, and sea-level rise; see Kundzewicz et al 2007Kundzewicz et al , 2008, for details), among others, offer compelling indications that this situation will likely become only worse (for details, see Sivakumar 2011, and the references therein).…”

Application of Microbial Technology Used in Bioremediation of Urban Polluted River: A Case Study of Chengnan River, China

“…Mei, etc. found that the biofilm technique would be more effective in purifying black-odor water with the application of sediment aeration techniques beforehand, through a laboratory experiment which showed that the removal rates of NH 4 + -N and COD reached up to 63.25% and 53.06%…”

Solar Water Purification System Design: Application Study in Lake Taihu, China

“…The remaining 97.5% is in the form of saltwater in the oceans and saline groundwater. Freshwater from lakes and rivers, acting as the main sources of human water consumption, only contains an average of about 90,000 km 3 of water and just 0.26% of the total global freshwater resources [1]. Global demand for water has increased up to three times with the surge of the population since the 1950s, while the supply of fresh water has been continuously declining [2].…”