An integrated approach to valuing water
At a glance
As climate change, urbanization and industrialization affects the availability of water, how do we maintain a balance between all the demands on our water resources? Acknowledging all of the ways they value water can help a community decide how it should be managed and shared, and to identify and prioritize critical issues to address.
World Water Day celebrates water but also raises awareness of the global water crisis The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 is to achieve water and sanitation for all by 2030, but we face many challenges to get there as demand for water resources increases from all users.
How can we balance demands? Integrated Water Management (IWM) frameworks can provide decision-makers with a platform to involve more diverse stakeholder groups and transition to multi-value water governance and multi-benefit water infrastructure. This helps prioritize actions and investments that lead to better outcomes for the community and the environment.
What are the major ways in which water is valued by communities?
1. As a natural resource and ecosystem
Climate change is causing more extreme weather events, resulting in increased incidences of flooding and changing water availability in others, exacerbating water scarcity
2. For drinking water, sanitation and health services
Access to clean water helps prevent disease epidemics. Handwashing is a cost-effective intervention that improves public health by drastically reducing the spread of infectious diseases.
3. Water infrastructure for storage, supply and waste treatment
If not properly managed, wastewater can spread diseases, and introduce excess nutrients and hazardous substances into rivers, lakes and oceans damaging ecosystems and creating risks for communities.
4. As an input to production and socio-economic activity
Agriculture, energy generation and other industries are expanding to meet the needs of a growing population, but their demands compete with other needs and discharges impact water quality and biodiversity and affect availability for other uses
Capturing the value
Technical and policy innovation can help us improve efficiency and reuse, reduce the impact we have on ecosystems, and reduce the pressure of a growing population and economy on our available water resources.
- Use less water in agriculture and production processes by developing technology for better irrigation or rain-fed cultivation, planting new crop varieties or growing less thirsty crops
- Improving energy use for the extraction, treatment, transportation and heating of water and the recovery of energy from water and wastewater resources
- Increase efficiency in our infrastructure by repairing leaks to reduce water losses in municipal distribution networks
- Reduce pollution from untreated wastewater and improve treatment systems to remove residual and emerging contaminants
- Adopt Circular Economy principles including increased water recycling and reuse, and nutrient recovery, carbon and other materials from wastewater
Considering all of these actions and investments within an IWM framework can help capture important insights from all stakeholders and help decision-makers allocate resources to improve water management globally.
IWM benefits
- An IWM framework also helps us assess and plan for the universal effects and uncertainties of climate change.
- All of our future water interventions will need to build resilience to shocks such as flood and drought and build in adaptive capability to respond to change more rapidly.
- A comprehensive framework and approach also provides better data and information, and reveals where data is missing and needed to inform decision making and continue the cycle of learning and improvement of our systems, and their effects on people and the planet
- Improving both community and institutional capabilities to make more informed decisions on water-use will result in improved service levels and more equitable allocation of water resources that reflect the right balance of water use for a community.
How can GHD help?
GHD works with water managers, utilities, governments, businesses and communities to bring technology, innovation and experience to the challenge of sustaianble water management. We help find the balance between environmental, social and economic outcomes, while striving to repair past damage and build the resilliance needed to create certainty for the future.
Meet Rod
Rod Naylor is leading GHD’s global water strategy. He strives to connect experiences, innovations and capabilities from across the industry and around the world, while engaging in the discourse of industry trends, policy and governance matters. A Chemical Engineer by training, Rod has spent his working life in a range of roles in both public and private sectors in the water and environmental industry in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and USA.