Sustainable Development and Water Security

Towards Achieving a Water-Secure World

By (author) Melvyn Kay, Olcay Ünver

Publication date:

05 December 2024

Publisher

Agenda Publishing

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781788216753

Water is an integral part of our daily lives, yet most of us have little idea about how much water we use to maintain our lifestyles and the extent to which our lifestyles pollute and degrade water resources. The increasing occurrence of floods, droughts and water pollution incidents are reminders of our vulnerability in relation to water. Estimates suggest that global water demand could outstrip supply by the middle of the century if we continue with the current “business as usual” approach to water management.

Melvyn Kay and Olcay Ünver use Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 as a framework to explore the concept of sustainable water resources management and how to improve water security. They provide a synthesis of water resources planning and management issues across all water-using sectors to dispel misunderstandings and myths and enable informed approaches to decision-making. In so doing, they offer an in-depth critical review of SDG6, including what it does and does not do. Case studies from around the world are used throughout the book to illustrate the key issues of water (in)security.

1. Water, water…
1.1 Water security: balancing supply and demand
1.2 Different people, different views and priorities
1.3 Does water have value?
1.4 About Covid
1.5 This book…

2. Understanding water better and working together
2.1 The hydrologist's story
2.2 The water resource planner's story
2.3 The river engineer's story
2.4 The freshwater ecologist’s story
2.5 The water engineer’s story
2.6 The irrigation engineer’s story
2.7 The farmer’s story
2.8 The energy engineer’s story
2.9 Working together
2.10 Need for a common language

3. An anatomy of SDG 6
3.1 Data are vital
3.2 The value of indicators
3.3 Water, sanitation and health targets
3.4 Target 6.3: Water quality and wastewater
3.5 Target 6.4: WUE and scarcity
3.6 Target 6.5: Integrated water resources management
3.7 Target 6.6: Freshwater ecosystems
3.8 Targets 6.a and 6.b: Means of implementation

4. Responding to the challenges
4.1 Governance
4.2 Integrated water resources management
4.3 Eliminating inequalities
4.4 Embracing innovative technologies and management
4.5 Increasing spending
4.6 Increasing capacity
4.7 More data needed
4.8 Science into policy and practice

5. Thinking beyond SDG 6: links with other SDGs
5.1 Water and society
5.2 Water and the economy
5.3 Water and the environment

6. Our final word

Two of the most salient objectives animating our world today are sustainable development and water security. Whether you are seasoned water expert, stakeholder, academic, policymaker or interested citizen this book offers an accessible path to move beyond often simplistic generalities into the substantive heart of these critical objectives. The authors bring a wealth of worldwide water resources experiences and share them in useful and understandable ways. Most importantly, the book shows how various sectors in society relate to SDGs and security especially through governance within vastly different social systems.