Post on 21-Sep-2020
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Global Water Issues
Royal City Men’s ClubGuelph, May 25, 2017
Philippe Van Cappellen
1
Ecohydrology
ECOLOGYHYDROLOGY
2
HUMANDIMENSION
3Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Water Use (Water Footprint)
70%
22%
8%
80%
11% 9%
Global Canada
4
Economy
Poverty
Food production
Energy
Health
Security
Environment
Biodiversity
Climate change
…
WATER
5
Withdrawal versus Consumption
water withdrawal = water diverted or withdrawn from a surface water or groundwater source.
Vickers A. The Handbook of Water Use and Conservation.
water consumption = water permanently withdrawn from its source – i.e., the water is not returned to the immediate water environment.
6
0
500
1 000
1 500
2 000
2 500
250
750
1 250
1 750
2 250
08
AsiaNorth AmericaEuropeAfricaSouth AmericaAustraliaand Oceania
Top 20 waterconsumers per capita
1 000 to 1 800 m3
1 800 to 3 000 m3
5 900 to 8 100 m3
Water use at the endof the 1990s
WithdrawalConsumption
Global Water Withdrawal and Consumption
AsiaNorth America
Europe
Africa
South America
Australia and Oceania
0
500
1 000
1 500
2 000
2 500
3 000
3 500
0
500
1 000
1 500
2 000
2 500
3 000
3 500
1900 1925 1950 1975 2000 2025 1900
km3
1925 1950 1975 2000 2025
Withdrawal Consumption
Assessment Forecast Assessmentkm3
Forecast
Source: Igor A. Shiklomanov, State Hydrological Institute (SHI, St. Petersburg) and United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO, Paris), 1999; World Resources 2000-2001, People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life, World Resources Institute (WRI), Washington DC, 2000; Paul Harrison and Fred Pearce, AAAS Atlas of Population 2001, American Association for the Advancement of Science, University of California Press, Berkeley .
PHILIPPE REKACEWICZ, MARCH 2002
km3
per year
Global Water Withdrawal and Consumption
Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
7
0
500
1 000
1 500
2 000
2 500
250
750
1 250
1 750
2 250
08
AsiaNorth AmericaEuropeAfricaSouth AmericaAustraliaand Oceania
Top 20 waterconsumers per capita
1 000 to 1 800 m3
1 800 to 3 000 m3
5 900 to 8 100 m3
Water use at the endof the 1990s
WithdrawalConsumption
Global Water Withdrawal and Consumption
AsiaNorth America
Europe
Africa
South America
Australia and Oceania
0
500
1 000
1 500
2 000
2 500
3 000
3 500
0
500
1 000
1 500
2 000
2 500
3 000
3 500
1900 1925 1950 1975 2000 2025 1900
km3
1925 1950 1975 2000 2025
Withdrawal Consumption
Assessment Forecast Assessmentkm3
Forecast
Source: Igor A. Shiklomanov, State Hydrological Institute (SHI, St. Petersburg) and United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO, Paris), 1999; World Resources 2000-2001, People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life, World Resources Institute (WRI), Washington DC, 2000; Paul Harrison and Fred Pearce, AAAS Atlas of Population 2001, American Association for the Advancement of Science, University of California Press, Berkeley.
PHILIPPE REKACEWICZ, MARCH 2002
km3
per year
8
9
Renewable Freshwater Resources (RFWR)
Ø Water is a “circulating” resource
Ø Water flows (or fluxes), not stocks, are the most relevant measures of freshwater availability
10
Water withdrawals (in 1000 km3/year):
• agriculture: 2.8• industry: 0.9• domestic: 0.4
Compare to total river flow: 45 (x 1000 km3/year)
demand << supply
globally, there is enough water to cover human demand (given adequate water management)
RFWR: Global Supply and Demand
4.1
But …
11
Ø Not all freshwater resources are (easily) accessible.
Ø Human consumption competes with water requirements of natural ecosystems.
Ø There is a large geographic variability in precipitation and runoff.
Ø Supply and demand analysis must account for water quality.
We all live downstream …
12
Source: NASA
Extreme Case: Aral Sea
13
1973 1987 2000
Environmental Flows = Quantity + Quality
14
degraded
highlydegraded
Water quality
good
*Indicators: usable habitat, vegetative cover, biodiversity, trophic status, food web structure, assimilative capacity, nutrient recycling, …
Eco
logi
cal h
eal
th*
Flow discharge
optimum
“Anthropogenic” Nutrients (N, P, K, S)
15
Projected human N input
Total human N input
Fertilizers and industrial uses
2050200019801960194019201900
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Tg N year-1
Range of N fixation in natural terrestrial ecosystems
Year
Milenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005)
(Harmful) Algal BloomsQindao, July 2013
16
Great Lakes (Summer 2014)
17
18
Nitrogen Loading in Europe
19
(Micro)pollutants of Concern
20
• over 100 million chemicals registered• less than 0.4% inventoried/regulated
Blue Economy
21
Ø natural capital and ecosystem services have economic value Ø scarcity can be converted into abundance by applying
resource-efficient business models Ø sustainably managing water resources promotes economic
growth and resilience
Ecosystem Services
22
Ecosystem Services
23
“Healthy” ecosystems
Provide ecosystem services
• food and biomass production• drinking water supply• habitat and biodiversity• storage, filtering and transformation• recreation• support for man-made structures, protection• regulation of climate (e.g., carbon sequestration) • …
Strengthen economic and social development
Decrease exposure to environmental hazards
Improve human health and well-being, contributes to sustainable development
Economic Valuation: Grand River Basin
24
• 6,800 km2, larger than PEI
• ~11,000 km (6800 miles) rivers and streams
• Highly regulated
• Extensive agriculture (>70% total area)
• ~1 M people
• Rapid population growth (1.4 M by 2031)
• Rapid urbanization (>80% population)
• 50 municipal drinking water systems
• 70% water supply = groundwater
Lake EriePhD project Tariq Aziz
25
Grand River Watershed: Ecosystem Services
Air qualityClimate regulationFlood controlFlow regulationWater supplySoil retentionNutrient recyclingWaste treatmentPollinationPest and disease controlHabitatFood productionRaw materialsGenetic resourcesMedicinal resourcesEducation, culture, recreation
Water purification
Water supply for agriculture
Nutrient recycling
Carbon sequestration
Flow regulation
PhD Project Tariq Aziz
… $$$$ …
• 5 ecosystem services1: $200 million per year
26
• Waterloo Region (Canada’s Technology Triangle):
GDP (2009): $19.5 billion per year2
1Conservative estimates (Tariq Aziz)
2Ontario Business Report (2012)
• Pre-European settlement1: $900 million per year
27
You Are Richer Than You Think
• Natural processes in watersheds provide a wide range of ecosystem services.
27
• Economic valuation of ecosystem services helps raise public
awareness about water and water-dependent resources, and can
inform policy making.
• Financial values can be placed on ecosystem services.
28
Opportunity costs
Ecological costs
Environmental costs
Administrative and support costs
Operation and maintenance costs
Investment costs
Financial costs
Full cost
28Adapted from Folifac and Gaskin (2011) J. Ecol. Nat. Environ. 3, 400
The Cost of Water
The Price of Water
29
0 15001000500 2000
0 1.510.5 2
Canada
USA
Australia
Italy
Belgium
France
Germany
UK
Denmark
Source: OECD
Annual water withdrawal in m3 per capita
Price in US$ per m3
Water Stress: Global Issues – Now
30
Ø Hydro-environmental limits are being reached in many of the major grain producing areas (Mediterranean, Punjab, Northern China, Central and Western United States, NE Brazil, …)
Credit: NASA/Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio/USDA-ARS
June 2011 August 2012
Water Stress: Global Issues – Now
31
Ø Depletion groundwater resources, salinization aquifers and surface waters, accumulation pollutants, environmental degradation downstream ecosystems, including coastal areas (e.g., algal blooms)
Credit: US Geological Survey – National Water Quality Assessment Program
32
Water Stress: Global Issues – The Future …?
Ø World population and per capita water demand continue to rise.
Ø Climate change will intensify competition for water and exacerbate regional differences.
Ø In many areas, existing water management and supply systems will not be able to cope with the growing demand.
Ø The number of people affected by water stress is projected to double by ≈2080.
Water-Related Conflicts
33
Ø 145 countries share river basins; 33 countries rely for ≥ 95 % of their freshwater supply on a source located outside their national boundaries; there are 273 major transboundary groundwater aquifers.
(World Water Week, Stockholm, August 16-22, 2009)
Ø Water crosses not only national, but also economic, policy, trade, social, cultural, environmental and knowledge boundaries.
Ø In water disputes political power is often asymmetrically distributed.
34
Engineering solutions
Ecological solutions
Protect key ecosystems
Minimize human impact
Steer/enhance natural
remediation and flow regulation*
Reuse water
(blue, green, gray water)
Diversify sources
Replace natural/local sources
(transport water, desalination)
*Riparian buffer zones, aquifer recharge, marshes, constructed wetlands
34
Eco(hydro)logical Engineering
Take-Home Messages• Water is our most precious natural resource. It is a renewable resource.
35
• Economic valuation of ecosystem services helps raise public awareness about water
and water-dependent resources, and inform sustainable regional development.
• Eco(hydro)logical engineering solutions incorporate hydrological and ecosystem
processes and principles into sustainable development strategies.
• Key challenges for water management are to (1) balance the water needs of humans and
those of natural ecosystems, and (2) anticipate changes in anthropogenic pressures
(population growth, climate change, emerging pollutants).
• The Blue Economy offers a roadmap to more resilient and more broad-based
economies, less vulnerable to natural and social induced water risks .
Water footprint 75 litres 120 litres 10 litres
36
THANK YOU!
Water footprint 75 litres 120 litres 10 litres
37
THANK YOU!
20 gallons 32 gallons 2.6 gallons
38
Water Use and River Biodiversity
Vörösmarty et al. (2010) Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature, volume 467.
foodfertilizers
accumulation
wastewater discharge, storm overflow, urban emissions
39
Circular Economy: Example: Nutrients
Rural Urban Natural
food
accumulation
fertilizers wastewater discharge, storm overflow, urban emissions
biosolids, compost… 40
Nutrient (Re)cycling
Rural Urban Natural