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water withdrawal = water diverted or withdrawn from a surface water or groundwater source.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water consumption = water permanently withdrawn from its source – i.e., the water is not returned to the immediate water environment.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