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Sustainable water supply is one of the key issues for water resources management. The future demand for clean water is putting pressure on the Malaysian government to find alternative supplies and best management practices in managing water resources, such as the use of reclaimed water. This paper evaluates the perceptions and acceptance of the use of treated water for non-drinking purposes in Malaysia from the responses of 1,004 participants. The results show that age and level of education play an important role in the level of community acceptance. Females tend to be more selective than males in their acceptance to use reclaimed water. To guarantee that the public receives accurate information about reclaimed water, social media can be used for disseminating information, especially to younger generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaciers respond sensitively to climate variability and change, with associated impacts on meltwater production, sea-level rise and geomorphological hazards. There is a strong societal interest in understanding the current response of all types of glacier systems to climate change and how they will continue to evolve in the context of the whole glacierized landscape. In particular, understanding the current and future behaviour of debris-covered glaciers is a 'hot topic' in glaciological research because of concerns for water resources and glacier-related hazards. The state of these glaciers is closely related to various hazardous geomorphological processes which are relatively poorly understood. Understanding the implications of debris-covered glacier evolution requires a systems approach. This includes the interplay of various factors such as local geomorphology, ice ablation patterns, debris characteristics and glacier lake growth and development. Such a broader, contextualized understanding is prerequisite to identifying and monitoring the geohazards and hydrologic implications associated with changes in the debris-covered glacier system under future climate scenarios. This paper presents a comprehensive review of current knowledge of the debris-covered glacier landsystem. Specifically, we review state-of-the-art field-based and the remote sensing-based methods for monitoring debris-covered glacier characteristics and lakes and their evolution under future climate change. We advocate a holistic process-based framework for assessing hazards associated with moraine-dammed glacio-terminal lakes that are a projected end-member state for many debris-covered glaciers under a warming climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries in the world, including South Africa, are water-stressed with increasing pressure on their water resources due to population growth, climate change, and inadequate funding. Post-independence in 1994, many policies and programmes were introduced by the government with the aim of promoting water management. While these policies and strategies achieved much in terms of water provision to communities and households, they failed to establish a water-conscious country with sufficient knowledge and expertise in water management. In addition, these policies and programmes are outdated, compartmentalised, complex, and lack robust water governance with resilient stakeholder partnerships that advance the more explicit second phase of the National Development Plan (NDP) to achieve water security under the threat of climate change. Using data collection tools inspired by the traditional method of participatory research, this paper analyses the structural and systematic factors hindering the implementation of comprehensive policies to achievewater security in South Africa. There is, therefore, an urgent need for SouthAfrica to establish an independent water regulator to ensure coordination between different government departments, including the National Treasury, to strengthen weak governance capacity and to make it independent to attract private equity into the sector and to recover fiscal deficits in the water sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to assess the water crisis in Nepal by conducting a series of case studies in rural watersheds in the mid-hills. This was achieved through the applied qualitative method, especially combinations of desk study/structured searches, consultation, and field observation. The ground survey revealed that most of the rural communities in the mid-hills have an unreliable water supply. According to the local stakeholders, 20-25% of water resources have dried up as compared to 20 years ago. Drying up of water resources disproportionately affects women and girls in rural areas as women are responsible for household chores, including fetching drinking water. The findings also revealed that low-income households bear a disproportionate coping burden as compared to elite groups, as they often engage in coping strategies such as collecting water from distant water sources, which is labor- and time-intensive, and also yields smaller quantities of water. Assuming that unreliable water supplies will continue to exist in rural areas of the mid-hills for the foreseeable future, there is a critical need to consider which, if any, coping strategies will be most effective in ensuring that poor households will have access to safe and sufficient water supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the water resources vulnerability (WRV) rationally in Haihe River Basin (HRB) using set pair analysis (SPA) theory. Design/methodology/approach – An improved intelligent set pair analysis (IISPA) model is established, in which intelligent SPA theory is introduced and the weights are determined by use of the maximum entropy principle and the improved analytic hierarchy process method. The index systems and criteria of WRV assessment in terms of water cycle, socio-economy, and ecological environment are established based on the analysis of sensibility and adaptability. Findings – The authors apply IISPA to the WRV assessment of seven administrative divisions in HRB. Results show IISPA can fully take advantage of certain and uncertain information compared with fuzzy assessment and topsis assessment models. For present situation, Shanxi, Shandong, Tianjing, Inner Mongolia, Hebei are higher, Henan and Beijing are the middle vulnerability. But Henan will become worse under climate change scenario II and IV. Research limitations/implications – The analysis results may be affected by the limited climate change data. Practical implications – It is helpful for further research to the complexity analysis of water resources system. Social implications – This paper will have an important impact on water resources sustainable utilization. Originality/value – This is the first time to utilize IISPA method to analyze the WRV of seven administrative divisions in HRB. This paper provides an important theoretical support for water resources management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing concern in Iraq about the inefficiency of reactive drought management practices. Corresponding actions are largely characterized as emergency-based responses that treat the symptoms of drought rather than consider the vulnerability components associated with impacts. The Diyala watershed shared between Iraq and Iran has been used as an example transboundary river basin marked by ineffectiveness of drought management. The standardized precipitation index and the reconnaissance drought index were used to determine the historical meteorological drought episodes and analysis indicated climate change-induced alterations in the area. Spatiotemporal drought maps were drawn, which can be used for the identification of drought prone areas and assist with proactive planning. This paper discusses the underlying causes of the impairments of drought management policies, and the challenges and difficulties accompanying the governance of drought in Iraq. Given the influence of climate change and the upstream anthropogenic pressures, the time has come to adopt a gradual nation-wide transition step to drought risk planning incorporating a management approach at the transboundary scale. Moreover, the institutional and technical water vulnerability components associated with drought management should be considered in an integrated manner. The paper presents a generic technical template to support decision-makers in drought risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustaining the water supply in megacities is an enormous challenge. To address this challenge, it is especially important to predict water demand changes in megacities. This paper presents a system dynamics model to predict the future water demands of different sectors considering multiple factors, including population, structure of the economy, and water supply and use technologies. Compared with traditional methods such as the time series method and structure analysis method, the proposed model takes into account the interconnections, non-linear relationships and feedbacks between the various factors in a systems context. The model is applied to Beijing, a megacity with a population over 20 million and very limited water availability. It is found that the total water demand is likely to increase by at least 36.1% (up to 62.5%) by 2030 compared with that in 2011, and the water deficits vary from -0.36 × 109 to 1.80 × 109m3 in 2030. In addition, scenarios are designed to account for impacts associated with economic development, climate change and inter-basin water transfers. It is shown that climate change may have a large impact on the water supply reliability in Beijing. The water shortage problems can be alleviated via inter-basin water transfers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few international water-sharing agreements have shown the flexibility to adjust to extended drought; fewer still provide safeguards for adaptation to modern climate variability. Yet, current conflicts over the development and use of transboundary rivers continue to motivate the search for negotiated water-sharing arrangements that can provide flexibility in the face of change. To avoid future conflicts, an agreement must include measures that allow for adaptation to changes in water supplies, population, climate, technology, infrastructure, and economic activity while also guiding water use patterns. The benefits of a flexible agreement can be a more predictable water supply for all riparians, greater incentives to develop needed water infrastructure and more open, transparent and accountable water institutions. Other benefits include increased food production, water security, environmental protection, reduced flood damage, better adaptation to the costs of extreme weather and variable climate, and a reduced need for complex legal, administrative and enforcement activities. This paper investigates ways to achieve sustainable transboundary water-sharing agreements. It investigates barriers to forging water-sharing agreements, describes errors that could undermine settlements and presents takeaway lessons from two North American agreements and one in south Asia. Finally, the paper proposes an approach by which information on headwater flows and historical use patterns could be used to allocate supplies between riparians that adapt to changes in water supply and demand. Outcomes from the implementation of structured, but flexible agreements could help guide future negotiated settlements for the worlds international rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ways we discuss water policy decisions often closely mirror broader social and ethical decisions, for example: water as a common good; water and human dignity; water as a facilitator of well being; rights and responsibilities of access to water; justice and water. Water is a symbol of reconciliation, healing and regeneration which appears in virtually all of our known organized faith-based religions. Water decisions truly seem to be at the nexus of ethics, public policies, nature, values, beliefs and rationality. This paper opens windows into this nexus by starting with selected water policy arenas (arenas not generally thought to contain dimensions of ethics and faith) and generalizing about the dilemmas presented by decisions in them. These arenas are: dealing with risk/ uncertainty in water and climate change decisions; changing terms of discourse on world water, especially between rich and poor; concepts of nature in water decision making; dealing with water and conflict; and processes of governance and water decisions. The paper concludes with suggestions of how ethics and faith might connect in decisions concerning water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the system of economic and environmental accounting for water to demonstrate how the water sector interacts with the social-economic sectors of the economy. Furthermore, it reviews the existing institutional and policy framework in Uganda, and proposes an analytical framework which can be used to provide sound intersectoral planning in order to achieve sustainable water resource use. The proposed framework also articulates how outcomes of water policies and social-economic policies can be analyzed. In Uganda, the uneven distribution of water resources both in space and time, poses constraints to economic activity particularly in the water-scarce regions of the country. The problem is being exacerbated by the increasingly erratic rainfall and rising temperatures. The accounting results show that the current level of water use within the economy is less than the available quantity. In this regard, there is room for the development of mechanisms to increase its utilization. This would serve to mitigate the scarcity especially of water for production which primarily emanates from climate variability. This in turn affects the performance of the economy, as key sectors such as agriculture are rainfall-dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Options for adapting to changing water resources' availability due to climate change have been routinely assessed for ability to alleviate expected impacts. Methods for evaluating effectiveness of adaptation options are usually based on, fundamentally different but complementary, hazards and vulnerability assessment based approaches. In this paper, we describe a framework to integrate these approaches for improved climate change adaptation policy making. We further review assessment approaches and corresponding criteria used for evaluation of planned adaptation options in the water sector. A synthesis of methods for evaluation reveals four main categories: (i) natural sciences based, (ii) social sciences based, (iii) overlapping and (iv) trans-disciplinary. Criteria from reviewed studies are classified using a scale vis-à-vis theme based classification, and unified into a criteria set covering important adaptation requirements while allowing case-specific modification. We find that important criteria, such as temporal scope of adaptation and implementability, have not been explicitly considered in scientific literature. The type of adaptation has an important bearing on evaluation and should be effectively modelled to make an informed decision regarding performance. Moreover, we suggest that it is important to explicitly consider influence of future changes in non-climatic factors along with climatic changes for a more robust analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment framework that analyses the impacts of climate change on the water diversion strategies of a water transfer project in China. A water diversion strategy consists of high and low water levels as well as related diversion flows in four operating periods: pre-flood, flood, post-flood and non-flood periods. The optimal water diversion problem is defined as a multi-objective problem with two conflicting objectives: minimising human and ecological water supply shortages, and solved by the popular non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II). The derived Pareto- optimal solutions are then evaluated using the predicted runoffs based on an ensemble of three general circulation models under three climate scenarios. Results obtained from the study catchment show that intra-annual distribution of future runoff changes. The optimal solutions on the Pareto front have greatly varying performance under a climate scenario. It is critical to reveal the different impacts of climate change on the water shortages over the four operating periods, in particular when an increase of water shortage in one period is masked by a reduction in one or more periods. This study illustrates that the framework can be used to identify resilient water diversion strategies to mitigate the potential impacts of climate change on the operation of a water transfer project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to propose a decision support system (DSS) for evaluating the climate change impacts on water supply-demand and inundation; and assessing the risks for water shortage and inundation under future scenarios. The proposed DSS framework is universal and flexible, which comprises five modules integrated by a geographic information system platform, including the modules of (1) scenario rainfall and temperature projection under climate change, (2) impact assessment of water supply-demand, (3) impact assessment of inundation, (4) assessment of vulnerability and risk, and (5) adaptation strategy. A case study in southern Taiwan was performed to demonstrate how the DSS provides information on the climate change impacts and risks under future scenarios. The information is beneficial to the authorities of water resources management for understanding the spatial risks for water shortage and inundation, and planning suitable adaptation strategies for the locations with larger risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether key legislative and regulatory frameworks for the provision of water services in Sydney, Australia, successfully support the complex task of planning and managing urban water systems to balance water security, cost and sustainability considerations. The challenges of managing urban water systems under a changing and uncertain climate became starkly apparent during Australia's 'Millennium Drought', a decade-long period of extremely dry conditions throughout the 2000s. As the drought progressed, several state and territory governments assumed control of planning and approvals processes in order to implement large water-supply infrastructure projects with great urgency. However, at the end of the decade La Niña rains saturated catchments, spilled over dam walls and devastated several communities with flooding. Analysis of the frameworks for third-party access, private-sector participation, planning, and water-conservation initiatives reveals that the rules, roles and responsibilities of the many actors are interlinked but not always effectively integrated. The introduction and expansion of competition in the urban water industry are an ongoing experiment with great influence on the governance of the sector and the ways in which water services are planned for and provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is facing many challenges in the water sector while implementing integrated water resources management (IWRM). Another daunting task -- adapting to water-related impacts of climate change, is also challenging China's water managers. These challenges have been posing threats to China's economic, social and environmental development. While separate efforts in promoting IWRM and climate change adaptation have been made, the approach of mainstreaming climate change adaptation strategy within IWRM is seldom studied. Attempting to fill the gap, this paper argues that there is great potential in synergizing them after analysing their distinctions and common points. By developing climate-proofing strategies within IWRM, mainstreaming is able to minimize adverse water-related climate change risks and maximize the benefits of policies and plans. In this study, entry points of mainstreaming climate change adaptation in the sustaining environment of IWRM and its process will be identified and analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change and local development make water supply one of the most vulnerable sectors in Australia. The Australian government has therefore commissioned a series of projects to evaluate water availability and the sustainable use of water resources in Australia. This paper discusses a river system modelling platform that has been used in some of these nationally significant projects. The platform consists of three components: provenance, modelling engine and reporting database. The core component is the modelling engine, an agent-based hydrological simulation system called the Integrated River System Modelling Framework (IRSMF). All configuration information and inputs to IRSMF are recorded in the provenance component so that modelling processes can be reproduced and results audited. The reporting database is used to store key statistics and raw output time series data for selected key parameters. This river system modelling platform has for the first time modelled a river system at the basin level in Australia. It provides practitioners with a unique understanding of the characteristics and emergent behaviours of river systems at the basin level. Although the platform is purpose-built for the Murray-Darling Basin, it would be easy to apply it to other basins by using different river models to model agent behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governance has been identified by many scholars as a challenge to managing natural resources in a sustainable way. In addition, climate change is impacting natural resources, and complicating management. In light of these concerns, it is important that key characteristics of sustainable management are not ignored. Scientific legitimacy, an integrative ecosystem approach, long-term monitoring and pro-active governance are all important characteristics of successful sustainable management plans. However, these characteristics have not all been included in the day-to-day functioning of the International Joint Commission. This paper looks specifically at the key characteristics required for sustainable management of transboundary water resources and determines if the International Joint Commission, and particularly the International Rainy Lake Board of Control, are applying them to policies for regulation and management of border waters shared by Ontario (Canada) and Minnesota (USA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a paper published by Mort Webster, associate professor of engineering systems, at the journal "Nature Climate Change" which states the importance of evaluating the needs prior to investing in new energy infrastructure. It explains its importance in terms of the total dependence on abundant supplies of water of the present generating systems which can be affected by change in rainfall patterns due to climate change, that will cause drought and therefore, water shortage.

The article reports that British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) secretary Caroline Spelman has emphasized the need for the public to change their attitudes to water use. Through the "Water for Life" white paper released by DEFRA, Spelman cited climate change and population growth as factors that would lead to increased water supply pressure. She also warned the public about potential water shortages in the future and permanent environmental damages.

The article discusses the "Water for Life" white paper on water management, released by the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The report outlines water efficiency responsibilities of farmers to effectively deal with climate change and population growth-related consequences. DEFRA secretary Caroline Spelman asserts that the country may be at risk for water shortages in the future if proper water use will not be implemented.