Understanding the water Crisis and
Disaster Resilience
Namita Poudel
D2 (Third Semester)
Main Supervisor: Rajib Shaw
Graduate school of Media and
Governance
25th December
Merry Christmans
Objective of this course and
objective of this class
• This lecture will focus on disaster Objectives of this class :
risk as the key element of
environmental risk, and will
understanding key water
elaborate with case studies on challenges, exploring case
different innovation examples in studies, and learning
the field of housing, health, water, innovative solutions
education and disaster recovery.
Examples from developing
countries in Asia will be presented.
Group discussion among students This class will highlight on
will be made. This lecture will be water problems, innovation
done in both Japanese and English. and case studies from
This lecture will be made in
collaboration with ADRRN disaster resilience
perspective.
Defination
Water crisis: Water scarcity is defined as a
water deficiency or a lack of safe water
supplies. As the population of the world
grows and the environment becomes
further affected by climate change, access
to fresh drinking water dwindles. Disaster resilience : Resilience’ has been
Globally, 785 million people lack access to typically linked with the ability of water
clean drinking water. Every day, over 800 systems to maintain continuous water
children die from dirty water, due to supply services and ensure water access
diarrhoea caused by poor water, sanitation (Rodina 2019).
and hygiene and scarce or unreliable water
and sanitation facilities in many
communities around the world (World
Vision).
Understanding
Water supply
• It is very important to have safety
planning from source to user level.
History and Fact of water crisis
• 1700s to 1800s: Industrialization leads to increased urbanization in England, highlighting the need for clean water supplies and sanitation.
• 1800s: Water shortages first appear in historical records.
• 1854: Dr John Snow discovers the link between water and the spread of cholera during an outbreak in London.
• 1900s: Since 1900, more than 11 billion people have died from drought, and drought has affected more than one billion people.
• 1993: The U.N. General Assembly designates March 22 as World Water Day.
• 2000: The U.N. member states set Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for development progress, including a 2015 target to halve the
number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.
• 2003: UN-Water was founded as coordinating platform for issues of sanitation and fresh water access.
• 2005: Thirty-five percent of the global population experiences chronic water shortages, up from nine percent in 1960.
• 2005 to 2015: UN member states priorities water and sanitation development in an International Decade for Action called “Water for Life”.
• 2008: The UN-recognised International Year of Sanitation prioritizes health and dignity.
• 2010: The MDG’s clean water access target is achieved five years ahead of schedule. More than two billion people have gained access to safe
drinking water since 1990. The UN General Assembly recognizes the right of each person to have adequate supplies of water for personal and
domestic use that are physically accessible, equitably distributed, safe and affordable.
• 2013: The UN designates 19 November as World Toilet Day to highlight the global issue of billions of people left without access to proper
sanitation.
• 2015: About 2.6 billion people have gained access to clean water in the last 25 years, and about 1.4 billion gained basic access to sanitation
since 2000. The UN member states sign on to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – successors to the MDGs that promise clean water
and sanitation for all by 2030.
• 2018: Worldwide, 2.1 billion people still live without safe drinking water in their homes and more than one billion people still have no choice
but to defecate outside.
Water: Important
and crucial things
of our planet.
•Essential for all living
beings: hydration, sanitation, agriculture
, industry.
•Covers 71% of Earth's surface, yet only
2.5% is freshwater.
•A finite resource: uneven
distribution, increasing demand, and
disaster climate change threats are
challenge of water security
•About two billion people worldwide
don’t have access to safe drinking water
today (SDG Report 2022), and roughly
half of the world’s population is
experiencing severe water scarcity for at
least part of the year (IPCC). These
numbers are expected to increase,
exacerbated by climate change and
population growth (WMO).
Status and projection of Water Crisis
OECD Projection Report
2012
Unveiling the Global Water Crisis
Population growth and
urbanization.
Pollution: industrial Inefficient water
management: leak
waste, agricultural s, wastage, outdat
runoff ed infrastructure
Disaster, Climate
change
(IPCC ) : droughts, floo
ds, melting glaciers.
Breifing from slide 6
• Floods damage infrastructure and can lead to water
contamination
• Droughts mean less, more contaminated water, is
available.
• Sea-level rise leads to freshwater salinization in coastal
Key impacts of areas.
climate change on • Infrastructure and service disruptions cause huge
drinking water economic costs.
• Increased ice melt is causing water sources to become
unsustainable for many millions.
Inefficient water management (briefing of slide 6)
Example from
Nepal 2023 annual
report
leaks,
Outdated infrastructure
water waste in
agriculture and
industries,
Lack of proper
sanitation practices
When Disaster Strikes:
•Damage water
infrastructure and
contaminate supplies.
•Disrupt distribution and
access, leading to
shortages.
•Increase health risks
through waterborne
Kagbeni village after the August
diseases . flood unexpected
Example of flash
rainfall and water infrastrucutre
13, 2023, flash flood. Photo: RSS
damage.
Disaster Impact on drinkingWater
Consequences
Economic impacts: lost Social impacts: conflict
productivity, over water resources,
agricultural setbacks, gender inequalities,
displacement. migration.
Environmental
impacts: ecosystem
degradation,
biodiversity loss.
One example
Case Studies: Learning from
Real-world Challenges due to
disasters
Earthquakes Japan 2011
Source: Water supply division Tokyo,
http://www.jwwa.or.jp/jigyou/kaigai_file/seminar_04/japan_13.pdf
Earthquake Nepal 2015
From above mentioned slides, we came to know that disaster and climate
change are also responsible for water crisis. Therefore it is very important to
build resilient environment from disaster resilience percpective. So what can
be done for sustainable water management?
Taxation methods
• Good practices from
different place
• Water management
appraoch
• Water
• Purying method
• Coordination thorugh
benefit sharing
Benefit
sharing
The Water Crisis is a Governance Crisis
The global water crisis is mainly due to poor governance. There are several underpinning factors
behind this water governance crisis:
•Failure to recognise the interconnected nature of water: Water resources are embedded in
complex bio-physical systems. Yet the interconnected nature of water and its interactions with
land, climate, energy, and human systems are poorly understood by decision makers. A failure to
understand the hydro-climatic cycles and feedback mechanisms has resulted in a long list of
drying lakes, rivers, and other bodies around the world, e.g., the Aral Sea.
•Fragmented institutional set-ups: Water is also a mobile resource. As a boundary-spanning
and multi-scalar resource, it does not recognise any political or administrative boundaries (
García et al., 2019). Water governance responsibilities are therefore often shared by several
institutions working at different levels. Such fragmented and uncoordinated governance systems
are poorly equipped to address complex water problems such as pollution control, competing
demands, and disaster risk management (GWP, 1996).
•Single objective planning: The importance of economic efficiency, as well as reaping economic
benefits from water-related interventions, is undeniable. However, maximising the economic
benefits of water should not come at the expense of people and the environment that depend on
the resource. The economic, social, and environmental costs of ineffective water governance
arrangements need to be taken into account (Ménard and Saleth, 2011).
•Techno-fix short-sightedness: The traditional way of solving water issues has been primarily
through supply-side infrastructural interventions such as installing pumps, building canals, and
erecting dams. The management of this infrastructure, including the finance that is needed to
maintain it properly, has often come as an afterthought. For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa, up to
one third of handpumps and boreholes, intended to provide drinking water to rural populations,
are dysfunctional (Fisher et al., 2015).
Evolution of
water
managemen
t approach
Practices for water purifying
Managed Aquifer Recharge
(MAR): Protecting
Communities from Saline
Intrusion of Groundwater in
Costal Areas of Bangladesh
• In coastal areas of Bangladesh, approximately 20
million people are exposed to the threats of
increasing salt water intrusion into surface and
ground water sources.
• In response to the crisis, UNICEF and partners have
piloted and scaled-up Managed Aquifer Recharge
(MAR), a technique which collects and treats water
from ponds and roofs (rainwater) and injects it
underground for storage and future use.
• Each MAR system can serve hundreds of people
and can be maintained by the communities
themselves with periodic external support.
• This scaleable resilient technology option is an
ideal solution for creating sustainable access to
safe water in costal communities affected by
climate change.
AquaBlock innovation from planet water foundation
• Nobody can predict when or where disaster will strike, but
in such situations where rapid response and a robust, easy
to operate solution for drinking water is of critical need,
Planet Water’s AquaBlock offers a lifeline to impacted
communities
• Turn-key emergency water supply system
housed in a lockable, vandal-resistant,
aluminium container.
• Compact, light-weight design facilitating an 18
unit placement in a standard 40 foot shipping
container and size compatibility with aircraft
cargo decks.
• Four-stage water purification process for the
provision of clean, safe drinking water from
surface and ground water.
• Three on-board pumping solutions, selectable
with the turn of a valve, for any power condition
– be it petrol, electric, or manual (treadle).
• Drinking water production at 1,500 liters per
hour capable of supporting the daily drinking
water requirements of up to 10,000 people.
Conclusion:
• Growing water demand • Smart investment in safe
with urbanization. drinking water mitigates and
• Disaster risk creating builds resilience to climate
vulnerability for water change
sustainability. • Customized policy, innovation
• It is important to think and approach is essential
from a different approach
for water sustainability for
the long term and large
scale.
