Connecting Catchments with the Urban Nexus

Transcription

1 Connecting Catchments with the Urban Nexus

2 MULTIPLE CHALLENGES By 2050 water demand is projected to increase by 55% over current levels; Energy demand by 80%; Food demand by 70% More than half of humanity now lives in cities. Large cities alone represent US $21.8 trillion in economic activity, or 48 percent of global GDP Growing urban areas have increasing pressure on available water, energy and food resources from their surrounding catchments The 100 largest cities in the world currently transfer 3.2 million cubic meters of water a distance of 5,700 kilometers every day in artificial channels E.g. Beijing receives its water supply from the Yangtze River basin - 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away Requires a reliable energy source 2

3 LINKING CATCHMENTS AND THE URBAN NEXUS Forests Wetlands Floodplains = Provide water supply to cities E.g. Downstream users in Quito, Ecuador contribute towards a fund to protect the upstream watershed to secure water supply Sustain water quality for urban water supply, industries and recreation E.g. Six U.S. cities have saved between $50 million and $6 billion by investing in sustainable watershed management, instead of new water treatment facilities Attenuation of floods Forests and floodplains slow rain intensity, reduce soil erosion, and store water to reduce downstream flooding during heavy storms 3

4 LINKING CATCHMENTS AND THE URBAN NEXUS Reduces reservoir sedimentation To ensure sufficient storage capacity for water supply and hydropower production Provision of water to generate energy for cities Water drives the turbines of hydroelectric power plants Cooling in thermal and nuclear power plants requires clean, cool water Energy is needed for the abstraction, treatment and distribution of water supply for multiple uses across cities Domestic supply Industrial production Pumping of water for agricultural production 4

5 BREAKING DOWN SILOS Different objectives, frameworks, tactics, language between sectors and scales (e.g. catchments and cities) Information and data from across sectors is needed to make resource allocation decisions (e.g. water releases from reservoirs for cities) Governance and policy tools which encourage joint solutions 5

6 PLANNING TOOLS LINKING CATCHMENTS WITH THE URBAN NEXUS IWRM plans: coordinated process for development and management of water, land and related resources, to maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the ecosystems Water Safety Plans: Management approach developed by WHO (and IWA) to ensure the safety and acceptability of a drinking water supply from catchment to end user. 6

7 PLANNING TOOLS LINKING CATCHMENTS WITH THE URBAN NEXUS Developing software for supporting decision making by providing structure and functionality within technical tools Can be tailored to provide information for different end-users across sectors Objective Maps Issues Models Data Policies Decision making Stakeholders

8 COLLABORATION PLATFORM NEXUS DIALOGUE ON WATER INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS AFRICA May 2013 LATIN AMERICA September 2013 ASIA March 2014 CENTRAL ASIA JULY

9 EXAMPLE PROPOSALS Water-Energy - Co-locate wastewater treatment plants in conjunction with bio-digesters for power generation Payment for Ecosystem Services - downstream users in urban areas participate financially in protecting upstream water resources through cost-sharing. Investments are made to improve agricultural technology and practices Data Democratization - better sharing and collection of data across; collaborating with community based organizations and implementing within education Interdisciplinary planning and design - Require engineers, finance experts and social scientists to collaborate on all water infrastructure design 9

10 NEXUS SOLUTIONS Improve energy efficiency Improve water efficiency Produce energy from wastewater Recover nutrients from wastewater to produce fertilizer for agriculture Water and Wastewater Companies for Climate Mitigation 10

11 Thank you! More information: