Water & cities

Betsy Otto, Global Director, WaterNew Delhi, April 6, 2017Water & cities

1

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE GROWING WATER CRISIS

2

WATER INSECURITY IS A MASSIVE PROBLEMImage: UN Photo/Albert Gonzlez Farran 1.2 B people facing water scarcity

Everyone knows the tragedy of the 1.2 billion people living in deep water scarcity and the massive social and gender implications. 3

2.5 BILLION WORLDWIDE DEPEND ON GROUNDWATER FOR BASIC DAILY WATER NEEDS

SOURCE: United Nations Water stress will intensify

FUTURE WATER STRESS: 204033countries could face extremely high water stress in 2040

Our analysis using Aqueduct data and tools found that 33 countries could face extremely high water stress in 2040 But why does this matter? We have seen around the world that water scarcity can cause a host of other issuesFor example, it can be a catalyst for conflict, as was seen in Syria. Drought in the fertile crescent caused migration of farmers into Syrias cities and contributed to widespread unemployment

6

Indias population is increasingSOURCE: World Bank

Total Population of India And moving from rural areas to cities

Urban Population (% of Total)

WATER INFRASTRUCTURE CANT KEEP UP United Nations, World Water Development Report 2012. Photo: Vittal Boggaram

80 % of wastewater is not collected or treated worldwide

Everyone knows the tragedy of the 1.2 billion people living in deep water scarcity and the massive social and gender implications. 8

SOURCE: IEA New Policies Scenario, PHOTO: Los Alamos National LabTREND: MORE WATER FOR ENERGY20%increase in water withdrawals for energy production by 2035. 85%increase in water consumption for energy production by 2035.

Lake Mead. Photo credit: Los Alamos National Lab http://www.lanl.gov/discover/publications/1663/2015-january/the-water-energy-nexus.php10

WRI MAPS WATER-ENERGY NEXUS IN CHINA

Aqueduct has been used by our WRI China Office to assess baseline water stress in the country. Our work in the Ningxia region used Aqueducts Water Risk Framework to assess their water stress. The coal industry is an important pillar of Ningxias economic growth, it comprised around 50% of Ningxias total industrial production in 2012. Our work analyzed how this industry impacts water resources, and saw that water demand from the coal industry will increase Ningxias water stress unless changes are made.We recommended improved water management practices in Ningxia, such as establishing water rights and a water rights trading system, reforming water prices, and prioritizing this important issue. 11

Indias sludge-to-energy potential: less than 37% of wastewater in India is treated. This is disastrous for public health. In addition, water is scarce. Solution: wastewater treatment can be financially feasible with sludge-to-energy systemsCurrently researching this 12

Indias sludge-to-energy potential: less than 37% of wastewater in India is treated. This is disastrous for public health. In addition, water is scarce. Solution: wastewater treatment can be financially feasible with sludge-to-energy systemsCurrently researching this 13

Indias sludge-to-energy potential: less than 37% of wastewater in India is treated. This is disastrous for public health. In addition, water is scarce. Solution: wastewater treatment can be financially feasible with sludge-to-energy systemsCurrently researching this 14

OUR VISION:People, ecosystems, and economies have the clean water they need to thriveDemand and supply are balanced.Natural systems provide clean, renewable water supplies. Communities are at low risk from floods.Water infrastructure efficiently reduces demand for (and recovers) water, energy, and nutrients. Image: Asian Development Bank/ Flickr

15

OUR APPROACH:Inform about risks

Enable solutions

Mobilize actionImage: Asian Development Bank/ Flickr

16

1: INFORM ABOUT RISKSProvide better global information about impacts on people and economiesImage: UNAMID

Inform provide better global information about the impacts on people and economies from too little water to too polluted or too much water.

17

18

1950 JAN2008 DEC

58 years of monthly runoff data

And this is under-laid by a huge amount of data for each catchment (e.g., 58 yrs of runoff data). 22

Aqueduct supporters and partners

Last Updated 11/21/2016

Not sure all of these are officially members of the Aqueduct Alliance changed here to Supporters and Partners 23

Aqueduct: Significant private sector uptake

Most leading companies, across sectors, worldwide, are using WRIs Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas to assess exposure to operational and supply chain water risks and develop strategies to improve watersheds and better steward existing water resources.

24

SOURCE: wri.org/floods

Aqueduct global flood analyzer

2: ENABLE SOLUTIONSProvide tools to assess the positive impacts and costs of local solutionsImage: IDEORG

LowLow to MediumMedium to HighHighExtremely HighArid & Low Water UseWater Stress LevelSource: WRI Aqueduct 2015Mena: Baseline water stress

>71% of MENAs GDP is water stressed

SOURCES: WRI Aqueduct 2015, PBL 2016

Modeled water savings with 30% agriculture demand reductions

MENAs current domestic and industrial demands are 37 and 23 billion m3, respectively.

Natural infrastructure for waterPHOTO: James Anderson/ FLICKR

Catalyze a global movement to Enhance water securityStrengthen climate resilience, and Bolster economic development

By mainstreaming the green-gray infrastructure approach

Raise awarenessEconomic and finance analysisTools, methods, and guidance

Natural infrastructure for water initiative

32

Source: IUCN 2015Reduce capital expenses and treatment costs

Why green + gray?

33

Know Your Watershedvisualize critical watershed related informationIdentify Watershed Risksunderstand type and severity of threats to watershed healthPlan for Actionobtain recommendation on natural infrastructure solutions and applicable guidelines and decision-support tools

A watershed is the area of land where all of the water it catches goes into the same place.We all belong to a watershed. A watershed is a web. Everything inside that watershed is linked by their common water course. Changes that happen upstream affect everything downstream. And we all live upstream from someone and downstream from someone.

As we face growing water challenges around the world that are very much linked to changes overland, there is tremendous need for innovative natural infrastructure approaches to manage land by watershed.

But information on both threats and solutions is often scattered or presented in unfriendly forms. So to raise peoples awareness about natural infrastructure and help them wrap their heads around whats going on in their watersheds in order to improve water security, we looked around and worked with partners and packaged all that information into this 3-part app that allows anyone with internet access to visualize critical watershed related informationthreats to watershed healthand screen for cost-effective, sustainable solutions.

34

Rio De Janeiro

Source watersheds: Guandu (small); Paraiba do Sul (large)

Water challenge(s): Water quality

Natural infrastructure (NI) challenge(s): Deforestation legacy and agriculture

Existing NI financing: R$660,000 from Guandu Watershed Committee; foundation grants

Possible investors: Guandu watershed committee; CEDAE (utility);

Building on: Rio Claro Pilot Project (5k ha); WRI ROAM Paraiba do Sul (?); Assessments from CI

3: MOBILIZE ACTIONBuild capacity and motivation for key actors to scale up solutionsImage: Zoi Koraki

CHINAs sludge crisisSludge from urban wastewater treatment plants has been dumped haphazardly in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Heifei

Sludge from urban wastewater treatment plants has long been ignored in China. Big cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hefei and etc. have all undergone pollution and crises caused by sludge being dumped at discretion

37

XIANGYANG, CHINA: SLUDGE-TO-Energy Solution

Water cycle

Carbon cycleBiocharTree cultivationRestoration of landfill site

Energy cycleCNG stationCNG busesCNG

XIANGYANG, CHINA: SLUDGE-TO-Energy SolutionSOURCE: WRI Estimates

Avoided emissions shown for one sludge-to-energy plant 39

Photos: Flickr- Lei Han, DvYang, Lizandro Chrestenzen, Ken MarhsallOutcome: four cities install sludge-to-energy

BEIJING CHENGDU CHANGSHA HEFEI

The Center in China worked closely with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to help city leaders across China understand the potential energy recovery and carbon reduction benefits of sludge-to-energy.

Beijing, ChengduChangshaHefei

40

IMPACT: FROM RESEARCH TO ACTION100 additional cities to pilot the use of waste-to-energy systems for kitchen wastesImage: DC WaterBy 2020, they will have prevented 20 million tons of COe

Electcricity that no longer has to be used to run the plantADD STAT.

5 Chines plants can reduce 700,000 tons of emissions per year- this is comparable to one-third of the emissions produced each day by all the cars on U.S. roads

40 million cubic meters of natural gas is enough for 2 million taxis.

Takeaway: City managers should start to see sludge as a resource, rather than as a waste product, that they can incorporate into low-carbon development plans.WRI is working to scale up sludge-energy system use in more cities across China.

Summary: WRI research has demonstrated that sludge to energy systems, which convert the organic matter, or sludge, left over from treated sewageinto electricity, are a prime example of the circular economy with a positive environmental impact. They reduce solid wastes, greenhouse gases and water pollution, all while saving money. Selling fertilizer, biochar and even extra energy back to the grid can create new revenue for a wastewater treatment plant.

Blog: http://www.wri.org/blog/2016/03/world-water-day-how-sludge-can-power-chinas-cities-while-cutting-emissions 41

Water utilities invest in natural infrastructure

Pay-for-success approach that taps private capital to fund forest restoration

1929Today

Restored Forest

Source: Blue Forest Conservation and WRI

Forest resilience bond

SOLUTION:FOREST RESILIENCE BONDPay-for-success approach that taps private capital to fund forest restorationMulti-stakeholder platform to share costsCompelling impact and market opportunityUS Market:$41 Billion(58M acres of Fire Risk)

IMPACTWater Quantity & Quality

Air Quality & Emissions

Fire Severity

Job Creation

Hydropower Generation

2014 USFS RestorationCA Market

Forest resilience bond

45

The kere project: Reviving dying lakes

The Kere Project: water sensitive design with a focus on reviving our dying lakes. One such lake is Kandavara Kere (Lake) in Chikkaballapura (a district to the north of Bangalore). This work uses Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) frameworks 46

ContactBetsy OttoGlobal DirectorWater ProgramWRI

+1 (202) 729-7615botto@wri.orgwww.wri.org

47

Thank you!

Photo= our Xiangyang waste-to-energy project48