Global water security report

Global Water Security –an engineering perspective

Engineeringthe future

© The Royal Academy of Engineering

ISBN 1-903496-55-1

April 2010Published byThe Royal Academy of Engineering3 Carlton House TerraceLondon SW1Y 5DG

Tel: 020 7766 0600 Fax: 020 7930 1549www.raeng.org.ukRegistered Charity Number: 293074

A copy of this report is available online atwww.raeng.org.uk/gws

Global Water Security –an engineering perspective

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Global Water Security

Foreword by Professor Peter Guthrie................................................................3

Executive summary ...........................................................................................7

1. Introduction, scope and definitions..............................................................9

2. Managing the water cycle ............................................................................11

3. Pressures on water supply ..........................................................................13

4. Pressures on demand .................................................................................16

5. Economic impact ........................................................................................18

6. Tackling threats to water security ..............................................................19

7. New and better technologies, techniques and practices ...........................23

8. Tools to support policy development .........................................................28

9. Conclusions and recommendations ..........................................................32

References........................................................................................................37

Annex A ............................................................................................................39

Annex B ...........................................................................................................40

Contents

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Foreword by Professor Peter Guthrie OBE FICE FREng

Chair of the Steering Group on Global Water Security

We face daunting challenges. The ‘perfect storm’ scenario1 suggests that by2030 the world will need to produce 50 per cent more food and energy,together with using 30 per cent more fresh water, whilst mitigating thecauses of, and adapting to climate change. There is no single ‘silver bullet’that can be adopted or applied to resolve the issues surrounding globalwater security; however, technologies and expertise that can aid us inconfronting these problems already exist. What is required is theimplementation of effective governance, financing and regulation, to allowtechnical solutions to take effect.

Engineers have the skills and technologies to develop effective solutions tomany of the problems that surround global water security. In isolationthese technologies and skills are not enough. It is incumbent on engineersto articulate the issues surrounding water security to those outside of theirusual sphere. Engineers must engage with policy makers, economists,financiers, farmers, industry and development agencies in order to buildthe public-political consensus needed to approach the problem of globalwater security.

The implementation by governments and public authorities of policies andstrategic responses to water scarcity problems rely for their success on apositive response from individuals and communities. Existing values,cultural norms and organisational structures that either empower ordisenfranchise individual citizens determine patterns of individualbehaviour and organisational response. Individual and institutional inertiamay be difficult to overcome without raising awareness and understandingof the key issues and potential responses and making sure that these arefirmly included in the broader public debate on sustainable resource useand management.

This report addresses water security as a global issue as well asconsidering the situation of the UK in that context.

On behalf of the Steering Group, I would like to thank all of those who havecontributed evidence to the inquiry from which this report is generated. Itis our hope that this report can be the first step in a process that willhighlight the significant problems surrounding global water security, bringtogether those who can help approach these obstacles and, mobilize thetechnology, techniques, skills and research that can aid us in the resolutionof these issues.

“Getting to grips with thethreats to water securityis not straightforwardand requires innovativeand dedicatedapproaches. Possibleresponses includeincreasing supply,managing demand andallocating waterdifferently. This reportsets out to approach theissues surrounding watersecurity systematically. Itargues that there needsto be a review of thegovernance andregulation of water sothat the technologiesthat exist can be usedeffectively and efficientlyand the need for newtechnologies can beidentified.”

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Background

1. Water underpins the very fabric of human life – our food and drink, theclothes we wear, the landscapes we enjoy, the societies we live in, thelength and quality of our lives. The essential role that water plays innational life – in energy supply, infrastructure, economic growth,healthcare, education and culture – makes water a central concern fornational policies. Because the water cycle is global, the availability, use andsecurity of water transcend local, national and even continentalboundaries.

2. Water security is under severe pressure from many sources; a worldpopulation explosion, rapid shifts of people from rural to urban areas,the impact of dietary change as countries develop, increasing pollutionof water resources, the over-abstraction of groundwater and the notinsignificant issues created by climate change.

3. The world is far from water secure. In many parts of the world thedemand for water is already much greater than the available supply.This is not an issue that affects only developing countries, where waterinfrastructure is poor and where many people do not have access tosafe drinking water, but also the developed world, where burgeoningdemand simply cannot continue to be met. Water for agriculture and,therefore, food is not given sufficient attention on the global stage,where water supply and sanitation issues currently dominate. In orderto move water for agriculture up the agenda on the global scene, waterengineers, farmers, economists and policy makers will need to improvetheir communications with one another.

4. Water has traditionally been regarded as a free resource. Any costs forwater are usually associated with the cost of processing and deliveryalone, rather than assigning any inherent value to the resource. There isgrowing interest internationally in the use of water pricing to reducedemand as well as to generate revenue to cover the cost of providingwater supplies and maintaining infrastructure.

Findings

The need for a systems based approach

5. Water management solutions should be considered in the context ofthe entire water system, from ‘cloud to coast’ as well as theimplications immediately upstream and downstream. In this systemsapproach, all types of water must be considered together and in thiscontext, the flows and uses of water in a catchment area feeding the soil(green water), free water in rivers and reservoirs (blue water) and usedor waste water (grey water) all need to be included. Such an approachcan lead to significant efficiencies in managing water systems.

Issues of policy and governance

6. The impact of policy in one nation can have impact on the watersecurity of other nations. There is a need for governance at all scales –global, regional, national, local, as well as at the catchment level and a

Executive summary

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need for linkages between these scales. In situations where rivers crossnational boundaries or lakes are shared between countries, trans-boundary agreements for water allocation and sharing may beenshrined within international treaties. Tackling threats to global watersecurity requires responses tailored to the individual country’s political,social, economic, environmental, financial and cultural conditions, andwill, in most cases, require international coordination.

7. Developed nations are in a position to meet some of their water needs byimporting ‘virtual’ water in the form of goods and services from othercountries. The UK is reliant on food, energy and goods that require waterin their production and transportation by and from countries that arethemselves under water stress. This hidden water accounts for over 2/3 ofthe UK’s water footprint. Government must assess the interrelationshipbetween water, food and energy security in UK with a view to achieving anoptimal balance of aligned national policy.

The importance of water security to national security should be a corecomponent of policy making. Water security should be considered as partof climate change mitigation and adaptation policy and the global impactson water security of our national and international policies need to beassessed. The technologies, practices and management approaches thatwill be required to address water security issues must be identified andsupported through research and development. Government should reviewthe needs for public engagement, education and awareness-raisingaround the subject of water security.

Given the impending worsening of water security, particularly in somedeveloping countries, the UK Government should put water at the centreof its international development policy. There should be recognition thatinfrastructure development is of no use on its own, unless the institutionalcapacity is developed in-country and all levels of stakeholders are engagedto make it work.

8. Improvements in climate modelling are crucial to help predict the temporaland spatial distribution of the effects of water scarcity. As well as fulfillingtheir traditional role in designing and building water infrastructure andmanagement systems, engineers and policy makers must engage withcommunities, with society and with industry about demand management,sustainability strategies and their impact on daily life.

The UK professional engineering bodies have a role to play in helpingembed awareness of the water security challenges among their globalmembership. The professional qualifications that the engineeringinstitutions administer can ensure qualified engineers know andunderstand the appropriate technologies, legislative frameworks andlatest best practice for taking a systems based approach to watersecurity. Such organisations also have a role to play in coordinatingdialogue with the public.

The education and training of engineers needs to combine experience-ledtechnical learning and systems thinking with elements on such issues assustainability, ethical and societal dimensions of engineering and theimpact of trade and transboundary conflicts.

Responsibility and regulation

9. Businesses can examine their supply chains and production processes

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to assess and reduce their water footprint as a core component of theircorporate social responsibility strategies. Their analysis should not berestricted to their home country but also to those regions from wherethey import goods, materials and services. A commitment to opennessand transparency about the impact of business operation on watersupplies in country will help create a ‘stress map’ that will supportinternational policymaking. Business should be encouraged andincentivised to develop tools to support effective policy developmentand decision making to enable sustainable management of waterresources.

10. The regulation of the water sector globally needs to be focused onintegrated water resource management and sustainability. All too oftenthere is little synergy between long term water resource managementand the need to provide water and sanitation services. IndeedGovernments often view the water sector as purely the utility operatorsand neglect the water resource, ecosystem and amenity functions. Thisis a common issue across the developed and developing world. Forexample in the UK the water utilities in England and Wales have beenrequired, in the recently completed price review process, to produce a25 year forward view by the regulator Ofwat. Whilst this is welcome, theregulator has focused in reality, only on the companies’ investmentplans over the next five year period.

This disconnect is a problem and highlights the need to develop sustainableregulation for the water sector. In Europe, the EU Water FrameworkDirective, which concentrates of the health of aquatic ecosystems and theirecological quality, is being brought into force in all member states. Theimplementation of this directive will challenge existing regulatory systems toaccommodate a more sustainable approach.

New knowledge and engagement

11. Changes in water consumption at an individual level will be crucial totackling water scarcity. Achieving a significant reduction in demandrepresents a major challenge in raising awareness and changingcustomer attitudes. The choice to adopt technologies and practices toreduce consumption lies, to a certain extent, with the individual whoneeds to be encouraged or incentivised to change behaviours.

12. Many of the technologies, techniques and practices needed to addresswater security already exist but need to be refined, developed or improved.When considering the role of technology in providing new sources ofwater, it is important to be conscious of the effects that it can have on theecosystem as a whole. UK research must rise to the challenges ofdeveloping and improving the new tools and technologies which willcontribute to solving of water scarcity and delivering global water security.Examples include: water resource allocation and optimisation models,predictive climate change water scarcity impact models, the impact ofclimate change on water quality, development of new water policy,regulation and governance frameworks and development of innovativefinancing mechanisms for water infrastructure.

New knowledge and sustainable technologies or practices that need to bedeveloped include:

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• management of existing sources to provide potential for the storage ofexcess flows during floods • surface water storage by dams in line with the World Commission onDams’ (WCD)2 five ‘core values’• sustainable use of groundwater and better understanding of aquifers• water efficiency in agriculture through water management and drainageand improved surface irrigation alongside drought-heat tolerant cropvarieties (in parallel with improvements in plant breeding or geneticmanipulation to reduce irrigation demand)• more water efficient industrial production processes• better management of water supply and distribution systems• development of new water sources and improving performance ofexisting sources• desalination of seawater or brackish water including strategies forhandling the concentrated brine waste streams• better modelling of water systems with improved monitoring, datacollection and validation.

Recommendations

1. Inter-governmental bodies such as the WTO, and key discussion forasuch as the UNFCCC must elevate the issues of water security in theirstrategies. Water footprints and virtual water content of globally tradedgoods and agricultural products need to be taken into account in tradenegotiations to protect communities suffering from water stress.

2. Water security should become a core component of UK policy making.Government must assess the interrelationship between water, food andenergy security in UK, informed by a systems based approach, with a viewto achieving an optimal balance of aligned national policy.

3. UK industry must show leadership on global water security. Throughtheir global reach, businesses must examine their supply chains andproduction processes to assess and reduce their water footprint. Thisshould be a core component of their corporate and social responsibilitystrategies.

4. The regulation of the water sector globally needs to have integratedwater resource management and sustainability informed by a systemsapproach at its core. The current disconnect between the provision ofwater and sanitation services and the wider water resource issues areall too apparent and it is essential to change the way the water sector isviewed and regulated.

5. The Government should bolster investment in the research anddevelopment of solutions to global water security and work with the UKwater industry to improve the development of the necessary models anddata collection techniques to underpin international development policy.

6. The UK engineering institutions should ensure that their globalmemberships are appropriately equipped, through professionaldevelopment, to apply a systems led approach to water engineering,incorporating the technical, geo-political, societal and ethicaldimensions of the challenge. Engineers, along with all agenciesinvolved need to engage with stakeholders to promote systems basedsolutions and with the public in general to support informed decisionmaking in connection with water use.

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1. Introduction, scope and definitions

In the simplest terms, water stress occurs when the demand for waterexceeds the available amount during a certain period or when poor qualityrestricts its use. A March 2010 report by World Bank’s IndependentEvaluation Group found that the effects of water shortages are felt stronglyby 700 Million people in 43 countries. In this report we use the widelyaccepted figure of an annual supply below 1700m3 per person to definewater stress.

The report also looks at the management of water resources in the contextof the whole water cycle, a naturally occurring sequence in which watermoves through various physical states and transformations. In this cycle‘blue water’, which accounts for approximately 40% of total rainfall,establishes itself in lakes, rivers and aquifers. Around 60% of total rainfall,‘green water’, does not reach these destinations and is directly absorbedinto the soil.

This often results in green water being disregarded as part of waterresource management. However it has a vital role in maintaining delicateecosystems and providing water for agriculture. Agriculture accounts for70% of all water use (and in some countries over 90%), thereforeimproved management of resources in this area is vital for any effort toimprove global water security.

Finally, we also consider ‘grey water’, water that has been used once butcan be used again for another purpose. This can also be a significantresource; however, care must be taken that the water is suitable for thedesignated second use.

This study has been undertaken on behalf of Engineering the future, analliance of professional engineering organisations, by the Institution ofCivil Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Water and EnvironmentalManagement and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The study group (see Annex A) gathered both oral and written evidencefrom practising engineers, engineering managers and consultants,academics, economists, service providers, water managers andgovernment officials. The evidence collected has helped build a broadunderstanding of the issues that affect global water security and has helpedthe steering group produce an assessment of how these problems can beapproached.

Water underpins the very fabric of human life; the food and drink weconsume, the societies we live in, the length and quality of our lifespan.Maintaining and ensuring the security of water and the ability to supplydemands from the water resources available, is essential to humankind.Freshwater is a natural resource which, through the hydrological cycle,benefits from a replacement process. However, it is only a very smallproportion of the total water available on the earth. It also suffers fromintense competing demands and has no surrogate.

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Water security has different implications and connotations depending onwhere in the world one lives. For everyone however, water is fundamental tobeing able to live a healthy and productive life whilst maintaining the naturalenvironment. It is a sobering reality that, in many places, water is a scarceand contaminated resource. Over one billion people have no access to cleandrinking water; about one third of the world’s population lack satisfactorysanitation. 3

The fundamental role that water plays in food security, energy security,economic growth, maintaining health and reducing poverty, means there is aconstant and ever increasing pressure on it as a natural resource. Withglobal population growth estimated to increase from 6.8 billion today to 8billion by 20254 and, alongside other drivers such as the potentiallydamaging effects of climate change, the demand on water resources isbecoming ever more unsustainable in relation to supply.

Although water is only explicitly mentioned in one of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals, it is implicit in the achievement of each of them.5 Theresponsibility for water security does not rest with one group or institution:It is a multi-level issue in which many people have a duty to participate. Thecurrent approach from many institutions and nations is fragmented. Thecommonality of water must be recognised and utilised to improvecooperation in all aspects of water resource management.

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Figure 1 Water cycle diagram

2. Managing the water cycleThe hydrological cycle is a naturally occurring sequence in which watermoves through various physical states and transformations. The effects ofhuman intervention on any part of the water cycle have the potential toimpact on the whole. Water resource management therefore needs to beapproached from a systems level perspective that includes the whole of thewater cycle and the human, economic and environmental systems thatdepend on it, rather than merely focusing on individual components.

Blue water, which accounts for approximately 40% of total rainfall, is thepart of the water cycle that establishes itself in lakes, rivers and aquifers.Around 60% of total rainfall, green water, does not reach these destinationsand is directly absorbed into the soil.6 This often results in green waterbeing disregarded as part of water resource management. Its vital role inmaintaining delicate ecosystems and providing water for agriculture meansthat it must be considered alongside blue water as a vital water resource.Grey water, water that has been used once but can be used again for anotherpurpose, can also be a significant resource; however, care must be takenthat the water is suitable for the designated second use. Grey water may beused without treatment, for example, to irrigate non-food crops or to flushtoilets.

Products(inc. energy)

Food

Ocean

domestic

export

returns• wastewater• surplusconsumptive use

virtual water

returnsto river &groundwater

transpiration(consumptive use)

domestic

exportvirtual water

irrigation

withdrawals• domestic• industry

rivers, lakesaquifers

soil moisture

Blue

Green

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It is also important to distinguish between ‘consumptive’ and ‘non-consumptive’ uses of water. Water abstracted and used for consumptivepurposes is no longer available for use elsewhere in the water cycle. Non-consumptive use means that water is returned to the surface orgroundwater systems once it has gone through a productive process, andcan often be used again.

2.1 Causes of water stress

The world’s freshwater resources are distributed unevenly, as is the world’spopulation7. This means that water stress is unevenly distributed, as Figure 2 plots the current and predicted distribution of water stress.

Where water demand cannot be met by available water resources, an areais considered to be affected by physical water scarcity. Large areas of thesouthwest USA and much of the Middle East are examples of this kind ofwater stress. Where water supply is limited by a lack of investment ininfrastructure or insufficient regulation or pricing, an area is considered tobe affected by economic water scarcity, as is the case in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Some 1.2 billion people live in areas affected by physicalwater scarcity, and 1.6 billion people live in areas affected by economicwater scarcity8.

The drivers that impact on water security are divided between pressures onsupply and pressures on demand.

Figure 2 Global distribution of water stress for 1995 and predicted for 20259

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3. Pressures on water supply3.1 Climate change

Water is at the heart of the changing climate in terms of shifting weatherpatterns more intense hurricanes, typhoons, storms, floods, droughts andthe effects of glacial melt, snowmelt, evaporations and evapotranspirationand, of course, sea level rise.

Mean precipitation is expected to increase in the tropics and high latitudes,and decrease in the sub-tropics and mid latitudes10. Those areasexperiencing reductions in precipitation are likely to be amongst thepoorest11. It is also very likely that precipitation will become more variable infuture12, both spatially and temporally. For example, irregularities in the ElNiño phenomenon have led to a reduction in precipitation in Australia,leading to a long running drought in the south-east. Studies indicate that, infuture, changing patterns of precipitation will increase the risk of floodingand drought. Increased variability of precipitation will impact on the timelysupply of water resources, and complicate water security efforts. There willbe increased runoff in certain parts of the world (East Africa, India, China)and reductions in runoff in other regions (Mediterranean, North Africa)13.

It is estimated that one sixth of the world’s population live in catchmentsfed by snowmelt or glacier melt that provide reliable water storage andsupply14. Gradually increasing temperatures will decrease the storagecapacity of these glaciers, increasing water supply in the short term, butsignificantly reducing supply and altering river flow regimes in the longterm. Examples are the large agricultural areas in the populous NorthernTerritory of India, in China15 and, in the Andes, La Paz, Bolivia16.

3.2 Multinational use of water basins and aquifers

Over 300 river basins span more than one country17. This means that changesto the catchment regime made in one country can lead to changes in wateravailability in another, creating the potential for conflict. Although conflict ishistorically rare (especially at the international level), research identifies 37examples over the past 50 years18. One example is Turkey and Syria19, where thedevelopment of Turkey’s Southeast Anatolia Project, a very large irrigationsystem, has taken much of the available water on the Euphrates leading toconflict with downstream Syria.

3.3 Water supply infrastructure

Issues associated with ageing and poorly functioning water infrastructure isa challenge for agricultural and urban water supply20. In urban areas watersupply and sanitation networks are often insufficient and subject to failure21

(with associated high levels of leakage) a problem which is compounded byuncontrolled expansion of urban areas22. By 2030 60% of the world’spopulation will live in urban areas and investment in public infrastructure iswell below what is required in many countries including the developed ones.The ageing of costly irrigation infrastructure has been identified as aproblem in many parts of the World, and has been the catalyst for watersecurity planning23. In India, for example, there is an enormous backlog ofdeferred maintenance in irrigation infrastructure - the implicit philosophy

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has been aptly described as ‘Build-Neglect-Rebuild’24. Poorly functioningpublic irrigation infrastructure has led farmers to switch to self-developedgroundwater supplies, which in many places are now over-abstracted25 andcan become non-renewable.

3.4 Intermittency

Developing countries are most at risk from drought (and flood) andinadequately managed or developed water infrastructure has a significantimpact on their short term economic prospects. If such countries are unableto cope during periods of intermittency, they find themselves in an unendingcycle of stagnation, making medium to long term planning aninsurmountable problem.

Since 1970, the intensity and duration of droughts has increased,particularly in the tropics and subtropics, where higher temperatures havealso been seen in conjunction with an increased frequency of heavyprecipitation events.26

3.5 Water quality and environmental assets

Deterioration of surface or groundwater quality makes “raw”* water moredifficult or impossible to treat. Increased flooding results in landdegradation and an increase in contaminants washed into watercourses.27

Human actions are also a significant contributory factor in the deteriorationof water quality. Eutrophication of water supplies is identified as asignificant water quality issue globally28. Wastewater, industrial effluent andnutrient rich water from agriculture cause a rapid increase in algae andmicroscopic organisms in watercourses leading to oxygen depletion whichdamages the ecosystem: this cycle could be exacerbated by the predictedtemperature changes associated with climate change and by the increasedagricultural activity required to feed a growing a population, exacerbated bythe widespread use of more fertilisers.

Pollution of groundwater supplies is also a significant contribution to waterscarcity, with a number of major cities having to switch from groundwatersupplies because of pollution29. Many active aquifers that are replenished byinfiltration suffer from unsustainable over-abstraction, such as in Almeria inSpain30. Over-abstracted aquifers run the risk of saltwater intrusion andpollution, affecting their long term viability31. The Azraq basin is one of themost important groundwater basins in Jordan, supplying Amman withdrinking water. However, as a result of over pumping from the shallowgroundwater aquifers, the water level has dropped dramatically, resulting insalinisation of the source.

Environmental assets have a significant social and economic benefit as wellas contributing to health and overall well being. Yet, in direct competitionwith agriculture, industry and domestic uses, environmental waterrequirements are often overlooked. An audit of global freshwaterecosystems has shown that the majority are declining or in a state ofstress32.

“Intermittency (flood ordrought) may not be adisaster for everyone - thevarying impacts andintensities of the hazardrelate to existing patternsof vulnerability. Social,economic and politicalprocesses influence howflood or drought affectspeople.”

Sue Cavill, EngineersAgainst Poverty

*Raw water is water taken from the environment, which is subsequently treated or purified to produce potable water in a water purification works. Raw water

should not be considered safe for drinking or washing without further treatment

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3.6 Degradation of fossil groundwater supplies

In many arid and semi-arid areas fossil groundwater supplies are the onlyreliable source of water. However, as there is typically very limited recharg-ing, mining of these resources is almost always unsustainable. Mining offossil groundwater33 resources is most significant in North Africa and theMiddle East: in Libya, Algeria and Saudi Arabia it is the main water source34.A well documented example35, the Great Man-Made River Project in Libya,takes vast quantities of fossil water from deep wells in Nubian SandstoneAquifer System in the Sahara desert and transports it 1,600 km to coastaltowns and farms for irrigation. Although this scheme is expected to deliverwater for many years and could be considered as reducing water scarcity,eventually the resource will be depleted and an alternative solution will beneeded.

Countries in the Arabian Peninsula are now beginning to explorealternatives, based on the knowledge that fossil groundwater supplies areunsustainable36.

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4. Pressures on demand

4.1 Agriculture

Water for agriculture water currently accounts for 70% of all water use37 andover 90% in some countries such as India38. It is estimated that a doubling offood production will be required over the next 40 years39. In 2008, there was asubstantial increase in the global price of staple foods. This highlighted theinterdependence of global systems, and brought about an increased focus onfood security, leading the Royal Society to state that “it is now clear that globalfood insecurity is a chronic problem that is set to worsen”40.

It could be argued that water for agriculture and, therefore predominantly,food does not currently benefit from a sufficiently strong voice on theglobal stage, where water supply and sanitation currently dominate. Inorder to elevate water for agriculture up the agenda on the global scene,water engineers, farmers, economists and policy makers will need toimprove their communications with one another. Organisations such asAgricultural water for Africa (AgWA) have been established to shareknowledge and mobilise resources so that the importance of water isrecognised in a global context.

4.2 Changes in diet

Dietary habits are predicted to change in the next century beyond thosecaused by an increasingly ageing population. It is predicted that there willbe an increase in per capita food consumption41, with diets becoming morenutritious and diversified. In particular, there will be an increase in theconsumption of vegetable oils and meats and a relative reduction in theconsumption of wheat and rice42. Changes in the world’s diet will also putan added pressure on water as more meat and vegetable oils areconsumed in place of grains and pulses. One kilogram of beef requires15,500 litres of water to produce, while the equivalent amount of wheatrequires only 1,300 litres.43

4.3 Industry

It is estimated that energy and industry account for approximately 20% ofglobal water use44; significantly more in the UK45. Water is fundamental tothe processing, extraction and generation of almost all forms of energy.46

Given the global shift in manufacturing from older to more recentlyindustrialised nations, the pattern of industrial abstraction and use ischanging. Water abstracted by industry in the USA and UK has fallen inrecent years, in part due to improvements in the efficiency of water use, butmainly through a transfer of manufacturing overseas. Abstraction of waterby industrial use in China, India and other south East Asian countriescontinues to rise.

Industry is a major source of water pollution with some 300-500 milliontonnes of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other wastesaccumulating each year. This creates, or contributes to, water stress,especially in rapidly industrialising economies by reducing the quality of

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‘receiving’ waters. Industries based on organic raw materials are the mostsignificant contributors to the organic pollutant load with the food sectorbeing the most significant polluter.47

Interest in biofuels has risen in recent years because of attempts to find lowcarbon alternatives to petroleum, with the EU setting minimum targets in2003 for their use in road transport fuels by 2010. The high waterconsumption of biofuels has meant that attempts to alleviate the problem ofenergy security and climate change have exacerbated problems with foodand water security48. Other low carbon energy sources such as wind andsolar energy are far less water intensive and there are also opportunities touse the biological wastes from food production in the manufacture ofsecond generation biofuels.

The amount of energy required to transport, treat and extract water is rarelyrecognised. Water is a very heavy resource (1 cubic metre has a mass of 1tonne), and abstracting it from aquifers or transporting it requiressignificant quantities of energy. To illustrate the amount of energy required,it is estimated that as much as 19% of electricity and 33% of natural gas inCalifornia is used in water related activities49. If the energy required for waterrelated activities is based on fossil fuels, it could have a significant impacton greenhouse gas emissions.

4.4 Population growth and distribution

The world population tripled in the 20th century and is set to increase by afurther 40-50% in the next 50 years50. It is estimated that, by 2025, the globalpopulation will be 8 billion people51. The increase in demand for food to feedthe extra population will see a subsequent increase in demand for water foragriculture.

However, an absolute increase in population is not the sole demographicdriver of water scarcity. Changes in the location of population will also havea significant effect on water availability. On a global scale, there will be asmall reduction in population in developed countries and significantincreases in populations in developing countries, many of which are alreadysuffering from water scarcity. It is estimated that increases in populationcould be up to 500% in some sub-Saharan African countries between 2000and 210052; more than 60% of the world’s population growth in this periodwill occur in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa53.

Increasing urbanisation will lead to 60% of the global population living incities by 203054. Cities draw in resources such as water from increasinglywide areas55. This often puts cities in competition with agriculture for watersupplies56. The growth in megacities is set to continue, with populationincreases of 60-75% predicted between 2004 and 2015 in megacities of thedeveloping world, such as Jakarta, Dhaka and Lagos57. This will putincreasing pressure on water supply systems in these countries. In China,Beijing is already facing a water deficit that it is trying to manage throughthe South-North water transfer scheme and by increasing the use ofreclaimed water for non-potable use.58

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5. Economic impactWater security has a significant impact on a nation’s or a continent’s economic stability. For example, it is estimated that the ongoing drought inAustralia reduced GDP by 1% in 2006-07.

The global financial crisis has been described by some as an opportunity forthe water crisis59. While the financial crisis may be focusing the minds ofthose in the financial sector, the World Economic Forum makes the claimthat water could be the proximate cause of the next global crisis60. Privateinvestment in water clearly has the potential to improve water securitywhere such investment can be commercially attractive, but the capacity ofnations to invest in the future of water security will be determined, to someextent, by the recovery from the financial crisis. Correspondingly, the level ofwater security could have significant impact on the economic stability and,hence, the speed at which some countries can recover from the financialcrisis in the first place.

5.1 Aid and development

Given the impending worsening of water security, particular in somedeveloping countries, UK Government should put water right at the centreof its international development policy. There should be recognition thatinfrastructure development is of no use on its own unless the institutionalcapacity is developed in country and all levels of stakeholders are engagedto make it work.

The importance of water and sanitation within international development isclear. Sub-Saharan African countries are estimated to lose 5% of their GDPeach year as a result of poor water and sanitation61 and it is estimated that,for $1 of investment in water and sanitation in these countries, $8 of benefitcould be accrued62.

However, to ensure the sustainable use of water with regard to alldevelopment programmes rather than those explicitly directed at water andsanitation, US Aid, for example, links water security to much broaderdevelopment and societal issues63. Building on existing initiatives, theGlobal Framework for Action on Sanitation and Water Supply (GF4A) is apolitical initiative initiated by the governments of the Netherlands and theUK. It provides a global platform to bring political focus and accountabilityto the sanitation and water supply sectors and help donors anddevelopment partners to coordinate their efforts and to direct resourceswhere they are needed most. The new UN-Water Global Annual Assessmentof Sanitation and Drinking‐Water (GLAAS) report will be a resource for theGF4A and the first of these annual reports will be published early in 201064.

“The costs of waterinsecurity are huge. Floodsin 2003 cost the Chineseeconomy £8.5 billion,whilst those in 2000 inMozambique resulted indirect costs of $600 millionand a reduction in GDPgrowth from 7.5% to 1.6%in one year.”

Evidence submitted byDFID to RAE/ICE/CIWEM

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6. Tackling threats to water security

The scale and complexity of the challenge mean that responses to water in-security must seek to integrate supply orientated and demand orientatedmeasures65 through policy, governance and regulation, cultural change andinstitutional reform, as well as through better approaches to managementand application of new technologies and techniques.

6.1 Governance and regulation

Water security is not only about a sufficiency of water but also aboutrecognising the true value of water and managing it accordingly66. There is aneed for better governance and management at all scales67; global, regional,national, local, as well as at the catchment level and a need for synergybetween them. In situations where rivers cross national boundaries or lakesare shared between countries, trans-boundary agreements for waterallocation and sharing need to be enshrined within international treaties.Tackling threats to global water security requires responses tailored to theindividual country’s political, social, economic, environmental, financial andcultural conditions but with a framework of international coordination.

The privatised water industry in England and Wales issubject to extensive economic, environmental and waterquality regulation. Government is responsible for developingpublic policy on water and enacting associated legislation.Ofwat is responsible for the economic regulation of privatelyrun water supply and sewerage companies. TheEnvironment Agency is responsible for licensing ofabstraction from the environment and the award of consentsfor discharges of treated wastewater into the environment.The Drinking Water Inspectorate is responsible for checkingthat water companies supply water that is safe to drink andmeets the standards set out in legislation.

Water companies develop their own water resources andinvestment plans, based on a 25 year planning period.However, Ofwat reviews water company plans and isresponsible for setting price limits, every five years, followingprice reviews which consider operational expenditure, capitalcharges as a result of the capital investment programme andreturn on investors’ capital. The short term nature of thesecycles does not aid water companies’ planning.68

There is increasing attention on sharing of the waterresource among and between users, including theenvironment. In the UK, the Environment Agency has thepower to grant new water abstraction and discharge licencesand amend existing licences. Catchment AbstractionManagement Strategies (CAMS) are used by theEnvironment Agency to manage and administer the systemof water resources of a catchment. They provide a baseline ofwater availability and a classification system to indicate therelative balance between the environmental requirementsand how much is licensed for abstraction already; whetherfurther abstractions are possible; and areas whereabstraction may need to be reduced69.

Over the next few years, water resources in the EU will besignificantly affected by the Water Framework Directive(WFD)70. The WFD is the most substantial piece of EU waterlegislation to date and according to this Directive, MemberStates must aim to reach good chemical and ecologicalstatus in inland and coastal waters by 2015. It is designed toimprove and integrate the way water bodies are managedthroughout Europe and will have significant impacts onabstraction and discharge consents.

While the Water Framework Directive’s primary objective ison the ecological ‘health’ of the water environment, itimpacts on the wider water system as supporting theecological status requires sufficient water flows. Allabstraction licences granted are now ‘time-limited’, whichmeans that after an agreed period these licences may berenewed in full, reduced or revoked. Those catchmentsidentified as over-licensed or over-abstracted within theCAMS framework, will likely have licence volumes reducedor not restored in coming years. This has implications forwater supply in England and Wales, particularly in the waterstressed areas of South East England.

Discharge consents for treated wastewater will also tightenunder the WFD. In London, for example, of all 47 river waterbodies, only one currently achieves good ecological status,with 16 having poor ecological status. The upper and middlesections of the Thames Estuary both currently achievemoderate ecological status. London’s 16 lakes generally havea higher standard of water quality, with 10 achieving goodecological status71.

‘We would argue thatintegrated watermanagement is going torequire a cultural change,policy changes andinstitutional reform. Inorder to deliver IntegratedUrban WaterManagement (IUWM)and to utilise novelapproaches we need tochange regulations andstandards so that they aremore flexible and open tonovel systems.’

– Technology Strategy Board &Knowledge Transfer Network

Case Study: UK regulation

The political change inherent in moving to post-apartheiddemocracy created an ideal opportunity to deal with one ofthe constraints to South Africa’s economic and socialdevelopment – water reform. Despite extensiveinfrastructure, including sufficient dam storage toaccumulate 65% of annual flows, by 1990 water use wasapproaching the limits of what could be madeeconomically and nationally available on a reliable basis. Arange of consultative processes drew a wide communityinto a five year debate to produce a national water policyfinalised by Department of Water Affairs (DWAF) whichguided the drafting of new water resource legislation. Themandate of DWAF was expanded to include water supplyand sanitation services, preserving continuity of technicalcompetencies and institutional memory.

The big ideas included clarification of the legal status ofwater as an ‘invisible national resource”, with nationalgovernment responsible for its custodianship as a publictrust. A vision was adopted for “the objective of managingthe quantity, quality and reliability of the nation’s waterresources to achieve optimum long term social andeconomic benefit for society from their use” South Africawas going to have to manage the resource and the tensionbetween growing demand and finite supply and ensurethat the limited water available was to be used not justproductively and beneficially, but optimally.

The requirement that water be reserved to meetenvironmental needs put the environment centre stage.Another critical element of the new policy was to establishthat water rights were user rights (rather than propertyrights), and as such become subject to regulation. Thisrecognised that water use will change with time and wateruse rights have a limited life span dependent on the typeof use. The trading of rights was a contentious issue –concerns that inland farmers would sell their rights toindustry and leave populations stranded – so as a result,trades have to be registered, with stricter regulatorycontrol over transfers between different sectors and sub-catchments. The notion that conservation and demandmanagement were projects with as much validity as damconstruction and inter-basin transfers was also introduced.Priority was also given to an intense national programmeto provide safe water to the 12 million South Africans whodid not have it. Innovations such as free basic water were

part of a broader pricing policy for water services.

The 1998 National Water Act required the preparation of aNational Water Resources Strategy, the first of which waspublished in 2004. This made South Africa one of the firstcountries to meet the target for the development ofnational Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)and water efficiency strategies set up at the 2002 WorldSummit on Sustainable Development. Equity andefficiency were addressed by establishing water use as atemporary right, allowing transfers from one use toanother, and for economic users, promoting the “userpays” and the “polluter pays” principles.

Now, 14 million people have access to safe drinking water,even in areas where the resource is overexploited, and thepriority of basic human needs over all other activities isrespected. Good management, secure allocations and anexplicit pricing policy have made it possible to fund anumber of large projects from private-sector resources.

As a result of these changes in water management, thefollowing have been achieved:-

• Water productivity (contributions to GDP or jobs per m3),and the real price of water for economic use, haveincreased

• agricultural employment has increased significantlyowing to the expansion of irrigation along the OrangeRiver and Northern Cape,

• no significant water shortages have affected the keyeconomic activities over the past decade despite somesevere droughts.

• competing demands for water are being managedsuccessfully – a number of mining projects in waterscarce areas are taking their water supplies frommunicipal wastewater discharges.

Pressure to reduce pollution has seen a number of majorindustries based in sensitive inland catchments movetowards zero discharge processes; domestic waterconsumption grew by only 20% between 2001 and 2006,while the number of people served increased by 50%.Overall there is a sense that water management is not juststaying ahead of economic and social development, but isactively contributing to it.

Case Study: South African Water reform72

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6.2 The cost of water

Water has traditionally been regarded as a free resource. Any costs forwater are usually associated with the cost of processing and deliveringalone, rather than assigning any value to the resource73. Free or highlyundervalued water gives limited incentive for water efficiency. There isgrowing interest internationally in the use of water pricing to reducedemand as well as to generate revenue to cover the cost of providing watersupplies and maintaining infrastructure.

6.2.1 Pricing

The effectiveness of pricing in influencing demand varies between waterusers74 For municipal water demand, pricing can be effective when

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combined with raising user awareness. In the case of water for irrigation,pricing is more complex because the amount of water consumed is difficultto measure and farmer behaviour may not be sensitive to price until theprice of water is several times that of the cost of providing water75. Largeincreases in the price of surface water may cause farmers to usegroundwater instead which is relatively unregulated by comparison.

Although tradable water rights schemes are in place in Australia, Chile, SouthAfrica and the western USA, the design of a trading system is fundamental toensuring its success, and establishing the necessary institutional frameworkcan take considerable time. The World Development Report76 concludes thatwater trading may be viable over the longer term, but does not present a shortterm option for most developing countries.

6.3 Funding mechanisms

The World Bank notes that many countries face a major challenge indeveloping and maintaining appropriate water systems infrastructure.Financial institutions are likely to play a key role in making up this shortfall.Firstly, however, better information on likely costs and barriers to theirimplementation is needed. This may help to close the water supply-demandgap and help meet the Millennium Development Goals in the long run.

Discussion on the financing of water projects has typically only been made inrelation to water and wastewater supply, though recently broader viewpointshave been adopted77. For example, financing may be required at a user level toinvest in more water efficient methods, such as, for example, the provisionof credit to farmers to improve irrigation efficiency by investing in dripirrigation.

Public finance still accounts for 70% of investment in the domestic watersupply sector globally, despite the recent rise in the number of peoplesupplied by the private sector78. Public sector financing means that assetsare owned by the public sector, and government controls the price andsupply of water. Public spending faces competing demands, particularly soin periods of poor economic growth, and many countries have ageing assetsand many countries with less developed but growing economies under-spend on water resources infrastructure.

Private sector involvement spans a range of activities sharing theresponsibility for water between the public and private sector. In somecountries, (France, England, Wales and the Czech Republic), water servicesare operated by regulated private companies for a defined geographicalarea. The UK’s water sector is made up of 12 water and sewerage serviceproviders and 14 water suppliers. In England and Wales, the companies areprivately owned. Welsh Water, which supplies services in Wales, is a not-for-profit company. Scotland and Northern Ireland each have single water andsewage service providers (Scottish Water and Northern Ireland Water) thatare in public ownership but rely upon private companies for delivery ofmany of their services. The water industry in England and Wales is financedby customer revenues and by outside investment.

Private sector involvement is not a global panacea for tackling watersecurity, and many agencies, including the UN take a cautious approach toits adoption in developing countries. Of particular concern, are unsuitable

‘Too many water projects,particularly in theDeveloping World, havesuffered from exchangerate fluctuations. Theprojects may have beenvery successful, but had tobe cancelled due to thisdebt issue. Mechanismsthat encourage localpeople or expatriates toinvest in debt productsmust be found as thisremoves the foreignexchange risk.’

– David Lloyd-Owen

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regulatory structures, issues of corruption and the need for public funding ofinfrastructure79.

Recent work by the World Economic Forum has looked at ‘”Innovative WaterPartnerships”, or public-private-community partnerships (PPCP)80. Thesepartnerships, supported by USAID and SDC, are multi-stakeholderapproaches to leveraging finance into the broader water sector. Examplesfrom India and South Africa include the financing schemes for watershedmanagement and reuse of wastewater. This study concluded that, whileprivate sector involvement has significant potential for meeting fundinggaps and increasing the efficiency, it should be tailored to the specificsituation, and may not be appropriate everywhere.

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7. New and better technologies, techniques and practices

Many of the technologies needed to address water security already exist butneed to be refined, developed and improved, bringing challenges for re-search and development. When looking at the role that technology has inproviding new sources of water, we must be conscious of the affect that itmay have on the ecosystem.

7.1 Managing variability

Water storage in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and aquifers provides a means ofmanaging variability in water availability, allowing stored water to be usedduring dry periods. In addition, the storage in some lakes and reservoirs canbe managed to provide potential for the storage of excess flows duringfloods.

7.2 Surface water storage

There are over 48,000 large dams in operation worldwide. Surface waterstorage by means of dams can bring many benefits, such as energy, drinkingwater supply and water for irrigation. However, these benefits may come atgreat social and environmental cost caused by the displacement of peopleor impacts on the ecosystem caused by changes in flow and continuity ofrivers. For a time, dam building slowed, as decision-makers learned of theirharmful impacts, but in recent years, the number of new dam proposals hasgrown.

The World Commission on Dams (WCD)81 was established to assess thepast performance and future role of large dams. It concluded that, whiledams have indeed made important contributions to human development, intoo many cases an unacceptable and unnecessary price has been paid interms of impact on communities and the environment. Keyrecommendations of the WCD include five “core values”:

• equity• sustainability• efficiency• participatory decision-making and accountability.

These values are underpinned by seven “strategic priorities”:

• The need to gain public acceptance• comprehensive assessment of all options• addressing the impact of existing dams• sustaining rivers and livelihoods• recognising entitlements and sharing benefits• ensuring compliance• sharing rivers for peace and• development and security.

The World Wide Fund for Nature points out that, five years after the WCDreport, many dams are constructed without all of these issues being takeninto account. However, the WWF82 is not against dam construction per se,but states that “the development of new dams in accordance with the seven

“Recognising irrigationproperly means coming atit simultaneously from asystems, water,technological, societal andpolicy point of view.”

Bruce Lankford School of InternationalDevelopment, UEA

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strategic priorities recommended by the WCD is the best way to ensurethat dams really deliver their intended benefits and avoid unacceptableimpacts”.

7.3 Sustainable use of groundwater

Groundwater (except fossil groundwater) is naturally replenished, orrecharged, through rainfall and surface water. It provides a cushion forcoping with unreliable public supplies and rainfall, but it is far from wellmanaged and in arid regions around the world, aquifers are overexploited83.

Groundwater supplies are an important supply of water for agricultural anddomestic use; 1.2 billion urban dwellers rely on groundwater for their watersupply84. Groundwater acts as a long-term “reservoir” for the water cycleand can have residence times ranging from just days to 1,000s of years.Throughout the world, significant numbers of aquifers are being drawnupon at a rate that exceeds the natural recharge. Our understanding ofaquifer yields is limited by their complex interactions with surface waterand connections between numerous aquifers. This is clearly an area formore research into sustainable practices relating to groundwaterwithdrawals, the integrated management of groundwater and surface watersystems, and actions to enhance natural and artificial aquifer recharge.

Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) is the process of storing excess waterunderground when it is available, and recovering that water for use whensupplies are short. This is widely used in the USA and Australia. In the UK,Thames Water is using ASR as part of its supply technology strategy forLondon.

7.4 Water efficiency in agriculture

Managing water use to meet future needs involves making water use moreefficient. As agriculture accounts for around 70% of freshwaterabstractions from surface and groundwater sources, increased efficiencycan lead to large savings. The World Bank85 notes the need to increase theproductivity of water in rain-fed agriculture, which provides a livelihood forthe majority of the world’s poor, generates more than half the gross valueof the world’s crops and accounts for 80% of the world’s crop water use.Measures such as mulching and conservation tillage help retain soilmoisture, especially if supported by soil conservation measures to manageland cover. Small-scale rainwater harvesting helps provide an additionalsource of water for crops.

Irrigated agriculture is expected to produce a greater share of the world’sfood in the future as it may be more resilient (in the medium term) toclimate change in all but the most water-scarce basins86. There is littlescope for increasing the total area under irrigation, which is projected toincrease by only 9% between 2000 and 205087. This means that there willneed to be an increase in the productivity of crops per unit area and perunit of water applied.

New technologies have the potential to increase water productivity (gettingmore “crop per drop”) but these need to be combined with strong policies,well focused investments, and good institutional arrangements that allowfarmers to participate in decision making and provide them with

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information and advice on how to get the most out of new infrastructureand technical developments88.

Improved surface irrigation methods such as level furrows, sprinkler andmicro irrigation methods, and the use of advanced techniques of irrigationscheduling and timing can help improve water management at farm level.By monitoring water intake and growth, farmers can achieve greaterprecision in water application, and irrigating only when necessary. Remotesensing schemes are beginning to allow farmers to detect their crops’water taking into account meteorological data as well as soil moisture andbiomass information89. More efficient water use is being combined withmore widespread adoption of drought and heat tolerant crop varieties.

7.5 Water efficiency in industry

As the GDP of a nation grows, the abstraction of water for industrialpurposes increases, from about 10% for low and middle income countriesto around 60% for high GDP countries. Industrial water abstractionglobally is estimated to rise to about 24% of total freshwater withdrawal in202591. Water availability is becoming critical in the power industry92 forelectricity generation. Water used for cooling by thermal and nuclear powerplants is set to rise throughout the world as new power plants arecommissioned. In some cases, it is not simply the availability of coolingwater that is the issue, but that outflows from power stations can becomewarm enough to cause environmental damage on discharge.

Agenda 21, the United Nations’ Programme of Action from the EarthSummit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, urged industry to implement “moreefficient production processes…hence minimizing or avoiding wastes”thereby enabling it to play a major role in reducing impacts on resourceuse and the environment. This was echoed in the World Summit onSustainable Development, Plan of Implementation in 2002.

A proportion of the water abstracted by industry is consumptive,evaporated through use for cooling or embedded within industrialproducts, so that it is not available for use elsewhere in the basin. Thisproportion can be reduced by applying more efficient forms of cooling andthe condensing and re-use of cooling water. The remainder is non-consumptive and is returned to surface/groundwater systems following itsuse in the production process, typically for washing/cooling and thenreturned as warm water or for sanitation needs within the manufacturingfacility. Water treatment and re-use on site can significantly reduce waterabstraction.

In the 1990s, China introduced water-saving measuresand began to modernise its agricultural irrigationsystems. China has some 400 large irrigation systems -each with an irrigated area of more than 20,000hectares - which account for about a quarter of thecountry’s total irrigated area of 56 million hectares.Modernisation included the application of new materialsand technologies to upgrade irrigation system structures

and the application of modern irrigation concepts andinstitutions to improve irrigation management. Waterconveyance and irrigation intervals have been shortened,and water losses have been reduced. Agricultural outputin the programme area increased by 46%, even thoughirrigation abstractions have fallen from about 80% oftotal water withdrawals in 1980 to 60% today, a dramaticreduction by improving water use efficiency.90

Case Study: Improvements in irrigation in China

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7.6 Water supply and distribution

Half the world’s population live in cities and this is projected to rise to 70%by 2050. Of this, 95% of urban population growth will be in the developingworld with small cities growing most rapidly.93 Urban growth rates need to bematched by extension of public health infrastructure (including piped treatedwater, waste water systems) to ensure that communities are sustainable andbenefit from the economies of scale that derive from lower per capita coststhan in rural areas. Well planned urban development and relatedinfrastructure are required to provide resilience to water related risksincluding water shortages and the threat of fluvial and coastal flooding.

A recent report by the UK’s Council for Science and Technology (CST)examined the core sectors of national infrastructure, including water, andmade recommendations to Government.94 The report found that resilienceagainst climate change is the most significant and complex longer-termchallenge, noting potential impacts on pipe systems, wastewater treatmentworks, sewerage and dams. Current Government policy in the UK iscommitted to an integrated approach to the improvement of nationalinfrastructure, including water infrastructure. Assessments of the country’slong term infrastructure needs over a five to 50 year horizon have beeninformed by recent reports on critical infrastructure from the engineeringprofession.95

The national water resources strategy for England and Wales, recentlypublished by the Environment Agency, notes that water companies havemade progress in reducing and controlling leakage over the last decade, butnotes that more needs to be done. An analysis of the application of bestpractice in finding and repairing leaks, managing pressure and replacingmains, if applied by all water companies, suggests that leakage could bereduced by 30 per cent from the level in 2009 (1,000 million litres per day) by2025.96

7.7 Developing new sources

Another option in response to water shortage is the development of newsources of water. This option is appealing in that it has the potential todevelop an increased supply of water or efficiency in its use, withoutnecessarily having to compromise on our demand for water and lifestylechoices. However, when looking at the role of technology in providing newsources of water, we must be conscious of the effects that it can have onthe ecosystem as a whole.

7.7.1 Desalination

Almost half of the world’s desalting capacity is used in the Middle East andNorth Africa for municipal supplies. Saudi Arabia ranks first in totalcapacity installed (approximately 24% of the world’s capacity) with theUnited States second (16%).97 The largest desalination plant in Europe hasbeen constructed by Thames Water to provide security of supply toLondon. A number of desalination plants have been built in Australia, butto date, most of the capacity is located in Western Australia. However, thistrend will change over the coming five years as the large seawater plants onthe Eastern States are commissioned and the total desalination capacity inAustralia increases dramatically.98

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The advantages of desalination are that it taps into a large resource ofwater (the oceans), increases supply rather than constraining demand, andcan be widely implemented. Desalination plants have been proposed notjust in developed countries, but also in developing countries. The maindisadvantage of desalination is the cost and concerns over energy security,putting it at the mercy of fluctuating energy prices. Increased energyconsumption will also lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions ifthe plant relies on non-renewable energy sources. There is also an issuewith what to do with the highly concentrated brine by-product.

Desalination plants that operate using low-carbon energy have beenproposed, with the first large scale plant of this kind constructed in Perth,Australia99. The extent to which sustainably powered desalination schemescould be technically feasible for providing significant amounts of waterremains to be seen. The use of sustainable energy sources such ashydropower or biofuels may limit their viability as a solution, throughnegative impacts on the water-energy-food nexus.

7.7.2 Water recycling, reuse and harvesting

Recycling water is the process of removing solids and certain impuritiesfrom wastewater and using it again rather than discharging into surfacewater or the ocean. The reuse and recycling of water in industrial anddomestic settings has the potential significantly to reduce theconsumption of water in these environments. Harvested rainwater andrecycled water can be used for activities such as toilet flushing, reducingoverall domestic water consumption.

Currently, recycled water is used for purposes such as irrigation, dustcontrol, and fighting fires. There is controversy about possible health andenvironmental effects for even these uses, let alone for re-use as potablewater. In some locations however, such as Singapore and Namibia, wastewater is given superior treatment and is used indirectly to supplementwater sources that will eventually be used to supply potable water. Even inthe UK, Thames Water has been investigating the potential to reuse waterto supplement domestic supplies (indirect potable supply).

Industrial recycling of water has the potential for more significant savingsof water. It also puts less pressure on natural water resources and canaugment environmental flows. Given the relatively small proportion ofwater that is used domestically, the benefits of carrying out water recyclingwill be relatively small, though not insignificant, and is increasingly used inthe water-scarce Middle East. Harvesting rainwater via water butts hasbenefits not just in replacing mains water supplies in houses, but also inreducing quick runoff and thus the risk of flooding.

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8. Tools to support policy development

New and better tools are needed to support effective policy developmentand decision making and enable the effective and sustainable managementof water resources.100 These include:

• Increasing our knowledge about the world’s water as a system. Tomanage water well, it is critical to know how much water is available andhow much is being used for what purpose.101

• Developing a rigorous analytical framework to facilitate decision-makingand investment into the water sector. This is a prerequisite for theefficient allocation of water as well as for limiting water consumption tosustainable levels in the face of significant areas of future uncertainty.

• Developing risk-based decision-making techniques to enable adaptationto climate change impacts as well as responding to the changing needsfor food and energy security of a growing world population.

• Developing water system modelling techniques and the monitoringsystems and data collection to validate them.

The nature and scope of these tools is broad. They deal with a spectrum ofissues from the optimisation of water resource allocation and thesimulation of the reliability of the balance between supply and demand(under various future planning scenarios) to the analysis of water needsand water use. The use of risk analysis and risk-based decision- makingtechniques is becoming more common, especially to address issuesrelating to the security and reliability of water supply, and the implicationsof uncertainty in developing sustainable water management plans.

In the business sector, there is a growing interest in understanding better theextent to which an individual, organisation or administrative unit isdependent on water and to what water related risks business is exposed andvulnerable. Water-related risks can be:

• physical, arising from threats to the reliable availability of sufficient waterof an acceptable quality

• regulatory, associated with the regulation of water abstraction, use andthe quality of water discharged; and

• risks to the reputation of organisations arising from the increasingcompetition for clean water among economic, social and environmentalinterests.102

A range of assessment tools seek to address these issues (e.g. CorporateWater Gauge, Water Footprinting)103 and to help identify ways to reduce wateruse, and guiding policy (such as Coca Cola’s Water Efficiency Toolkit104.). Theconcept of “virtual” water has become a key concept in the understandingand communication of water issues and how they are linked to internationaltrade, agriculture, climate change, economics and politics and is the basis ofwater footprint assessments being carried out by businesses (such as

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SABMiller105) both in their own direct use and through their value chain. Theconcept of water footprinting can be applied at different levels. The WaterFootprint Network has recently produced a Water Footprint Manual, whichsets out methods for calculating footprints at different levels106. In 2008, theWWF assessed the size of the UK’s water footprint, calculating that eachperson in the UK used 4,645 litres per day107 of mostly virtual water.

The water marginal cost curve developed by McKinsey is anotherpotentially powerful tool for policy and decision makers.108 The toolestimates, for a range of options, the incremental availability of water andthe cost of each option, and its application in several parts of the world hasindicated that more efficient water use in agriculture is a fundamental partof the global water security solution. Similar insight is provided by theanalytic techniques applied in the UK by the Environment Agency andwater companies under the Economics of Balancing Supply and Demandwater resources planning process109.

8.1 Trans-boundary agreements and conflicts

Trans-boundary disputes are likely to be an increasing source of risk in thefuture, with conflicts over water, though historically rare, expected by someto increase.110

In situations where rivers cross national boundaries or lakes are sharedbetween countries, trans-boundary agreements for water allocation andsharing may be enshrined within international treaties. The Indus Treaty wasagreed between India and Pakistan in 1960, following over a decade ofnegotiations, assigning the use of water from different tributaries to eachcountry. The treaty was agreed in spite of ongoing political tensions betweenboth countries. The security of supply guaranteed by the treaty allowedsignificant development of irrigated land (particularly by Pakistan), and ofhydropower (particularly by India). Pakistan has developed its irrigated areafrom eight million to 18 million hectares in 2001; something that has beendirectly attributed to the success of the Treaty.111 Agreements such as theIndus Treaty show that trans-boundary issues can be resolved in spite ofpolitical tensions between users. Similar agreements may be required inareas where water security issues exist against a backdrop of politicaltensions, such as, for example the Euphrates-Tigris catchment and basin.

8.2 Engaging the public

The implementation by governments and public authorities of policy andstrategic (large scale technological) responses to water scarcity problemsrely for their success on a positive response from individuals andcommunity stakeholder groups. This requires awareness andunderstanding by all parties of the key issues and the views and likelyreaction of local communities and individuals and, in turn, ensuring thatsuch issues are included and addressed in public debate on the project aswell as the broader debate on the sustainable use of resources.

Engineers and policy makers have a role to play in engaging the public onwater security and its implications for such issues as the more careful useof water, changes in dietary and lifestyle habits, an awareness of theinternational implications of virtual water and the relationship betweenwater, the food we eat and the energy we consume.

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Where there is water scarcity, people adapt to the amount of water thatthey have to consume. During the prolonged droughts of recent years inAustralia there has been a measurable reduction in water consumption. Inthe UK, during the droughts of 2006-07, a decline in urban consumptionwas linked to an advertising campaign by water companies.112 In manydeveloping countries, there are limited alternatives to adaptingconsumption to water availability.

The UK Government Department of the Environment, Food and RuralAffairs’ Water Use Aspirations113 for 2030 are centred on assumptions thatconsumers will use water wisely, appreciating its value and understandingthe consequences of wasting it. DEFRA is aiming for reduced per capitaconsumption of water from current levels of around 145 litres per personper day, to an average of 130 litres per person per day by 2030, or 120 litresper person per day if new technological developments and innovation bearfruit. Achieving a reduction of this scale represents a significant challengein raising awareness and changing customer attitudes, especially currentperceptions of the value of water, attitudes to the availability of water and theprice people are prepared to pay for what they perceive to be a right ratherthan a commodity. Informing and engaging the public about water use andpricing could catalyse changes in behaviour that are potentially significant inreducing water stress, and in successfully implementing fundamentalchanges to water provision such as water pricing and trading.

Reducing individual water consumption means wasting less food, recyclingproducts114, as well as reducing mains water use in the domesticenvironment115. Demand side management techniques, such as rainwaterharvesting, grey-water recycling and volumetric charging, have the potentialto reduce consumption in the domestic environment. The choice to adopttechnologies and practices such as these lies only to a limited extent withthe individual; however people could be encouraged or incentivised toadopt such technologies and practices as they become available.

In 1992, the Government of Tanzania conducted a survey todetermine the villages in greatest need of water so thatGovernment-funded water projects could be prioritised. Forreasons of budgetary constraint, Lufumbu was not selected.This disappointed the villagers, who sat down together andvoted to raise their own resources to establish a village watersupply scheme.

The scheme, which relies on a simple gravity principle, wasdesigned jointly by the villagers and water technicians. Itscosts, which were under US$50,000, were shared betweenthe villagers (48 per cent), the Roman Catholic Church (10 percent) and the United Nations Development Programme (42per cent). With 10 kilometres of mains, a reservoir tank of60,000 litres and 56 drawing points, the scheme wasdesigned to serve the whole community.

Upon completion, the Lufumbu water scheme produced a

wide range of benefits going far beyond the anticipatedobjective. Access to water was dramatically improved, leadingto a significant reduction in the incidence of water bornedisease in the community. Agricultural productivity increased,while additional initiatives to establish nurseries for coffeehave contributed to the expansion of coffee farming. House-building also benefited from this better access to water, aswater is required to make house bricks. Now, over 300modern brick houses can be found around the village.

Lufumbu village shows how even infrastructure projects,which are assumed to be more technical and complex thanother projects, can be owned by a community of poorvillagers. And the water governance in this project has provedparticularly efficient and transparent. The management of thescheme is ensured by a democratically elected watercommittee made up of villagers who are given training.

Case Study: Lufumbu Village Water Project, Tanzania118

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Consumers and citizens have the power to enact change in consumptionthrough their purchasing decisions. Reputational risk is identified bybusinesses as one of the significant risks of adopting unsustainable waterpractice.116 The notion is that consumers actively engage in green issuesand will choose alternative products if they believe a company areconducting its business unsustainably. The Coca-Cola bottling plant inIndia is one example of consumers reacting to perceived poor practice bythe company.117 Since this incident, Coca-Cola and other beveragecompanies have been much more concerned about their activitiesregarding water use. As the public becomes more aware of water securityissues, reducing the water footprint of products and services, and theirsupply chains, will become a core component of any businesses’ corporatesocial responsibility strategy.

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9. Conclusions and recommendations

Water underpins the very fabric of human life – our food and drink, theclothes we wear, the landscapes we enjoy, the societies we live in, thelength and quality of our lives. The essential role that water plays in national life – in energy supply, infrastructure, economic growth, health-care, education and culture – makes water a central concern for nationalpolicies. Because the water cycle is global, the availability, use and securityof water transcend local, national and even continental boundaries.

Water security is under severe pressure from many sources; a worldpopulation explosion, rapid shifts of people from rural to urban areas, theimpact of dietary change as countries develop, increasing pollution ofwater resources, the over-abstraction of groundwater and the notinsignificant issues created by climate change.

The world is far from water secure. In many parts of the world the demandfor water is already much greater than the available supply. This is not anissue that affects only developing countries, where water infrastructure ispoor and where many people do not have access to safe drinking water, butalso of the developed world, where burgeoning demand simply cannotcontinue to be met. Water for agriculture and, therefore, food is not given asufficient attention on the global stage, where water supply and sanitationissues currently dominate. In order to move water for agriculture up theagenda on the global scene, water engineers, farmers, economists andpolicy makers will need to improve their communications with one another.

Water has traditionally been regarded as a free resource. Any costs forwater are usually associated with the cost of processing and delivery alone,rather than assigning any inherent value to the resource. Free, or greatlyundervalued, water gives little incentive for water efficiency. There isgrowing interest internationally in the use of water pricing to reducedemand as well as to generate revenue to cover the cost of providing watersupplies and maintaining infrastructure.

9.1 Findings

Water management solutions should be considered in the context of theentire water system, from “cloud to coast” as well as the implicationsimmediately upstream and downstream. In this systems approach, all typesof water must be considered together and in this context, the flows and usesof water in a catchment area feeding the soil (green water), free water in riversand reservoirs (blue water) and used or waste water (grey water) all need tobe included. Such an approach can lead to significant efficiencies inmanaging water systems.

The impact of policy in one nation can have impact on the water security ofother nations. There is a need for governance at all scales – global, regional,national, local, as well as at the catchment level and a need for linkagesbetween these scales. In situations where rivers cross national boundaries orlakes are shared between countries, trans-boundary agreements for waterallocation and sharing may be enshrined within international treaties. Tackling

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threats to global water security requires responses tailored to the individualcountry’s political, social, economic, environmental, financial and culturalconditions, and will, in most cases, require international coordination.

Developed nations are in a position to meet some of their water need byimporting “virtual” water in the form of goods and services from othercountries. The UK is reliant on food, energy and goods that require water intheir production and transportation by and from countries that arethemselves under water stress. This hidden water accounts for over 2/3 of theUK’s water footprint. The UK therefore has a responsibility, not only tomanage its own water resources sustainably, but to provide leadership toenable the development and implementation of global solutions. Watersecurity should become a core component of UK policy making. Governmentmust assess the interrelationship between water, food and energy security inUK with a view to achieving an optimal balance of aligned national policy.

The importance of water security to national security should be a corecomponent of policy making. Water security should be considered as part ofclimate change mitigation and adaptation policy and the global impacts onwater security of our national and international policies need to be assessed.The technologies, practices and management approaches that will berequired to address water security issues must be identified and supportedthrough research and development. Government should review the needs forpublic engagement, education and awareness-raising around the subjectwater security.

Given the impending worsening of water security, particular in somedeveloping countries, UK Government should put water at the centre of itsinternational development policy. There should be recognition thatinfrastructure development is of no use on its own unless the institutionalcapacity is developed in country and all levels of stakeholders are engagedto make it work.

Improvements in climate modelling are crucial to help predict the temporaland spatial distribution of the effects of water scarcity. As well as fulfillingtheir traditional role in designing and building water infrastructure andmanagement systems, engineers and policy makers must engage withcommunities, with society and with industry about demand management,sustainability strategies and their impact on daily life.

The UK professional engineering bodies have a role to play in helping embedawareness of the water security challenges among their global membership.The professional qualifications that the engineering institutions administercan ensure holders know and understand the appropriate technologies,legislative frameworks and latest best practice for taking a systems basedapproach to water security. Such organisations also have a role to play incoordinating dialogue with the public.

The education and training of engineers needs to combine experience-ledtechnical learning and systems thinking with modules on such issues assustainability, ethical and societal dimensions of engineering and the impactof trade and transboundary conflicts.

Businesses can examine its supply chains and production processes toassess and reduce their water footprint as a core component of their

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corporate and social responsibility strategies. Their analysis should not berestricted to their home country but also to those regions from where theyimport goods, materials and services. A commitment to openness andtransparency about the impact of business operation on water supplies incountry will help create a “stress map” that will support internationalpolicymaking. Business should be encouraged and incentivised to developtools to support effective policy development and decision making to enablesustainable management of water resources.

The regulation of the water sector globally needs to be focused on integratedwater resource management and sustainability. All too often there is littlesynergy between long term water resource management and the need toprovide water and sanitation services. Indeed Governments often view thewater sector as purely the utility operators and neglect the water resource,ecosystem and amenity functions. This is a common issue across thedeveloped and developing world. For example in the UK the water utilitieshave been required in the recently completed price review process, to producea 25 year forward view by the regulator Ofwat. Whilst this is welcome, theregulator has focused in reality, only on the companies’ investment plans overthe next five year period.

This disconnect is a problem and highlights the need to develop sustainableregulation for the water sector. In Europe, the EU Water Framework Directive,which concentrates of the health of aquatic ecosystems and their ecologicalquality, is being brought into force in all member states. The implementationof this directive will challenge existing regulatory systems to accommodatea more sustainable approach.

This example highlights the importance of developing sustainable waterregulation in the context of full integrated water resource management(IWRM).

9.2 New knowledge and engagement

Changes in water consumption at an individual level will be crucial totackling water scarcity. Achieving a significant reduction in demandrepresents a significant challenge in raising awareness and changingcustomer attitudes. The choice to adopt technologies and practices toreduce consumption lies, to a certain extent, with the individual who needsto be encouraged or incentivised to change behaviours.

Many of the technologies, techniques and practices needed to addresswater security already exist but need to be refined, developed or improved.When considering the role of technology in providing new sources of water,it is important to be conscious of the effects that it can have on theecosystem as a whole. UK research must rise to the challenges ofdeveloping and improving the new tools and technologies which willcontribute to solving of water scarcity and delivering global water security.Examples include: water resource allocation and optimisation models,predictive climate change water scarcity impact models, development ofnew water policy, regulation and governance frameworks and developmentof innovative financing mechanisms for water infrastructure.

New knowledge and sustainable technologies or practices that need to bedeveloped include:

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• management of existing sources to provide potential for the storage ofexcess flows during floods • surface water storage by dams in line with the World Commission onDams’ (WCD)119 five ‘core values’• sustainable use of groundwater and better understanding of aquifers• water efficiency in agriculture through water management and drainageand improved surface irrigation alongside drought-heat tolerant cropvarieties (in parallel with improvements in plant breeding or geneticmanipulation to reduce irrigation demand)• more water efficient industrial production processes• better management of water supply and distribution systems• development of new sources and improving performance of existingsources• desalination of seawater or brackish water including strategies forhandling concentrated brine waste streams• better modelling of water systems with improved monitoring, datacollection and validation.

9.3 Recommendations

1. Inter-governmental bodies such as the WTO, and key discussion forasuch as the UNFCCC must elevate the issues of water security in theirstrategies. Water footprints and virtual water content of globally tradedgoods and agricultural products need to be taken into account in tradenegotiations to protect communities suffering from water stress.

2. Water security should become a core component of UK policy making.Government must assess the interrelationship between water, food andenergy security in UK, informed by a systems based approach, with a viewto achieving an optimal balance of aligned national policy.

3. UK industry must show leadership on global water security. Throughtheir global reach, businesses must examine its supply chains andproduction processes to assess and reduce their water footprint. Thisshould be a core component of their corporate and social responsibilitystrategies.

4. The regulation of the water sector globally needs to have integratedwater resource management and sustainability informed by a systemsapproach at its core. The current disconnect between the provision ofwater and sanitation services and the wider water resource issues areall too apparent and it is essential to change the way the water sector isviewed and regulated.

5. The Government should bolster investment in the RD&D of solutionsto global water security and work with the UK water industry to improvethe development of the necessary models and data collectiontechniques to underpin international development policy.

6. The UK engineering institutions should ensure that their globalmemberships are appropriately equipped, through professionaldevelopment, to apply a systems led approach to water engineering,incorporating the technical, geo-political, societal and ethicaldimensions of the challenge. Engineers, along with all agenciesinvolved need to engage with stakeholders to promote systems basedsolutions and with the public in general to support informed decisionmaking in connection with water use.

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References1 Food, Energy, Water and the Climate: A Perfect Storm of Global Events? John Beddington CMG FRS Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government2 http://www.unep.org/DAMS/WCD/3 UNDP Human Development Report 2006, http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR06-complete.pdf p. 334 World Economic Forum, 20095 Global Water Partnership, Written Evidence6 IWMI Annual Report 2005/2006,

http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/About_IWMI/Strategic_Documents/Annual_Reports/2005_2006/pdf/IWMI_AR_2005_2006.pdf p. 97 Coping With Water Scarcity – Challenge of the Twenty-First Century, UN Water 20078 World Economic Forum, 20099 http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/increased-global-water-stress10 IPCC, 2008; 57. IPCC, Meehl et al., 200711 Pacific Institute, 200912 IPCC, 200813 IPCC, 200814 Pacific Institute 200915 Powell et al, 201016 BBC ref, 200917 http://www.riverbasin.org/18 Oregon State Uni research ref’ed in 19. UNESCO, 200319 UNESCO, 200320 Water in a Changing World, UN World Water Development Report 3, UNESCO, 200921 Molle and Berkhoff, 200622 UNESCO, 200323 World Bank, 200724 India’s Water Economy, Bracing For A Turbulent Future, John Briscoe & IPS Malik, World Bank, 200625 India’s Water Economy, Bracing For A Turbulent Future, John Briscoe & IPS Malik, World Bank, 200626 A report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/

ar4-wg1-spm.pdf p. 827 Pacific Institute, 200928 Water in a Changing World, UN World Water Development Report 3, UNESCO, 200929 Water in a Changing World, UN World Water Development Report 3, UNESCO, 200930 WWF, 2008; Indo-Gangetic Plain, in 13. UNEP, 200531 Al Hadidi 2005, ref’d in 13. UNEP, 200532 UNESCO, 200333 Fossil ground waters are historical sources of water that have been sealed in aquifers for a significant period of time, and are not replenished by

infiltration.34 Water in a Changing World, UN World Water Development Report 3, UNESCO, 200935 UNESCO, 200336 UNEP Global Environmental Outlook 2007 (ref 13.)37 Water in a Changing World, UN World Water Development Report 3, UNESCO, 200938 Water in a Changing World, UN World Water Development Report 3, UNESCO, 200939 World Economic Forum, 200940 The Royal Society, 200941 de Fraiture et al., 200742 UNESCO, 200643 Water Footprint Network, “Water Footprint Manual, State of the Art”, 200944 Water in a Changing World, UN World Water Development Report 3, UNESCO, 200945 Ian Barker evidentiary hearing46 Pacific Institute, 200947 http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/facts_figures/water_industry.shtml48 World Economic Forum, 2009. 49 Pacific Institute, 200950 World Water Council, 200951 World Economic Forum, 200952 Taken from figure in 7. WWAP, 2009 which is ref’d as from another paper53 Water in a Changing World, UN World Water Development Report 3, UNESCO, 200954 UNESCO, 200355 UNESCO, 200656 Molle and Berkhoff, 200657 SIWI, 200458 Thirsty Asia 2: How do we Respond to Peak Water” CLSA, Asia-Pacific Markets, 2010

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59 World Economic Forum, 200960 World Economic Forum, 200961 World Economic Forum, 200962 UNDP, 200663 http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/water/response_water_crisis.html, and other associated pages on their website looking at specific

water security issues.64 http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas/en/65 Charting our water future is a report of the 2030 Water Resources Group, 200966 WWDR3 Ch 15. Governing Water Wisely for Sustainable Development67 UNESCO, 200368 Jo Parker, Evidentiary Hearing , 25/01/1069 Environment Agency Managing Water Abstraction – Interim update 2, 200870 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html71 London State of the Environment Report 2010 (http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/34083.aspx)72 Chapter 12, Integrated Water Resources Management in Practice: Better Water Management for Development, GWP, 200973 UNESCO, 200374 World Development Report, 2010: Development and Climate Change report75 World Development Report, 2010: Development and Climate Change report76 World Development Report, 2010: Development and Climate Change report (same as for 74 and 75 etc)77 World Bank, 2007; 16. World Economic Forum, 201078 UNDP, 200679 UNESCO, 2003; 15. UNDP, 2006.80 World Economic Forum, 201081 http://www.unep.org/DAMS/WCD/82 http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/water/dams_initiative/83 World Bank. World Development Report, 2010: Development and Climate Change report84 UNESCO, 200385 World Bank. World Development Report, 2010: Development and Climate Change report86 see p144 World Development Report, 201087 ref World Bank. World Development Report, 2010: Development and Climate Change report88 ref World Bank. World Development Report, 2010: Development and Climate Change report89 ref: http://www.waterwatch.nl accessed 11 March 201090 More with Less: Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California by Heather Cooley, Juliet Christian-Smith and Peter H. Gleick, ICID,

September 200891 http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/facts_figures/water_industry.shtml#top accessed 11 March 201092 Feely, T. J., Skone, T. J., Stiegel, G. J., McNemar, A., Nemeth, M., Schimmoller, B., Murphy, J. T., Manfredo, L. (2008) Water: A critical Resource in

the Thermoelectric Power Industry, Energy, 33, 1-11.93 World Bank. World Development Report, 2010: Development and Climate Change Report94 Council for Science and Technology (2009) ‘A National Infrastructure for the 21st Century’95 Institution of Civil Engineers (2009) ‘The State of the Nation: Defending Critical Infrastructure’96 Water for people and the environment - Water Resources Strategy for England and Wales, Environment Agency, 200997 Introduction to Desalination Technologies in Australia http://www.environment.gov.au/water/publications/urban/pubs/desalination-

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111 Birch et al., 2006

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Annex A - Working GroupSteering GroupProfessor Peter Guthrie OBE FICE FREng (Chair) Head of the Centre for Sustainable DevelopmentUniversity of Cambridge

Michael Norton MBE MICE FCIWEMManaging Director, Water & PowerHalcrow Group Ltd

Mike Haigh FICE MCIWEMWater DirectorMott MacDonald

Mike Woolgar MICE MCIWEMManaging Director, Environmental & Water ManagementAtkins

Jean Venables OBE FICE MCIWEM FREngChief ExecutiveAssociation of Drainage Authorities

Professor Roger Falconer FICE FCIWEM FREngDirector Hydro-environmental Research CentreCardiff University

Paul HortonDirector, International DevelopmentCIWEM

Chris Binnie FICE FCIWEM FREngFellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

ResearchersDr Richard HarpinSenior Vice President, Water & Power Business GroupHalcrow Group Ltd

Dr. Paul WilkinsonPrincipal Water Resources EngineerHalcorw Group Ltd

Lauren MittigaSenior Consultant Halcrow Group Ltd

Robert PorterHydraulic ModellerHalcrow Group Ltd

StaffBeverley ParkinAndrew CrudgingtonRichard PloszekKatherine MacGregorJade DonovanAndrew WescottEmily Beadon

Annex BEvidentiary HearingsProf Tony Allan SOASIan Barker WaterEnvironment AgencyGiulio Bocaletti McKinsey LondonDr Sue Cavill Engineers Against PovertyMr Ian Curtis DfID - Hd of Profession Environment,

Deputy Head of Climate and Energy GroupAlan Jenkins Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UKDr Bruce Lankford Senior Lecturer in Natural Resources,

University of East AngliaDr David Lloyd Owen EnvisagerJo Parker Independent ConsultantDr Nick Reeves CIWEMMartin Walshe Deputy Executive Secretary, Global Water PartnershipDominic Waughray World Economic ForumProfessor Howard Wheater Imperial College LondonMr Sanjay Wijesekera Head, Water and Sanitation Team, DfIDProf Mike Young University of Adelaide and CSIRO

Written EvidenceDr Martin Griffiths, Technology Strategy Board & theIssy Caffoor, Environmental Sustainability KnowledgeKerry Thomas andPerry Guess Transfer Network Chris Perry Freelance consultant & Co-Editor in Chief Journal of

Agricultural Water ManagementBruce Horton Water UKDr Alan MacDonald Principal Hydrogeologist, British Geological SurveyJohn Wand Water Research Councils UK

CIWEM’s Water Resources technical panelDr Guy Howard Water & Environment Adviser,

Climate & Environment Group, DFIDIan Neal Programme Manager, Excellent DevelopmentMartin Walshe Deputy Executive Secretary, Global Water PartnershipDr A. J. Adeloye School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt UniversityMelvyn Kay UK Irrigation AssociationIan Barker Water Environment AgencyDr Sue Cavill Engineers Against PovertyMr Ian Curtis Head of Profession Environment, Deputy Head of

Climate and Energy Group, DfIDDr Bruce Lankford Senior Lecturer in Natural Resources,

University of East AngliaDr Rod Tennyson Professor Emeritus, University of

Toronto Institute for Aerospace StudiesEngineers Australia, Water Engineering Branch

Enda O’Connell School of Civil Engineering and GeoSciences,Newcastle University

Jodie Keane Overseas Development InstituteJ K BanyardIan Jenkinson Chairman, Editorial Advisory Panel, Municipal Engineer

Details of the written evidence and evidence sessions can be found online atwww.ice.org.uk/globalwatersecurity

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