Comm of Water Mgmnt Issues

There are two important aspects to water management. These are the management of clean water resources and the management of stormwater runoff and flooding. Water management is already a major issue, and will continue to be in the coming years. According to two separate articles written by “a prominent group of hydrologists and climatologists” published in the latest issue of the magazine Science, as documented on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development website, “up to 60 percent of the climate-related trends of river flow, winter air temperature and snow pack… from 1950-1999 are due to human-caused climate change from greenhouse gases and aerosols.” “New models must be used to prepare for floods or droughts, determine the size of water reservoirs and decide how to allocate for residential, industrial and agricultural uses.”

As seen in an article from a local newspaper website, “The Daily Evergreen” published in Washington State, these new models are being developed by state, county and municipal governments in an effort to solve water management problems at the local level. In Evergreen, WA, as was true in Westchester County, New York, where I worked in the county government conservation department, local governments are responding to the U.S. EPA requirements for creating new ways to manage stormwater runoff. These “Phase II” requirements are spurring municipal leaders to reexamine runoff through sheeting from impervious surfaces and from roofs, which introduce toxins into groundwater resources, rivers and streams.

New models are also being created in countries such as South Africa and Spain which have recognized the problems that water scarcity is causing locally and country-wide. As seen on Treehugger.com, “…a growing number of Spanish farmers have decided to sign onto an ambitious digital initiative linking up their fields to a national grid controlled from Madrid. Its main purpose, of course, would be to conserve water and costs – authorities estimate the new irrigation system could save 20% of the water Spain currently uses, or close to 1.3 trillion gallons every year.”

The Environmental Leader site discussed the results of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) report from the UK, describing how industry will need to find ways to reuse water if they want to operate sustainibly. In Southern Africa, the feeling is "We need to be more proactive instead of being reactive. Government participation is crucial. Unfortunately, many authorities tend to treat water as a non-priority. The development of water infrastructure has, for instance, fallen behind in many regions in Southern Africa."

I was pleased to find so much information about new models for water management, and from such diverse sources. The sites seemed to concentrate on facts, documenting studies made by independent scientists. Where the discussions are about governments, there is a call for more information and collaboration.
http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MjgzMzA
http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/24494
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/water_management_digital.php
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/01/04/industrial-water-reuse-key-to-sustainability/
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712010044.html