About 800,000 water meters across the Dubai are set to be replaced with smart water meters by the end of 2019 Currently there are two billion people around the world who lack access to safe, clean, drinking water DUBAI: Water security is a global issue that all countries must get ahead of, Dubai’s Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer warned on Monday, as he laid out Dubai’s 2036 plan for tackling the challenge.
Currently there are two billion people around the world who lack access to safe, clean, drinking water, while a shortfall of 40 percent is forecasted between water supply and it’s demand in 2030, the CEO said.
“We seek to make Dubai a global model for clean energy and green economy by adopting the technologies of the fourth Industrial Revolution and disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles, energy storage, and blockchain,” Al-Tayer said at the opening session of the second day of the World Government Summit in Dubai.
“The UAE has a holistic vision of water security and water management, utilizing the latest innovative solutions to reduce water consumption,” he added.
Al-Tayer laid out initial framework for the strategy and DEWA’s achievements in making use of every drop of water in the Dubai, with specific forecasts and points for the emirate that will begin witnessing change as early as end of 2019.
“In Dubai we adopt three pillars to ensure the sustainability of water production – these are based on using clean solar energy to desalinate seawater using the latest reverse osmosis technologies,” Al-Tayer said, adding that “excess water is stored in aquifers and pumped back into the water network when needed.” About 800,000 water meters across the Dubai are set to be replaced with smart water meters by the end of 2019, as the emirate “strives to provide infrastructure through sophisticated systems to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world.” “In 1992, the installed capacity was 65 million gallons of water per day.
Today, in order to keep pace with the growing demand and prosperity of the emirate, DEWA’s installed capacity is 470 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD),” Al-Tayer said, while also pointing out that groundwater consumption for drinking water purposes dropped from 100 percent in 1990 to 0.4 percent in 2019.
In addition to water security, DEWA’s CEO spoke of Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Green Dubai strategy, which aims to reduce 43 billion ton of carbon emission by 2030, saving over $3.5 billion in the process.
DEWA’s plan would raise the level of efficiency and effectiveness, achieve economic saving and finally integrate electricity generated from solar power, as the authority works “to become the world’s first digital organization with renewable energy control systems.”

Jammu Kashmir Of 102.17 lakh rural houses, only 96.23 lakh have access to piped supply The scheme was launched by the Centre in April 2009 by modifying the accelerated rural water supply programme (ARWSP).
Vikas Sharma Jammu, January 22 Already struggling with poor piped water supply (PWS) in rural households, the state has also failed to prepare a five-year comprehensive water security action plan (WSAP), thereby affecting the supply of safe drinking water to rural households under the centrally-sponsored scheme National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).
As per the data available, of the total 102.17 lakh rural households in Jammu and Kashmir, only 96.23 lakh people have access to piped drinking water from taps with the PWS connection.
Water security planning is required to optimise the use of water resources within the constraints of financial and human resources in order to meet basic needs, besides taking decisions with regard to water resources management, including investments.
Village water security plan (VWSP) includes the demographic, physical features, water sources and other details of the village, available drinking water infrastructure and water sources.
J&K is among the 21 states which have yet to prepare the same at all three levels.
The states are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, HP, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP and Uttarakhand.
These habitations were grappling with continuous depletion of groundwater due to successive drought, over-extraction, increase in contamination of the groundwater, shortage of surface water and pollution of surface water bodies.
The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in March 2017 had made it clear to J&K that there would be no investment in new projects till the completion of the existing ones.
But in 2017-18, only 122 habitations with a population of 0.74 lakh were covered with access to safe drinking water.

And how is it applied to real life?
In a world of rapid changes, unequal water resources, polluted water bodies, growing demands, and increasing climate variability and climate change, our relationship with water is quickly shifting.
In Latin America, home for 650 million people, those changes are not an exception, and the term “Water Security” is becoming more and more relevant.
In the most urbanized continent of the developing world, cities grow fast, vulnerability is latent in vast and fragile large peri-urban areas, and enhanced climate phenomena put high stress on water resources management, delivering of water services and means of production.
The World Bank has launched an initiative to support governments to assess national water security in a comprehensive and systematic manner.
Three countries have been selected to start this regional initiative: Argentina, Colombia and Peru.
A multidisciplinary team of high level experts is working closely with the Governments and stakeholders in these countries to assess the positive and negative impacts of the performance of the water sector in the country’s development.
In parallel, the World Bank is gathering and assessing a great amount of sectoral information for the rest of the region.
The final product of this work will show how water has a multiplicative effect in other sectors and how addressing key challenges can trigger positive changes in the LAC countries’ economy.
It will highlight current water constraints and provide guidance to define a pathway to increase water resilience, reduce associated water conflicts, improve delivery of water services and sustain water resources, and contribute to a more robust, inclusive and sustainable development.

The Climate Council has released a new report linking climate change with worsening droughts, including the current one, extreme weather events such as bushfires and floods, and identifying water security as a source of grave concern.
The report, Deluge and Drought: Australia’s Water Security in a Changing Climate, stated that if the effects of climate change were left unchecked the results for the agriculture sector and beyond will be devastating.
Less water is likely to be available for agriculture, urban water supplies, and ecosystems across southern Australia Less water is likely to flow into dams in southern Australia as a result of human-driven climate change Australia’s long-term water security is dependent on action, especially the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels According to the report, the Murray-Darling Basin — known as "Australia’s food bowl" —has seen a 41 per cent reduction in "streamflows" since the mid-1990s, while water systems in Western Australia’s southwest have declined by about 50 per cent.
These grim figures were all related, the publicly-funded council found, to rainfall patterns thrown badly out of whack by climate change.
The authors cited the Australian Capital Territory "megafires" of 2003 (during which the world’s first-known "fire tornado" was observed) as an example of the disastrous one-two punch of climate change.
Also cited in the report was the 1997–2009 Millennium Drought, which the report stated "seriously affected Australia’s agricultural sector, putting a dent in our GDP and eroding the health and wellbeing of humans and natural ecosystems alike".
"The combination of drying, extreme heat and increasingly intense bushfires has damaged or destroyed several of our most valued ecosystems, including Tasmania’s World Heritage forests and alpine areas," the report said.
The report identified climate change as a "threat multiplier", with myriad knock-on effects stemming from water insecurity that extended beyond the environmental and economic all the way to social disharmony, poverty, and the prospect of future waves of "climate refugees".
In general, the report stated: "wet areas of the world are becoming wetter and dry areas drier as the climate continues to change".
An average global temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius could result in an increase in extreme rain events across Australia by 11 to 30 per cent.

CAIRO – 5 November 2018: The session titled “Day Zero: Water security in the wake of climate change” took place on Nov.5 in Sharm El Sheikh within the agenda of the 2018 World Youth Forum (WYF).
By 2030, 75 percent of the World Population will suffer from water scarcity.
1.8 million will be hit by drought.
Twenty-four to 27 million will be displaced as result of water scarcity,” Australian Member of the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) Alex Whitebrook.
As forty percent of the world population are youth, water scarcity will affect young generations the most in the near future, President of WYPW, and Research assistant for the Dean of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the American University in Beirut (AUB) Lindsey Aldaco-Manner.
“We should train journalists to cover climate change topics so they would become the link between science and public,” Journalist and President of the Egyptian Youth Parliament for Water Amira Sayed.

“The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability” (UN-Water, 2013).
In the urban cities, like Karachi, adequate water for drinking has become a severe problem for its citizens since the last decade.
The situation in urban cities is no different.
In Karachi, long queues waiting to get water bucket filled from a water tanker, can be observed; while, in other cities, the in-house boring to extract water has provided an expensive but alternate solution to the reliance on government provision of clean drinking water.
The normal practice of waste treatment before disposal or recycling is un-employed.
In monsoon season, excess water cannot be stored; while in draught, water is not available for survival.
In KPK, AJK and GB, small reservoirs and micro-hydral projects are the most feasible options.
In Punjab, small scale run-of-the-river hydroelectric plants on canals are helpful not only for power generation but also for efficient irrigation (such a plant was first built by Sir Ganga Ram in Renala Khurd in 1925 on canal Lowar-bari-doab).
WASA should introduce benefits for using water up to certain limit to encourage people to save water and high tariffs for extra water usage.
Waste water treatment plants need to be built in urban cities to eliminate water pollution.

The MWSS administrator who discussed “Water Security and Sustainability” shared the stage at the Philwater plenary session with its two concessionaires – Manila Water president and CEO Ferdinand M. de la Cruz who talked about “Wastewater Management” and Maynilad president Ramoncito S. Fernandez who discussed “Enhancing Resiliency of Water Operations in the Face of Climate Change.” Velasco told conference delegates of the various infrastructure projects being undertaken by MWSS and its three concessionaires to ensure water security and sustainability under the President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” program of government as well as its future plans and programs even as he assured there is no looming water crisis in the near future in Metro Manila.
Velasco made the statement even as the country has fallen below the international “water stress” threshold of 1,700 m3 per year and fast approaching the “water scarcity” threshold of 1,000 m3 per year.
Using the 2018 population of 107 million against the fresh water supply of 146 BCM, per capita availability stands at 1,553 m3 per year.
The water-availability-per-capita situation in the country represents the country’s water security issue.
Among the projects he discussed were the Angat security projects, Bulacan Bulk Water Supply project, and the newly-approved Kaliwa Dam project.
Corollary to the water security program is sewerage and wastewater management which according to the MWSS Administrator “is where the next challenge will be since at this point, there is only 14 percent overall sewerage coverage.” By the end of the concession term in 2037, 100 percent of households will be provided with water treatment coverage, a commitment from both concessionaires.
When completed, the new facilities will have a combined treatment capacity of about 120 million cubic meters per year.
These will increase sewerage coverage in the West Zone to 26% once these projects are completed in 2022.
On the other hand, Manila Water is undertaking the Rizal Province Water Supply Improvement Project (RPWSIP), a water treatment facility capable of treating initially up to 50 million liters per day of potable water, transmission mainlines and distribution lines.
Topics: Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System , Reynaldo V. Velasco , 25th PWWA International Conference and Exhibition COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard.

Cambodia has, in fact, been classified as one of the 20 most corrupt countries in the world.
Phnom Penh, however, is only one city in a country of over 16 million people.
Rural areas have, by comparison, seen relatively little development, despite the fact that around 70 per cent of Cambodians work in agriculture and an estimated 80 per cent live in rural areas.
Despite typically receiving reliable levels of rainfall, rural areas of Cambodia struggle to access clean water.
Rural Cambodians still primarily depend on untreated water sources, such as rivers, for agriculture and personal water use, while the PPWSA provides access to sanitary water services across the majority of Phnom Penh.
There is an intrinsic link between corruption within the Cambodian public service and the poor access rural Cambodians have to potable water.
Among other benefits, this model allows households to maintain autonomy in allocating financial resources based on their own priorities.
Much can be drawn from the success the PPWSA has had in addressing corruption as a barrier to improving water access in Phnom Penh.
The Cambodian public service must take steps to reduce corrupt practices, such as bribery; it must facilitate a principled, state-wide workplace culture and implement improved transparency processes.
This will also allow private sector organisations to be more effective in aiding rural Cambodians to gain access to clean water.

Thus, in an average year, Israel relies for about half of its water supply on unconventional water resources, including reclaimed water and desalination.
However, even though the country has five large desalination plants along with wastewater reclamation facilities, this strategy is being pushed to its limits with the current five-year drought hitting the country.
The River Jordan Daniel Ventura (CC BY-SA 4.0) The 1995 Interim Agreement as part of the Oslo Peace Process provided certain quantities of water to the Palestinians but prevents them from drilling any new wells in the Mountain Aquifer.
However, the surface water of the Jordan River is still in dispute with Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinians.
Jordan is the only country that has signed a water-sharing agreement with Israel to share the Jordan River’s waters.
"Israel definitely puts conservation on the back-burner.
Another consideration is the security risks the desalination plants pose.
All this and Israel has plans to refill the Sea of Galilee with desalinated water starting next year, despite the ecological damages that could result.
And the temperatures are not expected to moderate any time soon.
However, more dangerous are the fires being set by incendiary balloons and kites.

Participants from three small North Pacific island countries: Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau, joined development partners last week (23-27 April 2018) to share experiences from the 2015-2016 severe El Niño drought and explore ways to work with communities to secure food and water resources ahead of the next drought.
In his opening remarks, the Team Leader, Climate Change, Energy, and Circular Economy, Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific, Mr Adrian Nicolae, emphasized the EU’s support for the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific.
“The EU encourages the North Pacific countries to invest in long term solutions that promote climate and disaster resilient development through the opportunities presented by the RENI project and other interventions” he said.
Officer-in-charge of the SPC Micronesia Office, Ms Maire Dwyer, noted that communities are at the heart of the RENI project as evidenced by its people-centred approach.
“This is one of the first times that SPC’s Regional Rights Resources Team and Social Development Programme have combined their skills and expertise to mainstream a rights-based approach into a climate and disaster resilience project,” she said.
The RENI project also addresses the needs of outer island communities and a panel session on “Outer island migration – a socio-economic or climate change issue – or both?” was one of the highlights of the meeting.
“Outer island people are very resilient and they have been practising a traditional and sustainable lifestyle for thousands of years,” the Secretary of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management, FSM, Mr Andrew Yatilman said.
It was observed that outward migration, especially to the United States mainland, increased during times of economic hardships in 1992 and 1997.
Background: The European Union (EU) – North Pacific – Readiness for El Niño (RENI) project is about communities working to secure food and water resources ahead of drought.
More information about the project is available online.