Climate Change adversely impacts Water Security | Steps Towards Climate Resilient Water Management Systems

This article sheds light on,

• How Climate change is affecting water utilities.
• Sustainable Development Goals for Water Security
• COP27 Highlights – Water Preservation and Climate Resilience
• Steps towards building climate resilience through water management

Since 2010, the United Nations has recognized the need for safe water and sanitation as a fundamental human right, hence the need for governments worldwide to be legally obliged to ensure the availability of quality water sources. According to estimates in 2019, WHO and UNICEF announced that around 2.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safely managed drinking water services.

How Climate change is affecting water utilities.

Global temperatures have caused the Earth’s surface water to evaporate faster, leading to increased atmospheric water vapour levels, which produce more frequent, heavy, and intense rains. Apart from flash flooding and other calamities resulting from irregular rain patterns, impacts of climate change have increased droughts, sea level rise and other adverse meteorological conditions. These matters threaten over 8 billion people’s fundamental right to safe water.

We will discuss the issues of unsafe water, how climate change worsens water quality, adaptation capacity, and plans to rebuild safe water systems through SDGs concerning agreements in COP27.

Higher temperatures can create conditions for increased waterborne pathogens in the supply system.

Increased global temperatures due to higher GHG emissions have accelerated the growth and proliferation of waterborne pathogens in their habitats. These waterborne pathogens increase the risk of affecting numerous people at once.

Waterborne diseases are caused by drinking or coming into contact with contaminated water. These include infections transmitted via water and pathogens across various taxa (viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and helminths). These pathogens can cause various symptoms, including diarrhoea, fever and flu-like symptoms, neurological disorders, and liver damage.

According to 2019 reports by WHO and UNICEF, as many as 297,000 children under the age of five die annually from diarrheal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, and unsafe drinking water. In addition, waterborne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, and E. coli infections, are major public health issues causing over 3.4 million deaths annually, and climate change is increasing the risk. 

More information can be found here, Archived. 

Higher temperatures increase cyanobacteria blooms.

Scientists have now identified that climate change affects freshwater and marine environments. These effects, along with nutrient pollution, might cause harmful algal blooms to occur more often, in more waterbodies and for it to be more intense.  

Warmer temperatures prevent water from mixing, allowing harmful algae to grow thicker and faster. Algal blooms absorb sunlight, warming water and promoting more harmful blooms. In addition, it increases the risk of cyanotoxins and natural organic matter in water sources. Algal blooms endanger human health, the environment and economies as well.

Variations in salinity and sea level rise

Climate change causes prolonged droughts, which make freshwater saltier. This causes marine algae to invade freshwater ecosystems. Prof. Deepthi Wickramasinghe, a Zoology and Environment Sciences professor at the University of Colombo, and her research team have investigated these aspects in Sri Lanka.

The study was conducted in the  Indian Ocean around the Southern coast, including Ambalangoda, Hikkaduwa, Dodanduwa, Mirissa and Tangalle, where they recorded eleven harmful species, including direct poisonous ones. Prof. Deepthi stated, “In a Sri Lankan context, compared to freshwater phytoplankton, studies on marine plankton remain unnoticed”. Read the full article here. Moreover, Sea Level rise increases the movements of floods, threatening the health of fresh water. This can put us in danger without a realization. Furthermore, lack of awareness is typically the main barrier to the climate resilience process.         

Higher carbon dioxide levels result in greenish water.

Algae needs carbon dioxide to survive. Higher levels of carbon dioxide in the air and water can lead to the rapid growth of algae, and incredibly toxic blue-green algae can float to the water’s surface. This results in a phenomenon called Eutrophication, which can decrease dissolved oxygen, impacting the biodiversity with dead zones and fish kills along with water intoxication.

Rainfall changes affect water quality.

Also, high rainfall increases the risk of wastewater contamination of raw or treated water. Although low rain can increase the concentration of pathogens, climate change alters the hydrological cycle and hence, change the rainfall patterns—the intensity of precipitation directly affects the quality of water resources. 

There is another unseen effect related to less rainfall which causes the reduction of surface water flow, leading to reduced supply and potentially the use of unsafe water sources. Lower water availability for washing, cooking and hygiene increases exposure to waterborne contamination.

Sustainable Development Goals for Water Security

The UN General Assembly in 2010 named safe water and sanitation as human rights. They also recognized the right of every human being to have access to sufficient water for personal and domestic use. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) stated, “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. The targets cover all aspects of both the water cycle and sanitation systems. Recent milestone agreements include the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2015-2030 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and points discussed at COP27 to collaborate with global experts and policymakers, leading to the implementation of climate action and achieving the SDGs.

COP27 Highlights – Water Preservation and Climate Resilience

“Half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas, and issues related to water are intrinsically linked to climate change.” was highlighted at COP27 this year in Egypt. Professionals in the climate resilience and water management sector with collaborative organizations such as WMO and AWARe shared their engagement in fostering political efforts, practical action, knowledge sharing and field capacity development to place adaptive water management systems.

Additionally, climate adaptation measures such as smart irrigation, flood protection, and rainfall harvesting, which have been successfully carried out in Africa, were presented at the gathering. Read more information here, &  here. COP27 Presidency launches an Adaptation Agenda including 30 adaptation plans to build climate resilience by 2030, and this considers Water and Nature Systems as well as Oceans and Coastal Systems.

Steps towards building climate resilience through water management

• Develop and invest in early warning systems to monitor changes in climatic conditions
• Upgrade water catchment, storage, treatment, and distribution systems
• Protect critical infrastructure from floods, storms, and sea level rise
• preserve water resources in the face of climatic conditions
• Limit water overuse 
• Use household water purification systems

Summary Map

Climate change has a clear impact on water utility capacity and sanitation. As a result, there is a growing sense of urgency to buildup resilience towards extreme weather conditions as an integral part of water supply management. Beyond that, making policies, reaching group consensus, and educating people is critical in enhancing adaptive capacity to drive through climate-resilient water management.