What is it about?
Necessity of Sustainable water demand management (SWDM) is immensely higher in the rapidly urbanized mega cities of the world where groundwater depletion and water deficit are taking place perilously. This paper focuses on the present condition of water demand, supply, system loss, pricing strategy, groundwater level, and per capita water consumption of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. The study founds population growth has a large influence on water demand to rise and demand of water is not responsive to the existing pricing rule adopted by DWASA. It emerges that, water demand is increasing at 4% rate an average in the Dhaka city since 1990 and groundwater table goes more than 70 m down in central capital due to extensive withdrawal of water. The study suggests an integrated SWDM approach, which incorporates optimum pricing, ground and surface water regulation, water conservation, sustainable water consumption and less water foot print to ease groundwater depletion. In order to attain sustainability in water demand management (WDM) the study recommends certain criteria under economic, social and environmental segment to administer the increasing water demand of growing population and conserve the fresh water resources of the world’s mega cities for social–ecological resilience building
Featured Image
Why is it important?
The study focuses the case of Dhaka city of Bangladesh to investigate such problem and provide a systematic framework of sustainable water demand management for enabling social–ecological resilience, which may useful to the other countries with similar context. The paper also suggests a comprehensive approach and tools for SWDM for the mega city Dhaka and similar urban cities of the world to prosper the social–ecological resilience.
Perspectives
The rapidly urbanized and highly populated cities, where water demand is high, SWDM is an optimum option for them, which deserve immediate deliberation on the policy making process. According to the Far Eastern Economic Review, a good number of mega Asian cities such as Dhaka will be home to 25 million, Jakarta 24.9 million, Karachi 26.5 million, Shanghai 27 million and Mumbai 33 million people by the end of 2025. If we cannot establish a SWDM approach from now on the water management will be a very difficult task for the growing population in the years to come. To implement SWDM a reform in the existing structure, perspective water and environmental planning and management, and healthy investment are required. Here, a noticeable part of investment can be generated through executing pollution tax and payment for ecosystem services. Besides, proper budget allocation, capacity building, intuitional efficiency, good water governance, public awareness and enforcing environmental law and policies are highly essential to initiate and well execute the overall approach of SWDM and attain the social–ecological resilience. Otherwise, SWDM may not run properly and efficiently.
Mr Md. Arfanuzzaman
Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Sustainable water demand management in the face of rapid urbanization and ground water depletion for social–ecological resilience building, Global Ecology and Conservation, April 2017, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2017.01.005.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
