Oral Presentations:
Tackling local water security and scarcity
SDG 6 sets clear targets for the world to manage water resources efficiently, meeting water demands for people, environment and production. Often those demands are competing and being able to balance them is an essential element of successful water management. There is a growing urgency to collaborate across sustainable water management and WASH as the frequency, severity and unpredictability of droughts, floods and other natural disasters increases with climate change, as does the risk of social conflicts. This is causing significant short- and long-term impacts to water local water security – particularly in terms of the availability and delivery of sufficient quantities of water with sufficient qualities to sustain livelihoods, well-being, and socio-economic development, and to protect against water-related disasters in a climate.
As more complex, inter-dependent challenges arise, so do new windows of opportunity to explore integrated approaches and innovative solutions. At the local level, where many water users are also water supply and resource managers, leveraging existing knowledge and participation are fundamental to sustaining local water security with peace and political stability, and in the face of climate change with its localised effects. But without connection to the management of land and water issues affecting whole water cycles and catchment, these critical local efforts can be undermined.
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