Water Security最新文献

“MAD Water” systems (modular, adaptive, decentralized infrastructures) will expand to meet human water needs under future climate change, migration, and urbanization scenarios. Yet the use of MAD systems often undermines water justice. Here we argue that identifying and analyzing moral economies for water can allow scholars to understand—and possibly predict—when and why justice in MAD water systems is upheld, breaks down, or becomes unstable. Moral economies are institutional arrangements in which shared understandings of justice normatively regulate the distribution and exchange of basic resources. We review the moral economies concept, explain an operational framework for analyzing moral economies, and use this framework to illustrate how moral economies function to uphold justice (or not) within three types of MAD water systems today: water sharing arrangements, informal water vending markets, and small-scale water commons. We show that when moral economies are embedded and operating successfully in MAD water systems, they can create check-and-balance mechanisms against injustice. But when moral economies are absent or failing, water injustices often prevail. The moral economies framework therefore provides not only a tool for theory building and analysis, but also a possible language and pathway for communities to organize for justice. We conclude by outlining key areas for future research.

While the MAD (Modular, Adaptive, and Decentralized) water supply system emphasizes governance for equity, justice, and sustainability, there are significant hurdles to overcome. Community engagement, the differences between decision- making processes and execution, and how to promote collaborative and collective practices in the context of unequal power relations are issues to consider. The experience on SISAR (Integrated Rural Sanitation System) in Brazil provides insights into addressing some of the challenges presented before. However, it is necessary to pay attention to water quality control, water treatment fragility, managing growing energy costs, and the need for supportive legislation to protect collaborative management systems and strengthen their foundations. The overall message is that while decentralized systems offer opportunities, careful attention must be paid to these challenges to ensure successful implementation and sustainable water management.

While the literature on the design and operation of safe water sources in low-income communities is huge, little attention has been paid to the design of systems for the safe transportation and storage of water by households between source and point of use. The design of water containers like the near-ubiquitous “jerry can” in relation to how they are used and the potential risks incurred has received little attention. This is despite, as we explain, the strong influence that water container design has on hazards associated with fetching and storing water. This paper advances the argument that MAD (“modular, adaptive and decentralised”) approaches to rethinking water containers are possible and points to examples that have been trialled in different locations around the world. Placed in a broader theoretical framework, the objects that are used as water containers can even be viewed as “engines of history” through which human communities interact with the (water) environment and can create off-grid infrastructures. Key suggestions for design improvement include recognizing the role of water containers in heterogenous networks and in wider socio-technical systems that can reinforce marginalization, and the critical need for localized, community-collaborative co-production.

The southeastern region of Türkiye faced two significant earthquakes on February 6, 2023, causing widespread destruction and substantial damage to various infrastructures. Over forty large dams in the region were affected, leading to potential new earthquake-prone areas due to energy accumulation in neighboring regions. This study focuses on the seismic risk of eight cascade dams on the Peri River, a tributary of the Euphrates main river, following these earthquakes. The dams, including Kalecik, Kigi, Konaktepe, Ozluce, Pempelik, Seyrantepe, Tatar, and Uzuncayir, with heights ranging from 31 m to 146 m, are situated in a region influenced by the North Anatolian Fault Zone. The research advocates for a comprehensive re-analysis of certain large dams, considering the updated seismic specifications and seismological maps of Türkiye. The study explores the hazard and overall risk assessment of these dams, emphasizing the cascade system and highlighting the critical seismic vulnerabilities of Kigi and Ozluce dams, with a particular focus on their implications for water security in the region. Our findings underscore the need for tailored safety measures for each dam, focusing on early defect detection. By adopting a proactive stance and implementing our recommendations, the resilience of these dams can be enhanced, contributing to the overall water security of the region.

Monitoring agricultural water usage with remote sensing technology has shown to be an effective strategy for dealing with water security in the digital era. Given the massive research over the last few decades, a scientometric approach is attempted to show an accurate picture and trends in remote sensing of irrigation research. This study retrieved 14,869 documents from the Scopus database related to remote sensing-guided irrigation studies during 2003–2022. This study employs a systematic approach to identify and analyze pertinent literature related to remote sensing of irrigation and highlights the most influential institutions, countries, and journals, as well as the prominent research subjects and trends. The analysis revealed that the research on remote sensing of irrigation had grown exponentially over the last two decades, indicating a growing interest in this field. Further, this study highlighted the contribution of satellite missions, specifically open-access imagery, to the field of irrigation research through the use of high-resolution sensors. This study offers comprehensive insight to researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in precise monitoring and management of irrigation, enabling them to effectively address forthcoming water security challenges.

FundiFix is a social enterprise that offers rural water systems maintenance service in rural Kenya. In recent years FundiFix has been operating these three types of water system that fall under the MAD (modular, adaptive, and decentralised) water systems paradigm: Solar powered groundwater kiosks, water ATMs, and reverse osmosis filtrations systems. This article outlines some of the challenges of operating these in a rural context. We identify four key challenges that must be considered if these technologies are to provide sustainable benefits to rural communities: managing higher capital and maintenance costs; the requirement for more skilled staff to manage and maintain them; the risk of the most marginalised communities being left behind; the importance of considering maintenance from the start.

Decentralized water/wastewater treatment technologies have emerged to reach a better and more sustainable society. Access to clean water for all is a major goal identified by the United Nations to be reached by 2030. How would this concept of decentralized treatments using electrochemical technologies impact the way of living in Latin American countries? This perspective aims to identify the water/wastewater challenges in these regions, and the possible opportunities to overcome them by using decentralized electrochemical water treatment technologies.

Public health, economic, and social disruptions caused by the pandemic extended to essential public services, including water supply. This paper examines how the pandemic caused a water security crisis for many communities, and in so doing, our analysis contributes to current debates on water system resilience and continued challenges of water affordability in the United States. Water utilities faced major shifts in industrial and domestic water demand, financial burdens of increased non-payments, and operational challenges due to a reduced workforce and supply chain bottlenecks. Areas of concern include customer protection, financial security, public communication, new technology adoption, and trust. Evidence indicates that the pandemic water crisis spurred institutional and technological innovation to increase resilience for the next shock while overall financial challenges in the post-pandemic years remain. The pandemic water crisis also revealed a stark tradeoff between household water security and water utility security, indicating that without systemic changes to policy and practice related to water affordability, the most vulnerable in the United States will continue to suffer in future crises.