Integrated Urban Water Management: Arid and Semi-Arid Regions Urban Water Series – UNESCO-IHP
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Integrated Urban Water Management: Arid and Semi-Arid Regions Urban Water Series – UNESCO-IHP ISSN 1749-0790 Series Editors: Cedoˇ Maksimovi´c Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Imperial College London, United Kingdom Alberto Tejada-Guibert International Hydrological Programme (IHP) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Paris, France Integrated Urban Water Management: Arid and Semi-Arid Regions Edited by Larry W. Mays Cover illustration Central Arizona Project aqueduct through residential area in Scottsdale, Arizona – US Bureau of Reclamation, with kind permission from US Bureau of Reclamation. Published jointly by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 7, place de Fontenoy 75007 Paris, France www.unesco.org/publishing and Taylor & Francis The Netherlands P.O. Box 447 2300 AK Leiden,The Netherlands www.taylorandfrancis.com – www.balkema.nl – www.crcpress.com Taylor & Francis is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business, London, United Kingdom. © UNESCO, 2009 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of UNESCO. Typeset by Macmillan Publishing Solutions, Chennai, India Printed and bound in Hungary by Uniprint International (a member of the Giethoorn Media-group), Székesfehévár. ISBN UNESCO, paperback: 978-92-3-104061-0 ISBN Taylor & Francis, hardback: 978-0-415-45348-6 ISBN Taylor & Francis, paperback: 978-0-415-45349-3 ISBN Taylor & Francis e-book: 978-0-203-89544-3 Urban Water Series: ISSN 1749-0790 Volume 3 The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO or Taylor & Francis concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO nor those of Taylor & Francis and do not commit the Organization. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Integrated urban water management : arid and semi-arid (asa) regions / edited by Larry W.Mays. p. cm. – (Urban water series ; v.3) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-415-45348-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-0-415-45349-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-0-203-89544-3 (e-book) 1. Municipal water supply–Arid regions–Management–Case studies. 2. Water quality management–Arid regions–Case studies. 3. Water-supply–Arid regions–Management– Case studies. 4. Groundwater–Arid regions–Management–Case studies. 5. Arid regions–Environmental conditions–Case studies. I. Mays, Larry W.II. Title. TD220.2.I58 2009 363.6'1091732–dc22 2009006423 Foreword Water scarcity has become a major global concern, with one-third of the world facing water shortages due to rapid population growth and deteriorating water quality. In par- ticular, many cities around the world have been experiencing water shortages and scarcity, which are expected to increase further due to greater water demand caused by population growth, rapid urbanization and economic growth. Effects of climate change and variability, and poor management of water resources often exacerbate the problem. In arid and semi-arid regions throughout the world, this can be accentuated by pro- longed droughts reflecting climate change and the process of desertification. Because of the highly specific characteristics of their climate, cities in these regions will probably face major water challenges in the near future. With the aim to contribute to addressing these challenges, this book examines the integrated management of water resources in urban environments in arid and semi- arid regions around the world, focusing on its specificities. It addresses a broad range of issues, such as how growing water demand could be met given the scarce water resources of the region and how urbanization impacts water resources management and the urban water cycle in arid and semi-arid regions. This book is one of the main outputs of the project on “Integrated Urban Water Management in Specific Climates”, implemented during the Sixth Phase of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP, 2002–2007), and represents the result of efforts and deliberations of experts whose contributions also enriched the publication with case studies from across the world emphasizing specific needs and challenges of urban water management in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. The contribution of Mr Larry W. Mays as the lead editor of the book was significant and gratefully acknowl- edged. This publication, which is part of the UNESCO-IHP Urban Water Series, was prepared under the responsibility and coordination of Mr J. Alberto Tejada-Guibert, Deputy-Secretary of IHP and Responsible Officer for the Urban Water Management Programme of IHP, and Ms Sarantuyaa Zandaryaa, Programme Specialist in urban water management and water quality at IHP. We extend our thanks to all the contributors for their remarkable effort, and we are confident that the conclusions, recommendations and case studies presented in this volume will prove to be of value to urban water management practitioners, policy- and decision-makers and educators alike throughout the world. András Szöllösi-Nagy Secretary of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP) Director of UNESCO’s Division of Water Sciences Deputy Assistant Director-General for the Natural Sciences Sector of UNESCO Preface This book examines the integrated management of water resources in urban environments in arid and semi-arid regions around the world. The UNESCO-IHP has grouped water- related environmental problems faced by cities into the following broad categories: ● access to water and sanitation infrastructure and services ● urban wastewater pollution ● resource degradation ● water-related hazards. Cities in developing countries typically face all four problems. In many cases, all four problems occur simultaneously with high intensity over long periods. As urban popu- lations continue to grow rapidly around the world with the addition of many new megacities, this urbanization process creates many challenges for the development and management of water supply and water excess management systems. Water scarcity is certainly one of the many challenges in urban areas in arid and semi-arid regions of the world, particularly with the rising level of urbanization. The first six chapters give an overview of the various aspects of integrated urban water management in arid and semi-arid regions. The urban water system is considered as a single integrated whole. Urban water management is considered herein as consisting of two major entities, urban water supply and urban water excess man- agement systems. Urban water supply systems include all the system components to provide drinking water and distribute it to users in addition to all the system compo- nents needed to collect and treat the wastewaters. Special emphasis is given to tech- nologies, such as artificial recharge, water transfers, desalination, and harvesting of rainfall, which are typically not part of the conventional urban water supply systems, but are used in arid and semi-arid regions as viable sources of water supply. Water excess management systems include both the stormwater management system and the floodplain management system. In the big picture, integrated water management must include: ● The systematic consideration of the various dimensions of water: surface and groundwater, quality and quantity. ● The implication that while water is a system it is also a component which interacts with other systems. ● The interrelationships between water and social and economic development. VIII Preface Water resources sustainability must be a major overall goal of water management. Herein water resources sustainability is defined as the ability to use water in sufficient quantities and quality, from the local to the global scale, to meet the needs of humans and ecosystems for the present and the future to sustain life, and to protect humans from the damages brought about by natural and human-caused disasters that affect the sustaining of life. Unfortunately, many urban areas of the world, particularly in developing parts of the world, are unsustainable from the viewpoint of water. Case studies for both developed and developing regions of the world are presented in order to emphasize the various needs and challenges of urban water management in arid and semi-arid locations around the world. These case studies include: Mexico City, Mexico; Tucson, Arizona; Awash River Basin, Ethiopia; China; and Cairo, Egypt. With all the uncertainties that exist, there is one certainty: poor water management hurts the poor most. Contents List of Figures XI List of Tables XV Acronyms XVII Glossary XIX List of Contributors XXV 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions 1 1.2 In the beginning 3 1.3 The urban water cycle and urbanization 5 1.4 The integrated urban water system 7 1.5 Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM): The big picture 8 1.6 Water resources sustainability 10 1.7 Focus of case studies 12 2 Arid and semi-arid regions: What makes them different? 17 2.1 Physical features 17 2.2 Climate