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Water Security Simplified Approval Process SIMPLIFIED APPROVAL PROCESS (SAP) TECHNICAL GUIDELINES Water security INTRODUCTION This publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of simplified approval process (SAP) proposals for water security projects. GCF defines the water sector as encompassing surface freshwater resources and groundwater, but not oceans. Since the water sector is interlinked with several other sectors, such as agriculture and ecosystems, it is necessary to delineate its scope. Thus, the emphasis in this technical guidance a is on four sub-sectors: ∞ Integrated water resources management (IWRM) ∞ Climate resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene (CR-WASH) ∞ Integrated drought management (IDM) ∞ Integrated flood management (IFM) For water-related activities not clearly within the scope above, please refer to the relevant SAP technical guidance in addition to this one. DEFINITIONS Around 71 per cent of the earth’s surface is covered in water. Of all this water, approximately 2.5 per cent is freshwater, whereas the remaining 97.5 per cent is saltwater. Glaciers and ice caps represent almost 69 per cent of freshwater resources, about 30 per cent is groundwater, and a mere 0.27 per cent is surface water. For these guidelines, the following definitions are used: ∞ Water security: the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development; for ensuring protection against water pollution 1. United Nations Water Security and and water-related disasters; and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and the Global Water Agenda 2003. https:// political stability.1 www.unwater.org/publications/water- security-global-water-agenda/ 2 WATER SECURITY ∞ Groundwater resources: water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand, and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through geologic formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers About 50 per cent or more of the municipal, domestic, and agricultural water supply is extracted from groundwater.2 Soil moisture is the water stored in the unsaturated layer between the land surface and the top of the water table and is affected by precipitation, temperature, soil characteristics, and more. These same factors help determine the type of biome present, and the suitability of land for growing crops.3 ∞ Surface water: includes lakes, reservoirs (human-made lakes), ponds, streams (of all sizes, from large rivers to small creeks), canals (human-made lakes and streams), and freshwater wetlands. ∞ Freshwater: water containing less than 1,000 milligrams per litre of dissolved solids, most often salt.4 LINKS TO CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change affects the availability, quality and quantity of water for human and ecosystem needs, putting the effective accomplishment of human rights to water and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at risk, as well as posing a serious threat to lives and livelihoods worldwide. Higher temperatures and changes in evaporation and precipitation patterns affect the availability and distribution of rainfall, snowmelt, river flows and groundwater, and accelerate deterioration of water quality. Increasing global and regional temperatures have the potential to increase evaporation and consequently increase the frequency, intensity and spatial distribution of water and climate related events.5 Some areas may experience more intense rainfall than normal (which may cause flooding), and other areas may experience extended drought conditions, as the traditional locations of rain belts and deserts change in response to a changing climate. Glaciers continue to retreat across the globe due to climate change, which affects total runoff and resources downstream. In addition, local changes in temperature and precipitation have altered the distribution of some diseases transmitted by water and disease vectors.6 Warmer water, more intense precipitation, and longer periods of low flow reduce water quality, with predominantly negative impacts on ecosystems, human health, and reliability and operating costs of water services. Climate change also exacerbates sea level rise. Climate projections indicate that climate change will reduce renewable surface water and groundwater resources in most of the dry subtropical regions, which will intensify competition for the water between sectors. Interaction between the increase in temperature, increased sediment, nutrient and pollutant loads due to heavy rains, the highest concentration of pollutants during droughts, and interruption of the operation of treatment facilities during 2. https://www.epa.gov/sites/ production/files/documents/ floods, will all reduce the overall quality and availability of water resources and will generate groundwater.pdf increased risks for water security. 3. https://www.earthsciweek.org/ classroom-activities/soil-moisture 4. https://www.nationalgeographic. Hydrological changes, induced by climate change, negatively impact the sustainable org/encyclopedia/surface-water/ management of water resources, which is already under pressure in many parts of the world 5. IPCC (2014) Climate Change by various anthropogenic drivers. Therefore, total water availability and improved management 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to of the now scarce resource play a key role in how the world mitigates and adapts to the the Fifth Assessment Report of the effects of climate change. Responding to the challenges of climate change impacts on water Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. resources requires adaptation strategies at the local, regional, national, and global levels. A Pachauri, and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. variety of water management decisions also affect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Water 6. IPCC, 2014: Summary for demand management has a significant impact on energy consumption because energy is policymakers. In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. required to pump and treat water, to heat it, and to treat wastewater. But on the other hand, Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. water management activities can mitigate climate change, for example, by conservation of Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the wetlands benefitting water quality and biodiversity. Irrigation can increase carbon storage in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate soils by reducing water stress and enhancing biomass production. Change [Field, C.B., V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D. Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi, Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy, S. MacCracken, P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L. White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, USA, pp. 1–32. SIMPLIFIED APPROVAL PROCESS (SAP) SECTORAL GUIDELINES 3 APPROACH KEY AREAS / COMPONENTS The following intervention areas will be considered as part of successful SAP projects in the water sector. ∞ The sustainable and effective management of competing water uses through integrated water resources management (IWRM). Climate change affects water management in multiple ways, ranging from changes in seasonal and annual patterns in floods, availability and quality of water with related global health impacts, the economy (including hydropower capacity and industrial/cooling water availability) and freshwater dependent ecosystems. Global Water Partnership (2000)7 defines IWRM as “a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems”. IWRM provides a useful framework for long-term planning of well-coordinated and targeted adaptation measures to climate change. IWRM activities considered for GCF funding should be accompanied by physical measures towards green or grey infrastructure improvement that can deliver quantifiable benefits in the short and medium term, recognizing that IWRM interventions such as water policy revision and institutional reorganization deliver long-term benefits that can be difficult to measure and attribute with certainty to GCF investment. ∞ The provision of access to clean water for human consumption – through climate resilient water sanitation and hygiene (CR-WASH) policies and technologies. More intense or prolonged precipitation, more variable or declining rainfall or run-off, more frequent or more intense storms or cyclones, sea level rise and more variable and increasing temperatures are climate hazards and consequently generate challenges for sanitation and water supply.8 WASH aims to “provide populations access to safe, sufficient, and affordable water to meet basic needs for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene, to safeguard health and well-being, and to fulfil basic human rights”.9 The main challenge for WASH is to provide the infrastructure to supply and treat the water. In the context of climate change, WASH infrastructure and management should be developed in a climate resilient approach (considering present and future climate change impacts). Rehabilitating existing water and sanitation infrastructure to enable it to withstand local climatic impacts is also a suitable use of GCF funds. Such projects may be suitable for the SAP modality if they involve small-scale community or household WASH facilities, such as latrines and rainwater
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