World water day to be celebrated today

By Tanny.E.Vahi.

THE Live & Learn and the water authority will be celebrating the World Water Day today at the ITA Hardware area.

The World Water Day is about focusing attention on the importance of water with the theme, ‘Nature for Water’, explores nature-based solutions (NBS) to the water challenges we face in this century.

The campaign is called ‘The answer is in nature’ and raises awareness of NBS.

The central message is that NBS, such as planting trees to replenish forests, reconnecting rivers to floodplains, and restoring wetlands, is a sustainable and cost-effective way to help rebalance the water cycle, mitigate the effects of climate change and improve human health and livelihoods.

By using NBS to help meet the water needs of a growing population, we will contribute to the creation of a circular economy, at the same time as helping to protect the natural environment and reduce pollution – both key targets in Sustainable Development, which commits the world to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

The global demand for water has been increasing at a high rate per year over the past decades as a function of population growth, economic development and changing consumption patterns, among other factors, and it will continue to grow significantly over the foreseeable future.

Industrial and domestic demand for water will increase much faster than agricultural demand, although agriculture will remain the largest user overall.

The vast majority of the growth in demand for water will occur in countries with developing or emerging economies.

At the same time, the global water cycle is intensifying due to climate change, with wetter regions generally becoming wetter and drier regions becoming even drier.

The United Nations World Water Development Report, Nature-based Solutions for Water, launched March 19, 2018 during the 8th World Water Forum, and in conjunction to the World Water Day, demonstrates how nature‐based solutions (NBS) offer a vital means of moving beyond business as usual to address many of the world’s water challenges while simultaneously delivering additional benefits vital to all aspects of sustainable development.

NBS use natural processes to enhance water availability, groundwater recharge, improve water quality, riparian buffer strips, and reduce risks associated with water‐related disasters and climate change.

Currently, water management remains heavily dominated by traditional, human‐built infrastructure and the enormous potential for NBS remains under‐utilised.

NBS include green infrastructure that can substitute, augment or work in parallel with grey infrastructure in a cost‐effective manner.

The goal is to find the most appropriate blend of green and grey investments to maximise benefits and system efficiency while minimising costs and trade‐offs.

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