News Highlights:
- There is an urgent need to address the emerging crisis of urban water supply, wastewater and stormwater management from an inclusion, rights and justice perspective.
- There is a need for a water-sensitive cities framework and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) to overcome the issue.
What is a water-sensitive city?
- About:
- Water-sensitive cities are focused on comprehensive water cycle management to provide essential urban water supply and sanitation services while reducing flood risks and safeguarding and improving the health of the receiving waterways.
- A water-sensitive city incorporates innovative infrastructure, design and governance solutions.
Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD):
- About:
- Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) “is an emerging urban development paradigm aimed to minimise hydrological impacts of urban development on the environment”
- It is a land planning and engineering design approach which integrates the urban water cycle, including stormwater, groundwater, and wastewater management and water supply, into urban design to minimise environmental degradation and improve aesthetic and recreational appeal.
- Objectives:
- Reducing potable water demand through demand- and supply-side water management
- Incorporating the use of water-efficient appliances and fittings
- Adopting a fit-for-purpose approach to the use of potential alternative sources of water such as rainwater
- Minimising wastewater generation and the treatment of wastewater to a standard suitable for effluent reuse and/or release to receiving waters
- Treating stormwater to meet water quality objectives for reuse and/or discharge by capturing sediments, pollutants, and nutrients through the retention and slow release of stormwater
- Improving waterway health through restoring or preserving the natural hydrological regime of catchments through treatment and reuse technologies
- Improving the aesthetic and the connection with water for urban dwellers
- Promoting a significant degree of water-related self-sufficiency within urban settings by optimising the use of water sources to minimise potable, storm, and wastewater inflows and outflows through the incorporation into the urban design of localised water storage
- Counteracting the ‘urban heat island effect’ through the use of water and vegetation, assisting in replenishing groundwater.
Need for water-sensitive cities framework:
- Rising inequity:
- Cities in India and the global south are marked by rising inequity in urban settlement/housing, translating into inequity in access to basic infrastructure and services (including water supply and sanitation, drainage and wastewater management).
- In many instances, close to 50 per cent and sometimes more of the population lives in congested unplanned settlements(unauthorised or authorised but congested living areas, slums and other informal habitations).
- Lack of basic infrastructure:
- Small and medium-sized cities lack sanitation and drainage infrastructure. Combined sewers that also drain stormwater overflow in monsoons.
- There is hardly any city with a 24×7 water supply. No Indian city has 100 per cent sewage or septage treatment. The functionality of existing sanitation infrastructure (sewers and/or non-sewer systems) remains challenging for India and the global south.
- Over Exploitations:
- Our cities have been living beyond the availability and supply of water from rivers and groundwater. Built-up areas in cities have been flouting urban planning norms.
- Heavy infrastructure development in cities, including underground parking and metros, destroys aquifers and the water recharge potential of groundwater.
Challenges Regarding Water Management in India:
- Potential Rural-Urban Conflict:
- Cities are rapidly expanding as a result of rapid urbanisation, and a large influx of migrants from rural areas has increased the per capita use of water in cities, which is causing water to be transferred from rural reservoirs to urban areas to meet the deficit.
- Ineffective Waste Water Management:
- In a highly water-stressed environment, the inefficient use of wastewater is leaving India unable to make the most economical use of its resources. In cities, most of this water is in the form of greywater.
- According to a recent report published by the Central Pollution Control Board (March 2021), India’s current water treatment capacity is 27.3%, and the sewage treatment capacity is 18.6% (with another 5.2% capacity added).
- Food Security Risk:
- Crops and livestock need water to grow. Water is used extensively for irrigation in agriculture and serves as a major source of domestic consumption. Given the combination of rapidly declining groundwater levels and inefficient river water management, food insecurity is likely to follow.
- The impacts of water and food scarcity can undermine basic livelihoods and exacerbate social tensions.
- Rising Water Pollution:
- There is a large amount of domestic, industrial, and mining waste that is discharged into water bodies, which can lead to waterborne illnesses. Moreover, water pollution can lead to eutrophication, significantly impacting aquatic ecosystems.
Pic Courtesy: Freepik
Content Source: Down To Earth