by Jeremy Bird Presented at the Elizabeth Moir School on 24th March 2015.

1. Water resources in a changing world
Jeremy Bird
International Water Management
Institute
24 March 2015
Photo: John Hamish Appleby/IWMI

2. 5
Remote sensing
and spatial
analysts
22
Economists and
agricultural
economists
5
Ecologists/
Wetland
specialists
8
Soil scientists
23
Social
scientists
14
Irrigation and
agricultural
engineers
30
Specialists in
ground/surface
water
5
Water quality
and health
specialists
Inter-disciplinary
approach
IWMI – Research for Development
operating across Asia and Africa
Photo: IWMI

3. Fresh water
a finite resource
All the Earth’s water as a single
bubble, to scale. Freshwater is the
smaller bubble. Water in lakes
and rivers is the tiny bubble.
Source: USGS
https://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html

5. Globalization – water is traded across borders in
food crops – Virtual water

6. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
10 100 1000 10000 100000
GDP per capita (2000 constant dollars per year)
meatconsumption
(kg/cap/yr)
Meat
China
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
10 100 1000 10000 100000
GDP per capita (2000 constant dollars per year)
milkconsumption
(kg/cap/yr)
Milk
China
India USA
USA
As economies grow, diets change,
…more meat >>> more water
Source: IWMI

7. Agriculture’s challenge…..
To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we need to
produce 50-70% more food…
…and reverse environmental degradation
…and reduce vulnerability to climate shocks

8. …and a reduction in species
Living Planet Index. 2005.
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/360/1454/289.short
Population index = 100 in 1970

9. Safe
Semi-critical
Critical
Over exploited
Saline
‘Free’ electricity encouraged groundwater overuse
Groundwater has supported crop expansion
Source: IWMI

10. Source: IWMI
Research showing signs of over-pumping and groundwater
pollution in Jaffna

11. Solar power will reduce emissions from groundwater
pumps – need to combine with efficient irrigation
systems Courtesy Jain Irrigation
Photos: Hamish John Appleby/IWMI

12. Industry can also be more efficient in reducing
water use – e.g. Coca Cola
• Reduced water use ratio. Since 2001
cut water use by more than a fifth.
• Recycling water used in
manufacturing processes and
returning it to the environment
• Replenishing water in communities
and nature through the support of
healthy watersheds

13. Hyderabad, India 2003-14
Population rapidly becoming more urban
Source: IWMI

14. www.iwmi.org
Water for a food-secure world
Waste management in cities in developing
countries cannot keep pace with urbanization
Photo: Neil Palmer/IWMI

15. Techniques to use
waste water safely….
Photo: IWMI

16. Turning waste into an organic fertilizer
Source: IWMI

17. Climate change -
floods and droughts
are increasing in
frequency

18. River flows are naturally highly variable –
climate change makes it more extreme and uncertain
Source: Mekong
River Commission
Mekong River Flow regime at Chiang Saen, 1993-2010

19. Bangkok floods 2011
Insurance loss:
$12 billion commons.wikimedia.org

20. “Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation
(UTFI)” – store peak floods underground and use
for irrigation in the dry season
Source: Pavelic 2012

21. Food prices depend on many factors – water is
becoming a more prominent influence

22. Food shortages as food prices rise, Mozambique
Photo: ILRI 2008

23. Using geo-spatial data to improve our response to
floods
• Improve planning capacity
• Target flood management measures
• Provide basis for crop flood insurance
• Improve flood relief efforts

24. Identifying climate change Vulnerability Hotspots –
to design locally relevant adaptation measures
Climate Change
Vulnerability Index
Anuradhapura
Nuwara-Eliya
RatnapuraSensitivity
Index
Exposure Index
Adaptive
Capacity Index
Source: IWMI

25. Using Mobile Apps to provide flood and
drought information
Photo: IWMI

26. Breeding flood and drought tolerant crop varieties
Swarna-Sub1
17 day submergence
Photo: International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

27. It’s a big challenge, but there are solutions…
 More efficient water use
 Sustainable management of surface and
groundwater
 Increasing resilience to climate shocks
 Recycling waste and recovering nutrients
 Reversing land and soil degradation
 Balancing the built and natural environment

28. www.iwmi.org
Water for a food-secure world
Visit: www.iwmi.org
www.wle@cigar.org
Photo: Neil Palmer/IWMI