How a water-resources crisis highlights social-ecological disconnects

Gittins, Joshua R.; Hemingway, Jack R; Dajka, Jan-Claas

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.116937

Cited by 28 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The Western Cape Province was declared a disaster area on 22 May 2017, which would normally be the beginning of the rainy season. The province had progressively implemented water restrictions and the city was at Level 3 Gittins et al 2021). Thereafter, Level 4 restrictions limited usage to 100 litres per person per day.…”

Section: The City Of Cape Town's Water Crisis Management Timelinementioning

confidence: 99%

When usage matters: time-of-use analysis of Cape Town's Day Zero drought response

Booysen

Ripunda

2021

Water Science and Technology

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Poor resource management and infrastructure limitations make the effects of drought worse for cities in developing countries. One way to alleviate the impact without large investments is targeted demand management. This has worked well in studies that focused on some of the recent droughts, including Cape Town's ‘Day Zero’ drought of 2016–2018. Many studies have measured demand response to a drought at a coarse time resolution, but few have measured it at an hourly resolution or compared weekday with weekend use. In this study we evaluated households' hourly time-of-use behaviour in response to the Cape Town drought at two prominent inflection points identified by previous studies: the announcement of the Critical Water Shortages Disaster plan in October 2017 and the introduction of Level 6B restrictions in February 2018. The first major reduction was caused by residents reducing their usage by about a third in the early morning and evening hours on weekdays, and the second, even larger, reduction was achieved in the mid-morning hours on weekdays when home owners were not at home but ensured that domestic workers used water sparingly.

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Section: The City Of Cape Town's Water Crisis Management Timelinementioning

confidence: 99%

When usage matters: time-of-use analysis of Cape Town's Day Zero drought response

Booysen

Ripunda

2021

Water Science and Technology

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“…Freshwater resources throughout the world are increasingly threatened by a rapidly increasing human population (Mnaya et al, 2021). In addition, there are a number of human pressures (e.g., inefficient distribution, urbanization, over abstraction, intensive agriculture and exceptional demand) underpinning pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss that accelerate the water crisis (Gittins et al, 2021). As the largest developing country and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, China's situation in many respects exemplifies the global picture, particularly water scarcity in arid regions (Mu et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effectiveness of a water resource tax policy in improving water-use efficiency: a quasi-natural experiment-based approach

Zhang

Sen

et al. 2022

Water Policy

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Comprehensively improving the efficiency of water resource utilization is not only an urgent need to resolve the prominent contradiction between water supply and water demand but also an inevitable requirement to promote the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. The compulsory water resource tax is considered to be a powerful tool for resolving the worldwide water crisis and improving water resource utilization efficiency (WRUE). Based on a quasi-natural experiment of water resource tax policy in China, this study used panel data for 30 provinces (municipalities) from 2011 to 2019 to evaluate the impact of water resource tax policies on WRUE through a multistage difference-in-difference model. The results showed that the water resource policy can effectively improve the utilization efficiency of water resources by optimizing the allocation of resources. In addition, the analysis of the spatial heterogeneity showed that the policy of the water resource tax has a stronger lifting effect on improving water resource-use efficiency in Eastern China than that in the central and western regions. This research provided insights into China's water policies that can be used to better manage natural resources.

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“…In fact, the World Economic Forum (2018) has listed water crisis as among the most devastating global risks. The sustainable management of water resources is required to keep water scarcity from becoming widespread (Gittins et al, 2021). Water volume prediction is a reliable and common method and tool for exploring potential changes in the use of future water resources (Wegelinschuringa, 2002; Wong et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Construction and application of water security early‐warning model

Guo

Wang

2022

Water & Environment J

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Ensuring water security means meeting the water demand required to sustain human activity. This study constructs an early-warning model of water resources security based on water resource carrying capacity, which consists of water demand predictions and early-warning standards. Taking China as an example, we compare expected water demand in 2030 with the maximum available water (water use red line) regulated by the government. The results reveal that some regional water demand will surpass their own red line at the provincial level, whereas at the national level, total water use is not expected to exceed the red line control of 700 billion m 3 .This approach provides a valuable method for tracking the future water demands of human activity. An early-warning model for water resources contributes to identifying strategies for expanding water security in the face of drought and other water hazards and is applicable to other regions.early warning, water demand, water security, water use red line | INTRODUCTIONWater security refers to 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-borne pollution and water-related disasters; and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability (UN-water, 2013). Global water insecurity

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How a water-resources crisis highlights social-ecological disconnects

Cited by 28 publications

References 23 publications

When usage matters: time-of-use analysis of Cape Town's Day Zero drought response

When usage matters: time-of-use analysis of Cape Town's Day Zero drought response

The effectiveness of a water resource tax policy in improving water-use efficiency: a quasi-natural experiment-based approach

Construction and application of water security early‐warning model

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