Contents



Preface

Water is a limited natural resource indispensable for human existence and critical for socio-economic development. However, rapid urbanization and inefficient management of available natural resources have hastened the pace and impact of climate change. Floods and droughts related to climate change are a recurring phenomenon in recent years and have disrupted an already fragile ecosystem. Because the need to conserve available water resources and devise strategies for resource management is very relevant, this book deals with water resources and their management. Edited by Prathna Thanjavur Chandrasekaran, Muhammad Salik Javaid and Aftab Sadiq, the book provides relevant information on major aspects of water resources including water management strategies practiced in different parts of the world, the need for conservation, impact of climate change on water resource management, and contamination of water resources and their

The first section of this book discusses aspects related to water resources and their conservation, with the first chapter introducing the reader to diverse aspects of resources of water. The chapter on water availability in Chile by Pulido Fernández compares the current and future availabilities of water for the different regions of Chile and provides relevant information on the water balance for land planners. The chapter on Smart Water by Mueller-Czygan discusses the role of software such as Industry 4.0 and KOMMUNAL 4.0 initiated by the federal government in Germany in municipal water management and in tackling future water challenges. Many small- and medium-sized communities are faced with the challenge of reliably planning for the future in terms of maintaining and expanding their infrastructure in view of the consequences of demographic change. Software such as KOMMUNAL 4.0 can play a critical role in assisting communities to manage water infrastructure digitally. The chapter by Gulta and Abate elaborates on the importance of aquifer characterization in effective groundwater management. Aquifer characterization is the first step in enabling strategies to manage it. The authors used Aquifer Test V.2.55 to characterize the aquifer system in Hawassa, Ethiopia, physically, potentially, spatially, quantitatively, and qualitatively.

The second section of the book details strategies adapted for sustainable water management in different parts of the world with the help of interesting case studies. The chapter on community water-service management in Africa by Obosi explains the critical need of community water supply with experience gained from Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria. Community-based water supply management allows communities to form their own institutions for water delivery without formal connections or partnerships with utility operators or municipal governments and can play a critical role in ensuring access to safe water in developing countries. Anthropogenic activities can hasten the process of global warming and the resulting shifts in weather defined as climate change. The chapter by Ospina-Noreña et al. explains the effect of climate change on water resources, indices, and related activities in different parts of Colombia using models. The study also reviews the influence of climate change on hydroelectric power generation and water balance in arid areas. Likewise, it outlines a possible

treatment strategies.
