Informed And Informing Decisions For Water Sustainability
Informed And Informing Decisions For Water Sustainability
Owing to its relatively stable yield of high-quality water, groundwater has emerged as an extremely important water resource for meeting domestic, industrial, agricultural and environmental demands. Although groundwater is often relatively well protected from pollution, poor management has resulted in negative impacts such as declining aquifer heads, quality deterioration, and irrational abstraction rates.
Regulatory instruments can be used to compel homeowners and other businesses to undertake mandatory rainwater harvesting to address issues related to water scarcity and conservation.
As the world continues to face water scarcity and drought on one hand and flooding on the other, it is important to consider sustainable solutions for water management. One ancient practice that is gaining popularity in modern times is rainwater harvesting.
On 28th July 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights.
It is common knowledge that agriculture is the centrepiece of Uganda’s economic development. However, Uganda’s agriculture has progressively been constrained by the frequent occurrence of droughts, and as such consistently fails to realize its full potential.
On 31st December, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of several cases of the viral pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The outbreak evolved rapidly, affecting many countries worldwide.
Most of the water connections in the developing countries which are managed by some water utility are metered. Universal metering is good as it plays well in the dimension of water use efficiency, ultimately contributing to sustainability of water resources. On the other hand, universal metering brings about equity.
Hydrology teaches us that the amount of water on earth is constant. However, its geographical and temporal distribution is not. Also, the water’s quality is not the same world-wide, often presenting self in a non-portable state. The reasons for this uneven distribution are both natural and man-made.
Seventy one per cent of the worlds’ surface is water. 4% of it exists as fresh water-a more easy and less costly form to treat for suitability to the various water needs of domestic, industrial or agricultural (irrigation and livestock). Startlingly, of the 4% only 5% is safe for human consumption. Whereas fresh water is a renewable resource, it is also finite.
