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The Ganga basin is witnessing accelerated deterioration of agricultural fields, with severe soil erosion leading to nutrients leaching into the river, wreaking havoc on the river's ecosystems. Many Ganga River management plans have been implemented in the past, but a more coordinated and integrated effort that tries to implement basin management strategies with technology preparedness considered critical for the preservation of agricultural regions had been lacking. The Namami Gange Program (NGP) is a first of its kind integrated conservation mission pillared on sustainable water management policies and practices, launched in 2014. Unfortunately, scientific literature on its overall functioning and progress is almost non-existent. This review presents its overall functioning, critically analyses its associated components, and presents case studies, pilot studies, along with analytical critiques. An objective analytical evaluation of the NGP has been provided concluding with sectoral interventions. We have concluded that the ambitions for boosting energy production, irrigation, manufacturing, and expanding the river as an inland waterway interfere with the Ganga cleanup because they are both part of the growth strategy pushed by the administration. HIGHLIGHTS Implementational goals, community participation, and roles of other entities in the integrated river conservation program of Namami Gange.; Approach of sustainable management, circular water economy and public awareness.; Suggested a way forward for river rejuvenation through sectoral interventions around agricultural, sludge management, and biodiversity conservation, sustainable forestry, and livelihood generation interventions.;

Storing runoff during the monsoon season in Himalayan hills is crucial to have enough water to cope with the dry season, especially considering that climate change is changing rainfall intensity and patterns. Traditional Nepalese water ponds, called pokharis, are used to store runoff mainly for cattle rearing and rice fields' supplementary irrigation. Local communities are interested in restoring existing pokharis and building new ones to improve their economical and living conditions. Selecting the most suitable locations for pokharis is of crucial importance; however, scarce information is available for large-scale site selection. A comprehensive analysis of multiple relevant parameters for traditional ponds siting can lead to more efficient rainwater collection and provide a useful water resource management tool. In this work, we propose a methodology for pokharis’ best-siting analysis, based on geographic information system (GIS), multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), and participatory research. To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale best-siting analysis for traditional ponds in Nepal. An area of 0.423 km2 (3.47% of the study area) is classified as highly suitable, with 100% agreement with existing pokharis. Despite the low data resolution, which requires a further field inspection for the final site selection, our results provide reliable guidance for pokharis’ large-scale suitability, supporting water-resilience projects in the area. HIGHLIGHTS Large-scale best-siting analyses of traditional Nepalese ponds (pokharis) are lacking despite their importance for water management in Nepal.; Uphill communities, being more prone to water scarcity, were prioritized through appropriate criteria setting.; We propose a composite of standard and in-field surveyed criteria for pokharis' best siting.; The study provides useful guidance for building water harvesting ponds in Nepal.;

Storing runoff during the monsoon season in Himalayan hills is crucial to have enough water to cope with the dry season, especially considering that climate change is changing rainfall intensity and patterns. Traditional Nepalese water ponds, called pokharis, are used to store runoff mainly for cattle rearing and rice fields’ supplementary irrigation. Local communities are interested in restoring existing pokharis and building new ones to improve their economical and living conditions. Selecting the most suitable locations for pokharis is of crucial importance; however, scarce information is available for large-scale site selection. A comprehensive analysis of multiple relevant parameters for traditional ponds siting can lead to more efficient rainwater collection and provide a useful water resource management tool. In this work, we propose a methodology for pokharis’ best-siting analysis, based on geographic information system (GIS), multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), and participatory research. To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale best-siting analysis for traditional ponds in Nepal. An area of 0.423 km² (3.47% of the study area) is classified as highly suitable, with 100% agreement with existing pokharis. Despite the low data resolution, which requires a further field inspection for the final site selection, our results provide reliable guidance for pokharis’ large-scale suitability, supporting water-resilience projects in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the climate crisis and rapid urbanisation, rainwater harvesting (RWH) is more pertinent than ever. In Bangladesh, the full potential of rainwater use, especially for the urban poor, has not been explored. This study reviewed the recently-executed national plans to assess the RWH provisions, explored literature to map RWH practice, showed the alignment between the plans and the practices, and assessed the provision of RWH in the currently-implemented plans, with a particular focus on the urban poor. Although the past plans recognised RWH, the study found that these did not emphasise the implementation process nor offer provisions for the urban poor. RWH was, however, widely practised in the urban, peri-urban, and rural parts of the country by utilising different catchment structures. Building on the experiences of other countries, the study assessed the feasibility of RWH for the urban poor to meet their sanitation and hygiene needs under the changing climate. The study concluded that a detailed ‘Rainwater Harvesting and Management Plan’ supporting the adoption and promotion of community-led models to mitigate RWH-related challenges in the urban slums and integrating multi-storied buildings to harvest rainwater for the poor neighbourhoods could ensure efficient and equitable rainwater management for the urban poor. HIGHLIGHTS National planning documents emphasise utilising rainwater, but lack implementation mechanism.; Rainwater harvesting identified as a feasible solution, especially for the areas that lack proper water supply.; Rainwater harvesting has not been adequately adopted for urban slums.; A context-specific rainwater management plan along with community-led compassionate model can ensure suitable water supply, especially under climate crisis.;

Most current water allocation strategies fail to address the unbalanced development among multiple systems. How to optimize the coordination development relationships among the social, economic and environmental systems has always been the focus. To bridge this gap, a water optimal allocation model for coordinated development was innovatively constructed and applied to the main stream of the Xiangjiang River Basin, China. The results showed the following. (i) From 2025 to 2030, the water deficit ratio of the study area will increase from 3.21 to 5.50% when P = 50% and from 4.59 to 6.85% when P = 75%. The existing water supply capacity will not be able to meet the increasing water demand. (ii) Agricultural and industrial water will account for a large proportion of the total water consumption. Due to the transformation of industrial structure, measures should be formulated to bring the best benefits. (iii) Restricted by different systems, the coordinated development in each city will present spatial and temporal differences. (iv) The proposed model was proved to overcome the backwards of uncoordinated development and achieve a balance of the regional social, economic and environmental benefits. Also, some recommendations and limitations were discussed. This study provides an effective basis for enhancing regional sustainable water resources planning and management. HIGHLIGHTS A new water optimal allocation model for coordinated development (WOAM-CD) is designed in this study.; The WOAM-CD can effectively deal with the uncoordinated development among the regional social-economic-environmental systems.; According to the regional water endowment and industrial characteristics, the WOAM-CD can draw up corresponding water allocation schemes to balance the social, economic and environmental benefits.;

The water sector has a major leadership role to play in addressing the global water crisis. How can it make the radical shifts in approach that are needed? This paper highlights the reality that the management of water, and the ways in which water flows are directed, reflects social relations of power, not just between human groups, but also between humankind and the non-human world. Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research with indigenous communities and other water users in river catchments around the world, it considers alternate cultural worldviews that encourage more sustainable beliefs and practices, and asks how larger societies might make imaginative use of these in contemporary and future engagements with water. In a thought experiment intended to reposition human–non-human relations, it proposes a concept of ‘re-imagined communities’ advocating more collaborative forms of conviviality – living together – with other species. Opening the door to ideas about pan-species democracy, it calls for decision-making processes in which a wide range of expertise is brought together to exchange knowledge, with an explicit and practical remit to ‘speak for’ and promote the needs and interests of the non-human inhabitants of the ecosystems on which all living kinds depend. HIGHLIGHTS The current water crisis has arisen from assumptions that development is reliant upon growth, and from a dualistic worldview that separates culture and nature, and human and non-human worlds.; The control and management of water reflects unequal relations of power between human groups, and between human and non-human beings. While some efforts are being made to be more inclusive of human ‘stakeholders’, societies continue to externalise the costs of their activities to non-human species and environments.; There is a need for radical reform in how large societies think about and engage with non-human beings and ecosystems. Some useful examples are provided by culturally diverse ways of envisioning human–non-human relations in more holistic and egalitarian terms, which lead naturally to more sustainable beliefs, values, and practices.; A concept of ‘re-imagined communities’ seeks to challenge nature–culture dualism and to relocate humankind within ecosystems shared with and composed by other living kinds. It encourages a more convivial positionality that entails working with, rather than acting upon, the non-human world.; The paper explores ideas about pan-species democracy, in which academic, local, and other forms of knowledge and expertise are exchanged, with an explicit remit to ‘speak for’ and promote the needs and interests of other species and ecosystems in decision-making processes relating to water.;

Operational management of agricultural water based on an economic perspective was investigated as a sustainable approach in water shortage periods. Accordingly, an automatic water distribution system was coupled with the Positive Mathematical Programming economic model for a sustainable agricultural water operation in the Roodasht irrigation network, Iran. Operational management was carried out based on the economic value of water in each irrigated unit. According to the results, the existing operating system was able to supply 71 and 22% of farmers’ water requirements under normal and water shortage conditions, respectively. However, employing the proposed automated operational-economic approach reduced water consumption by 14.3%, while maintaining the cultivation area by 11% and increasing farmers’ net profit to 840,000 USD under water scarcity. The economic operation can reduce water losses, implement economic strategies in those districts without water marketing mechanisms, and provide sustainable management of limited water resources in hyper-arid regions. HIGHLIGHTS An operating system is proposed for districts with a lack of a market mechanism.; Surface water distribution is conducted based on the economic value of water.; The water conservation objective is fulfilled by employing an automatic control system.; An automatic operating system is developed to fulfill the economic objectives.;

Kaohsiung City is the second largest city in Taiwan and suffers from serious floods during the wet season, but it also badly needs water during the dry season. As economic development advances and pollutants increase, water pollution and shortage of water resources become issues of concern for local people in Kaohsiung. A project has been proposed by the city government and executed by the authors to establish a system of sustainable water management in urban areas. In this system, the Caogong Canals, irrigation channels which were established 170 years ago during the Ching Dynasty of China and are still used today for irrigation, were renovated to bring stable and clean water to the urban areas. It is planned to pump clean water into the canal from a river near the city. In this project, 12 constructed wetland systems, functioning as wetland parks, stormwater storage tanks or eco-detention ponds, were built in the city, and the Caogong Canals are planned to connect all these urban constructed wetlands in the second stage of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activity results in the production of a wide range of pollutants that can enter the water cycle through stormwater or wastewater. Among others, heavy metals are still detected in high concentrations around urban areas and their impact on aquatic organisms is of major concern. In this study, we propose to use a substance flow analysis as a tool for heavy metals management in urban areas. We illustrate the approach with the case of copper in Lausanne, Switzerland. The results show that around 1,500 kg of copper enter the aquatic compartment yearly. This amount contributes to sediment enrichment, which may pose a long-term risk for benthic organisms. The major sources of copper in receiving surface water are roofs and catenaries of trolleybuses. They represent 75% of the total input of copper into the urban water system. Actions to reduce copper pollution should therefore focus on these sources. Substance flow analysis also highlights that copper enters surface water mainly during rain events, i.e., without passing through any treatment procedure. A reduction in pollution could also be achieved by improving stormwater management. In conclusion, the study showed that substance flow analysis is a very effective tool for sustainable urban water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]