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Climate Change—Implication on Water Resources in South Asian Countries

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Resilience, Response, and Risk in Water Systems

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Abstract

Water is a basic and essential need. Without it, nothing will grow and survive. South Asia is among the world’s fastest-growing regional economy having 23.7% of the total world population, however, just 4.6% of the world’s renewable water resources (SAWI-World Bank group). Increasing population in south Asian countries results in growing demand for water in different sectors, such as municipalities, industries, urbanization, and energy sector for development. The water demand projection suggests that demand for water in the South Asian economies will be double the available supplies by 2030 (IWMI 2018). In the South Asian region, the maximum water consumption in agriculture sector for irrigation is 85%, whereas in municipal and industrial sectors consume only 11% and 4%, respectively (FAO). Warmer temperature will increase evaporation and evapotranspiration rates, changes the patterns of precipitation, river flows, and aquifer recharge (water supply), which affect water quality. Change in climate increases the frequencies and intensities of floods, droughts, alluviation, and landslides (extreme events). The IPCC categorizes South Asia as the region at greatest risk from climate change. The sustainable development goal will be achieved by suitable practices, management of water resources in South Asia region. It requires all the stakeholders, including public and private sectors and the end user that is society to change the way they use and manage the water. The objective of this study is to understand the water resources management issues of South Asia in the context of climate change. This study also reviews recent and ongoing studies on water resources scenario in South Asian countries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Environmental Science, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, India

    Atul Srivastava & Pawan Kumar Jha

  2. Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, India

    Anjali Singhal

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  1. Atul Srivastava
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  2. Anjali Singhal
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  3. Pawan Kumar Jha
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Correspondence to Pawan Kumar Jha .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

    Manish Kumar

  2. Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

    Francisco Munoz-Arriola

  3. Research Center for Water Environment Technology, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiroaki Furumai

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka

    Tushara Chaminda

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Srivastava, A., Singhal, A., Jha, P.K. (2020). Climate Change—Implication on Water Resources in South Asian Countries. In: Kumar, M., Munoz-Arriola, F., Furumai, H., Chaminda, T. (eds) Resilience, Response, and Risk in Water Systems . Springer Transactions in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4668-6_12

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