Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Water Crisis in the Asian Countries: Status and Future Trends

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Resilience, Response, and Risk in Water Systems

Abstract

Asia is one of the largest and most populated continents of the world as more than half of the world population live here. A large number of water resources mainly transboundary rivers, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus of South Asian countries, have a large impact on economic growth, food production, ecological stability and sustainable development in these regions. But during the last few decades, these water resources are facing tremendous pressure due to fast-growing population, developmental projects and increased production. Along with some anthropogenic activities like poor wastewater management techniques, increased pollution in water bodies, some natural disasters like dramatic change in climatic conditions and uneven rainfall pattern have induced problems of droughts and floods. Most of the water resources in Asian countries are contaminated due to domestic, industrial and agricultural waste, which affect the health of human as well as the quality of water resources. Recently, problems of weed infestation and eutrophication have also been prominent in most of these countries which affect the normal ecological functioning of these freshwater bodies. Both developed and developing nations are facing the problems of the water crisis and water pollution. Water scarcity in Asian countries has become a major challenging issue. There is a high need for implementation of strict acts or laws to check pollution in receiving water bodies. Also improved and effective wastewater treatment techniques are highly required to overcome the present conditions of water shortage. The present study reveals the present situation of water and water-related problems in Asian countries and future perspectives. New water policies of the Asian countries to conserve water resources and their effective use have been discussed. Due to unsustainable use and poor management of water in developing nations, the water crisis is becoming more complex.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbaspour S (2011) Water quality in developing countries, South Asia, South Africa, water quality management and activities that cause water pollution. In: International conference on environmental and agriculture engineering, vol 15, pp 94–102

    Google Scholar 

  • ADB (2008) Managing Asian cities, sustainable and inclusive urban solutions. Manila. Available at http://www.adb.org/publications/managing-asian-cities?ref=themes/urban-development/publications

  • Appelegreen KW (1992) Management of transboundary water resources. Nat Resour Forum 21(2):92

    Google Scholar 

  • Arfanuzzaman M (2017) Economics of transboundary water: an evaluation of a glacier and snowpack-dependent river basin of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Water Policy Uncorrected Proof (1–19)

    Google Scholar 

  • Arshad A (2016) 140 m in South East-Asia do not have clean water, e-paper. The Straits Times, Asia. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/140m-in-se-asia-do-not-have-clean-water

  • Asian Water Development Outlook (2013) Measuring water security in Asia and the Pacific. Asian Development Bank. ISBN: 978-92-9092-988-8 (Print), 978-92-9092-989-5

    Google Scholar 

  • Babel MS, Wahid SM (2008) Freshwater under threat—South Asia: vulnerability assessment of freshwater resources to environmental change. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi and Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagla P (2009) Himalayan glaciers melting deadline ‘a mistake’. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8387737.STM.BBC

  • Bai ZG, Dent DL, Olsson L, Schaepman ME (2008) Proxy global assessment of land degradation. Soil Use Manag 24:223–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandyopadhyay J (2007) Water systems management in South Asia: the need for a research framework. Econ Polit Wkly 42(10):863–873

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck A, Haerlin B, Richter L (2016) Agriculture at a crossroads: finding and recommendations for future farming. The Foundation on Future Farming, Berlin, Germany. https://www.globalagriculture.org/fileadmin/files/weltagrarbericht/EnglishBrochure/BrochureIAASTD_en_web_small.pdf

  • Bindraban PS et al (2012) Assessing the impact of soil degradation on food production. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 4:478–488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown LR (2011) World on the Edge. Routledge, London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781849775205

  • China State Council (CSC) (2012) Regulation on implementing the strictest water resources management system, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Chua J (2015) Solving Asia’s water crisis. EcoBuisness magazine. http://www.eco-business.com/news/solving-asias-water-crisis/

  • Cosgrove WJ, Rijsberman FR (2014) World water vision: making water everybody’s business. Earthscan Publications, London, UK

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cribb J (2010) The coming famine: risks and solutions for global food security. https://www.sciencealert.com/the-coming-famine-risks-and-solutions-for-global-food-security. Coping with water scarcity. An action framework for agriculture and food stress (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2017

  • Cruz W, Cruz MC (1990) Population pressure and deforestation in the Philippines. ASEAN Econ Bull 7(2):200–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das N, Deka JP, Shim J, Patel AK, Kumar A, Sarma KP, Kumar M (2016) Effect of river proximity on the arsenic and fluoride distribution in the aquifers of Brahmaputra floodplains, Assam, Northeast India. J Groundwater Sustain Dev 2–3:130–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudgeon D (2000) Large-scale hydrological changes in tropical Asia: prospects for riverine biodiversity. The construction of large dams will have an impact on the biodiversity of tropical Asian rivers and their associated wetlands. Bioscience 50(9):793–806. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568

  • EN/AR/FR/RU/ES REPORT from UN Environment Programme (2016) A snapshot of the world’s water quality: towards a global assessment

    Google Scholar 

  • EWCRP (2002) Population, natural resources, and environment. The future of population of Asia. https://www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/future-population-asia

  • Falkenmark M, Lindh G (1976) Quoted in UNEP/WMO. Climate change 2001: Working Group II: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability

    Google Scholar 

  • Falkenmark M, Lundqvist J, Widstrand C (1989) Macro-scale water scarcity requires micro-scale approaches: aspects of vulnerability in semi-arid development. Nat Resour Forum 13(4):258–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Falkenmark M, Rockström J, Karlberg L (2009) Present and future water requirements for feeding humanity. Food Secur 1:59–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-008-0003-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2011) The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW)—managing systems at risk. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy; Earthscan, London, UK. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i1688e/i1688e.pdf

  • Food and Agriculture Organization legislative study preparing national regulation for water resources management: principles and practices (1994). FAO Publication, Rome, pp 49–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster W (2010) Exploring alternative futures of the world water system. Building a second generation of world water scenarios driving force: Technology

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu CB, Kim JW, Zhao ZC (1998) Preliminary assessment of impacts on global change in Asia. In: Galloway JN, Melillo JM (eds) Asian change in the context of global climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK), pp 308–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleick PH (1996) Water resources. In: Schneider SH (ed) Encyclopedia of climate and weather, vol 2. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 817–823

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleick PH, Cain N, Haasa D, Hunt C, Kiparsky M, Moench M, Srinivasan V, Wolf G (2006) The biennial report on freshwater resources. The world’s water 2006–2007

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham S, Parkinson C, Chahine M (2010) The water cycle. Earth Observatory. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Water/printall.php

  • Gun J (2012) Groundwater and global change: trends, opportunities and challenges. United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, France

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirji R, Nicol A, Davis R (2017) South Asia climate change risks in water management climate risks and solutions: adaptation frameworks for water resources planning. Development and Management in South Asia, Report No: AUS14873

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Development Report (2006) Beyond scarcity—power, poverty and the global water crisis. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, United Kingdom. http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-report-2006

  • Ismail H (2016) Water scarcity, migration and regional security in South Asia. Global Food and Water Research Programme

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia Y, You J (2010) Sustainable groundwater management in the North China Plain: main issues, practices and foresight. Extended abstracts No. 517, 38th IAH Congress, University of Silesia, Krakow, Poland, pp 855–862

    Google Scholar 

  • Kameri-Mbote PG (2007) Water, conflict, and cooperation: lessons from the Nile River Basin. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendy L, Zhang Y, Liu C, Wang J, Steenhuis T (2004) Groundwater recharge from irrigated cropland in the North China Plain: a case study of Luancheng County, Hebei Province, 1949–2000. Hydrol Process 18:2289–2302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar M, Furumai H, Kurisu F, Kasuga I (2009) Understanding the partitioning processes of mobile lead in soakaway sediments using sequential extraction and isotope analysis. Water Sci Technol 60(8):2085–2091

    Google Scholar 

  • Kundzewicz ZW, Mata LJ, Arnell NW, Döll P, Kabat P, Jiménez B, Miller KA, Oki T, Sen Z, Shiklomanov IA (2007) Freshwater resources and their management. In: Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (eds) Climate change 2008: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu C, Yu J, Kendy E (2001) Groundwater exploitation and its impact on the environment in the North China Plain. Water Int 26:265–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcoux A (1996) Population change-natural resources-environment linkages in Central and South Asia

    Google Scholar 

  • Margat J (2008) Groundwater Around the World. Orleans / Paris, BGRM / UNESCO

    Google Scholar 

  • Motagh M, Walter TR, Sharifi MA, Fielding E, Schenk A, Anderssohn J, Zschau J (2008) Land subsidence in Iran caused by widespread water reservoir overexploitation. Geophys Res Lett 35(16)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukherjee S, Patel AKR, Kumar M (2020) Water scarcity and land degradation nexus in the era of anthropocene: some reformations to encounter the environmental challenges for advanced water management systems meeting the sustainable development. In: Kumar M, Snow D, Honda R (eds) Emerging issues in the water environment during anthropocene: a South East Asian perspective. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-93-81891-41-4

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulvey S (2009) Averting a perfect storm of shortages. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8213884.stm

  • Oldeman LR, Hakkeling RTA, Sombroek WG (1991) World map of the status of human-induced soil degradation: an explanatory note, second revised edition. ISRIC/UNEP. http://www.isric.org/sites/default/files/ExplanNote_1.pdf

  • Oude Essink GH, Van Baaren ES, De Louw PG (2010) Effects of climate change on coastal groundwater systems: a modelling study in the Netherlands. Water Resour Res 46(10)

    Google Scholar 

  • Palaniappan M, Gleick PH, Allen L, Cohen MJ, Christian J, Smith C (2010) Clearing the waters: a focus on water quality solutions. In: Ross N (ed) United Nations environment programme. UNON Publishing Services Section, Nairobi

    Google Scholar 

  • Patel AK, Das N, Goswami R, Kumar M (2019a) Arsenic mobility and potential co-leaching of fluoride from the sediments of three tributaries of the Upper Brahmaputra floodplain, Lakhimpur, Assam, India. J Geochem Explor 203:45–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Patel AK, Das N, Kumar M (2019b) Multilayer arsenic mobilization and multimetal co-enrichment in the alluvium (Brahmaputra) plains of India: a tale of redox domination along the depth. Chemosphere 224:140–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel P, Burgess M (2013) Soil erosion threatens food production. Agriculture 3:443–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qadir M, Noble AD, Qureshi AS, Gupta RK, Yuldashev T, Karimov A (2009) Salt-induced land and water degradation in the aral sea basin: a challenge to sustainable agriculture in Central Asia. Nat Resour Forum 33:134–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasul G (2014) Food, water and energy security in South Asia: a nexus perspective from the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Environ Sci Policy 39:35–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rekacewicz P (2008) Global soil degradation. UNEP/GRID-Arendal—from collection. IAASTD—International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development. http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/global-soil-degradation_9aa7

  • Rodell M, Velicogna I, Famiglietti JS (2009) Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India. Nature 460(7258):999

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schlosser CA et al (2014) The future of global water stress: an integrated assessment. Joint program report series, 30

    Google Scholar 

  • Seckler D, Molden D, Barker R (1998) Water scarcity in the twenty-first century. IWMI water brief. International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh R (2008) Trans-boundary water politics and conflicts in South Asia: towards ‘Water for Peace’. A report of Centre for Democracy and Social Action. Centre For Democracy And Social Action (CDSA), New Delhi, India

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh A, Patel AK, Kumar M (2020) Mitigating the risk of arsenic and fluoride contamination of groundwater through a multi-model framework of statistical assessment and natural remediation techniques. In: Kumar M, Snow D, Honda R (eds) Emerging issues in the water environment during anthropocene: a South East Asian perspective. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-93-81891-41-4

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinha K (2014) Salt invasion in Indo-Gangetic basin has led to 40% increase in human health problems. UN, TNN. Updated: Oct 28, 2014, 13:29 IST

    Google Scholar 

  • Srivastava J, Gupta A, Chandra H (2008) Managing water quality with aquatic macrophytes. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol 7:255–266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • SRV (1995) Viet Nam national environmental action plan, final draft. SRV/IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Suhardiman D, Silva SD, Arulingam I, Rodrigo S, Nicol A (2017) Review of water and climate adaptation financing and institutional frameworks in South Asia. Background paper 3

    Google Scholar 

  • The World Bank (1993) Water resources management: a World Bank policy paper. The World Bank, Washington, p 14

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas S (2014) The global water scenario: human and socio-economic impacts and solutions, the future of science. In: 10th world conference—‘the eradication of hunger’, Venice, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • UNDP (2006) Coping with water scarcity. Challenge of the twenty-first century

    Google Scholar 

  • UNWWAP (2009) The 3rd United Nations world water development report: water in a changing world (WWDR-3) and facing the challenges. New York

    Google Scholar 

  • UNWWD (2015) Water for a sustainable world. World water development report. Vanishing Himalayan glaciers threaten a billion. http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/42387/st

  • Van der Gun JA, Ahmed AA (1995) The water resources of Yemen: a summary and digest of available information. Delft and Sana’a, WRAY-Project

    Google Scholar 

  • Vörösmarty CJ, Green P, Salisbury J, Lammers RB (2000) Global water resources: vulnerability from climate change and population growth. Science 289:284–288. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y, Van Beek LP, Viviroli D, Dürr HH, Weingartner R, Bierkens MF (2011) Global monthly water stress: 2. Water demand and severity of water stress. Water Resour Res 47. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010wr009792

  • World Bank (1989) Indonesia—forest, land and water: issues in sustainable development, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (1995) Vietnam. Environmental program and policy priorities for a socialist economy in transition, vol 2. Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • WWDR (2012) Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risks. The United Nations World Water Development Report 4., vol I. Water. World Water Assessment Programme, UN

    Google Scholar 

  • WWAP (World Water Assessment Programme) (2012a) World water development report 4

    Google Scholar 

  • WWAP (2012b) The United Nations world water development report 4: managing water under uncertainty and risk. UNESCO, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Yimin S (1994) An initial look into China’s population, environment and sustainable development, Cairo

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India

    Vandana Shan, S. K. Singh & A. K. Haritash

Authors
  1. Vandana Shan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. K. Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. K. Haritash
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vandana Shan .

Editor information

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

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Shan, V., Singh, S.K., Haritash, A.K. (2020). Water Crisis in the Asian Countries: Status and Future Trends. 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_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation