6.5 By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

How do you personally and professionally relate to water and/or space technologies?

Personally, I was always connected with natural environments and would often visit mountain streams and waterfalls. My professional experiences with both water and space technologies started in 2004 when I worked at the Amazonian Manatee Project in a nature reserve in Amazonas, Brazil.

Could you describe your professional career and/or personal experiences related to space technology and water? Where does your interest in those sectors come from?

I started my research career in 2013, with research interests revolving around various environmental concerns that were deeply rooted in water related issues of Pakistan. Having an educational background in Space Science, it was quite intuitive to possess understanding of the very high potential of applicability of Geospatial technologies in the water sector.

Merci à Denis Gringas d'avoir traduit cet article volontairement.

L'eau potable est une ressource précieuse. Elle est à la base de notre vie quotidienne et décide comme aucune autre substance de notre santé et de notre bien-être. Il est donc important de s'assurer que l'eau d'usage quotidien réponde aux critères de qualité les plus élevés. Mais que signifie le terme qualité de l'eau et comment peut-on mesurer et comparer la qualité de l'eau? Cette question sera abordée et expliquée plus en détail dans les sections suivantes.

Translated by Isabel Zetina

Ahora podemos ver la proliferación de algas desde el espacio: no es ningún secreto que están plagando nuestro planeta.

Merci à Mussa Kachunga Stanis d'avoir traduit cet article volontairement.

Today, society is facing a multitude of resource scarcities. While rare-Earth minerals and fossil fuel depletion are some of the most-cited issues in this respect, we risk a more imminent and destructive fate: a global freshwater crisis. Our societal underestimation of this problem has amplified our precarious relationship with water and has placed many people’s livelihoods at risk.

With increasing populations, groundwater abstraction also increased as about half of the global urban population access their water through aquifers (Foster et al., 2020). With 74% of the world population depending on it for safe drinking water services and sanitation (WHO and UNICEF, 2021), groundwater plays a vital role in health.

Irrigation illustrates a major dilemma of agriculture: On the one hand, a growing world population demands more food and biomass (for example for energy production). On the other hand, natural resources such as water are only available in limited quantities and excessive use often leads to the degradation of ecosystems, which in turn has adverse effects on agricultural production and local livelihoods.

Merci à Mussa Kachunga Stanis d'avoir traduit cet article volontairement.

La résilience d'un socio-écosystème est généralement testée par sa capacité à persister et à maintenir sa fonctionnalité tout en subissant des changements dus à des perturbations. Mais que se passe-t-il lorsque les perturbations sont trop rapides, trop préjudiciables et trop fortes pour qu'un socio-écosystème puisse maintenir sa fonctionnalité ?

Continuous and reliable global precipitation information is crucial for myriad of weather, climate and hydrological applications. The importance of precipitation in the form of rain, hail, sleet, snow etc. is known to science and clear to a layman. However, it’s quite tricky to measure past precipitation trends or predicting accurate future forecasts. There are three main categories of precipitation data sets available: ground based, satellite-based and blended products of ground and space data (Climate Data Guide, 2014).

Water scarcity is one of the greatest threats faced by humanity of our time – in 2019, more than two billion people experience high water stress (UN-Water 2019) and approximately four billion people suffer from severe water scarcity for at least one month per year (Mekonnen and Hoekstra 2016). This worsening problem increases the risk of international conflict over water resources breaking out, given that there are over 270 transboundary river basins, and three-quarters of UN Member States share at least one river or lake basin with a neighbour (UN News 2017).

Translated by Isabel Zetina

Since ancient times, people have established communities in river deltas because it provides water, fertile land, and transportation access, making them an ideal place to live. This pattern has been carried forward to the present. With nearly 6 billion people living in river deltas, they are one of the most densely populated places on Earth (Kuenzer and Renaud, 2011). However, they are facing threats such as climate change, sea level rise, land use changes, and ecosystem degradation.

Translated by Isabel Zetina 

Clean drinking water is a precious resource. It is the basis of our daily life and decides like no other substance about our health and well-being. It is therefore important to ensure that the water for everyday use meets the highest quality criteria. But what is meant by the term water quality and how can water quality be measured and compared? This question will be addressed and explained in more detail in the following sections.

Translated by: Isabel Zetina

De nos jours, la société fait face à de nombreuses pénuries de ressources. Alors que la rareté des minéraux de la Terre et l’épuisement des combustibles fossiles figurent parmi les problèmes les plus cités à cet égard, nous risquons de connaitre un sort plus imminent et destructeur : une crise mondiale d’eau douce. La sous-estimation de ce problème par notre société a intensifié notre relation précaire avec l'eau et a mis en péril les moyens de subsistance de nombreuses personnes.

Water in the atmosphere, in the soil, in rivers and oceans is in continuous exchange via the global water cycle. This is commonly thought to be the circular movement of water that evaporates from the Earth's surface, rises on warm updrafts into the atmosphere, and condenses into clouds. It is transported by the wind as water vapour, and eventually falls back to the Earth’s surface as rain or snow.

Translated by Isabel Zetina

Merci à Ekaterina Samolygo d'avoir traduit cet article volontairement.

We can now view algal blooms from space – it is no secret that they are plaguing our plant.

Translated by: Isabel Zetina

How do you personally and professionally relate to water and/or space technologies?

Personally, I was always connected with natural environments and would often visit mountain streams and waterfalls. My professional experiences with both water and space technologies started in 2004 when I worked at the Amazonian Manatee Project in a nature reserve in Amazonas, Brazil.

Could you describe how your professional and/or personal experience relate to water? Where does your interest in water resources management come from? What influenced your decision to focus your work on the use of space technology for water management? 

My upbringing on a farm set out the foundation for my interest in water resources, as I used to collect water for domestic and agricultural purposes from the streams.

Could you describe your professional career and/or personal experiences related to space technology and water? Where does your interest in those sectors come from?

I started my research career in 2013, with research interests revolving around various environmental concerns that were deeply rooted in water related issues of Pakistan. Having an educational background in Space Science, it was quite intuitive to possess understanding of the very high potential of applicability of Geospatial technologies in the water sector.

The SADC Groundwater Management Institute will host its 5th SADC Groundwater Conference on 16, 17 & 18 November 2022.

The conference is held annually, with the primary objective of providing a platform for the advancement of knowledge sharing on sustainable management of groundwater at national and transboundary levels across SADC Members States

This year the event will be physically held in Windhoek, Namibia with an online participation option.

Could you describe how your professional and/or personal experience relate to water? Where does your interest in water resources management come from? What influenced your decision to focus your work on the use of space technology for water management? 

My upbringing on a farm set out the foundation for my interest in water resources, as I used to collect water for domestic and agricultural purposes from the streams.