 ID: 119125
Added: 2008-01-13 10:26
Modified: 2008-04-08 9:09
Refreshed: 2009-01-02 03:57
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| Why Water Demand Management (WDM)? |
Most countries of the Middle East and North Africa are already — or will soon be — consuming more water than their supply. Large populations, urbanization, and economic growth contribute to the problem. Until recently, new sources of supply have been exploited to cope with increasing demand. However, this is no longer cost effective due to limited water resources and the economic and environmental costs of tapping new sources. An additional problem is that current sources of water are being polluted by domestic and industrial waste and agricultural runoff, further limiting water available for use. Water demand management will help Middle East and North Africa countries to: - Improve the efficiency of water use to accomplish a specific task (e.g., technological improvements)
- Change tasks or the way they are carried out to use less water or lower quality water (e.g., reuse wastewater)
- Shift the timing of the water flow to increase efficiency (e.g., night-time supplemental irrigation)
Water demand management also requires users to change their behaviour in terms of the amount, quality and time they obtain, use, and dispose of water.
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