Balancing Water Resources Development and Environmental Sustainability in Africa: A Review of Recent Research Findings and Applications

Sustainable development in Africa is dependent on increasing use of the continent’s water resources without significantly degrading ecosystem services that are also fundamental to human wellbeing. This is particularly challenging in Africa because of high spatial and temporal variability in the avai...

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Main Author: McClain, Michael E.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Springer Netherlands 2012
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3698319/
id pubmed-3698319
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-36983192013-07-09 Balancing Water Resources Development and Environmental Sustainability in Africa: A Review of Recent Research Findings and Applications McClain, Michael E. Review Sustainable development in Africa is dependent on increasing use of the continent’s water resources without significantly degrading ecosystem services that are also fundamental to human wellbeing. This is particularly challenging in Africa because of high spatial and temporal variability in the availability of water resources and limited amounts of total water availability across expansive semi-arid portions of the continent. The challenge is compounded by ambitious targets for increased water use and a rush of international funding to finance development activities. Balancing development with environmental sustainability requires (i) understanding the boundary conditions imposed by the continent’s climate and hydrology today and into the future, (ii) estimating the magnitude and spatial distribution of water use needed to meet development goals, and (iii) understanding the environmental water requirements of affected ecosystems, their current status and potential consequences of increased water use. This article reviews recent advancements in each of these topics and highlights innovative approaches and tools available to support sustainable development. While much remains to be learned, scientific understanding and technology should not be viewed as impediments to sustainable development on the continent. Springer Netherlands 2012-12-14 2013-09 /pmc/articles/PMC3698319/ /pubmed/23238866 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0359-1 Text en © The Author(s) 2012 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author McClain, Michael E.
spellingShingle McClain, Michael E.
Balancing Water Resources Development and Environmental Sustainability in Africa: A Review of Recent Research Findings and Applications
author_facet McClain, Michael E.
author_sort McClain, Michael E.
title Balancing Water Resources Development and Environmental Sustainability in Africa: A Review of Recent Research Findings and Applications
title_short Balancing Water Resources Development and Environmental Sustainability in Africa: A Review of Recent Research Findings and Applications
title_full Balancing Water Resources Development and Environmental Sustainability in Africa: A Review of Recent Research Findings and Applications
title_fullStr Balancing Water Resources Development and Environmental Sustainability in Africa: A Review of Recent Research Findings and Applications
title_full_unstemmed Balancing Water Resources Development and Environmental Sustainability in Africa: A Review of Recent Research Findings and Applications
title_sort balancing water resources development and environmental sustainability in africa: a review of recent research findings and applications
description Sustainable development in Africa is dependent on increasing use of the continent’s water resources without significantly degrading ecosystem services that are also fundamental to human wellbeing. This is particularly challenging in Africa because of high spatial and temporal variability in the availability of water resources and limited amounts of total water availability across expansive semi-arid portions of the continent. The challenge is compounded by ambitious targets for increased water use and a rush of international funding to finance development activities. Balancing development with environmental sustainability requires (i) understanding the boundary conditions imposed by the continent’s climate and hydrology today and into the future, (ii) estimating the magnitude and spatial distribution of water use needed to meet development goals, and (iii) understanding the environmental water requirements of affected ecosystems, their current status and potential consequences of increased water use. This article reviews recent advancements in each of these topics and highlights innovative approaches and tools available to support sustainable development. While much remains to be learned, scientific understanding and technology should not be viewed as impediments to sustainable development on the continent.
publisher Springer Netherlands
publishDate 2012
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3698319/
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