Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany.
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
Environ Manage. 2024 Nov;74(5):970-988. doi: 10.1007/s00267-024-02022-z. Epub 2024 Aug 6.
Cities suffering water scarcity are projected to increase in the following decades. However, the application of standardized indicator frameworks for assessing urban water resource management problems is on an early stage. India is expected to have the highest urban population facing water scarcity in the world by 2050. In this study, the authors assess how the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses framework, a causal framework adopted by the European Environment Agency, can contribute to evaluate water management challenges in cities and apply it to Chennai, India´s fourth-largest urban agglomeration. The framework proved to be a helpful tool for the evaluation of water management challenges in cities by disentangling relationships between environmental indicators and structuring dispersed data that allows a better understanding for policymakers. The main drivers identified in Chennai were population growth and economic development which generated impacts such as loss of aquatic ecosystems, low water table, low water quality, and reduction of biodiversity and human health. As a response, better urban planning, projects for new water infrastructure, and water bodies restoration have been implemented. Nevertheless, Chennai keeps facing difficulties to achieve proper water management. The severe hit of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Indian economy and its future management will be key for achievements related to water management.
在未来几十年，预计将有更多面临水资源短缺的城市出现。然而，应用标准化指标框架来评估城市水资源管理问题还处于早期阶段。到 2050 年，印度预计将拥有全球面临水资源短缺问题的最高城市人口。在这项研究中，作者评估了欧洲环境署采用的“驱动力-压力-状态-影响-响应”框架（一种因果框架）如何有助于评估城市的水资源管理挑战，并将其应用于印度第四大城市群钦奈。该框架通过分解环境指标之间的关系并对分散的数据进行结构化，为政策制定者提供了更好的理解，从而被证明是评估城市水资源管理挑战的有用工具。在钦奈，人口增长和经济发展是主要驱动力，这些驱动力带来了一些影响，如水生生态系统的丧失、地下水位降低、水质下降、生物多样性和人类健康减少。作为回应，已经实施了更好的城市规划、新的水基础设施项目和水体修复。然而，钦奈在实现适当的水资源管理方面仍然面临困难。新冠疫情对印度经济的严重打击及其未来管理将是实现与水资源管理相关成就的关键。
