World Bank: Integrated Water Management Essential

A recently released study by the World Bank emphasizes the importance of better information and a more integrated approach to water management.

“We can’t properly tackle global priorities of food security, renewable energy, adaptation to climate change, public health and urbanization unless we manage water better,” said Julia Bucknall, water sector manager for the World Bank and the Bank’s representative on the GWP Steering Committee.

The report, Sustaining Water for All in a Changing Climate recommends the World Bank to:
• enhance an integrated approach to water resource management to meet growing demand for water in a climate-resilient way;
• scale-up support for hydropower, as the largest source of renewable and low-carbon energy, including high-risk, high-reward infrastructure projects;
• focus more on water for climate change adaptation and mitigation;
• increase assistance to agricultural water management; and
• provide, with partners, improved sanitation to the 2.6 billion people who still live without it, in both rural areas and fast-growing urban slums.

You can read the report on the World Bank website.