Challenges of Water Scarcity and Urbanization

Water Scarcity And Urbanization 1
Challenges for tackling water scarcity associated with rapid urbanization.
The Name of the Class (Course)
Professor (Tutor)
The Name of the School (University)
The City and State where it is located
The Date

Water Scarcity And Urbanization 2
Introduction
Today, approximately half of the world’s population have settled in urban cities. In
decades to come, these estimations are subject to drastic changes as the rate is expected to
increase tremendously leading to more wealth being concentrated in towns and cities. Currently,
many densely populated cities are situated in areas vulnerable to hazards like coastlines prone to
floods, earthquakes, and droughts. Urbanization proportional to recent global developments has
led to over 5million people moving to the cities in each month of the year. As a result, the
growth poses unprecedented threats including water shortages and poor sanitation that has been
critical to providing remedies. The two major shortcomings associated with sanitation and water
in the urban settlements include:
i. Inaccessibility to clean water and reliable sanitation services
ii. Increased disasters related to water such as droughts and floods.
Impacts of water scarcity
The challenges have adverse impacts on the health of the urban settlers where lack of
clean water leads to outbreaks of diseases like cholera and malaria that cause diarrhea and
deaths. This consequences also extend to the environment, development, growth, and economy at
large. Reports show that urban growth and the dense populations threaten these results after an
increment of sanitation and water supplies between the years 2008 and 1990. It is clear that in
1990, over 1052million urban population got access to adequate clean water and sanitation
services which has declined to averagely 813million in the present day statistics. In relation to
sources of water supply, approximately 96% of the population in the cities utilized a reliable

Water Scarcity And Urbanization 3
source of water supply in 2010 in contrary to the 81% rural water supply. Recently, rural settlers
gain access to a more stable supply of water rather than the urban settlements. Sanitation
facilities amounted to 79% in 2010 and 47% in the rural areas (Bao and Fang 2012).
Moreover, studies depict that the urban poor settlers are the ones subject to extensive
water scarcity issues. This included the people in slums and informal communities who were
seen to lack basic needs including proper housing, safe water, and access to better health care
and safe tenure systems. However, the efforts to provide the best sanitation and water supply
services cannot be achieved in two decades (Jiang 2009). The Millennium Development Goals
(MDG) therefore aims at issues related to cities and water in a quest to reduce the number of
individuals without access to drinking water by half. It also focuses on improving the lives of
slum settlers within the UN member countries by 2020.
Challenges for tackling water scarcity associated with rapid urbanization
Human water utilization programs are expected to be reinforced multiple times on
condition that some created nations had officially acknowledged zero development of water
request. It is anticipated that in 2050, urban water use will be equivalent to the ebb and flow
worldwide water utilization and over 55% populace around the globe will confront the issue of
water emergency (Gober 2010). Water security issue in the twenty-first century not just
legitimately compromises individual's sustenance security, monetary security, and biological
security, yet in addition imperils government disability and national security, and even
individuals' living security, particularly in dry and semi-dry territories.

Water Scarcity And Urbanization 4
Urban areas, despite the fact that they use less water when contrasted with agribusiness
(70 percent versus just 8 percent), are the place a great many people live. In this manner, a
similar solidification of the foundation that makes water increasingly dependable for urban
tenants puts more individuals in danger when it falls flat or can't be enough provided(Gong et al.
2012). Urbanization results in definitive water pressure it has raised the per capita water use per
individual. Rich people have a high per capita water use while the poor are denied access to
clean water. All the while, the urban poor in the creating scene can confront lacking access to
drinking water and essential sanitation. Urban areas in the creating scene are, at the end of the
day, destinations of both intense shortage and high utilization (Xia et al. 2017).
Urbanization likewise builds the interest for power age, which itself requires a ton of
water. This water-vitality nexus is extremely a water-vitality nourishment nexus, in light of the
fact that an extensive part of the vitality (30 percent) and water utilization (70 percent) is
required to bolster a quickly developing and urbanizing populace. On the off chance that the
power hotspots for this are carbon-concentrated, they will additionally hone the impacts of
environmental change. There are lasting and regular water deficiencies in numerous urban
communities in the creating scene, which environmental change is relied upon to fuel(Matuschke
2009). On their ebb and flow directions, water and vitality utilization will expand rivalry among
urban and provincial populaces for a similar pool of resources
Water supply in urban areas has been on the decline, this has resulted from lose in
watersheds because of deforestation. And the degradation of soil. Cost of generating clean water
has bee very high as the cost of energy is high. In the same way, there has been heavy water
pollution hence making the process of purification more expensive, In Latin America, forest