Although accounting for about 20% of the global population, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is endowed with only 7% of the world’s water resources. The country faces severe water scarcity, high levels of urbanization and population growth, and climate change. For the PRC’s continuing development, it must protect and develop its freshwater resources. This publication provides recommended policy initiatives to ensure the PRC’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) contributes to significant improvements in national water security, particularly in extreme water-scarce provinces. Some actions proposed for increased water security are better water resources management, more cross-sector planning, deeper reform of the water pricing system, and creation of water markets.

This publication examines the critical issues surrounding water security (water shortage, water excess, inadequate water quality, the resilience of freshwater systems), providing a rationale for a risk-based approach and the management of trade-offs between water and other policies.

This book highlights the relationship between the water sector and various other sectors in order to establish an improved understanding of the importance of water resources as an essential cross-cutting vector of socio-economic development. The book is both policy and practice oriented and is not constrained by existing definitions on water security. It includes actual experiences of policy, management, development and governance decisions taken within the water sector, and examples on how these have affected the energy and agricultural sectors as well as impacted the environment, and vice versa, as appropriate. It also discusses trade-offs, short and long-term implications, lessons learnt, and the way forward. The book includes case studies on cities, countries and regions such as Australia, China, Singapore, Central Asia, Morocco, Southern Africa, France, Latin America, Brazil and California.

The Asian Water Development Outlook charts progress in water security in Asia and the Pacific over the past 5 years. This 2016 edition of the report uses the latest available data to assess water security in five key dimensions: household access to piped potable water and improved sanitation, economic water security, providing better urban water services to build more livable cities, restoring healthy rivers and ecosystems, and resilience to water disasters. The region shows a positive trend in strengthening water security since the 2013 edition of the report, when 38 out of 49 countries were assessed as water-insecure. In 2016, that number dropped to 29 out of 48 countries. This study was supported by ADB’s Water Financing Partnership Facility.

Investing in Water and Growth: Recent Developments and Perspectives addresses this conundrum in a cohesive and practical way. It is a one-stop shop for understanding why the financing of water-related expenditures matters, what is at stake, and the options available to ensure water-related investment needs are properly financed in ways that generate benefits for communities and contribute to sustainable growth. The book combines the perspectives of policymakers, economists and financiers in a unique, multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach. The book is structured into four distinct parts that target a specific set of questions and content development. Each section of the book has a multidisciplinary approach that provides a robust overview of key issues. The book combines different types of knowledge – from theory to practice, providing a full view of the topics discussed. - Includes numerous examples and real-world case studies - Discusses the concepts of planning, the planning process, integrated planning and public involvement - Synthesizes key evidence and arguments for investing in water security and sustainable growth

In 2018, the city of Cape Town faced the prospect of reaching ‘day zero’, that is a combination of natural and human-made factors leading to the complete collapse of its municipal water supply. While the rains eventually fell and a major disaster was averted, the fear of running out of water looms large in the psyche of residents in many cities around the world. Water is a non-substitutable, essential, finite and fugitive resource. It is the lifeblood of human endeavour. Cities, through global processes such as Agenda 2030 and forums such as ICLEI exchange best practices for achieving water security. These forums also are collective social spaces occupied by civil society organizations who share strategies and tactics, and the private sector, who compete for markets and contracts, promoting patent-protected technologies. It is these groups – states, civil societies, private sectors – coming together who determine who gets what water, when, and where. It is the job of academics to understand the how and why, and of (academic-)activists to fight for equity of access and sustainability of use. Evidence drawn from around the world and over time consistently shows that water flows toward money and power. Outcomes are too-often socially inequitable, environmentally unsustainable and economically inefficient. How to shift existing processes toward improved practices is not clear, but positive outcomes do exist. In this collection, we compare and contrast the challenges and opportunities for achieving urban water security with a focus on 11 major world cities: Bangalore, Beijing, Cairo, Cape Town, Chennai, Istanbul, Jakarta, London, Melbourne, Sao Paulo and Tokyo. Through the theoretical, conceptual and practical insights provided in these case studies, our collection constructively contributes to a global conversation regarding the ways and means of ‘avoiding day zero’.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has experienced stellar economic performance over the last 3 decades. Gross domestic product growth has averaged 10% per year. Per capita income has increased by a factor of 13. Life expectancy at birth increased from 67 to 73 years. Rapid growth, however, has posed eight challenges for the PRC: industrial transformation, balanced rural-urban development, human resource transformation, environmental protection, climate change mitigation, water security, subnational debt management, and further integration with the international economic system. In 2013, the Asian Development Bank helped the PRC prepare the 13th Five-Year Plan 2016-2020. This report summarizes key issues and recommends practical policy options to address the PRC's challenges.