Secure water supply in water-scarce regions

The document examines sustainable alternatives to traditional surface and groundwater exploitation to enhance water security in arid and semi-arid regions. It evaluates technologies such as water harvesting, fog harvesting, desalination, and water reuse, while highlighting the trade-offs regarding energy use and ecological footprints. The text emphasizes that selecting the optimal system requires multi-objective decision-making based on three major sustainability criteria to balance societal needs with ecosystem functioning.

• Sustainable water supply alternatives for water-scarce regions include water harvesting to maximize rainfall and ephemeral river resources, fog harvesting for semi-arid areas, desalination, and water reuse.
• The adoption of innovative water supply technologies presents significant challenges regarding their energy requirements and the ecological footprints they generate.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Secure water supply in water-scarce regions. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/secure-water-supply-in-water-scarce-regions-book-chapter/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Secure water supply in water-scarce regions. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/secure-water-supply-in-water-scarce-regions-book-chapter/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Secure water supply in water-scarce regions |date=14 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/secure-water-supply-in-water-scarce-regions-book-chapter/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025secure, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Secure water supply in water-scarce regions}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/secure-water-supply-in-water-scarce-regions-book-chapter/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }