Disambiguating Basic Concepts in Water Management: "Adaptation to Water Scarcity"

Document Type : Conceptual Paper

Author

• Kamran Davary

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

10.22067/jwsd.v7i1.81441

Abstract

Article Type: Conceptual
Adaptation to water scarcity is a topic that has received more attention recently by the Ministry of Energy as well as water experts. Providing appropriate solutions and long-term and efficient plans for this issue requires discussion and consensus on the subject. One of the issues that causes consensus to fail in various scientific disciplines is misunderstanding of concepts and la ack of common technical reference. To come up with appropriate solutions to water scarcity, it is necessary to understand both “adaptation” and “Scarcity”. There are various meanings associated with these two terms that need to be examined in relation to each other and avoid the use of them interchangeably by providing the correct definition of these concepts. This article discusses some of these concepts.

Keywords

• Basic concepts
• Adaptation
• Coping
• Mitigation
• Water scarcity
• Water shortage

---

References

Engle N.L. 2011. Adaptive capacity and its assessment. Global Environmental. Change, 21: 647–656.

FAO. 2012. Coping with water scarcity, An action framework for agriculture and food security. Rome, , Italy.

Fussel H.M. and Klein R.J.T. 2006. Climate change vulnerability assessments: an evolution of conceptual thinking. Climatic Change, 75: 301–329.

Fussel H.M. 2007. Adaptation planning for climate change: concepts, assessment approaches, and key lessons. sustainability Science, 2(2): 265–275.

Goklany I.M. 2005. A climate policy for the short and medium term: stabilization or adaptation?. Energy & Environmen, 16(3): 667–680.

IPCC. 2001a. Summary for policymakers, Climate change 2001: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Third Assessment Report.

IPCC. 2001b. Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II, III to the Third Assessment Report.

IPCC. 2001c. Summary for policymakers, Climate change 2001, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report.

IPCC. 2007. Climate change 2007, Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report.

IPCC. 2014. Climate change 2014, Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report.

Madani K., Aghakouchak A. and Mirchi A. 2016. Iran’s Socio-economic Drought: Challenges of a Water Bankrupt Nation. Iranian Studies, 49(6): 997–1016.

Mays L.W. 2005. Water resources engineering. John Wiley & Sons. Nature. New York, United States

Mitchell T. and Tanner T. 2006. Adapting to Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for the Development Community. WMO report.

Pereira L.S., Cordery I. and Lacovides L. 2002. Coping with water scarcity. Technical Documents in Hydrology, 58. Paris.

Science daily, https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/water_scarcity.htm (visited 20 September 2018).

Taylor A. 2011. Distinguishing between coping and adaptation. Available at https://www.weadapt.org/knowledge-base/adaptation-decision-making/adaptation-versus-coping (visited 12 August 2018).

Tol R.S.J. 2005. Adaptation and mitigation: trade-offs in substance and methods. Environmental Science and Policy, 8:572–578.

Vanclay F., Leith P. and Fleming A. 2009. Understanding Farming Community Concerns About Adapting to Changed Climate. in “A Spatial Explicit, Indicator-based Methodology for Quantifying the Vulnerability and Adaptability of Natural Ecosystem”, Frankfurt: Peter Lang International Verlag der Wissenschaften.