The initial perspective on the Future of water by Daniel Lambert and Michael O'Neill of Arup Sydney kicked off the Future Agenda 2.0 global discussions taking place through 2015. This summary builds on the initial view and is updated as we progress the futureagenda2.0 programme. www.futureagenda.org

1. The
Future
of
Water
Insights
from
Discussions
Building
on
an
Ini4al
Perspec4ve
by:
Daniel
Lambert
|
Michael
O'Neill
|
Arup
|
Australia

2. Context
The
ini4al
perspec4ve
on
the
Future
of
Water
kicked
off
the
Future
Agenda
2.0
global
discussions
taking
place
through
2015.
This
summary
builds
on
the
ini4al
view
and
is
updated
as
we
progress.
Ini4al
Perspec4ves
Q4
2014
Global
Discussions
Q1/2
2015
Insight
Synthesis
Q3
2015
Sharing
Output
Q4
2015

3. Readiness
for
Water
Scarcity
Currently
half
of
the
world’s
ci4es
with
more
than
100,000
in
habitants
are
situated
in
areas
experiencing
water
scarcity.
To
date
neither
governments
nor
businesses
have
done
enough
to
prepare
for
this.

4. The
Supply
/
Demand
Challenge
Will
it
be
possible
to
provide
equitable
access
to
water
and
sanita4on
services
when
by
2030
the
world
will
face
a
40%
global
shorZall
between
forecast
demand
and
available
supply?

5. Desalina=on
Essen=al
About
96%
of
the
earth’s
total
water
supply
is
found
in
oceans
and
there
is
broad
agreement
that
extensive
use
of
desalina4on
will
be
required
to
meet
the
needs
of
growing
world
popula4on.

6. Data
Analy=cs
Data
analy4cs
can
help
build
understanding
on
how
to
use
the
water
cycle
to
respond
to
the
challenges
of
climate
change.
It
can
also
lead
to
increased
scru4ny
of
water
u4li4es
and
a
be^er
understanding
of
cost.

7. Real
Cost
of
Water
Users
are
likely
to
have
to
pay
for
the
real
cost
of
infrastructure.
One
short-­‐
term
op4on
is
the
financial
recycling
of
assets
and
capital.
However,
in
the
longer-­‐term
we
will
have
to
pay
the
true
value
for
key
resources.

8. Moving
Water
Water
sources
will
con4nue
to
suffer
from
over-­‐extrac4on:
Mining
and
other
ac4vi4es
will
move
into
our
water
supply
catchments.
This
means
we
will
need
to
move
water
long
distances
in
4mes
of
drought
to
services
exis4ng
ci4es.

9. Doing
More
with
Less
The
focus
should
extend
to
solu4ons
that
do
more
with
less:
irriga4on
efficiency,
automated
farming
techniques
and
demand
management
in
our
ci4es.
Smart
infrastructure
will
help
to
improve
performance.

10. The
Funding
Challenge
Water
treatment
can
come
at
a
high
price.
Around
USD50
trillion
will
be
needed
worldwide
in
the
period
to
2030
to
sa4sfy
the
global
demand
for
infrastructure.
However,
accessing
funding
is
an
ever-­‐present
challenge.

11. Taking
Hard
Decisions
We
know
that
there
is
a
growing
urban
popula4on;
climate
change
is
taking
effect
and
that
the
vola4lity
in
water
supply
can
only
be
par4ally
mi4gated
by
improved
efficiency.
We
have
yet
to
decide
how
to
address
the
problem.

12. Star=ng
the
Conversa=on
Water
is
inter-­‐twined
with
everything
we
do;
energy,
food,
health
and
wellbeing,
manufacturing
are
all
dependent
on
its
availability.
At
the
very
least
we
need
to
start
a
public
conversa4on
about
its
real
role
in
our
lives.

13. The
Long
Water
Wealthy
na4ons
with
water
security
challenges
lead
in
the
development
of
collabora4ve,
long-­‐term
governance
models
that
move
away
from
supply-­‐
oriented
governance
to
demand
management
and
polluter
responsibility.

14. Water
Resistance
Technological
and
process
developments
make
the
produc4on
of
high
quality
water
from
storm-­‐water
and
wastewater
feasible
and
prac4cal;
driving
public,
poli4cal
and
commercial
acceptance
of
recycled
water.

15. Valuing
Eco-­‐system
Services
Growing
recogni4on
of
the
economic
value
of
ecosystem
services
leads
to
core
business
considera4ons
which
recognise
their
explicit
value.
Natural
capital/assets
will
become
more
commonplace
in
accoun4ng
systems.

16. Flexi-­‐water
Con4nuing
uncertainty
around
water
supply
will
require
smart,
flexible
water
management
systems
to
cope
with
drought
and
flood,
the
effects
of
climate
change
and
the
demands
of
new
industries
and
shifing
popula4ons.

17. Water,
Water
Everywhere…
New
water
technologies
will
deliver
water
more
efficiently
to
the
haves,
easing
shortages,
but
will
remain
unavailable
to
the
have-­‐nots
-­‐
so
driving
visible
new
inequali4es
based
explicitly
on
access
to
water.

18. Water
Wars
Access
to
water
supplies
will
play
an
increasingly
important
role
in
violent
regional
conflict,
with
water
assets
becoming
prime
targets,
prized
spoils
and
even
weapons
in
their
own
right.

19. Future
Agenda
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