Urban water sustainability

Urban water sustainability
Water has always been an active constituent of cities. It is a basic requirement for human health and wellbeing, a source of risk through flooding and contamination, a remnant of natural hydrology and ecology in streams and wetlands, a transport route along rivers and canals, and an element of urban design in fountains, ponds and water features. Water infrastructure allows cities to function safely within upper and lower hydrological limits providing a constant supply of water during dry seasons and droughts, and preventing flooding during high rainfall events. It allows urban citizens to go about their daily lives without being preoccupied with where their water is coming from or going to. Sustainable urban water systems aim to achieve this within environmental limits to water, energy and pollution, in ways that are affordable and equitable and contribute to ecological restoration.

Urban water sustainability aims to manage water in cities to provide for human health and wellbeing within hydrological and ecological limits. Urban water systems include drinking water supply, wastewater disposal, surface water drains and the rivers, streas, wetlands and aquifers of urban water catchments. Urban water sustainability is presented under different labels, for example, sustainable urban water management (SUWM), inte￾grated urban water management (IUWM), and water sensitive cities. As a progressive movement, it anticipates positive change in cities. Sustainable urban water systems are commonly represented as future urban water systems, developed in response to resource constraints, growing populations and climate change.
The sustainability of urban water infrastructure must account for the rela￾tionship between the city and its hydrological catchments. Urban water use and pollution have impacts in catchments beyond the city limits. As infra￾structures expand to meet growing demand, catchments for urban water supply and waste discharge do not necessarily conform to the geographical boundaries of river basins. Cities draw on regional water resources and some use water transferred over long distances. Urban wastewater and run off pollutes rivers, estuaries and coastal environments.

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