Fresh Water Resources Are Not Infinite
Our current resourcesin the world are able to feed 12 billion people a year. However, the resources that can be produced in 1 year throughout the world are unfortunately being depleted earlier every year since the 1970s. In terms of resource use, scientists now explain that we start consuming the next year's crop just after half of each year.
Resources Limited:
When the water resources of our world are unevenly distributed on the surface of the world with the population and the increasing needs are taken into consideration, it can be said that water resources are finite resources according to place and time regionally.
Water resources are unevenly distributed across the globe and are under pressure from climate change, population growth, migration to cities and pollution. Since the middle of the 20th century, the rapid population growth, especially developing and underdeveloped, has led to an increase in the population that cannot reach fresh water and live in a healthy environment. Currently, nearly 2 billion people have difficulty accessing clean water and live far from a healthy environment.
We are Z the S-Figof Natural Resources and Natural Life!
Our current resourcesin the world are able to feed 12 billion people a year. However, the resources that can be produced in 1 year throughout the world are unfortunately being depleted earlier every year since the 1970s. In terms of resource use, scientists now explain that we start consuming the next year's crop just after half of each year. This date is rapidly being pushed forward every year. Nature needs to renew itself in certain periods for reproduction. However, by consuming more than is produced, we do not leave nature the necessary time to renew itself.
We have been pushing the boundaries of our natural resources for more consumption for a long time. This includes our water supplies.
Approximately 70% of the water resources in our country and in the world are used in agricultural irrigation. Approximately 40% of the world's total food production is produced on irrigated agricultural land. Irrigated agriculture, on average, is at least twice as efficient per unit of land than rain-fed agriculture. It allows for more intensive production and product diversity. As the effects of climate change increase, the need for irrigated agriculture and therefore the need for water will also increase.
For this reason, the more efficient use of water in all sectors, especially agricultural irrigation, becomes much more important in a rational and plannedmanner.
If the water balance is disturbed
When we look at these goals, it is seen that water has a very important role in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The clean water goal, which is accepted as the 6th Sustainable Development Goal, is not only a part of the other 17 goals, but also a prerequisite for the realization of these goals. This includes key targets for drinking water supply and sanitation, as well as environmental sustainability.
The speed at which we consume the world's resources has long since surpassed the speed at which nature reproduces them and presents them to us. Today, the world consumes 1.6 times what it can produce. By 1900, today, energy consumption per k work has increased by 3 times , theuse of substances by 2 times, and the population of the world by 5 times. If this consumption approach continues, water management will be adversely affected. Today, the relationship between water, energy, food production and environmental security has become much more intense than in the past. In this case, the increase in demand in any of these areas will have consequences that will directly affect water management. This will require a flexible understanding of water management that has the ability to quickly adapt to changing conditions and make and implement quick decisions. Also 21. The water management of the century is being shaped by an adaptive, multifunctional and local predominance to overcome the many uncertainties that will arise from climate change.
Will Alternative Water and Food Production Be the Solution ?
Before we set out towards alternatives to basic needs vital to humanity, such as water and food, it is useful to review our consumption habits for both of our needs.
Rapidly developing technology seems to be able to meet both of these needs theoretically from desalination plants and food production laboratories. However, we need to think again before we get caught up in the process of achieving the increase in demand for our vital and continuous water and food needs with technology-supported artificial productions. These solutions are still compulsorily applied, especially in water-scarce areas. However, it will be difficult for us to talk about a natural environment and life in a world where these solutions are widespread because they will provide fast production to the consumption frenzy. For this, we have to use our existing natural resources more consciously and create a more livable and sustainable world. Since the early 2000s, the United Nations has set itself many goals, such as poverty alleviation, adaptation to climate change and sustainable development. For this, 17 global development goals adopted by all UN member states were identified in 2015 . The Sustainable Development Goals, which are accepted to be achieved by 2030, have three main objectives: ending poverty, combating poverty and injustice, andpreventing and adapting to climate change.
We need to use water more efficiently!
The amount that we can use as fresh water in all the waters of the world is 2.5%, and most of this water consists of icebergs and glaciers that are very difficult to reach. Only 1% of surface freshwater is found in lakes and rivers. Although groundwater is 100 times the size of fresh surface water, most of it is located very deep below the surface as brackish water. Approximately 50% of those close to the surface are constantly drawn as drinking and potable water and there are decreases in quantity and quality.
The pressures and uncertainties facing water resources require us to make radical changes to our understanding of water management and water use. In this context, our need for a water management that is participatory, transparent, sensitive to the ecosystem, open to nature-based solutions, social realistic and dynamic planningemerges. Before deciding to develop new resources to meet the increasing demand in water management, it is necessary to put into practice the understanding of using the available water in the most efficient way. In this context, especially in the use of water in industry, the reuse of water after it is treated will be a very important step for sustainable water use. In fact, new planning such as smart cities and new production concepts such as the circular economy will create infrastructures suitable for the treatment and online use of water .
Water is the basic element of ecological balance
In the management of water resources, it is important to meet the water demand of not only people but also all living things sustainably. Because su is not only the vital need of human beings, but also the basic need of our natural environment and the basic element of the ecological balance. As a result, a balance between economic, ecological and sociological goals for the sustainable management of water resources will need to be achieved. This balance is often difficult to achieve and some goals are compromised. Around the world, the pressures on these resources are increasing, but so is technology. Therefore, for the sustainable management of water to achieve this balance, there will be a great need for a newunderstanding of liqueur water management and the effective use of digital technology in water management.
For the sustainable management of water in our country, we first need a radical change of mind, legal regulation and institutional restructuring at the basin scale.
