Climate Change = Water Change
by Sonam Velani
Hunger stones revealed by low water levels along the Elbe River in Děčín, Czech Republic. Source: Reuters, by David W. Cerny
“If you see me, then weep” - inscribed on a hunger stone in the 15th century along the Elbe River in the town of Děčín in the Czech Republic was a hidden site until one of Europe’s longest rivers ran dry last summer. This centuries-old tale of despair was a sign of the times, now in the 21st century.
On the other side of the world in Pakistan, one third of the country was underwater in a matter of days. Months after the devastating floods in one of the world’s poorest countries, over 4 million children are still living near contaminated and stagnated flood waters, and hundreds of thousands of homes, schools, and public health facilities have been destroyed. As Sherry Rahman, Pakistan’s Minister of Climate Change aptly portrayed at the country’s COP27 pavilion in Sharm-el-Sheik, Egypt: What Goes on in Pakistan Won’t Stay in Pakistan.
Approximately 74% of natural disasters over the past 20 years were water-related, from hurricanes and floods to droughts and wildfires. Both the frequency and intensity of these events are expected to increase with climate change, with global weather patterns shifting drastically as planet earth warms up, getting dangerously close to a point of no return. While these disasters have an impact on the built environment and will cause upwards of $5.6 trillion in losses across the global economy by 2050, the effects are much greater on individual families and communities. About half the world’s hospital beds are occupied by someone with a water related illness. And by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas → that’s in 3 years, folks.
Researchers used a computer model to divide the world into grids measuring approximately 1,200 square miles each. They then analyzed the monthly water demand and availability in each grid to determine scarcity level. Source: NYTimes, by Mesfin M. Mekonnen and Arjen Y. Hoekstra.
While climate change is the problem, water is the chariot that brings that message to your streets and neighborhoods.
Whether it’s the intricacies of your municipal water system collecting, cleaning, and bringing clean drinking water to your tap at the flick of a knob to federal agencies like the US Army Corps of Engineers determining how to build green and gray infrastructure along our nation’s shorelines to protect your local community from rising seas - every single level of government is working behind the scenes to make sure you have just the right amount of water at your doorstep.
Widely considered a model for climate-adaptive green infrastructure, Living Breakwaters is a $107 million project led with a layered approach to risk reduction - enhancing physical, ecological and social resilience along the South Shore of Staten Island. Source: SCAPE Studio
We will be diving into all this and more in upcoming posts all month in celebration of NY Water Week, and you’ll have a chance to engage with water experts from across the globe at our upcoming NY Climate Tech event in partnership with the Dutch and Danish consulates on March 23! But, if you’re a huge infrastructure nerd like me and can’t wait to dive in, I highly recommend this Views from the Watershed podcast to learn about how the 1.1 billion gallons of water New Yorkers use every day travels through a stream of 19 reservoirs, 3 controlled lakes, and 6,000 miles of water mains, tunnels, and aqueducts all the way to your sink (I promise it makes good fodder for the next cocktail party conversation!).
Beyond the H20 that you consume on a daily basis, as a society we need to take it one step forward and demand that governments, corporates, and startups build and invest in the sustainable water management practices that will help us adapt to climate change – fostering resilience and saving lives along the way. This means removing methane from water to use as a new source of renewable energy as our friends at Bluemethane are doing, creating natural coastal resilience barriers like Natrx’s adaptive infrastructure that’s tailored to each native habitat, or creating floating solar arrays like RETTEW’s 4.4 MW project in New Jersey that reduces evaporation AND provides clean energy (gotta love all that climate tech that provide the 2-for-1 deal!). Stay tuned for more – but in the meantime, we’ve got you covered with Parachute’s comprehensive piece on climate solutions that are changing the water industry and keeping our most precious resource intact!
Climate Change = Water Change. I’ll leave you with that!
by Sonam Velani