Water and urbanization

Abstract

Forecasting human water needs into the future is an extremely important goal, especially for urban areas with large populations. Padowski and Gorelick (2014 Eniron. Res. Lett. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/104004 9 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/104004 ) suggest that population growth along with ecosystem service needs and agricultural usage makes many cities vulnerable to water shortages. This work provides new information suggesting that even without taking into account changes brought about by climatic or water quality stresses, a large number of urban areas around the world may need to rethink their water supply situations. This work has very important policy implications.

Keywords

• urban areas
• water supply
• population growth