This is the second in a series of three articles from experts at Conservation International on building partnerships, balancing supply and demand, and addressing fresh water risk.
Video blog transcript:
I think it's important, a city's plan for water consumption, that they look out into the future. So they look at the watersheds where they get the water from, they get an understanding of which of the areas in those watersheds are important for water provision, and then they look at what the projections are for climate change, so they have a good idea of what's going to happen with those watersheds and what they can expect to get in terms of water in the future.
And then on the consumption side, I think they need to look at efficient ways of using the existing water. That might be simple things like reducing the pressure in the pipes that can result in reduced consumption, or there might be that the water utilities in the cities could add fees for users who exceed certain amounts and, that way, generating financial incentives for people to be more efficient in their water use.
Other articles in the Water series:
Key ingredients to a successful partnership
One thing business can do to address fresh water risk
More from Conservation International on fresh water:
Fresh Water is the lifeblood of the planet. No one can survive without it.