With an overarching mandate to address global water challenges, GWF, which is part of USask’s Global Institute for Water Security, is working to advance three goals. One, to improve disaster warning and develop forecasting capacity to evaluate the risk and severity of extreme events; two, to predict water futures through big data and improved numerical models that assess changes in human/natural land and water systems; and three, to inform adaptation to change and risk management through governance mechanisms, management strategies, and policy tools and guidance.
Leaders at GWF, including Dr. Schuster-Wallace and Dr. John Pomeroy, are engaged in national and international collaborations – and their combined voices have led to 2025 being designated the international year of glaciers’ preservation by the UN, says Dr. Singh. “Our glaciers are under threat from global warming, and we are losing some of our snowcaps. This requires urgent attention.”
Beyond advancing awareness and understanding in a global context, work at USask is focused on “finding ways to turn the knowledge which is being created into benefits for society,” he says, “for example by mobilizing public policy or new technologies like imaging, drones and computer models for sustainably growing Saskatchewan’s agri-food and resource sector as well as the population.”
Locally, adaptation measures for water security challenges can include “better management of demand and supply – as well as recognition of inherent water rights – to achieve a more sustainable and equitable approach to water use,” says Dr. Schuster-Wallace. “We also have to look at increasing efficiencies.”
Precision agriculture, for example, can help to protect water sources, since it reduces the runoff of agricultural inputs. Water conservation actions can reduce community water footprints as well.
However, there is increasing recognition that regional actions have to be considered in light of global consequences. For example, a high percentage of the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change has originated with developed nations, yet the impact may disproportionally affect vulnerable populations, including the Ghanian women and girls who have to walk long distances to fetch water.
That’s why there needs to be a strong focus on the aim of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “to leave no one behind,” says Apatinga. “And this means we have to address water issues and other pressing problems in the world in a more equitable way. We have to take practical steps and implement policies that can help people gain access to water. We also have to hold agencies and governments accountable” for meeting goals.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change described “universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene as a no-regrets adaptation strategy,” says Dr. Schuster-Wallace, who believes efforts to advance SDG 6, which calls for clean water and sanitation for all, can help realize significant progress towards achieving other SDGs, including in areas like poverty reduction, health, gender equality, climate, nutrition and education.
“Research can help to predict the impacts of changing water on people, the environment and the economy,” she says, “and we know that evidence-based decision-making can support appropriate and sustainable water access and management solutions, which can lead to better outcomes in water quality and quantity, environmental conditions and society in general.”
Through insights gained at GWF, Apatinga and Dr. Schuster-Wallace hope to turn the problems arising from gaps in water access into potential, where better health for women, children and families can help create stronger and more sustainable communities around the world.
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