research questions about water conservation

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Twenty‐five essential research questions to inform the protection and restoration of freshwater biodiversity

Meagan harper, hebah s. mejbel, dylan longert, robin abell, t. douglas beard, joseph r. bennett, stephanie m. carlson, william darwall, anthony dell, sami domisch, david dudgeon, jörg freyhof, ian harrison, kathy a. hughes, sonja c. jähnig, jonathan m. jeschke, richard lansdown, mark lintermans, abigail j. lynch, helen m. r. meredith, sanjay molur, julian d. olden, steve j. ormerod, harmony patricio, andrea j. reid, astrid schmidt‐kloiber, michele thieme, david tickner, eren turak, olaf l. f. weyl, steven j. cooke, aquatic conservation.

July 12, 2021

1. Freshwater biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Freshwater conservationists and environmental managers have enough evidence to demonstrate that action must not be delayed but have insufficient evidence to identify those actions that will be most effective in reversing the current trend. 2. Here, the focus is on identifying essential research topics that, if addressed, will contribute directly to restoring freshwater biodiversity through supporting ‘bending the curve’ actions (i.e. those actions leading to the recovery of freshwater biodiversity, not simply deceleration of the current downward trend). 3. The global freshwater research and management community was asked to identify unanswered research questions that could address knowledge gaps and barriers associated with ‘bending the curve’ actions. The resulting list was refined into six themes and 25 questions. 4. Although context-dependent and potentially limited in global reach, six overarching themes were identified: (i) learning from successes and failures; (ii) improving current practices; (iii) balancing resource needs; (iv) rethinking built environments; (v) reforming policy and investments; and (vi) enabling transformative change. 5. Bold, efficient, science-based actions are necessary to reverse biodiversity loss. We believe that conservation actions will be most effective when supported by sound evidence, and that research and action must complement one another. These questions are intended to guide global freshwater researchers and conservation practitioners, identify key projects and signal research needs to funders and governments. Our questions can act as springboards for multidisciplinary and multisectoral collaborations that will improve the management and restoration of freshwater biodiversity.

Harper, M., Mejbel, H. S., Longert, D., Abell, R., Beard, T. D., Bennett, J. R., … Cooke, S. J. (2021). Twenty‐five essential research questions to inform the protection and restoration of freshwater biodiversity. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. doi:10.1002/aqc.3634

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Twenty-five essential research questions to inform the protection and restoration of freshwater biodiversity

• Freshwater biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Freshwater conservationists and environmental managers have enough evidence to demonstrate that action must not be delayed but have insufficient evidence to identify those actions that will be most effective in reversing the current trend.
• Here, the focus is on identifying essential research topics that, if addressed, will contribute directly to restoring freshwater biodiversity through supporting ‘bending the curve’ actions (i.e. those actions leading to the recovery of freshwater biodiversity, not simply deceleration of the current downward trend).
• The global freshwater research and management community was asked to identify unanswered research questions that could address knowledge gaps and barriers associated with ‘bending the curve’ actions. The resulting list was refined into six themes and 25 questions.
• Although context-dependent and potentially limited in global reach, six overarching themes were identified: (i) learning from successes and failures; (ii) improving current practices; (iii) balancing resource needs; (iv) rethinking built environments; (v) reforming policy and investments; and (vi) enabling transformative change.
• Bold, efficient, science-based actions are necessary to reverse biodiversity loss. We believe that conservation actions will be most effective when supported by sound evidence, and that research and action must complement one another. These questions are intended to guide global freshwater researchers and conservation practitioners, identify key projects and signal research needs to funders and governments. Our questions can act as springboards for multidisciplinary and multisectoral collaborations that will improve the management and restoration of freshwater biodiversity.

Citation Information

Related content, t. douglas beard, jr., ph.d., senior administrator, national casc, abigail j. lynch, ph.d., research fish biologist, national casc.

Articles on Water conservation

Displaying 1 - 20 of 39 articles.

What’s the carbon footprint of owning pet fish? An expert explains

William Perry , Cardiff University

What Arizona and other drought-ridden states can learn from Israel’s pioneering water strategy

Gabriel Eckstein , Texas A&M University ; Clive Lipchin , Tel Aviv University , and Sharon B. Megdal , University of Arizona

The hidden cost of the AI boom: social and environmental exploitation

Ascelin Gordon , RMIT University ; Afshin Jafari , RMIT University , and Carl Higgs , RMIT University

Colorado River states bought time with a 3-year water conservation deal – now they need to think bigger

Robert Glennon , University of Arizona

The Colorado River drought crisis: 5 essential reads

Jennifer Weeks , The Conversation

A new strategy for western states to adapt to long-term drought: Customized water pricing

Matthew E. Kahn , USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Bhaskar Krishnamachari , University of Southern California

COP15 biodiversity summit in Montréal: Canada failed to meet its 2020 conservation targets. Will 2030 be any better?

Emmanuel Tamufor , University of Guelph and Robin J. Roth , University of Guelph

Ripple effect: As global freshwater basins dry up, the threat to ecosystems and communities grows

Xander Huggins , University of Victoria

From water conservation to crop selection, how farmers can take action against drought

Delphine Luquet , Cirad ; Ndjido Ardo Kane , Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles (ISRA) , and Vincent Vadez , Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)

Desalinating seawater sounds easy, but there are cheaper and more sustainable ways to meet people’s water needs

Gregory Pierce , University of California, Los Angeles

Five easy ways to use less water at home – and not just in a drought

Niko Wanders , Utrecht University

South Africa’s sandfish are on the brink of extinction: how farmers are helping rescue them

Cecilia Cerrilla , University of Cape Town and Charles L. Griffiths , University of Cape Town

First solar canal project is a win for water, energy, air and climate in California

Roger Bales , University of California, Merced

As Colorado River Basin states confront water shortages, it’s time to focus on reducing demand

Water wells are at risk of going dry in the US and worldwide

Debra Perrone , University of California, Santa Barbara and Scott Jasechko , University of California, Santa Barbara

Interstate water wars are heating up along with the climate

Even in a ‘ water-rich ’ country like New Zealand, some cities could face water shortages this summer

Julia Talbot-Jones , Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington ; Sophie O'Brien , Motu Economic and Public Policy Research , and Suzie Greenhalgh , Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research

Farmers are depleting the Ogallala Aquifer because the government pays them to do it

Matthew R Sanderson , Kansas State University ; Burke Griggs , Washburn University , and Jacob A Miller-Klugesherz , Kansas State University

In a last-minute rule change, the Trump administration rolls back water-saving standards for showerheads

Water prices increasingly unaffordable for low-income households

Jim Warren , University of Regina

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Integrating Multiscale Observations of U.S. Waters (2008)

Chapter: appendix a; key water science research questions and challenges, appendix a key water science research questions and challenges.

(Derived from National Research Council reports and meetings)

WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY

The challenge is to develop an improved understanding of and ability to predict changes in freshwater resources and the environment caused by floods, droughts, sedimentation, and contamination. Important research areas include improving understanding of hydrologic responses to precipitation, surface water generation and transport, environmental stresses on aquatic ecosystems, the relationships between landscape changes and sediment fluxes, and subsurface transport, as well as mapping groundwater recharge and discharge vulnerability.

Grand Challenges in the Environmental Sciences (NRC, 2001)

Validate the water cycle components of climate models. The science questions contained in the water cycle science plan that are related to understanding and predicting variability require an improved understanding of hydrologic processes and their representation in climate models. Therefore, it seems that advances in this area are also fundamental to the water cycle science plan, and the research community is poised to make these advances. Advanced climate change impact assessments are dependent on progress in this area. The path forward in this area requires the identification of the weakest elements in the characterization of the water cycle, and it requires the identification of quantitative improvement goals.

Review of USGCRP Plan for a New Science Initiative on the Global Water Cycle (NRC, 2002)

Scaling of Dynamic Behavior: In varied guises throughout hydrologic science we encounter questions concerning the quantitative relationship between the same process occurring at disparate spatial or temporal scales. Most frequently

perhaps, these are problems of complex aggregation that are confounding our attempts to quantify predictions of large-scale hydrologic processes. The physics of a nonlinear process is well known under idealized, one-dimensional laboratory conditions, and we wish to quantify the process under the three-dimensional heterogeneity of natural systems, which are orders of magnitude larger in scale. Solving these problems will require well-conceived field data collection programs in concert with analysis directed toward “renormalization” of the underlying dynamics. Success will bring to hydrologic science the power of generalization, with its dividends of insight and economy of effort.

Opportunities in the Hydrologic Sciences (NRC, 1991)

Innovative Engineering Approaches for Improving Water Quantity and Quality Management: The research should aim to improve our capabilities in hydrologic forecasting for water resource managers to evaluate and make decisions. Networks of sensors, robotic water quality monitoring sites, realtime data collection, and communication links can be developed into an intelligent environmental control system that will enhance the protection of urban ecosystems and the health and safety of its inhabitants. Such a system can be used as an early warning system and to identify emerging problems such as flooding, lack of water, riparian habitat degradation, and the presence of toxic compounds.

CLEANER and NSF’s Environmental Observatories (NRC, 2006)

Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions: Understanding the reciprocal influences between land surface processes and weather and climate is more than an interesting basic research question; it has become especially urgent because of accelerating human-induced changes in land surface characteristics in the United States and globally. The issues are important from the mesoscale upward to continental scales. Our knowledge of the time and space distributions of rainfall, soil moisture, ground water recharge, and evapotranspiration are remarkably inadequate, in part because historical data bases are point measurements from which we have attempted extrapolation to large-scale fields. Our knowledge of their variability, and of the sensitivity of local and regional climates to alterations in land surface properties, is especially poor. The opportunity now exists for great progress on these issues.

Find solutions to existing and emerging problems involving contaminants in the environment that affect ecosystems and human health. Some environmental problems that affect water resources are of such a magnitude that they are of

national concern and require engineering research based on data collected through observatories. Two such problems are the containment or removal of contaminated sediments and the effects on aquatic and human health of residuals from pharmaceuticals and other household products.

Sediment Transport and Geomorphology: Erosion, transport, and deposition of sediments in fluvial systems control the very life cycle of rivers and are vulnerable to changes in climate and human landscape alternations. Yet, compared with water quality and quantity information, there is relatively little available information on sediment behavior in river systems, particularly large-order reaches. By advancing basic research on sediment transport detection, quantification of bedload, suspended load, and washload, and monitoring flow velocity and water temperature associated with such sediment transport conditions, the USGS could better detect morphologically significant flows, develop methods to mitigate future problems arising from sediment movement, and play a guiding role in multiagency efforts to deal with the increasingly important national sediment challenges.

River Science at the U.S. Geological Survey (NRC, 2007)

Coordinated Global-scale Observation of Water Reservoirs and the Fluxes of Water and Energy: Regional and continental-scale water resources forecasts and many issues of global change depend for their resolution on a detailed understanding of the state and variability of the global water balance. Our current knowledge is spotty in its areal coverage; highly uneven in its quality; limited in character to the quantities of primary historical interest (namely precipitation, streamflow, and surface water reservoirs); and largely unavailable still as homogeneous, coordinated, global data sets.

Learn how changes in climate, land cover, and land use affect water quantity and quality regimes and their impact on ecosystem health and other uses of water such as for drinking, irrigation, industry, and recreation. Using long-term data, comparative studies, modeling, and experiments, observatory systems can determine pathways of movement of water and solutes through human-dominated landscapes and forecast responses to changes.

HYDROECOLOGY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

Land Use and Habitat Alteration: Deforestation, suburbanization, road construction, agriculture, and other human land-use activities cause changes in ecosystems. Those changes modify water, energy and material balances and the ability of the biotic community to respond to and recover from stress and disturbance. Actions in one location, such as farming practices in the upper Midwest, can affect areas 1,000 or more miles away because areas are joined by water and nutrient flow in rivers and by atmospheric transport of agrochemicals.

NEON: Addressing the Nation’s Environmental Challenges (NRC, 2003)

Chemical and Biological Components of the Hydrologic Cycle: In combination with components of the hydrologic cycle, aqueous geochemistry is the key to understanding many of the pathways of water through soil and rock, for revealing historical states having value in climate research, and for reconstructing the erosional history of continents. Together with the physics of flow in geologic media, aquatic chemistry and microbiology will reveal solute transformations, biogeochemical functioning, and the mechanisms for both contamination and purification of soils and water. Water is the basis for much ecosystem structure, and many ecosystems are active participants in the hydrologic cycle. Understanding these interactions between ecosystems and the hydrologic cycle is essential to interpreting, forecasting, and even ameliorating global climate change.

Ecological Implications of Climate Change: Human-induced climate warming and variability strongly affect individual species, community structure and ecosystem functioning. Changes in vegetation in turn affect climate through their role in partitioning radiation and precipitation at the land surface. Climate-driven biological impacts are often only discernable at a regional-continental scale. Regional changes in ecosystem processes affect global water and carbon cycles. Therefore, a national approach to understanding biological response to climate variability and change is required.

[Grand Challenges include:]

Biogeochemical Cycles: The challenge is to further our understanding of the Earth’s major biogeochemical cycles, evaluate how they are being perturbed by human activities, and determine how they might better be stabilized. Important research areas include quantifying the sources and sinks of the

nutrient elements and gaining a better understanding of the biological, chemical, and physical factors regulating transformations among them; improving understanding of the interactions among the various biogeochemical cycles; assessing anthropogenic perturbations of biogeochemical cycles and their impacts on ecosystem functioning, atmospheric chemistry, and human activities, and developing a scientific basis for societal decisions about managing these cycles; and exploring technical and institutional approaches to managing anthropogenic perturbations.

Invasive species: Invasive species affect virtually every ecosystem in the United States, and can cause substantial economic and biological damage. The identification of potentially harmful invasive species, the early detection of new species as invasion begins, and the knowledge base needed to prevent their spread require a comprehensive monitoring and experimental network and a mechanistic understanding of the interplay of invader, ecosystem traits and other factors including climate and land use that determine invasiveness.

The nation is spending billions on riverine restoration and rehabilitation projects, yet the science underlying these projects is not currently well understood and thus the approaches and their effectiveness vary widely. Therefore, a fundamental challenge is to quantitatively understand how rivers respond physically and biologically to human alterations from dredging to damming, and to specifically address: What are the required “environmental flows” (i.e., flow levels, timing, and variability) necessary to maintain a healthy river ecosystem? And which biota and ecological processes are most important and/or sensitive to changes in river systems?

How can local riverine ecosystem processes be scaled from habitat patches across river reaches to produce basin-wide predictive capabilities? (I.e., how can we estimate regional aquatic ecosystem processes over river basins?)

COHS workshop on "Towards Integration of Hydrologic and Ecological Sciences,” West Palm Beach, Florida, October 2000.

Algal Blooms and Water-Borne Infectious Diseases: The rapid proliferation of toxic or nuisance algae, termed harmful algal blooms (HAB), can occur in marine, estuarine and freshwaters, and are one of the most scientifically complex

and economically significant water issues facing the United States today.

Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond (NRC, 2007)

Vector Borne and Zoonotic (VBZ) Disease: VBZ diseases, such as malaria, dengue, and filariasis are believed responsible for millions of deaths and tens of millions of illnesses annually. The introduction and spread of West Nile virus through North America by mosquitoes during the past five years and recent concerns about the world-wide dissemination of H5N1 avian influenza are key recent examples where large human populations have come at risk over extensive geographic regions in short periods of time by these VBZ diseases. Attempts to control VBZ disease epidemics with limited available resources are hindered by the ability to prioritize and target areas for intervention. The major goal of such [remote sensing] efforts is to establish relationships between environmental conditions, as monitored by satellites, and risk to human populations from VBZ diseases. This goal requires improved characterization of the earth’s land use, ecological changes and changing weather, at finer spatial and temporal scales.

Infectious Disease and the Environment: The challenge is to understand ecological and evolutionary aspects of infectious diseases; develop an understanding of the interactions among pathogens, hosts/receptors, and the environment; and thus make it possible to prevent changes in the infectivity and virulence of organisms that threaten plant, animal, and human health at the population level. Important research areas include examining the effects of environmental changes as selection agents on pathogen virulence and host resistance; exploring the impacts of environmental change on disease etiology, vectors, and toxic organisms; developing new approaches to surveillance and monitoring; and improving theoretical models of host-pathogen ecology.

Water is essential to life for humans and their food crops, and for ecosystems. Effective water management requires tracking the inflow, outflow, quantity and quality of ground-water and surface water, much like balancing a bank account. Currently, networks of ground-based instruments measure these in individual locations, while airborne and satellite sensors measure them over larger areas. Recent technological innovations offer unprecedented possibilities to integrate space, air, and land observations to advance water science and guide management decisions. This book concludes that in order to realize the potential of integrated data, agencies, universities, and the private sector must work together to develop new kinds of sensors, test them in field studies, and help users to apply this information to real problems.

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Faster and Safer: Research Priorities in Water and Health

Karen setty.

a The Water Institute at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, 166 Rosenau Hall, CB #7431, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7431;

Jean-Francois Loret

b Suez, Centre International de Recherche sur l’Eau et l’Environnement (CIRSEE), 38 rue du President Wilson, 78230, Le Pecq, France;

Sophie Courtois

Charlotte christiane hammer.

c Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK;

Philippe Hartemann

d Université de Lorraine, Faculté de Médecine, EA 7298, ERAMBO, DESP, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France;

Michel Lafforgue

e Suez Consulting, Le Bruyère 2000 - Bâtiment 1, Zone du Millénaire, 650 Rue Henri Becquerel, CS79542, 34961, Montpellier Cedex 2, France;

Xavier Litrico

f Suez, Tour CB21, 16 Place de l’Iris, 92040 Paris La Defense Cedex, France;

Tarek Manasfi

g Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland;

Gertjan Medema

h KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, 3433 PE, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands;

i Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN, Delft, The Netherlands

Mohamed Shaheen

j School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 3-300 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, 11405 - 87 Ave, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada;

Vincent Tesson

k French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), UMR 1114 EMMAH, 228 route de l’Aérodrome, CS 40 509, 84914 Avignon Cedex 9, France;

Jamie Bartram

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals initiated in 2016 reiterated the need for safe water and healthy lives across the globe. The tenth anniversary meeting of the International Water and Health Seminar in 2018 brought together experts, students, and practitioners, setting the stage for development of an inclusive and evidence-based research agenda on water and health. Data collection relied on a nominal group technique gathering perceived research priorities as well as underlying drivers and adaptation needs. Under a common driver of public health protection, primary research priorities included the socioeconomy of water, risk assessment and management, and improved monitoring methods and intelligence. Adaptations stemming from these drivers included translating existing knowledge to providing safe and timely services to support the diversity of human water needs. Our findings present a comprehensive agenda of topics at the forefront of water and health research. This information can frame and inform collective efforts of water and health researchers over the coming decades, contributing to improved water services, public health, and socioeconomic outcomes.

Introduction

To promote public health and wellbeing, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 seeks to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” by 2030 ( UN Water, 2018 ). Many entities are scaling up efforts to address this challenge, including responses to the new aspects of SDG 6 as compared to the earlier Millennium Development Goals (1990–2015). These aspects include universality, inclusivity, cooperative participation, and “safely managed” services, as well as improved coordination with environmental protection efforts to support integrated water resource management. Evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) is a common goal in many service provision sectors, including water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH). Barriers to the use of EIDM in WaSH policy and practice have included a weak enabling environment, bounded by relatively low political priority, lack of mutual accountability, poor coordination, insufficient financing, and limited data availability or relevance ( SWA, 2018 ). Because the transition to SDG 6 is accompanied by new evidence needs, it requires review of corresponding research priorities ( Setty et al., 2018b ).

Research on water and health involves both quantitative and qualitative studies, generating and matching data from a complex mixture of disciplines, such as environmental science, engineering, epidemiology, economics, hydrology, chemistry, microbiology, toxicology, human biology, sociology, anthropology, statistics, and geospatial mapping. Interventions to change processes or behaviors to improve public health are often complex. Unlike medical trials, it can be difficult to implement WaSH interventions in a controlled way, or to blind researchers and participants to randomized assignment. Some of these challenges are exacerbated in low-income settings, leading to weak main effects and strong contextual influences ( Hamilton and Mittman, 2017 ). The resulting evidence base is characterized by heterogeneity with highly variable effects dependent on site-specific characteristics. The state of evidence in WaSH may exasperate decision-makers, who look for clear, usable, and immediate guidance when policy windows open ( Brocklehurst, 2013 ; Rose et al., 2017 ).

A number of international events focus on water and health topics, including World Water Week in Stockholm, the rotating International Water Association World Water Congress and Exhibition, and the Water and Health conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. These events draw hundreds to thousands of participants. Since 2009, the multinational utility company Suez has likewise organized an International Water and Health Seminar annually in Cannes, France to promote meaningful exchange between researchers and practitioners. It invites senior academic experts and junior scientists (typically finishing PhD students) into a smaller forum with greater contact time. Participating experts form a standing scientific committee, and new student participants apply to attend each year. Typically, the scientific committee selects 16–20 PhD students to maximize geographical and topic diversity. Attendees have come from countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the United States, and Wales.

We set out to explore water and health research priorities by harvesting the perspectives of participants at the 2018 International Water and Health Seminar. All participants joined a simplified nominal group technique (NGT) exercise that explored drivers, adaptation needs, and perceived research priorities. Ideally, research priority setting should be transparent, consider context, take a comprehensive stance, establish focal criteria, and include multiple categories of stakeholders ( Viergever et al., 2010 ). The NGT approach is often used in quality improvement, business, and other group settings to engender active and equal participation, and to achieve prioritization and consensus ( CDC, 2006 ; Tague, 2004 ).

We applied a simplified and slightly modified NGT ( CDC, 2006 ; Tague, 2004 ) including all participants at the 2018 International Water and Health Seminar held in Cannes, France. This in-person, participatory method was selected as a structured and inclusive way to develop consensus among a fairly large and mixed group of researchers and practitioners (water and sanitation service providers). It aimed to achieve theoretical saturation (comprehensive exploration of research themes) by not limiting the number of submissions per person and triangulating concepts through multiple rounds of inquiry ( Saunders et al., 2018 ). The technique was adapted because of time constraints, and used a color indicator for paper submissions to confidentially record, and permit analysis of, differences in perceptions among the three types of participants: academics, students, and practitioners. We also examined past programs and prepared summary statistics to compare results to presentation topics from the first ten years of the seminar (2009–2018). Owing to the expansive topic, data interpretation included a group-based narrative review ( Dijkers, 2009 ) focused on the most pertinent literature relevant to each research theme.

Data collection

Thirty-three participants (8 senior academic researchers, 10 Suez research staff members, and 15 doctoral or postdoctoral scholars) attended the seminar. All agreed to participate in the NGT exercise. No compensation was offered, nor any penalty for choosing not to participate. Most participants came from Europe, with representatives from the US, Canada, and Australia; names, classifications, and institutions of participants are listed in the acknowledgements. The students were at an advanced trainee level in their careers, pursuing pre- or postdoctoral research, while the academics held advanced degrees and professorships and were generally late career. Professional attendees ranged from early- to mid- to late-career and were permanent or contract employees of research and development branches within Suez, a large multinational utility group headquartered in France. The seminar and NGT sessions were conducted in English, which was a second language for some participants. In consultation with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Office of Human Research Ethics, the study was not submitted for formal IRB approval because the information gathered related to the research needs assessment rather than the participants themselves.

Five days before the seminar, all participants received an email with written instructions concerning the exercise. Participants were asked to consider questions about water and health research priorities, but not to share their ideas with others. The scope of “water and health” was deliberately not defined, as the scope of understanding of the term was itself of interest. The instructions requested feedback at the seminar on research themes separately from research questions, but during the exercise these categories were merged and a new question was added on adaptations to the underlying drivers.

At the seminar, two sessions of NGT were conducted. In each, no prior knowledge of the instructions was assumed and participants were briefly introduced to the question(s) to be tackled. Ten to twelve minutes were dedicated to “silent idea generation” in which participants recorded each of their ideas on sticky note paper, with different colors to differentiate ideas from different participant groups (students, academics, and practitioners). The practice of writing responses before sharing ensured accountability to the original idea and equal participation, to prevent cognitive “anchoring and adjustment” or reporting bias based on what others shared with the group. The facilitator (JB) served as a participant in accordance with good practice for NGT.

Method modifications of standard NGT ( CDC, 2006 ; Tague, 2004 ) included (a) accepting clustered contributions after the first round, and (b) performing counting for prioritization afterwards, following electronic data entry. One round of round-robin idea presentation was conducted in which each participant described one idea from their sticky notes and the note was added to a display board. Notes were loosely organized into categories, typically proposed by the person who first raised a new idea, and grouped by joining similar submissions as themes emerged. Subsequent rounds proceeded similarly, except that to conserve time, individuals were permitted to offer up notes duplicative of or similar to an idea being presented at any time, without waiting for their next turn, keeping them in the same grouping with the original idea. Rounds continued until all ideas were exhausted. Participants then checked the results on the boards, discussed, and modified the idea organization and groupings. The outcome was adopted by informal consensus and transcribed into an electronic record.

The first round involved all groups of participants (students, academics, and practitioners) and lasted approximately two hours. It addressed two questions (drivers and research questions), and participants indicated at the time of presentation whether the idea they were presenting was a driver or a research question/theme. The second session took place two days after the first, and lasted approximately two hours. It addressed practical adaptations to the drivers and involved only the academics and practitioners, as students were assumed to have less applied experience.

Data processing

We inductively compared responses based on the three different approaches using different questions ( Figure 1 ) to identify prominent research priorities, underlying drivers, and adaptations. A research agenda was constructed primarily using input on research questions, with cross-comparison for sensitivity to drivers and adaptations. The participant input was similarly cross-compared with prior program topics gleaned from annual programs from 2009–2018. This data triangulation helped to ensure missing topics and perspectives were covered. Several authors separately assessed data via conventional qualitative content analysis ( Hsieh and Shannon, 2005 ), using line-by-line (in vivo) coding in most cases, to evaluate the frequency of subthemes as a basis for presentation of findings and discussion.

Relationship between three lines of inquiry pursued using the NGT method to support data triangulation and comprehension.

The relatively rapid sorting into themes at the in-person sessions was supplemented with follow-up checks involving two authors (JB and KS). Using the submitted research priorities and categorical organization as the primary input, category wording was harmonized to create a set of distinct concepts related to the umbrella of water and health. First, alternative categorization schemes were explored to determine which best fit the data. Second, categories with three or fewer nominated research topics were merged into other larger categories, and dominant subcategories were elevated to categories to create a relatively even distribution of topics. Third, each category assignment was reviewed and some research topics were reassigned, using the original wording of the submission and giving deference to the original category assignment if wording was unclear. Categories were ordered by frequency of topic nomination, counting each entry as one “vote,” as a means to convey overall prominence. Finally, the wording of each submission was revised to correct minor spelling and grammar errors, to help clearly convey the intended topic. In some cases, for example when inferring the meaning of acronyms, the most probably meaning in common use was assigned, although alternative meanings were possible.

Input based on submitted drivers and adaptations were reviewed and cross-compared with the research priorities, to identify gaps and novel insights. Additionally, the research priorities were compared with topics from the 10-year history of the Cannes seminar, to offer insight as to trends over time. This involved assignment of topics to themes by year by a third author (JFL). All participants were offered a follow-up opportunity to help with data interpretation and contribute to manuscript preparation. As a result, the draft results were shared with a sub-group of participants who volunteered, to continue to validate and refine understanding of the results in a participatory manner. This team-based approach engendered a narrative literature review of the most relevant references on each topic, to aid communication and uptake of the findings.

Participation

We tracked participant type, numbers of submitted “ideas,” and average per-person idea generation rates to characterize representation ( Table 1 ). Since no limit was assigned, the estimated number of submissions per individual ranged from approximately five to 25.

Number of participants and responses submitted at the seminar workshop by respondent type and round of questioning

Research priorities

Refinement of the draft topic categorization initiated at the in-person sessions helped to solidify eleven major themes capturing water and health research priorities ( Figure 2 ). A somewhat broad category about the social, political, economic and other context in which people use water was of greatest concern, reflecting increased attention toward sustainable global development and soft science in addition to engineering approaches. Next, some traditional disciplines such as water quality, water treatment, and water microbiology were prominent. Risk assessment and management, sanitation, and water resources held a moderate position. Less frequent emergent categories included information and artificial intelligence, real-time or rapid methods, water reuse, and the water-energy nexus. Some key subthemes also emerged across categories or nested within categories. These included technological innovation, metagenomics, “one health,” and disinfection.

Identified water and health research priorities, with themes and subthemes in order of frequency of research question submissions (in parentheses)

Triangulation

Using three different approaches (i.e., requesting research priorities directly versus asking indirectly about prevalent drivers and adaptations) allowed triangulation of the data from multiple perspectives. Similarities and differences among responses contributed to the framing of the research agenda. Overall, they revolved around protecting human health in the face of global changes as a critical underlying concept. Pure environmental (including wildlife and domestic animal) protection played a lesser role. Although deemed important by a number of participants, ecological sustainability represents a newer aspect of WaSH development goals. In many cases, environmental science, agriculture, and public health fields have traditionally had separate regulatory and research-funding structures, which may fail to promote disciplinary overlap. Shifts toward unified planetary health were recognized during participatory review of the study as a newer paradigm that will ultimately affect research drivers.

Drivers fell into seven categories: demographic change, climate, chemicals, microbes, infrastructure, nexus systems, and socio-political demands. In comparing drivers to the research themes, the perspective of drivers emphasized the health concerns underlying the research topics, which largely focused on water and sanitation services. Some categories overlapped with the research questions and themes. For instance, nexus-related topics captured energy ( Figure 2 ) as well as trends in food production, soil conditions, and shifting plant life. Climate change appeared as a prominent driver for weather-related risks, and was also mentioned under risk assessment and management ( Figure 2 ). Shifts in chemical production, especially of micropollutants, likewise linked to research questions under risk assessment and management, water quality, and water treatment.

Other driver topics were less prominent among the research questions. Sociopolitical shifts, such as increasing attention to equity and changing international relations, indirectly matched with the socioeconomy of water category, and thus might underlie all research themes. Commonly-referenced drivers for changes in service needs and water-related health vulnerabilities included demographic trends, such as population growth, aging populations, and migration (especially to urban areas). The research themes overlooked some drivers such as antimicrobial resistance and emerging diseases, both of which should fall under the water microbiology category. Aging infrastructure appeared as a prominent driver, but was mentioned less frequently as a research need, relative to information and artificial intelligence as well as water treatment.

Adaptations

Due to the smaller group size, the adaptations had fewer submitted ideas and in-seminar groupings. The main overlap with the research questions was a category called knowledge management and data science, corresponding to the information and artificial intelligence research category. Additional analysis revealed that the draft groupings of adaptations could be broken down further, and all research categories related to at least one adaptation idea submission. Secondary groupings related to the use of science to inform policy and regulations, as well as improved service provision. Subthemes included integration across systems, sectors, and exposures (e.g., engineering for complex systems with interdependencies and trade-offs); decentralization (e.g., of treatment infrastructure and monitoring capabilities); safety and surveillance, and responsiveness (e.g., to crises or situations of increased demand like migration or local droughts). In connection with sanitation, human biomonitoring (e.g., via sewage) emerged as a human health-oriented complement to established environmental health monitoring approaches. Such bridges address traditional divides between environmental protection and human health regulations. Surveillance responsibilities may be siloed among different entities, though, limiting rapid and effective communication and response.

Topics from prior seminar programs

Though presentation topics varied widely over the past ten years of the seminar (2009–2018), four primary categories could be identified: microbiology, chemistry, general topics (e.g., policies, modeling, risk management), and technology ( Figure 3 ). Subcategories further broke down these classifications. For water microbiology, Legionella , amoeba, and intra-amoebal pathogens were the most popular topics. For water quality, occurrence and treatment of micropollutants were prevalent in past seminars. Epidemiology and public health surveillance took the lead for the general category, mirroring the NGT adaptation topics. Biofiltration and biodegradation took the lead under technology. Additional prominent subcategories included pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors, antimicrobial resistance, nanomaterials, virus occurrence and treatment, perfluorates, and biofilms. Many of these topics matched those raised in the NGT sessions in 2018, although the prevalent terminology may have evolved over time. For instance, the microbiome and metagenomics appear more frequently in recent years, building on concepts prominent in earlier years such as biofilms and “viable but not culturable” bacterial cells.

Broad categorization of past seminar topics (2009–2018, inclusive)

Some previous presentation topics not mentioned in the NGT included specific viruses (e.g., Ebola, adenovirus, norovirus), parasites (e.g., Cryptosporidium ), and bacteria (enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli , Shigella , Helicobacter ), as well as perfluorinated chemicals, biofiltration, biodegradation, advanced oxidation, and recreational waters. These might reflect oversights, actual shifts in attention, or the wider stance requested for the exercise versus the specificity of individual research presentations, as these topics remain globally prominent. The focus on single pathogens, contaminants, or treatment approaches may also have given way to more holistic approaches to water safety, with the understanding that biological and chemical threats are constantly evolving. Surprisingly, the SDGs were not explicitly mentioned in the NGT, perhaps because they were recognized implicitly. Terrorism was a more prominent topic in past years, but in 2018 was included as one type of risk under risk assessment and management.

Contributors

The classification of submissions as coming from students, academics, or practitioners permitted observations about similarities and differences in perspective among stakeholder groups. In general, practitioners submitted more ideas than the academics or students, who provided roughly the same number of submissions. Past seminar topics were not broken down by contributor type, but came predominantly from academic and student attendees at the seminar, and reflected somewhat narrower topic specificity than the NGT.

Regarding drivers , students did not raise infrastructure issues. Among adaptations , few trends or contrasts were apparent in the diversity of suggestions by practitioners and academics. Within the knowledge management and data science category, practitioners dominantly raised real-time security. Within the research questions , all submissions on development of rapid or real-time monitoring methods and most submissions on the water-energy nexus and water reuse came from practitioners. Few students at the NGT expressed ideas about risk assessment and management or sanitation, although former students covered these topics in past seminars. Few academics addressed the socioeconomy of water, which may reflect a greater degree of specialization in other areas.

Within the umbrella topic of water and health, we present discussion around key themes and subthemes in order of decreasing frequency of participant submissions ( Figure 2 ). Aspects introduced through the data triangulation methods are integrated within the same thematic areas. The scope of participants’ understanding of “water and health” appeared to match the scope of the event itself, which focused on natural, social, and health sciences connected to water and wastewater services. It delved less frequently into water policy. Due to the natural overlap among these thematic categories, some topics were assigned to the closest fit while others appear in multiple contexts.

Socioeconomy of water

The socioeconomy of water concerns interactions of sociology, behavior, culture, and economics with water needs. Socioeconomic issues underlie many other water usage and safety concerns, as they make up the wider contextual structures in which water systems operate. This theme presents an opportunity to identify synergies among topics and issues, and traverse traditional disciplinary fields of research. Integration of different fields and novel combinations of viewpoints such as political ecology, international security, and anthropology can enhance understanding of the complexities of socioeconomic, socio-cultural, and broader water research questions, as well as their impacts on water safety and resilience. Integrated approaches can help to model complex systems ripe with interdependencies and trade-offs. Within this topic, contributions from participants broadly fit into three key subthemes: human factors, governance, and interdisciplinarity. Based on drivers, this theme must consider shifting international relations, demographic trends, and transboundary issues, such as increased migration. Considering the drivers and adaptations, aging infrastructure was another reality that will require added long-term investment and efficient planning ( Value of Water Campaign, 2017 ).

Human factors consist of attitudes, cultures, and practices. They include broad philosophical approaches towards the meaning of water ( Lycan, 2010 ) as well as applied issues such as perceptions and attitudes towards water conservation ( Tarlock, 1987 ; Hermanowicz, 2008 ) and wastewater reuse ( Po et al., 2003 ; Hartley, 2006 ). Further research in these fields should accompany future technological advances and socio-political changes, considering both their empirical and ethical implications for complex water systems. For instance, community-based and public participation in research processes may help redress inequities perpetuated by prevalent power dynamics in science ( Kemmis et al., 2016 ). Equity and social and environmental justice topics were underrepresented at the seminar, but may be a vital component of research context in both low- and high-income settings (e.g., Stillo and MacDonald Gibson, 2017 ). These contextual factors are likely to affect the selection and implementation of water and public health system interventions.

Governance issues include diverse settings from industrialized smart cities to resource-poor settings such as slums. In this field, research has focused on issues such as equitable and affordable access to safe water, which remains integral to accomplishing global development goals ( Onda et al., 2012 ). This subtheme spans access to piped water and wastewater disposal, as well as the health outcomes of limited access, for instance stemming from water carriage over large distances ( Geere et al., 2018 ; Sorenson et al., 2011 ). Water governance broadly encompasses situations of limited water ( Kummu et al., 2010 ) and increasing pressures from climate change across different world regions as diverse as Australia ( Dijk et al., 2013 ), the Middle East ( Hadadin et al., 2010 ), South Africa ( Mukheibir, 2008 ), China ( Cheng et al., 2009 ), and North America ( Gober and Kirkwood, 2010 ). Associated challenges for water conservation thus interact with many of the human factors mentioned above.

The third field concerns interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, and the integration of social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and operational research. This is at the forefront of many fields, especially in the context of “One Health” ( Min et al., 2013 ; Manlove et al., 2016 ), planetary health ( Galway et al., 2016 ), nutrition ( Picchioni et al., 2017 ), and other fields ( Morillo et al., 2003 ). Brown et al. (2015) mapped out how such an approach can lead to fruitful collaboration within and beyond the field of water research by forging a shared mission, developing “T-shaped” researchers, nurturing constructive dialogue, offering institutional support, and bridging research, policy, and practice. These approaches are especially important in water and health research due to the inherent integration of scientific inquiry with applied solutions in a complex socio-political environment. One example is the relationship between water and wastewater pricing and human behavior, where microeconomics (traditionally a business field) informs good water provision practices ( Nauges and Whittington, 2017 ).

Water quality

The notion of water quality, defined as measurement and understanding of how compounds and organisms in water can influence human and environmental health, has evolved alongside scientific and technical progress. It was essentially limited to organoleptic descriptors (color, odor, taste and temperature) until the early 19 th century ( Symons, 2006 ). The emergence of epidemiology and bacteriology resulted in the development of water disinfection and microbial indicators as new quality parameters, representing substantive public health achievements ( CDC, 1999 , Sedlak, 2014 ). Developments in analytical chemistry during the second half of the 20 th century led to an increasing number of new chemical parameters ( Trussel, 2006 ). The consciousness raised by a series of popular works (e.g., Carson, 1962 ; Colborn et al., 1996 ) likewise contributed to expanding the lists of quality parameters to encompass pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and endocrine disruptors. To measure and understand how compounds and organisms in water can influence human health, NGT participants recommended continued improvement in analytical methods for chemical and microbial contaminants. Subthemes raised by participants included microplastics, disinfection byproducts (DBPs), antimicrobial resistance, perfluorinated chemicals, toxicity detection, Water Safety Plans, and security issues. Microplastics have recently been an area of intense activity, especially in marine waters, but questions regarding their potential health effects on humans and the significance of waterborne exposure remain unanswered ( Rocha-Santos, 2018 ). DBPs remain major concern in drinking and recreational waters, with increased attention on understanding formation from different precursors, toxicity, and strategies to reduce or eliminate formation ( Li and Mitch, 2018 ; Manasfi et al., 2018 ). Antimicrobial resistance represents a major and increasing threat to public health, and the role of waste and drinking waters in the transmission of resistance genes needs to be clarified ( Manaia, 2017 , Wuijts, et al., 2017 ). Perfluorinated compounds such as PFOA and PFOS have gained increased public attention due to the potential health effects of levels found in source water and drinking water ( Morrison, 2016 ).

In-vitro bioassays for toxicity detection used for more than half a century to assess the safety of water reuse schemes have demonstrated their usefulness for the assessment of complex mixtures of pollutants. Their application, however, is still limited by lack of demonstration of the linkages between in-vitro and in-vivo response, and difficulty in interpreting results ( Leusch & Snyder, 2015 ). Water Safety Plans (incorporating water quality and security issues) have been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2004 ( WHO, 2004 ) and are being deployed worldwide. Their application should lead to improved ways of assessing water quality using real-time parameters and on-line sensors for operational control (e.g., turbidity at filter outlet or intrusion detection), in addition to typically lengthier time-to-result laboratory analyses used for compliance.

Water treatment

Water treatment includes technology, infrastructure, and methods for ensuring safe water supply. Since water treatment technologies may be tailored to a range of sources including surface water, groundwater, marine water, stormwater, and recycled wastewater, this thematic area overlaps with water resources, water reuse, and sanitation. Ensuring safe water supply requires a holistic perspective and attention to four main subthemes: cost-effectiveness of treatment and treatment upgrades (e.g., membranes); avoidance or removal of chemical additives, DBPs, and emerging contaminants; alternatives for pathogen removal or disinfection; and ecological sustainability (e.g., safe disposal of brine waste from seawater desalination). An additional participant contribution focused on updating treatment technologies for distributed (cellular) systems and water reuse. In reference to drivers and adaptations, much of the world’s water treatment infrastructure was constructed in the latter half of the twentieth century, and is increasingly in need of repair or replacement ( Moe and Rheingans, 2006 ).

Updates to water treatment systems must take into account the best available technology, as well as cost, resilience, and environmental constraints. Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses require accessible methods (e.g., Whittington and Hanemann, 2006 ) that consider costs and benefits accrued beyond the utility, for instance to the public and the environment. Such plans are especially pertinent when planning to replace or repair infrastructure that can flexibly meet needs (e.g., for a growing or declining population) over a multi-decadal lifespan. In addition to disinfection methods using chlorine, ozone, or ultraviolet light (UV), novel disinfection methods might include induction of autolysis of bacteria in water systems, for instance using quorum-sensing particles or bacteriophages. Limiting the formation of DBPs was recognized as a driver for this subtheme ( Li and Mitch, 2018 ). While new approaches are constantly under development, consideration of the health impacts of pathogen reduction by various methods and degrees would help to support decision-making. The extension of the SDGs to serve all, including remote populations in unique environments, requires added attention to water treatment decentralization and conservation via onsite reuse ( Insight et al., 2017 ).

Water microbiology

Water microbiology research concerns microbial communities and their effects on water resources and human or animal health. Microbes can float freely in water, attach to particles, aerosolize, or live in biofilms (slimy matrices that form on surfaces). Knowledge about pathogenic microorganisms in water and wastewater has saved millions of lives over the last century from enteric disease outbreaks such as cholera ( Rosen, 2015 ; Schlipköter and Flahault, 2010 ) and typhoid. The drinking water microbiome may comprise up to 40 phyla, which change during various stages of water treatment and distribution ( Proctor and Hammes, 2015 ). The primary global burden of disease is associated with enteric pathogens spread via water and food, particularly rotavirus, Cryptosporidium, Shigella, and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) ( Kotloff, 2017 ). Microbes and their pathogenicity are constantly evolving in response to environmental stimuli, which can lead to antimicrobial resistance and emerging human diseases. Topics raised by participants included interaction within microbiomes and biofilms, community stability or regrowth (e.g., in distributed or stored water), and investigative tools such as metagenomics.

Among biological hazards to human health, water treatment processes have traditionally targeted enteric pathogens only ( Fewtrell and Bartram, 2001 ) and these continue to be critical for safety ( Setty et al., 2018a ). More recently, disease outbreaks associated with treated water and other water systems, such as cooling towers, show a significant increase in respiratory diseases caused by water-based opportunistic pathogens such as Legionella pneumophila ( Beer et al., 2015 ; Gargano et al., 2017 ). Effective and safe drinking water distribution systems and plumbing systems in large buildings ( Cunliffe et al., 2011 ) are crucial to protect and improve health. Water treatment processes, nutrients, disinfection residuals, DBPs, and the abiotic factors of distribution systems and on-premises plumbing (e.g., stagnation of water, temperature) have significant impacts on the microbial community of tap water and associated water quality ( Wang et al., 2018 ). Moreover, free-living amoebae and some other protozoa present in distribution systems protect certain bacterial pathogens from disinfectants and support intracellular growth of pathogens like Legionella ( Balczun and Scheid, 2017 ; Lu et al., 2014 ; Pagnier et al., 2015 ).

Microbial quality and chemical quality interact, especially where chemical disinfectants used for microbial inactivation give rise to added chemical hazards. One primary concern has been the health effects of DBPs, since many are considered carcinogenic ( Richardson et al., 2007 ). Some suggest adapting treatment processes to select for bacteria such as Rhodococcus and Mycobacterium , which are capable of biodegrading DBPs ( Sharp et al., 2010 ; Gerrity et al., 2018 ). Yet, another concern is inadvertent selection of disinfectant-resistant bacteria such as mycobacteria or antimicrobial resistant bacteria that can opportunistically cause infection in immunocompromised people ( Von Reyn et al., 1994 ; Whiley et al., 2012 ; Gerrity et al., 2018 ; Liu et al., 2018 ; Potgieter et al., 2018 ; Stüken et al., 2018 ). Thus, manipulation of microbial ecology to promote “beneficial” microbes is an important area of continuing research.

Advancement in gene sequencing methods provide exciting new insights and opportunities for water microbiology research, although the presence of nucleic acids does not translate directly to infectivity ( Tan et al., 2015 ). Future research might target biological processes in water treatment, use of metagenomics to characterize occurrence and fate of antimicrobial resistance genes, the virome of wastewater, or microbial ecology. Understanding microbial ecology is important to design sustainable and safe water systems. Some studies suggest that tap water bacterial composition depends primarily on treatment processes rather than source water ( Wang et al., 2013 ; Zhang et al., 2017 ). Thus, the microorganisms and DBPs present in treated drinking water could alter the microbiota in the human gut, which would ultimately influence human health (e.g., Von Hertzen et al., 2007 ). A better understanding these relationships could inform the best drinking water management approaches for achieving public health benefits.

Risk assessment and management

Risk assessment and management consists of technologies, methods, behaviors, and processes that support conversion of evidence about risk to planning and mitigation among stakeholders. This often involves ranking different hazards harmful to people at different life stages, taking into account mortality, illness (disability-adjusted life years or DALYs), and other types of consequences. Subthemes of participant contributions on this topic included: (a) management tools for combining multiple types or measures of risk under a common framework, (b) risks related to extreme weather events, (c) security in the face of political instability (e.g., war or terror attacks), and (d) accounting for uncertainties and unknown risks. An additional submission related to the water microbiology and information and artificial intelligence categories suggested using burgeoning data availability (e.g., metagenomics and other “omics”) to inform risk management. Changing demographics represented a relevant driver, as this may lead to shifts in the sensitivity or receptivity of populations to various hazards.

Multiple risk management tools and approaches were raised as potential options for water systems, including synthesis frameworks such as Water Safety Plans ( Bartram et al., 2009 ), quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA; Petterson and Ashbolt, 2016 ) for microbial pathogens, as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA; Lindhe et al., 2010 ) principles for contaminant reduction, and geospatial modeling (e.g., Lafforgue et al., 2018 ). One issue may be how to combine data-driven management of multiple risk categories (e.g., water quality, financial risk, reputational risk). Risk management programs such as Water Safety Plans have been actively piloted and evaluated in recent years ( WHO and IWA, 2017 ), demonstrating potential benefits to public health ( Gunnarsdóttir, et al., 2012 ; Setty et al., 2017 ), but work remains to facilitate an enabling implementation environment in both low-middle and high-income countries ( Baum and Bartram, 2018 ). While most efforts in past decades were dedicated to managing chemical hazards, emerging risks are more often linked to microorganisms ( Rusin et al., 1997 ). Based on prior seminar topics, risk assessment related to nanotechnology is needed as compounds may be more or less toxic at the nanoscale ( Rocha-Santos, 2018 ). Climate extremes are expected to become more severe in coming decades ( IPCC, 2014 ), leading to a great deal of research among water suppliers, environmental managers, and public health officers around mechanisms for planning, adaptation, and resilience ( Deere, 2017 ).

Regarding security, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 led to greater awareness around water supply vulnerabilities ( Camarillo et al., 2014 ). Safety largely requires responsiveness to both urgent and subtle water crises, including those with non-malevolent causes such as long-term drought or shifting water demands. In the NGT exercise, hospitals were mentioned as a particularly vulnerable type of institution, mirroring newer findings of poor attention to water, sanitation, and hygiene systems in settings with greater-than-average immunocompromised populations at risk of infectious diseases ( WHO & UNICEF, 2015 ). Loss of hospital water supplies (e.g., due to a crisis or intermittent service) puts patients at greater risk and often requires compromises in sanitary procedures or physiologically stressful patient transfers. Approach and methodology options for addressing uncertainty and unknown risks include the precautionary principle, expert consultation, probabilistic inference, sensitivity tests, fuzzy-set theory, value-based weighting preferences, or conditional rules ( Almaarofi et al., 2017 ; Dominguez-Chicas and Scrimshaw, 2010 ; Petterson and Ashbolt, 2016 ). Automated data production, management, and decision-support systems may aid in earlier detection of risks, enabling faster response times.

Sanitation considers management of human excreta, wastewater, and solid waste to lessen negative human, animal, and environmental consequences. Within this area, key subthemes raised by participants included access to sanitation services and improving their quality, especially using decentralized wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS). Priorities also included improving knowledge of pathogens and micropollutants in liquid and solid waste disposal, particularly for risks associated with their persistence, removal from wastewater, and the sanitary, environmental, and occupational implications. In sum, these topics complement the water resources and socioeconomic subthemes, and create synergies for enhancing usability of freshwater and marine resources.

Ensuring availability and improvement of sanitation systems has been an area of intense activity. The WHO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) reported that more than 2.1 billion people gained access to improved sanitation between 1990 and 2015 ( WHO and UNICEF, 2017 ). Still, more than 2.4 billion people had no access to improved sanitation and 1 billion remained without any sanitation system. Taking into account the ambitious new service norm of “safely managed” sanitation, meaning a household has an improved facility with in-situ excreta disposal or transport and treatment offsite, a whopping 5.3 billion people lacked coverage ( WHO and UNICEF, 2017 ). Decentralization appears as a logical evolution for handling increasing loads of wastewater and urban stormwater. A study published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) demonstrated the potential for sustainable decentralized water resource management in urban environments, with better flexibility and at a lower cost than current sanitation systems ( OECD, 2015 ). In addition, many urban centers continue to seek solutions for managing concentrated urban runoff, in some cases by facilitating treatment of discharge collected by separate or combined sewer systems ( Barbosa et al., 2012 ).

Better knowledge of the fate of pathogens and micropollutants from wastewater represents a valuable addition to the research docket, as it will improve understanding and management of subsequent risks to public health ( Campos et al., 2016 ; Gavrilescu et al., 2015 ). Along with molecular and chromatographic methods, high-throughput sequencing and mass spectrometry have enabled more rapid analysis of their transport, dissemination, and persistence in the environment. Still, researchers have limited information on both the long-term effects of micropollutant cocktails and their relationship with the emergence of new bacterial and viral pathogens ( Jekel et al., 2013 ; Sano et al., 2016 ). Concerning the implications of waste disposal, some studies have addressed wastewater reuse and solid waste disposal ( Kellis et al., 2013 ; Kinnaman, 2017 ; Maimon et al., 2010 ), but more attention is needed to determine method effectiveness and pollutant persistence. Seminar participants felt that wastewater reusability (e.g., for water, energy, nutrients) and mastery of pollutant removal were critical components of waste management for the next 5–10 years. Forward-looking commentary on adaptations and the potential use of wastewater revolved around public health surveillance via human biomonitoring ( Joas et al., 2017 ).

Water resources

Water resources refers to conservation of existing and potential new ambient water supplies for human and ecological use. Research priorities primarily fell into two subthemes: (a) water supply quantity and quality stressors and (b) water management solutions. Quantity stressors included shortage, drought, and water loss. Quality stressors related to industrial, agricultural, and other pollutant sources that lead to groundwater contamination and fecal pollution in watersheds. Regarding management solutions, participants cited protection, conservation, improved management planning at the watershed level, and attention to irrigation practices. To achieve SDG 6, the 2018 United Nations’ world water development report emphasizes nature-based solutions tapping wastewater as an underused resource ( WWAP/UN-Water, 2018 ), consistent with the sanitation theme above.

Water resources planning and accounting will require projection of suspected stressors, such as climate change ( Olmstead, 2014 ). Accounting concepts include a water footprint, defined as the total volume of freshwater used directly and indirectly by a nation or a company, or in the provision of a product or service ( Chenoweth et al., 2014 ). Economic approaches such as payment for environmental services (PES) represents a potential option to protect water quality at the watershed scale ( Lafforgue, 2016 ). Bioremediation and source tracking methods were similarly raised as management tools to address pollutant fate and movement within surface and groundwater. Overlapping with the water reuse category, an additional submission had to do with considering the circular economy of water resources in which uncontaminated water circulates in closed loops, allowing repeated use ( Eneng et al., 2018 ) rather than traditional collection, use, and disposal into the environment.

Information and artificial intelligence

This category revolves around data collection and processing to enable EIDM. Few submissions were repetitive or demonstrative of trends, suggesting a wide array of needs in this research area. Data modeling was a research need for holistically considering contaminant sources, pathways, effects on water quality, and control options at a systems level inclusive of the watershed, infrastructure, and receptors (e.g., Lafforgue et al, 2018 ). Other needs included management, transmission, integration, and safe storage of large amounts of data from diverse sources (e.g., watershed, water supply and treatment, public health, open data, video streams, social media). Appropriate instrumentation and centralized management systems should be developed to accomplish these tasks. Speed was of key concern, for example using artificial intelligence as an alternative to long, difficult, and costly epidemiology studies.

Experts recognize care should be taken in communicating the potential for artificial intelligence to replace existing methods. For instance, Google Flu Trends ( Ginsberg, 2009 ) was released in 2006, but withdrawn after a few years due to its tendency to over-predict influenza infections based on Google search data. Despite some limitations, data analytics and artificial intelligence will be considered useful and necessary tools to explore data and contribute to better management of water systems in the future. Participants recommended data systems both to survey ongoing performance shifts and to detect or diagnose abnormalities (e.g., in infrastructure integrity). Optimization exercises can help to solve complex water network design or health hazard problems, taking into account many different criteria, and leading to better solutions than manual design (e.g., Maier et al., 2014 ).

Real-time/rapid methods

Real-time monitoring of drinking water systems includes the technologies and data systems that help managers to maintain safety and respond quickly to accidental or malevolent incidents. Participant feedback dealt with early, real-time, online, and point-of-use contaminant detection, spanning both chemical and biological parameters. In addition to informing water treatment processes, participants anticipated deployment of sensors in source water, distribution systems, and at the point of use to maintain active surveillance and problem detection.

Research interest has been growing in online monitoring for both chemical and biological water quality, including harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins ( Storey et al. 2011 ; Lopez-Roldan et al. 2013 ). Online monitoring equipment can be installed as an early warning system for the water intake, treatment process monitoring and main entry points to the distribution system. In ambient waters, real-time and rapid methods also concern water-contact and other recreational uses. Complexity derives from the current impossibility of constructing a single sensor to detect all contaminants or pathogens. Studies investigating the performance of various water quality sensors on different contamination patterns suggest monitoring changes to conventional parameters, such as pH, temperature, turbidity, electrical conductivity, and free chlorine concentration, may sufficiently address concerns associated with health risk, customer perceptions (aesthetic taste and odor), and asset management ( Hall et al. 2007 ).

Such monitoring systems should distinguish abnormal changes from normal variations. Thus, event detection models are required for exploring the time series of each water quality parameter and detecting anomalies in water supply systems and networks ( Housh & Ostfeld 2015 ). The cost for sensor deployment and operation limits the number of locations that can be monitored in real time. Future studies will likely aim to develop low-cost and miniaturized sensor technologies to make continuous and complete monitoring possible throughout a water system. In addition to treatment facilities, participants raised installing sensors in distribution pipes (such as sensor chips attached to pipe walls), consumer taps, and individual water meters.

Water reuse

Water reuse refers to safe reuse and recycling to enable sustainable water supplies for human and ecological use. Increasing water supply challenges, aggravated by human population growth and climate change, have driven interest in water reuse as a main component of the new era of water management ( Hering et al., 2013 ). Within this area, key subthemes raised by participants included: technologies for the treatment and reuse of wastewater or alternative water sources, health risks associated with water reuse in particular for potable purpose, and public perception and acceptance of water reuse for potable and non-potable (e.g., agriculture, industry, toilet flushing) purposes.

Research into engineered treatment technologies has been intense, including membrane filtration and oxidation treatment to eliminate microbial and chemical contaminants ( Tang et al., 2018 ; Zodrow et al. 2017 ). Recent advances in membrane technology, particularly reverse osmosis (RO), have played a key role in producing highly purified recycled water and driving an increase in water reuse projects worldwide. This research aims to achieve cost-effectiveness and reliability in removing microbial and chemical contaminants ( Tang et al., 2018 ). Since some chemical contaminants (e.g., certain DBPs, pharmaceuticals) can cross RO membranes, post-RO oxidation treatments capable of removing these contaminants have been integrated into treatment schemes. Traditionally, advanced oxidation processes that generate hydroxyl radicals have been used, and electrochemistry-based oxidation treatment has been attracting increasing attention ( Feng et al., 2016 ). The degree of adoption of any technology will depend on its effectiveness, energy demands, feasibilty, and integration into future water treatment systems ( von Gunten, 2018 ). Nature-based solutions such as managed aquifer recharge (MAR) and biofiltration similarly show promise for promoting water reuse ( Water JPI, 2016 ).

To enhance understanding around the safety of water reuse, further toxicological and epidemiological studies are warranted ( NRC, 2012 ). In exposure circumstances where toxicological and epidemiological dose-response data are lacking, risk assessment can account for uncertainty and use the best available knowledge to support design of safe reuse systems ( NRC, 2012 ). Further, quality assurance of treatment schemes with regard to elimination of chemical and biological contaminants, economic effectiveness, and feasibility of integration into water systems must be resolved to demonstrate usefulness of novel treatment approaches, for example via studying the scaled-up engineering designs ( Lazarova et al, 2013 ). Water reuse may be an especially efficient option in water-scarce contexts, where regulation permits reuse and other options cost more ( Lafforgue and Lenouvel, 2015 ).

In sum, water reuse complements other efforts to increase water availability (e.g., conservation, desalination) and appears as a critical component of ongoing sustainable water management. Some participants mentioned public perception of water reuse, which overlaps with the socioeconomy of water. Public acceptance of water reuse is a prominent factor in determining the future of water reuse, as it significantly influences political decisions on water reuse projects ( Dolnicar et al., 2011 ).

Water-energy nexus

The water-energy nexus refers to the study of how energy use interacts with provision of sustainable water services. Within this area, key subthemes raised by participants included resource rarefaction (water, energy, raw materials) and how to counteract this phenomenon by developing synergies between water-energy-waste cycles, redefining water and sanitation using decentralized and renewable energy-based solutions, safe water treatment at a low energy cost, and microbial fuel cells for sustainable energy production.

Water rarefaction is increasing due to long-term increases in water abstraction, declining resource availability ( Damania et al., 2017 ; 2030 Water Resources Group, 2009 ), and the projected effects of climate change. Research focuses on three main options: increasing water production by desalination, reducing abstraction by recycling urban waters, and reducing water consumption and water losses. However, desalination and water recycling frequently use energy-intensive membrane filtration, replacing a problem by another one. Singapore, for example, is an island city-state faced with this issue ( Lenouvel et al., 2014 ). An integrated perspective would account for such risk substitution.

For instance, the Water and Wastewater Companies for Climate Mitigation (WaCCLIM) roadmap to carbon neutrality in urban water recommends research into low-energy options to produce, transfer and purify water ( Ballard et al., 2018 ). One option is to recover or produce energy from water (e.g., hot water recycling, energy-neutral wastewater treatment, hydropower production in water networks, microbial fuel cells). Another option is to save energy (e.g., low-energy membrane filtration, pumping and pressure optimization, reduction of water consumption, early leak detection). Water recycling in short loops using nature-based solutions may improve water management and save energy ( WWAP/UN-Water, 2018 ; Lafforgue and Lenouvel, 2015 ; Kavvada et al., 2016 ). OSMOSUN® solar desalination units are one example of a technology combining renewable energy and water production. Similar recommendations are included in the International Water Association Principles for Water-Wise Cities being adopted around the world ( IWA, 2016 ).

In sum, NGT participants felt that water-energy synergies, water short loops, and renewable energy emerged as prominent options to investigate resource rarefaction. Flexible solutions require time and development, as they are very context dependent ( Lafforgue et al., 2014 ). Investigative tools for structuring and testing potential water-energy option combinations (e.g., Urb’Advanced) may be useful.

Comparison to other studies

With increased activity around the SDGs, WaSH professionals have renewed efforts to examine high-priority research areas ( UN Water, 2018 ; WHO and UNICEF, 2017 ). Needs assessments are a valuable step in structuring research, policy, and practice responses. This study is one of several efforts to gather data on water and health knowledge needs, for instance via literature review ( Hutton and Chase, 2016 ), electronic survey ( Setty et al., 2018b ), review of meeting abstracts ( Kogevinas, 2017 ), and knowledge translation activities ( USAID, 2017 ). While the framing differs among agenda-setting methods and studies, these synergistic efforts contribute to capacity building to support global goals toward safe water and sanitation for all.

In connection with WHO-Europe efforts to set priorities for environmental health research, Kogevinas (2017) recommended dialogue between researchers and stakeholders rather than algorithms or semi-quantitative grading to non-prescriptively assess potential research topics against novelty, importance to people, impact on policy, and technical innovation and development. The WaSH research prioritization survey in collaboration with the Sanitation and Water for All partnership ( Setty et al., 2018b ) was structured around SDG 6 targets, with heavy representation from African partners, whereas the present effort garnered representation primarily from high-income regions. The literature review ( Hutton and Chase, 2016 ) looked retrospectively at peer-reviewed and gray literature, in contrast to the forward-looking expert elicitation used here. Both the literature review, which is subject to publication bias, and our in-person approach, requiring costly travel, likely underrepresent researchers from lowand middle-income countries.

While the results of these studies overlap in many ways, research policy and the financing of research were not considered in this study. Similarly, while hygiene and associated behavior change were not excluded topics, they did not emerge as a substantive focus during the NGT exercises. Though not explicitly discussed during the NGT sessions, the context for the study was set in an era of shifting priorities, as the SDGs set out more challenging expectations for water and health professionals, and unlike similar development initiatives in preceding decades, the SDGs explicitly apply to countries at all stages of development. The targets for SDG 6 ( UN, 2018 ) comprise:

• Achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
• Achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
• Improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
• Substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
• Implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
• Protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
• Expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programs, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
• Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

Equity represents a central component of SDG 6 and also appeared as an underlying driver of research needs in this study. Many aspects of SDG 6, such as “safe,” “affordable,” and “participation” were mentioned using similar wording under the socioeconomy of water category, which dominated the research priorities; however, subthemes addressed neither transboundary management nor capacity building. Untreated wastewater management features in both the SDG 6 targets and the sanitation category of the research priorities, although the SDG 6 focus on ending open defecation was reflected as increasing access to sanitation. The water resources and water reuse categories corresponded well to the SDG 6 targets, including remediation of polluted ecosystems and desalination, respectively. The research agenda presented here paid less heed to the specific needs of women and girls (e.g., for physical safety and menstrual hygiene management).

Limitations

The NGT approach was appropriate for including all ideas (rather than just the majority), accommodating heterogeneity of experience in the group, and ensuring equal footing for underrepresented voices in research planning ( CDC, 2006 ; Tague, 2004 ). Although the results provided sufficient information for the study’s purposes and saturation was achieved via subsequent data triangulation, limitations to internal validity include adaptations of the process used to fit time constraints. Limitations of NGT include the need for conformity within a somewhat mechanical process. The group sizes (33 or 18 participants) were large by NGT standards ( Taylor et al., 1958 ). While unlikely to have restricted idea generation, this might have hampered full-group discussion and clustering of ideas. We sought to overcome this by more thoroughly reviewing the categorization afterward, using multiple reviewers. Normally, NGT includes scoring and ranking after grouping ( CDC, 2006 ), but we accomplished this afterward using simple frequencies and requested member checking remotely several months following the sessions.

While an effort was made to consider ten years of data and multiple categories of water and health professionals, the methods inherently rely on a sample of professionals, which limits external validity and generalizability. As is the case with focus groups, the viewpoints captured may not represent all members of a certain demographic. Since participants need to travel to attend the conference in person, representation skewed toward a small number of high-income countries especially in vicinity of France. Furthermore, the scientific committee and practitioners were invited, and this method of “sampling” is more likely to result in a cohesive group that shares similar viewpoints. The student participants, in contrast, can openly apply to attend, and are intentionally selected to increase diversity. Water and health topics specified on the event announcement aim to attract student expertise in the area of emerging waterborne pollutants and pathogens, epidemiology, microbiology, toxicology, analytical chemistry, risk assessment, water treatment, water hygiene, public health, and sociological aspects of risk management. Advertisement and marketing is generally limited and likely does not reach all possible candidates.

Recommendations

Research planning processes often stem from independent primary investigators, either in isolation or in collaboration with others, typically with a goal of achieving publication in a peer-reviewed journal. In many cases, research planning and execution is closely determined by funding availability on specific topics, for example via requests for proposals ( Setty et al., 2018b ). Mechanisms for accountability to the public, governments, and practitioners are less well established in academia, although applied, translational, and implementation research has gained traction in recent decades ( Hering, 2018 ). Setty et al. (2018b) found stakeholders outside of academia (e.g., governmental and civil society organizations) sought but perceived fewer opportunities to engage in learning and training events. Making research relevant to potential end users and decision makers recommends cross-sector communication about research priorities ( Kogevinas, 2017 ; Roux et al., 2006 ). Although not inclusive of all possible stakeholder types, this project offered one approach to eliciting practitioner and potentially other stakeholder group perspectives on research planning.

Broad, inclusive processes are recommended for research planning ( Setty et al., 2018b ), including scientists as well as other stakeholder types, with attention to underrepresented voices. Such processes are more likely to identify a mix of short- and long-term priorities as well as diverse perspectives and needs. The SDG process, for instance, provide an example of inclusive priority setting, which can be used to justify research efforts from 2016–2030 ( UN General Assembly, 2015 ). Another example comes from the US National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education in 2018, which invited input from members of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, an international group of professors educating on environmental protection, science, and technology topics ( NSF, 2018 ). They sought to identify environmental research and education directions that would further advance national security and economic competitiveness. This direct solicitation took place in tandem with a public comment period over about two months.

Conscientious, structured exercises such as NGT can bolster equity, transparency, and inclusivity of research planning processes ( Viergever et al., 2010 ). This and other approaches may be adapted to fit case-specific constraints and needs, although users should document adaptations to consider how they might alter effectiveness ( Allen et al., 2017 ; Bartunek and Murninghan, 1984 ). Depending on organizational needs, periodic reflective exercises can be timed to fit into research planning cycles ( Weichselgartner and Kasperson, 2010 ). In practical terms, participation in research prioritization exercises can be time-consuming. At a macro level, doing an exercise in conjunction with an existing collaborative event created minimal additional cost and labor. At a micro level, grouping similar responses together as they came up likewise offered a time advantage.

Conclusions

High-priority research areas (in order of frequency) included the socioeconomy of water, water quality, water treatment, microbiology, risk assessment and management, sanitation, water resources, real-time and rapid methods, water reuse, and the water-energy nexus. Each of these themes housed a range of more detailed research subthemes and questions. Underlying drivers of water and health research included social inequity, shifting international relations, demographic trends, aging infrastructure, antimicrobial resistance, and emerging diseases. To support attainment of the SDG targets for water and sanitation, water and health professionals will need to integrate efforts across environmental and health systems, sectors, and exposures; decentralize infrastructure and monitoring capabilities; and adopt more advanced processes for safety, surveillance, and responsiveness. The study methods and findings may prove useful for planning research funding offerings, projects, practicums, and quality improvement efforts among a variety of organizational types focused on water and health issues.

• Expert elicitation technique ranked water and health research priorities.
• A prime concern centered on the socioeconomics of meeting water needs.
• Team-based narrative review provided commentary on all research priorities.
• Dialogue among scientists and practitioners is needed to progress toward SDGs.

Acknowledgements

Our gratitude extends to all participants in the 2018 International Water and Health Seminar in Cannes for their enthusiastic collaboration. We are especially indebted to the meeting coordinators for arranging the session logistics. Suez provided financial sponsorship for the meeting, and student travel was in many cases made possible by their respective sponsors and institutions. Additional financial support for research (KS) was provided by the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (grant T32ES007018), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Royster Society of Fellows.

Declaration of interest

Authors include employees and contractors of Suez, who received remuneration for their time and travel expenses to attend work functions such as the seminar where this study took place. Senior academics on the scientific committee were similarly reimbursed for travel expenses to attend the seminar. Students accepted to the seminar received accommodations and meals for the duration of the seminar. Some participant institutions have received separate funding from Suez for specific research projects.

Workshop participants

Jamie Bartram, The Water Institute at UNC

Elke Dopp, IWW Water Center

Martin Exner, University of Bonn

Philippe Hartemann, University of Lorraine

Paul Hunter, University of East Anglia

Gertjan Medema, KWR Water Cycle Research Institute

Mark Wiesner, Duke University

Michael Wilhelm, Ruhr-University Bochum

Practitioners

Reynald Bonnard, Suez

Sophie Courtois, Suez

Jerome Enault, Suez

Michel Lafforgue, Suez Consulting

Xavier Litrico, Suez

Jean-François Loret, Suez

Pierre Pieronne, Suez

Olivier Schlosser, Suez

Daniel Villessot, Suez

Flavia Zraick, Suez

Claire Bertelli, University of Lausanne*

Helena Bielak, IWW Water Center

Nadratun Chowdhury, Duke University

Christina Fiedler, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna

Charlotte Christiane Hammer, University of East Anglia

Tarek Manasfi, University of Aix-Marseille*

Manon Michaut, University of Rouen

Laura Palli, University of Florence

Yoann Perrin, University of Poitiers

Nicholas Rogers, Duke University

Sydney Rudko, University of Alberta

Mohamed Shaheen, University of Alberta

Sohan Shrestha, University of Queensland

Esther Sib, University of Bonn

Vincent Tesson, French National Institute for Agricultural Research

* postdoctoral scholar

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Research on ecosystem services of water conservation and soil retention: a bibliometric analysis

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• Published: 08 September 2020
• Volume 28 , pages 2995–3007, ( 2021 )

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• Sinuo Liu 1 ,
• Yin Lei 1 ,
• Jinsong Zhao 1 ,
• Shuxia Yu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3606-3639 1 &
• Ling Wang 1  

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Water conservation and soil retention are two essential regulating services that are closely related, and their relationship might produce synergies or trade-offs. Distinguishing the current status and evolution of research in this field could provide a scientific foundation for subsequent research. “Water conservation” and “soil retention” were selected as keywords for a search of Web of Science for publications during 1976–2018. A total of 4489 periodical articles were obtained. Using bibliometric and social network analysis tools, the scientific output performance, national research contributions, potential hot topics, and connections between keywords and the levels of cooperation between countries at different stages were explored to reveal the related development trends. The results showed that the literature on water conservation and soil retention increased rapidly, especially after 2008. The USA, China, and India were the most productive countries, and the USA, the UK, and Canada were the most influential countries regarding international cooperation. Agriculture, water resource utilization, water–soil erosion, and ecosystem services were closely related topics, and the connections between these topics have increased since 1998. In addition to sustainability, the response of water conservation and soil retention to global environmental change, such as water resource management, land use, and land conservation, are potential emerging research hotspots.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professor Zhen Wang for his comments and suggestions on the revision of the manuscript.

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC0505406) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41877070).

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Liu, S., Lei, Y., Zhao, J. et al. Research on ecosystem services of water conservation and soil retention: a bibliometric analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28 , 2995–3007 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10712-4

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10712-4

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• Water Recycling: Why Is It Important? Different countries face varying challenges in as far as provision of clean water to its population is concerned depending with its economic development level and geographic location.
• The Problem of Water Scarcity The paper states that although the problem of scarcity of water is severe, it is crucial to take measures to solve it since they can improve the situation.
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• Bottled Water Impact on Environment This paper seeks to amplify the need for regulation of the used water bottles. It is quite obvious that water bottles are the highest in a number of all bottles thrown away after use.
• Water Intake and Output: Mechanisms of Regulation For healthy function, the human body requires water balance as one of the key mechanisms, where the average daily water intake and output are relatively equal.
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• Land Usage and Water Quality in Saudi Arabia The effect of land use in Saudi Arabian water quality has intensified the region’s water crisis, causing economic, ecological, and social challenges.
• Studying the Venturi Effect Through Water Flow Calculation The Venturi effect is of particular importance in fluid dynamics, characterizing the pressure drop of a fluid as it flows through narrow spaces.
• Fiji Water Case Study Analysis Brandon Miller aims to establish a business that is the distribution of Fiji water for Monroe and Wayne market areas.
• Glacéau Company: Vitamin Water Ethics The business practice of this paper is the production and sale of vitamin water by Glacéau in which the company states that the water being sold has been “enriched” with vitamins.
• Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Nhuong The book Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Nhuong tells the story of a young boy in a central village in Vietnam. The story presents unique characteristics of Vietnam society and culture.
• How Access to Clean Water Influences the Problem of Poverty Since people in some developing countries have insufficient water supply even now, they suffer from starvation, lack of hygiene, and water-associated diseases.
• “Bling H2O” Bottled Water in the Australian Market Bling H2O water is the world’s most expensive bottled water. The brand’s creator targeted to sell it to the celebrities who highly esteem their bottled water.
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• Food and Water Security as Globalization Issues Globalization has several implications for the business environment, among which are the expanded access to resources, and the interdependence of international companies.
• Lake Mattoon: Recreational Site and Water Reservoir Lake Mattoon remains one of Coles county’s best recreation sites and major water reservoirs; it is a big, man-made lake with lush green shores and big fish populations.
• The Problem of Environmental Water Pollution This paper discusses a public health concern by explaining the causes of water pollution, how it affects human communities, and the possible strategies.
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• Changes in the Global Water Cycle Changes in the climate brought about by global warming have a much bigger likelihood of impacting negatively on the global hydrological cycle.
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• Relocation of Solar Power System to Easy Life Water Ventures The paper states that having an effective power source will help the organization operate smoothly and sustainably and increase its reputation.
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• Water Pollution Effects on Human Health The paper describes the effects of water pollution on human health from the perspective of existing findings on this topic and the assessment of information.
• The Problem of Environmental Pollution: Fresh Water One of the more important concerns that are fast becoming a major threat is pollution and no form of pollution seemed to be bigger than that of freshwater pollution.
• Combating Arsenic Contamination in Water The well known fact is that water is the most valuable natural resource that exists and without which survival of life is impossible.
• Is Bottled Water Dangerous for People and the Environment? The purpose of this paper is to discuss alternative perspectives on bottled water and whether it is dangerous for people and the planet.
• Bottle Water Industry in Current Economic UK Climate The research question is whether bottled water is a necessity or a luxury with regard to the current economic climate in the United Kingdom.
• Protecting the Current and Future Water Supply for Rio de Janiero In the current rate of use, as well as the consensus reached by the governing officials in Rio de Janeiro, there will be enough potable water until 2025.
• Bottled Water Status in the UK With the current economic climate in the UK, the issue of whether bottled water has become a luxury or a necessity.
• Water Resources in Australia: Usage and Management Australia is one of the driest continents in the world. Various governmental and non-governmental institutions have teamed up to face the challenges facing people as far as water is concerned.
• Virtual Water Savings and Trade in Agriculture The idea of virtual water was initially created as a method for assessing how water-rare nations could offer food, clothing, and other water-intensive products to their residents.
• Water Management and Ecology Issues The paper studies water management, its various implications and explains why this area is important on examples of environmental issues.
• Water Scarcity Issue and Environment The paper answers the question why to be worried about running out of drinking water even though the earth’s surface is mostly made of water.
• Water Pollution This essay seeks to examine the concept of water pollution, its causes, effects and solutions to water pollution.
• Human Energy Consumption and Water Power Human energy use is significantly low compared to natural energy flow. Waterpower is not significant in energy flow because it is renewable energy.
• Agriculture, Water, and Food Security in Tanzania This paper evaluates the strategies applicable to the development and further maintenance of agriculture, water, and food security in Tanzania.
• Aspects of Global Pollution of Water Global pollution of water resources has devasting effects on the environment that include the destruction of the ocean ecosystem and biodiversity.
• High-Quality Water Supply in the United States The American community has become more conscious about their health and general physical condition. Consequently, a high-quality water supply stays a priority in many households.
• Assessment: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority As a key component of Dubai’s economy, DEWA is critical in assisting the Emirate’s growth and transition to a zero-economy economy.
• Hyponatremia: How Much Water Do You Actually Need? Some schools, like Mississippi State, do hydration tests before each practice to ensure their players are adequately hydrated.
• Analyzing the Use of Water in Danticat, Roumain, and Marshall The use of water in the three novels Roumain’s “Masters of the Dew,” Danticat’s “Krik? Krak!” and Paul’s “Praise Song for the Widow” has a symbolic meaning.
• Water Pollution and How to Address It A person must protect nature – in particular water resources. After all, the possibilities of water resources are not unlimited and sooner or later, they may end.
• Water Pollution: Effects and Treatment Pollution of water bodies is a serious hazard to humans and the aquatic ecology, and population growth is hastening climate change.
• Examining Solutions for Mitigating the Food and Water Security Issue Hunger, malnutrition, and decreased resource distribution manifest in communities having issues with food and water security, which decreases the well-being of individuals.
• Impact of Water Pollution: Water Challenges of an Urbanizing World Water is a source of life on Earth, and it is one of the very first needs of living beings. It is a vital resource for the development of the economic and social sectors.
• Evaluation of Articles on Food and Water Security The two resources chosen for this discussion pertain to food and water security solutions. The scholarly source is visually distinct from the popular source due to its structure.
• The Clean Water Network Support Statement Fresh water has become one of the most valuable resources in the world, around which regional or even global wars may occur in the future.
• Global Societal Issue: Food and Water Security According to research, food and water security is a pertinent global problem in the current decade, with access to food and water becoming scarce in certain world regions.
• Climate Change and Accessibility to Safe Water The paper discusses climate change’s effect on water accessibility, providing graphs on water scarcity and freshwater use and resources.
• The High Heat Capacity of Water The heat capacity of water greatly affects the planet’s climate. At high temperatures, water absorbs heat, and when it gets colder, it gives it away.
• Exploring the Agenda for Fresh Water Supply in Remote Regions The fundamental thesis of this entire paper is that scientific and technological advances catalyze the development of technologies to deliver fresh water to remote areas of Texas.
• What Is Water-Related Terrorism and How to Cope With It? Water-related terrorism includes damaging government facilities, and since water resources are vital for human existence, it is profitable for terrorists to attack them.
• Whirlpool in the Sea off the Coast of Scotland Near Ayrshire Due to Waste Water Stunning drone images near Lendalfoot in South Ayrshire captured a glimpse of a mammoth whirlpool off the Scottish west coast.
• Fresh Water Toxins: Serious Threat to Health This paper discusses fresh water toxins as a serious threat to health, analyzes Los Angeles drinking water, access to clean water and sanitation.
• Safe Drinking Water: Current Status and Recommendations The study proposes the usage of agricultural waste as a sustainable biosorbent for toxic metal ions removal from contaminated water.
• Essentials of Water in Supporting Biological Systems Water is essential in supporting the biological system in various ways; the properties of water help in understanding its importance.
• Underground Water Contamination in St. Louis Mo City In St. Louis Mo City of Missouri State, contamination of underground water is most likely and that is why the water supply is a subject to government policies.
• Twitter Campaign: Impact of Water Runoff Water runoff can cause flooding, which means property damage and mold formation in damp basements and more. This paper is a twitter campaign about the impact of water runoff.
• Water Pollution of New York City Rivers The aim of the analysis was to assess the effects of CSOs on water quality and the environment at different sites along the Harlem River.
• Water Cooling Tower Construction Site’s Problems The paper highlights three major problems at the construction site. They are security, scheduling, and safety problems.
• Is Bottled Water Safe for Public Health? Bottled water is just water but is marketed in such a way that makes it appear as healthy because it is positioned as “bottles water is healthy”.
• Recent Water Treatment and Production Developments This study attempts to investigate whether inorganic filters are more suitable for industrial and water treatment processes when compared to organic filters.
• Chemistry: Partitioning Coefficient of the Water The partitioning coefficient of the water solutions with of diuron, decadienal, atrazine, fluoranthene, and desethylatrazine compounds are calculated in accordance with the formula.
• Study of Local Water Resources Quality This laboratory report aims to summarize the results obtained during the study oxygen consumption, BOD, and detecting dissolved suspended solids in Hong Kong water.
• Developing Suspension Carbon Nano-Tubes in Water This paper has discussed nano-tubes and suspension as well as stabilization which make use of Multi-Wall-Carbon-Nanotubes by the function of concentrated SDS.
• A Cartographic History of Water Infrastructure and Urbanism in Rome The freshwater available to the city was a huge cultural and economic boon to Roman citizens. Some of this ancient water infrastructure is operational to this day.
• Integrated Water Strategies From Website Water Recycling The website http://waterrecycling.com/ is a front-end of their company showing various services that the company offers in the field of water recycling.
• The Causes of Water Pollution Water pollution is a significant decrease in water resources’ quality due to the ingress of various chemicals and solid waste. The causes of pollution are related to human activities.
• Political Ecology and Water Wars in Bolivia The given critical assessment will primarily focus on bringing a new perspective to the issue from the standpoint of political ecology.
• The Influence of Water on the Growth of Popcorn Plants The information from the study would aid farmers in identifying appropriate seasons to cultivate popcorn plants based on data of meteorological forecasts.
• Boiling Is a Process That Cools the Water This paper tells that bringing water to a boil while making tea is a progression that cools it since the process lessens the overall temperature.
• Water Conservation Practice in Olympia Olympia city has a comprehensive water conservation program that involves many projects. The city puts much effort into the conservation of water.
• Water Quality and Supply The main problem on the way to the solution of environmental issues is a violation of generally accepted rules.
• The Global Water Crisis: Issues and Solutions The water crisis has now been associated with the reduction in food quantity besides the scarcity of safe drinking water.
• Water Conservation Practice in Houston From the treatment of wastewater to the reduction of the consumption of the same Houston is an epitome of the increasing need to conserve resources, especially water.
• Burning Issue of Water Pollution in Washington The problem of polluted drinking water in Washington should be solved immediately despite various obstacles, such as pressure for money, etc.
• Drinking-Water in Third World Countries The shortage of drinking water in countries of Third World and the public controversy, surrounding the issue, illustrates the validity of this thesis better then anything else.
• Underground Water Overdraft in Southern California In California, the overuse of underground water reserves and the resultant overexploitation (overdraft) led to a serious water resources deficit.
• Water and Soil Pollution: Effects on the Environment Water and soil pollution is the process of contaminating water and soil. In this project, we will investigate the apparent main pollutants of the Spring Mill Lake.
• Bottled Water: Culture and Environmental Impact Bottled water as a particular branch of industrial growth in countries throughout the world represents the source of environmental pollution.
• Alternative Energy Sources: A Collaborative Approach in Water Management With the increasingly high prices of gasoline in particular and fossil fuels in general there is a need to find an alternative source of energy.
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Effect on Water Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitute one of the largest groups of compounds that produce widespread organic environmental pollution posing a risk to marine biota
• Lack of Water in California as an Environmental Issue California can run out of water because of technological and social problems that affected the region. Defining water resources’ “development” is critically important.
• Water Scarcity in the Middle East The Arab region has always had issues with the water supply but as the population continues to grow steadily, this issue has become even more alarming
• Potential Threats to Water Supplies in Ottawa The purpose of the research is to identify the distribution of threats to drinking water in the city and determine who might benefit and who might be harmed in the process.
• Water Quality in Savannah, Georgia The City of Savannah Water Supply and Treatment Department conducts numerous annual tests to ensure that drinking water in the region is safe for human consumption.
• Water Pollution Index of Batujai Reservoir, Central Lombok Regency-Indonesia Despite having 6% of the world’s water resources, Indonesia’s environmental policies have not only been raising concerns but also pushed the country to the brink of water crisis.
• Dream Water Company’s Product Marketing The core product is the main benefit that the product brings to the consumer. For Dream Water, the core product is the medication against insomnia.
• Water Management in the “Flow” Documentary The documentary “Flow” discusses and describes two significant things that are preventing people from having access to freshwater.
• Water Sanitation Program in Saudi Arabia In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the demand for water continues to increase without an equivalent increase in the supply, the level of hygiene may soon become a problem.
• Virtual Water Content and Global Water Savings The Virtual Water Content concept was the byproduct of discussions regarding the need to provide food in countries suffering from drought or plagued with perpetual water scarcity.
• Active Remediation Algorithm for Water Service in Flint The Active Remediation algorithm aims to inspect the water service in Flint, Michigan, and identify those lead pipes that need to be replaced by copper pipes.
• Water Savings and Virtual Trade in Agriculture Water trade in agriculture is not a practice that is unique to the modern generation. The practice was common long before the emergence of the Egyptian Empire.
• Virtual Water Trade and Savings in Agriculture This essay discusses the savings associated with virtual water trade in agriculture and touches on the effects of a shift to local agricultural production on global water savings.
• Virtual Water Trade of Agricultural Products Virtual water trade is a concept associated with globalization and the global economy. Its rise was motivated by growing water scarcity in arid areas around the world.
• Environmental Legislation: Clean Water Act Clean Water Act determines water quality standards, serves as a basis for the enactment of pollution control programs, and regulates the presence of contaminants in surface water.
• Third-Party Logistics, Water Transportation, Pipelines Transportation plays a crucial role in today’s business world. This work shows the benefits and limitations of third-party logistics providers, water transportation, and pipelines.
• Water Quality and Contamination In this paper, carries out detailed experiments on the bottled and tap water available to consumers to establish whether it is worthwhile to purchase bottled water.
• Oil, Water and Corruption in Central Asian States The region of Central Asia has been a focus of the world’s political and economic attention due to its rich oil and gas resources. Corruption is the main curse of Central Asian states.
• Environmental Studies: Water Recycling Different countries face varying challenges in as far as the provision of clean water to its population is concerned depending on its economic development level and geographic location.
• Environmental Pollution (Fresh Water) In terms of the water Pollution, conditioning it would be analyzed whether it has declined or improved over the past few years and if so the degree would be determined.
• How Does Water Pollution Affect Human Health?
• Are Sports Drinks Better for Athletes Than Water?
• What Happens if You Don’t Filter Your Water?
• Can Game Theory Help to Mitigate Water Conflicts in the Syrdarya Basin?
• How Can We Reduce Water Scarcity?
• Are Water Filters Really That Important?
• How Much Water Do We Need to Feed the World?
• Why Is Water Important for Food Production?
• Can Markets Improve Water Allocation in Rural America?
• How Can We Reduce Water Consumption in Food Industry?
• Can Public Sector Reforms Improve the Efficiency of Public Water Utilities?
• What Are the Modern Technologies Used to Treat Water?
• How Does Water Pollution Affect Global Warming?
• Can Sea Water Generate Usable Energy?
• What Are the Steps Taken by the Government to Reduce Water Pollution?
• Can Sugar Help Lower the Freezing Point of Water?
• Do We Need More Laws to Control Water Pollution?
• Can the Global Community Successfully Confront the Global Water Shortage?
• What Is the Government Doing to Save Water?
• Can Virtual Water ‘Trade’ Reduce Water Scarcity in Semi-arid Countries?
• Does Urbanization Improve Industrial Water Consumption Efficiency?
• How Has Technology Helped Us Save Water?
• Does Piped Water Improve Household Welfare?
• Can Water Pollution Policy Be Efficient?
• How Does Green Infrastructure Improve Water Quality?

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StudyCorgi . 2021. "167 Water Essay Topics & Research Questions about Water." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/water-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Water were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 9, 2024 .

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20 questions about water conservation

By Deseret News , Joe Bauman staff writer

With the hot breath of Utah's fourth consecutive year of drought breathing down on the state, Utahns are preparing to survive another predicted summer of hot and dry weather and low precipitation.

And while water is currently in short supply, questions about how to best accomplish water conservation are anything but.

Wanting to help Utahns with answers, the Deseret News has collected a series of questions about the drought and conserving water and posed them to the experts for their responses.

Offering their best-guesses to our questions are Stephanie Duer, Salt Lake City's water conservation coordinator; Larry Anderson, director, Utah Division of Water Resources; Valerie Payne of the South Davis Sewer District; and Michele Hill, sales director for Tag-A-Long Expeditions, a river expeditions company based in Moab.

So let's play 20 Questions — Utah Drought 2002 Edition:

1. Should we take showers instead of baths? Reduce water use with our garbage disposals? Use an automatic dishwasher instead of doing dishes by hand?

Answer. Usually showers require less water than baths, comparing full-tub baths with short showers. Garbage disposals require water, but the bigger problem is transporting the garbage through the wastewater system, which uses even more. "That's why we ask people not to use the disposal," said Duer. Dishwashers aren't necessarily better than doing dishes by hand.

2. How often and how long should automated sprinklers be left running?

Answer. "It varies depending on your soil and the microclimate of your landscape," Duer said. The city and the Utah State University Extension Service, Logan, devised a watering schedule that should work.

"Basically, for May (water yards) approximately once every four days. For June, July and August, once ever three days, and for September, once ever six or seven days," Duer said. The amount to use should be half an inch of water per interval, which can be measured by placing a small can (tuna or pet food) on the lawn while the sprinklers operate. Generally, that's the amount of water applied to any one spot during about 20 minutes of watering.

3. Should outdoor drinking fountains be turned off?

Answer. Drinking fountains are a public service and should not be closed down. Some use artesian water, naturally under pressure, which is going to come out anyhow. But if other fountains are running and can be turned off when not used, Duer said, they should not be left running continuously.

4. What should I do if my neighbors, the local church, school, golf course, etc., is violating water conservation policies? Or wasting resources by watering mostly the road?

Answer. Call your individual water district or city. While Salt Lake City has no formal ordinance on this, a call to Duer's office at 483-6860 (if the offense is within Salt Lake City boundaries) will prompt a response that should result in the negligent user being contacted and made aware of the problem. You can expect similar responses by your water district or city officials.

5. Why is this being called a drought "crisis" when some old-timers remember worse water years? Is it partly due to increased development resulting in using more of a limited resource?

Answer. Yes, it's a crisis "primarily because of the level of our population (and increased development)," Duer explains. Water resources are finite. As Utah's population swells, the water pie is being sliced into smaller pieces to serve more people.

6. Is it true that when people start conserving the water, for example not flushing the toilet flushing as often, treatment districts have to pump fresh water into the sewer system just to keep it flowing?

Answer. "That wouldn't be very likely," said Payne of the South Davis Sewer District. Water from showers, baths, laundry and other cleaning goes into the system, too. That should be enough to keep everything moving.

7. What should I do if neighbors raid my outside water faucet? Can I get a faucet key to prevent this?

Answer. "My first advice would be talk to your neighbor," Duer said. "If someone needs assistance in some method of intervention, call me (or my equivalent in your city)," Duer said. She also suggests placing a lock on the outside faucet and not leaving the hose where neighbors can get to it easily.

8. Can or should I use a hose to clean up a spill on the sidewalk?

Answer. In most cases opt for the broom, Duer suggests.

9. Can I plant a garden?

Answer. Yes, but consider it a trade-off. If a flower garden, most flowers, shrubs and trees require less water than lawns. Some lawn space can be replaced by amenities such as a rock garden.

10. Will users of residential wells also face restrictions?

Answer. "There's always potential for that," Duer said. "As people depend on well water and as we enter on more critical phases of drought, groundwater levels will decline."

That could result in some restrictions. If the groundwater drops enough, the flow from wells could also be negatively affected.

11. Fact or fiction: How much of our water are Utah water districts selling to out-of-state entities?

Answer. "The answer is zero," said Anderson, director, Utah Division of Water Resources.

About 450,000 acre-feet of Utah's water rights in the Colorado River are not being used, he added. "It goes into filling Lake Powell." If lake water were dumped or happened to spill because the lake was too full — which is not likely anytime soon — some of Utah's water would flow to the states downstream, he said. Those states could then use it.

12. Should families with large backyard swimming pools be allowed to fill them?

Answer. People could consider other uses for the pool area this season, according to Duer.

13. Does this mean children also shouldn't use their hose-powered water slides in the afternoon?

Answer. Yes. "Maybe the best places for water recreation are public swimming pools and not backyard water recreation toys and pools," Duer said.

14. Should big recreational water users like water parks and golf courses be closed?

Answer. "I would say no," Duer said. These places provide important community recreation. "We might have to give up lush green roughs and see more native vegetation (at golf courses), and we need to make systems run more efficiently. But it's in the public interest to provide these recreational outlets."

15. Can I capture rainwater at home to save for personal use like gardens? Who can advise me on this?

Answer. "Sure," said Duer, who suggested checking the Internet for advice. She's not enthusiastic about use of this "gray water," however, because of the potential for bacterial growth and other contamination.

16. Do secondary water suppliers have meters on their systems? If not, should they add them?

Answer. Many secondary water systems are not metered because this type of water carries larger particles that tend to clog meters. If the drought worsens and people need to watch the use even more closely, meters might eventually become necessary.

17. If everybody is watering overnight, won't that reduce water pressure?

Answer. "To some extent, yes, but hopefully not everyone's over-watering, and not everyone's going to water on the same day," Duer said.

18. Utah Power had incentives last summer for customers who reduced power usage by a significant amount. Should this be done for water use?

Answer. "People want us to charge more to encourage conservation, yet they want us to give the money back if they conserve," Duer said. Salt Lake City is looking at other block rate schedules, but the way they are currently set up, summer peak-demand rates means water costs more than at other times.

Thus, the present monetary incentive to conserve is: "If someone uses less water, they're going to pay less," she said.

Most other water delivery systems in the state are set up in a similar manner.

19. Will river-runners suffer this year because the water is low?

Answer. For some guide services that use larger boats in certain places, the lower river flow this year will be a problem, said Hill, sales director for Tag-A-Long Expeditions, Moab. Hill, a river guide for 20 years, says Tag-A-Long uses smaller boats so she doesn't anticipate such troubles herself.

20. My lawn doesn't get enough water unless it is watered every third day. Once in four days isn't enough. By restricting my watering to odd or even days, instead of every three days, isn't that encouraging me to overwater?

Answer. Please see schedule listed with Question No. 2.

"That's why we're not having an odd-or-even-days restriction (in Salt Lake City)," said Duer, who is unable to comment on rules and restrictions being enforced by other cities.

Extra Credit: In a previous drought, a popular slogan was "If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's if's brown, flush it down." Is that still good advice to follow in 2002?

Answer. "Using a low-flow toilet is good," Duer said. "(But) I'm not sure I'm ready to say not to flush. If you are renovating your bathroom, then install a low-flow toilet."

The Utah Division of Water Resources adds that an easy way to retrofit a wasteful older toilet is "simply place a water-resistant object, such as a plastic bottle, inside the tank." The gallons displaced could result in a big water savings.

"Modifying your toilet in such a manner should not adversely impact its operation," says the division's Internet site, "however, if it does, consider replacing it with a newer model."

TrendyDigests

Sand Cats' Vast Ranges May Signal Conservation Concerns

Posted: April 19, 2024 | Last updated: April 20, 2024

The elusive and captivating sand cat, a species that inhabits some of the planet's most arid environments, has been thrust into the spotlight due to recent research revealing their remarkable and expansive home ranges.

These small but formidable predators, known for their survival skills in the unforgiving desert climate, may face new risks as their territorial expanses challenge previous population estimates.

In a study spanning four years and published in the Journal of Arid Environments, scientists uncovered astonishing insights into the lifestyle of sand cats (Felis margarita) in the Moroccan desert.

These cats, already famous for their survival without direct water intake—relying instead on the blood of their prey—were discovered to traverse areas much larger than anticipated. One individual covered a staggering 1,758 square kilometers (679 square miles), suggesting that these feline ranges rival those of much larger cats such as lions and tigers.

According to Dr. Grégory Breton, managing director of Panthera France, "Sand cats travel further during the night than any other cat their size." This revelation is a testament to their nomadic nature, which may see them shifting homes based on environmental conditions such as rainfall.

The implications of this research are profound for the sand cat's conservation status, currently listed as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Larger ranges could indicate that the population is smaller than once thought, thus warranting a reassessment. These desert dwellers also face threats from climate change, diseases from domestic cats, and the illegal pet trade.

Urs Breitenmoser, co-chair of the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group, welcomes the new research on the "understudied cat species." He thinks it will be helpful in the ongoing reassessment of the sand cat's listing. However, he warns that the study only covers one area on the far western edge of the sand cat's extensive range.

The sand cat's ability to survive without freestanding water by extracting moisture from its prey, coupled with its unique paw structure covered in fur to shield against scorching sand, makes it a master of desert life.

Despite their formidable adaptations, the sand cats' tameness and lack of fear towards humans bring an added vulnerability. Habitat loss remains a critical threat, and their actual status in the wild is yet to be fully known.

Sand cats pose a beguiling paradox: their capacity for ruthlessness as predators, evidenced by their diet of small mammals (including gerbils), reptiles, and birds , contrasts with their endearing appearance and vulnerability to wider environmental shifts.

Sand cats, as carnivores, hunt small animals in the desert such as rodents, hares, birds, spiders, insects, and reptiles. They are also capable of consuming venomous snakes in their habitat.

They are solitary and secretive, navigating vast and scarcely populated territories that make them difficult subjects for researchers aiming to conserve their kind.

Breton believes that additional research will be crucial in safeguarding the sand cats and he urges fellow scientists to conduct comparable studies throughout the species' habitat.“We need to better understand their behavior, how they move and use the landscape, and to clearly identify the threats,” he says.

The more scientists learn about sand cat behavior, the more they'll know about the desert, how animals survive there, and how the driest biome on Earth is changing.

Relevant articles: - These adorable sand cats could be under threat , CNN, May 2, 2023 - Felidae Conservation Fund , felidaefund.org - Can Sand Cats Survive Without Water? And Other Questions, Answered , National Zoo - Shining a spotlight on the wide-roaming sand cat ‘king of the desert’ , mongabay.com, Dec 11, 2023

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Theatre Arts

After 25 years as teaching design, Loyce Arthur savors her final production in the Department of Theatre Arts

“One of my favorite parts of working on a show is during the fitting, when an actor puts on their costume,” Loyce Arthur says. “You can see the transformation in their body and their attitude as everything begins to connect. It’s an aha moment. I just love watching them change and become a character right before my eyes.”  

Loyce Arthur is an associate professor of Design in the Department of Theatre Arts, coordinator of the Certificate in Social Justice & Performing Arts, and the costume designer for the UI’s production of In the Red and Brown Water. She has designed costumes for over 100 productions throughout her career, both in the U.S. and abroad. She will be retiring from the University of Iowa theatre faculty after this production and semester.

Loyce was born in Philadelphia, but her family moved to Grenada in the West Indies when she was an infant. They came back to Philadelphia when she was ten and, eventually, she would earn her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her MFA degree from NYU.  

“I’d always been involved in theatre and done costumes, but I didn’t know it was a profession until college,” Arthur explains her early interest in design. “I was that kid who was making dioramas, figuring out what people were wearing or what they ate and where they lived. I just enjoyed the world building or world re-creation. I love storytelling, and what we wear contributes to that storytelling.”

After NYU, she designed costumes for the Philadelphia Theatre Caravan that would tour children’s theatre festivals and venues all over the Tri-State area. During ten years with that company, Arthur taught a costume design course at UPenn—beginning a rewarding teaching and professional career that led her to SUNY Stony Brook, around the world, and later brought her here to the University of Iowa.  

“One of the reasons I came to Iowa was because of the focus on the arts,” says Loyce, who joined the Iowa theatre faculty in 1998. “Here, the arts are seen as equal to other kinds of scholarship.”

At Iowa, she has created costumes for many shows including Reefer Madness, American Idiot, and The Magic Flute. “One memorable show has to be Metamorphoses,” Arthur says, recalling working on the production of Mary Zimmermann’s play with colleagues John Cameron (Professor Emeritus) and Bryon Winn (Professor of Design). “John directed, and Bryon built the set. We had a 40-foot pool in Thayer Theatre, which posed some interesting challenges in terms of costume design. We had actors emerging from and swimming in the pool, so the costumes had to work in and out of the water. It was such a fun project.”

“Loyce makes it look effortless,” Bryon Winn describes his experience working with Arthur, “she has such a command of visual languages, textures, fabrics, cultures, color and the human form. I’ve worked with Loyce for 25 years and you could not ask for a better colleague.”

Arthur has relished the opportunity to mentor young design students and cultivate their skills. “In the design department, we always say we can teach all the techniques,” Arthur explains, “but we can’t teach the spark. It’s so exciting when a student starts making creative leaps, putting ideas together in three-dimensional forms. I love watching them explore, persevere, and grow during their time here.”  

Arthur has also been active in the Iowa City arts community—for example, spearheading the Iowa City Carnival Community Engagement Project.  

The project began when Arthur was approached by the Stanley Museum of Art (then the UI Museum of Art) to do a faculty show. “I wanted to do it around Trinidadian and Brazilian-style Carnival,” says Loyce, who has done extensive research on Carnival traditions. In 2004 she presented her work on Trinidad Carnival at a symposium in Santiago de Cuba and she has researched carnival traditions in the UK, Toronto Canada, Rio de Janeiro Brazil, the Netherlands, Trinidad, and around the world.  

In June 2008, the museum and its contents were permanently evacuated during major flooding of the Iowa River, and plans for the faculty show had to be postponed.  

“I started thinking,” Arthur says, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to do a Carnival parade here?” She teamed up with Armando Duarte, a UI professor of dance and researcher of Brazilian popular culture, Andre Harrington, Professor in Costume Design at UC San Bernardino, and Carnival designers Clary Slangy from the UK and Jamie Cezario from Brazil, along with local artists and students.

“We didn’t want it to be a pageant. We needed to get the spirit of Carnival,” Arthur explains. “For me that spirit comes from creating these garments. So, it was important for us to bring the community together and make it a collective project. We came up with the perfect tagline—Iowans Become Works of Art.” Iowa City’s Carnival parade happened annually from 2013-2020 as part of the city’s Iowa Arts Festival.

In collaboration with Lisa Schlesinger, professor and co-director of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and Mary Beth Easley, associate professor of directing and chair of the Department of Theatre Arts, Arthur helped establish and now coordinates the UI Certificate in Social Justice and the Performing Arts. The certificate allows performing arts students the opportunity to learn methods and practices for social justice-focused and community engaged creative work, customizing their studies towards their own advocacy interests with the help and guidance of faculty mentors.  

“Working with Loyce is fantastic,” says Jason Vernon, a second-year student in theatre arts who is pursuing a certificate in social justice and performing arts. “She’s very receptive to my interests, but she also knows how to challenge me. She asks the questions I need to get to the next level or think about engagement through a wider lens.”

In the spring semester of 2024, Arthur created costumes for Tarell Alvin McCraney’s In the Red and Brown Water, directed by Caroline Clay, assistant professor of acting.  

“I’m so glad Caroline and I got the chance to work together before I leave,” Arthur says.

In the Red and Brown Water revolves around a young woman named Oya who has opportunity and aspirations, but because of circumstances she is not able to fulfill her promise. Arthur calls the story “a slice of life in an African American community, but it’s heightened because the playwright gives the characters the names of Orishas, or divine spirits, from the Yoruba religion.”  

“There are little things in the costumes that reference the Orishas but not in an overt way,” Arthur explains her approach to the costumes. “For me, the costumes are there to help the actor understand their character and, for the audience, the costumes help reinforce the character. We spend an hour and half looking at these characters, and the costumes can really contribute to the way the audience sees and relates to the story.”

In the Red and Brown Water will be Loyce’s final production as a faculty member in the Department of Theatre Arts before she embarks on her next adventure.  

“I’d consider the next phase more of a redirection than a retirement,” Arthur says about the next phase of her career.  

In July, she will travel to Mozambique for eight weeks as part of an eco-volunteering marine conservation project working with scientists who study humpback whales—followed by a trip to South Africa to do wildlife conservation on a game reserve. Then she’ll head to Indonesia next spring to teach as a Fulbright Scholar.

“I was here for 25 years because it’s a great department,” Arthur says, looking back at her time at the University of Iowa. “It’s full of talented artists, faculty, and students who come together to produce some amazing theater. It has been my privilege and an honor to be part of this department and looking back over 25 years, if you stay in a place that long, it’s got to be a fantastic place to be. It has been one of the best times of my life.”