Can urban ponds help tackle domestic water scarcity and build resilience?

Kalra, R. 2020. Can urban ponds help tackle domestic water scarcity and build resilience? Journal of Regional and City Planning. 31 (2), pp. 180-198. https://doi.org/10.5614/jpwk.2020.31.2.5

TitleCan urban ponds help tackle domestic water scarcity and build resilience?
TypeJournal article
AuthorsKalra, R.
Abstract

For decades to come, cost-effective and environmentally appropriate water systems will be a priority for managing water scarcity and building resilience in the rapidly expanding cities and city regions of South Asia. This study initiates a research into urban local ponds and the potential of linking them with water systems and build resilience. A framework of questions guided the research with reference to ponds and prevalent water systems in South Asian cities and city regions. The wider issues of water stress in South Asian cities and the general limitations of prevalent water supply systems were studied through the lens of a literature review. The paper then draws upon observations in three South Asian cities. The research showed that despite policy support for local rainwater capture, groundwater is over-exploited and urban local ponds (and tanks) have not been integrated with urban water provision schemes, particularly in recent decades. It was concluded that local urban ponds can facilitate resilient water-supply provision by making them an integral part of the urban waterscape. This paper highlights a multitude of benefits that ponds can potentially bring to urban resilience, in particular affordable and accessible water provision with low environmental footprint, managing climate shocks or stresses, biodiversity restoration in urban areas as well as potentially generating new skills and livelihoods for communities. The overall suggestion is that local urban ponds should be networked into the water provision for cities and their wider region, thereby linking to wider arrangements for urban and regional governance and resilience.

KeywordsPonds, Urban Resilience, Surface Water, Water networks, Water governance, Regional water transfer
JournalJournal of Regional and City Planning
Journal citation31 (2), pp. 180-198
ISSN2502-6429
Year2020
PublisherITB Journal Publisher
Publisher's version
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.5614/jpwk.2020.31.2.5
Web address (URL)http://journals.itb.ac.id/index.php/jpwk/author/submission/13897
Publication dates
Published28 Aug 2020
Supplemental file
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)

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