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Water research thrives as new report highlights spiralling growth year on year
by Staff Writers
Stockholm, Sweden (SPX) Aug 30, 2012

File image.

Research into water is growing faster than the average 4% annual growth rate for all research disciplines, claims a new report presented by Elsevier and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) during the 2012 World Water Week in Stockholm.

The report, “The Water and Food Nexus: Trends and Development of the Research Landscape” analysed the major trends in water and food-related article output at international, national and institutional levels. Elsevier and SIWI worked closely together on creating the report, which is based on the analysis of Scopus citation data by Elsevier’s SciVal Analytics team.

The growing discrepancy between supply and demand for water is becoming more challenging each year. Developments in water research have the potential to help solve this issue.

The report examined the dynamics of global water research between 2007 and 2011, focusing on two strands of research; water resources research, referring to natural and social science studies on water use, and food and water research focusing on the study of water consumption and recycling to produce food. The latter strand is an important theme in this year’s World Water Week thematic focus: Water and Food Security.

Key findings from the report include:

Exploding research landscape
There has been a dramatic growth of water research, with both strands of research growing above the 4% average for all research disciplines. Water resources research is growing at a rate of 9.2% per year, while research into food and water is growing by 4.7% each year.

Research is also becoming more collaborative and interdisciplinary, with a dramatic rise in publications from the fields of computer science and mathematics in water resource research; while research from fields within the social sciences have become the fastest growing fields in the food and water research strand.

United States leads research output, but for how long?
Research output is the highest in the United States in both water resources and food and water research, but growth between 2007 and 2011 is low. On the other hand, China is experiencing ongoing growth in water research output and, if its trajectory continues, it could be the leading producer of water research within the next few years. Other countries experiencing high growth rates in both water resources and food and water research include Malaysia and Iran.

Collaboration holds the key for high impact research
More than half of all articles published on water research are based on international collaboration. Interestingly, the most impactful research, for this study defined as average citations per paper, did not come from the countries that produced the most research, nor from those with the highest growth rate.

Instead, the most impactful papers were found to come from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark and Belgium for water resource research and Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark for food and water research.

In addition, a strong correlation was found between the level of international and interdisciplinary collaboration and the impact, with greater collaboration leading to higher impact research.

“The aim of this report is to provide a transparent view of the water research landscape and the key players within the field,” said Dr. Christiane Barranguet, Executive Publisher of Elsevier Aquatic and Green Sciences.

“We found that the research landscape is becoming more dynamic, complex and, in some places, fragmented. We also found that collaboration is a key factor in producing high impact research. As such there is a greater need for collaboration - across borders and even between academia and industry - in order to grow and enhance the field.”

Commenting on key trends identified, Per Bertilsson, Acting Executive Director at Stockholm International Water Institute said, “The report clearly shows that water research is growing in new places and becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. The entire water community now has a great opportunity to better leverage the knowledge creation on water research that is emanating from new places and new partnerships.”

Municipalities thought to be at high risk must comply by 2020. Around 850 areas are believed to be deficient in total. Medium-risk municipalities have till 2030 to comply and low-risk municipalities must comply by 2040.

No breakdown of which municipalities fit where has been issued, though 399 are classed as high risk, 403 as medium-risk and 147 as low risk. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is urging a national funding programme to meet the upgrade costs, which it estimates at between $20 billion and $40 billion.

Ecojustice claimed the regulations contain a loophole that may allow delays in upgrades of medium and high-risk plants for as much as 28 years. One of the organisation’s scientists, Elaine MacDonald, said in a statement that Canadians ‘deserve to be protected from harmful substances in our water now, not 28 years from now.’
Lis Stedman”

more information

“In March 2012, Ministry of Environment facilitated conversations with the water science community about how we can work together to increase access to water data and information to support sustainable water use and management in BC. This qualitative research was undertaken through four online focus groups and an online comment form.

For an in-depth look at what we heard and for next steps, please see the project webpage at http://www.livingwatersmart.ca/watersciencestrategy/information-sharing.html.”

But one part under consideration for the package — reforms to the Fisheries Act that would end federal oversight over much of the country’s fresh water — is proving difficult for some provinces to swallow, sources say.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/03/21/budget-environmental-cp.html

The report, titled ‘Buried no longer: confronting America’s water infrastructure challenge’, analyses a range of factors including timing of water main installation and life expectancy, materials used, replacement costs and changing demographics.

It notes that smaller communities may face greater challenges as they have fewer people across whom to spread the expense.

The report warns: ‘Because pipe assets last a long time, water systems that were built in the latter part of the 19th century and throughout much of the 20th century have, for the most part, never experienced the need for pipe replacement on a large scale.

‘The dawn of an era in which the assets will need to be replaced puts a growing stress on communities that will continue to increase for decades to come.’

Other findings include that pipe replacement expenses account for more than 84% of the $278 billion requirement in the north east and mid-west regions to 2035.

In the South and West, where populations are increasing rapidly, expansion accounts for some 62% of the projected $277 billion requirement over the same period.

The required national investment will more than double from the current $13 billion a year to almost $30 billion by the 2040s and will need to be sustained for many years if current performance and service levels are to be maintained, it adds.

In some communities, infrastructure costs alone could more than triple the size of a typical water bill. However, the report concludes that this sum does not need to be spent all at once, and that there is still time to implement asset management plans and set rates that more closely reflect the cost of water services.
Lis Stedman

The UN has warned that ice theft is becoming a threat to some of the world’s glaciers, citing a case in Chile where police are investigating the theft of 5000kg of ice from the Jorge Montt glacier. Mining for ice could pose a major additional threat to the 454 square km glacier, which is situated in Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins national park and is part of the 13,000 square km Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the third largest frozen land mass in the world after Antarctica and Greenland, according to the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

On Wednesday, ministers from Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos open a three-day meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to decide whether to approve a controversial dam on the mainstream of the river in Laos. Proponents say the dam would bring much-needed revenue to Laos and the region, but scientists warn that it could prove devastating for the environment and the people who depend on the river’s bountiful resources.