IAHR experts discuss the urgent need for sustainable water management on World Health Day 2025. 

Access to clean and safe water is a fundamental requirement for human health and food security. However, climate change, pollution, and economic disparities are exacerbating global water challenges. In light of World Health Day 2025, IAHR’s Thematic Priority Area on Water for Energy Transition, Food Security, and Nature gather experts Peter Goodwin and David Wegner, to discuss how we can address these pressing concerns and secure a sustainable water future. 

1. What are the most pressing challenges affecting water security today?

David L. Wegner: The main challenges regarding access to safe water are multi-faceted: 

• Quantity – There is a concern about the volume of available water for distribution and use. 

• Quality – The water's suitability for public, agricultural, and industrial use needs to be assessed, considering recycling and treatment possibilities. 

• Affordability – Many populations struggle with the rising cost of water, both for consumption and irrigation. Is the price of water for irrigation use being priced out of the farmers’ ability to divert and pump water to their agricultural applications?  Are private firms acquiring water systems and increasing the price of water? The debate is open.

• Distribution – Who pays for, builds, and maintains water distribution and treatment systems?  Are some sectors of the population not able to afford building the water diversions and maintaining them? Accessibility remains a concern for many.

• Conjunctive Use – The dilemma is: Is there a need to manage both surface and groundwater as a unified system to improve overall water efficiency, or are they being managed as independent entities?  

Peter Goodwin: A mantra from the last century was Dilution is the Solution to Pollution. We now realize the availability of water to dilute may be highly uncertain at times, and some pollution may be diluted but is still dangerous for people and the environment.  Forever chemicals like PFAs and microplastics are prime examples whose ecological and human impacts are only just being fully recognised.  Ensuring a safe and reliable water supply for agriculture and human health is being compounded by the twin existential threats to society of climate change and the loss of biodiversity.  A safe and reliable water source is essential for food security, public health and the well-being of communities.  

The Lancet Countdown (2020) highlighted key indicators at the water-food security nexus, showing that from 1981 to 2019, the global crop yield potential dropped between 1.8 and 5.6% depending on the crop considered, and this is being compounded by climatic shocks. Similarly, warming coastal waters are affecting marine resources, threatening fisheries that provide protein and vital income for many communities. 

At the local level, these challenges vary by region. Even in well-resourced areas, the coming decades will present daunting issues. For instance, a study by Professor Amir Sapkota, Dr. Crystal Romeo Upperman and others from the University of Maryland School of Public Health projected that climate change would increase public health risks in the State of Maryland, such as more frequent heatwaves, longer pollen seasons, and deteriorating air and water quality. By 2040, the state should prepare for significant shifts in public health, including an increase in Salmonella infections, heart attacks, and hospitalisations for asthma (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Projected change for selected negative health outcomes by 2040 due to extreme heat events in Maryland.

2. What innovations or strategies are making a difference at the intersection of water, sanitation, and food production? 

David L. Wegner: Several innovations and strategies are making a difference:

• Local and Regional Support from a System Perspective – Integrating local low-cost actions with regional opportunities for water supply. 

• Affordable Financing – Multiple approaches for this via tiered rate structures, subsidies, grants, and directed funding to reduce costs to the lower tier of the economic sector.

• Knowledge and Expertise – Developing institutional knowledge capacity locally to more efficiently manage and utilise water assets. Begin with education at local levels as the importance of water infrastructure management.

• New Technology – Advances such as membrane technologies, watershed management, use of high elevation or satellite imagery to assess basin conditions, improved hydrologic models, higher efficiency pumps, integrating renewable energy with pumping, SMART system head gates and water quality alert capacity, new construction techniques, and renewable energy integration are improving water efficiency.

• Old Technology Maintained and Supported – Example: preventative maintenance and coatings such as epoxy paints on the inside of steel water pipelines to reduce erosion from sediments and air cavitation, canal vegetation control, crop management, aquifer management and recharge, irrigation efficiency efforts, etc.

• Life Cycle Asset Management – Developing, planning, construction, and management of water infrastructure that factors in a “cradle to grave” approach for life cycle asset management that is based on monitoring and regular maintenance of assets.

• Nature-Based Solutions – Approaches like the use of wetlands, shoreline protection, aquifer water recharge capture, and watershed management help manage water and moderate runoff for river basins.

Peter Goodwin: There are many inspiring examples, and it is essential to highlight the crucial role of NGOs and philanthropic foundations that are pioneering innovations on behalf of government agencies.  This allows high-risk but potentially high-reward projects to be tested, greatly increasing the probability of success should policies and regulations adopt these efforts.  

One local example is the efforts of Dr. Mark Bryer (The Nature Conservancy) and many others to build multi-stakeholder collaborations for innovative financing to implement 'win-win-win' projects for stormwater management in Washington DC.  This high-profile market-based approach is enhancing water quality in Chesapeake Bay through nature-based solutions such as wetland creation. Climate change is magnifying many adverse consequences, including the increase in frequency and magnitude of harmful algal blooms (HABs) due in part to nutrient enrichment of receiving waters. Collaborations between landowners, farmers, and government agencies are showing great promise in reducing nutrient and pesticide loading through healthy soils initiatives, technologies that enhance efficient fertilizer or pesticide applications, and nature-based solutions at the landscape scale that generate a multitude of secondary benefits.

3. What urgent actions should governments and the private sector take to ensure water security and improve food resilience?

David L. Wegner: To ensure water security and improve food resilience, the following actions are essential: 

• Affordability Standards – Develop standards and metrics that are consistent and reportable.  

• Investment Financing Authorities – National governance followed by state and regional policies to implement water development and support protocols. This may include the creation of regional authorities to help coordinate the development of specific climate/seasonal water management resources based on actual supply and demand. 

• Financing and Risk Reduction – Governments need to reduce financial risks due to climate change and variability.  Risks are increasing due to climate-induced increased variability in hydrologic systems.  The actual and perceived risk is what limits private investment in water infrastructure and systems management.   

• Education – At all levels, from legislation to end users, people must understand the life cycle of water and the true cost of water. 

• Leadership Development – Leadership needs to be developed at the national, regional, and local levels. These leaders must have a common knowledge and language of how they can and must work together. 

Peter Goodwin: A comprehensive plan for the impacts of climate and socio-economic shifts that will occur over the next 25 years is needed.  This plan should be inclusive of all interested parties and identify the plausible range of alternative futures with adaptive strategies to manage the evolving trajectory of water supply reliability, ecological needs, agricultural productivity, and human health challenges.   Exploring new partnerships and collaborations can accelerate the pursuit of sustainable solutions by exploration and evaluation of new ideas as well as creating innovative financing opportunities.

 A Call to Action: Water as the Foundation of Health and Security 

As World Health Day 2025 highlights the interdependence of health, water, and food security, our experts leave us with powerful statements:

Explore the Thematic Priority Area Water for the Energy Transition, Food Security and Nature.