Hidrológiai Közlöny, 2016 (96. évfolyam)
2016 / 3. szám - Szöllősi-Nagy András: Water connects
4 Water connects Hungarian Journal of Hydrology Vol. 96. No. 3. 2016. This is a special issue of the Hidrológiai Közlöny, the Hungarian Journal of Hydrology in English, devoted to the topics of the Budapest Water Summit 2016 (BWS 2016) held in November 28-30, 2016, in Budapest ( https://www . budapestwatersummit.hu/). It contains contributions to the Summit by the Hungarian water community from their vantage points. The Hidrológiai Közlöny with its 96 volumes is one of the oldest technical journals in Europe devoted to water issues. Over the past ten decades it published studies ranging from water science and technology to water policy and practical problem solving. In this special number we attempt to present the history, present status and planned future directions of the Hungarian water science community in the context of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), more precisely SDG-6, and the goal that is devoted to water issues. Fresh water is finite and universally sustains life as well as all aspects of human society. Its distribution, however, varies a great deal both in space and time, ignoring political boundaries and giving, therefore, rise to possible competition between uses and users. Increasingly felt global change phenomena, ranging from the impacts of population change, including migration, to those of climate variability, exacerbate the stress on world’s water resources. Increased industrialization, urbanization and agricultural needs, a growing world population and the need to adapt to climatic changes place high demands on the planet’s water resources — and therefore on our vital capacity to manage, govern and share water wisely at all levels. Water connects almost all of our systems as well as people and cultures but it also is connected to some of the major issues of our times. What is it, for instance, that connects the various Sustainable Development Goals from poverty reduction to improved public health? What is it that manifests climate variability in a most impacting manner from sea level rise through changing precipitation fields to increased flood and drought frequencies? The answer, of course, is water. For it is water that helps us to find adaptation strategies to cope with the vagaries of climate change induced hydrological extremes. It is also water, or rather the lack of it along with poor sanitation that is responsible for putting millions at any moment in the world into hospital wards. Is it really water and is it not rather us that are responsible for this deplorable situation? I am afraid the answer is affirmative: Yes, we are all responsible. At the same time we all have a shared responsibility to change this unacceptable situation. We have the knowledge to do that, we have the technology to fix the technical issues but we still do not have enough will to put water to the highest political priority locally, regionally and globally. No doubt, great progress has been achieved since 1997, the annus mirabilis of breaking through the international political “water wall”, however, it is still not enough. In forty years nine billion human beings will populate the planet Earth. Food production, therefore, needs to be doubled in less than three decades. That cannot be achieved without improving irrigation efficiency and without new systems. We indeed have enormous challenges that require comprehensive solutions more than ever before. With the current world population living in urban areas within thirty five years is a rather horrifying thought. However, that is it what is expected to happen in 2050 with the nine billion people around. A totally new world is gradually emerging in front of our eyes with totally new issues and with never experienced changes in urban social fabric. The interconnectedness of political, social, security, public health, environmental, transport, energy, food and economic systems in this new urban context, interwoven with water all over, poses enormous challenges. The key here is water as it cuts through and connects all urban systems. Unless the water and sanitation situation is fixed, and fixed well, there is no way to achieve urban system sustainability. Things will likely get worse with the added uncertainties that are to come from increasing climate variability. Natural disasters such as pluvial or fluvial flooding, particularly flash floods in hilly areas coupled with landslides, will likely be on the rise. For sure, vulnerability will increase as more and more people will migrate to inappropriate peri-urban areas. Some say we can live without oil and gas for ten days. Some say we can live for ten days without Internet. Some even add that, although difficult, we can live without love for ten days. But nobody says we can live without water for ten days. The message is so simple, yet so powerful! How to get this simple message through then to all who are concerned, particularly to the political community, in order to trigger effective actions at all levels? In adopting the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement last year the world leaders are hopefully en route to recognize that water is the key to a sustainable world. It is an essential commodity to eradicate poverty and to provide access to enough water of good quality to satisfy vital human (for food, health and energy security), but equally importantly for ecosystems needs. The arid, humid and temperate landscapes do draw and sculpt our systems and living environment, and underpin our cultural diversity so vital for our survival. We hope that the papers presented in this special issue of the Hidrológiai Közlöny will provide a quick overview on Hungary’s approach to sustainable water management. Dr. András Szöllősi-Nagy Chairman of the Editorial Board
