Land use: catchment management

Land use: catchment management

Freshwater is a scarce and valuable resource (FAO, 2011).
Conservation and equitable distribution of freshwater is
therefore critical to sustaining ecosystem services and global food production (Rockstrom et al., 2009). Agriculture uses 70% of global freshwater and so optimizing water use through advanced irrigation, farm, and food processing systems is paramount to meeting the globally increasing demands for food, particularly in the face of a changing climate. With the quantity of freshwater available, all human activities affect the quality of freshwater resources, and degradation of water quality in turn increases the scarcity of freshwater (Peters and
Meybeck, 2000). Impaired water quality also limits ecosystem
services, and human welfare and livelihood (Ongley, 1996;
FAO, 2011). Poor water quality can cause loss of aquatic and
riparian biodiversity, ecosystem stability and recreation value, poor human health (e.g., due to unsanitary drinking water and toxins from harmful algal blooms), physical disruption to water supply systems, shellfish contamination, fish kills, and reduced aquaculture production (Carpenter et al., 1998; Schindler, 2006; Withers and Haygarth, 2007; Kay et al., 2009).

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