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Water for a Healthy Environment

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Abstract

The built and natural environments in which we live can either enhance or degrade the quality of our lives. Well-designed and maintained built environments provide many of the economic and social benefits we enjoy. Nature can also provide us with multiple benefits, including products and services obtained from our natural ecosystems. These products and services include food and fuel; improved air and water quality; moderation of water flow and temperature regimes; enhanced soil formation and fertility; oxygen production; carbon and nutrient storage; recycling; and cultural, recreational, and spiritual enrichment. Water and sediment regimes within natural ecosystems are major factors in determining their health and sustainability. Withdrawals of water to meet urban demands, grow more food, and produce more energy all result in less water for the environment and for maintaining ecosystem health. Our challenge is to create a sustainable balance among all these demands that are both changing and uncertain.

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    © 2014 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

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    Gulbenkian Think Tank on Water and the Future of Humanity. (2014). Water for a Healthy Environment. In: Water and the Future of Humanity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01457-9_4

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