Which Water for Which Use? Exploring Water Quality Instruments in the Context of a Changing Climate

Abstract

Extreme climatic events are resulting in more frequent, severe, and widespread drought and floods, leading to destabilization of ecosystems, and impacts on human livelihoods and supporting infrastructure. Such impacts also magnify the risk of contamination of both surface and ground water. Control of water quality requires law, policy, and regulatory instruments which are flexible, along with the capacity to enforce and implement them. This paper uses information from the “Compendium of Water Quality Regulatory Frameworks – Which Water for Which Use?” to explore how legal and regulatory frameworks are responding to water quality challenges in the context of a changing climate.