Water Resources – an Analysis of Trends, Weak Siglans and Wild Cards with Implications for Russia

Water resources are crucial for the continuity of life. Humans and living species need fresh water for drinking and sanitation, while most, if not all, industries need water for some part of production processes and products themselves. Access to fresh water is a grand challenge at the global level, mainly due to increasing water consumption, low rate of replenishment of resources as well as external factors, like climate change, that significantly reduce amount of water available. The solution to the existing water problems require a systemic approaches for sustainable use of water resources, while advancing water infrastructure and providing circular use of water. Research presented in this paper, focuses on the use of water resources in Russia with a long term perspective developed through a Foresight study. Russia is one of the countries, which is relatively better positioned compared to a number of other countries in the world regarding the availability of water resources. However, there are still considerable issues regarding the protection and use of water resources, purification processes, water networks, consumption patterns, discharge, treatment and re-use. The present study aims to develop strategies and for the use of water resources with a long term time perspective. The first step involved a scanning exercise, to be followed by future scenarios and strategy proposals for action. Presenting the results of the scanning phase, the paper begins with the review of the key issues and challenges concerning water resources. Particular attention is paid to the state-of-the-art in the three domains identified in the scope of research: (i) sustainability of water systems, (ii) water use by households and industry, and (iii) new water products and services. Furthermore, trends, weak signals and wild cards identified in the course of the study, as well as their implications on water resources in Russia are discussed. The paper concludes with a brief description of the next phases of the study and follow-up activities planned in the project