Asia Community

How Smart Tech Is Helping Catch Precious Water That’s Flowing Away

Imagine a huge pipe network under your city, carrying water to people’s homes. Now picture one-third of that water (enough to fill thousands of swimming pools) just vanishing into leaks, theft, or bad bills every year. Fixing leaks with traditional methods can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. It’s costly, slow, and often misses hidden issues. Even worse, analyzing data by hand is error-prone and overly complex for many teams to manage (UNDP).

📖 You can read more and join the discussion in the Community at the UNCCD CLP platform:
👉 https://lnkd.in/egPbpgBF

Here’s where smart, data-powered tools come in (think of them as super-sleuth gadgets for water systems). Two technologies team up to make this happen:

1. Internet of Things (IoT), which is like putting tiny, connected sensors (smart meters) across the water pipes, watching how much flows and how fast, around the clock.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is like teaching a computer to spot unusual patterns—such as pressure dropping in the middle of the night or flow spiking in one spot.

Together, these tools turn data into clues. They help water teams find trouble spots quickly and accurately (without sending field crews everywhere).

UNDP’s Accelerator Lab worked with the startup FlowLess to test this smart system, so it was much cheaper than expensive foreign alternatives and adapted to different local water networks and needs, and the team remained open to feedback and improvements.
📖 You can read more and join the discussion in the Community at the UNCCD CLP platform:
👉 https://lnkd.in/egPbpgBF
Read more:
👉https://lnkd.in/e3h_E-gh
👉https://lnkd.in/eYcKxv4P).

In the face of growing drought across West Asia, Saudi Arabia emerges as a success story

📖 You can read more and join the discussion in the Community at the UNCCD CLP platform:
👉 https://lnkd.in/egPbpgBF

According to UN-Water, Saudi Arabia is rapidly accelerating SDG-6 progress through a powerful mix of policy, partnerships, and innovation:
📊 97% of the population now has access to safely managed drinking water
📈 100% urban wastewater is collected, more than 60% of it is safely treated and reused
🔧 AI-driven leak detection helped reduce non-revenue water to 23%, down from previous levels near 30%
🌊 Through public-private partnerships, Saudi Arabia operates the world’s largest desalination capacity, producing over 9 million m³/day
Saudi Arabia proves that even in one of the world’s driest regions, water security is possible when Vision 2030, strong governance, private sector engagement, and smart technologies work together.
📖 You can read more and join the discussion in the Community at the UNCCD CLP platform:
👉 https://lnkd.in/egPbpgBF
📖 The link of UN-Water:
👉 https://lnkd.in/ekhiNbTK

How to get portable water in rural areas

Imagine this…
You’re in a barren place. No electricity, no equipment, and no ready-to-drink water. What would you do to secure water with the few resources you have?
Here are some simple, practical ideas:

1- Purifying salty or dirty water with a simple solar still

Find any glass or transparent plastic sheet and a box (preferably a wooden box). put the water inside, and place the sheet at a 30–45° angle on top of the box. The sun will evaporate the water, and it will condense on the sheet. The drops will slide down into a small channel and collect in a clean container.
This can produce around 5–10 liters of clean water per day, depending on the sheet size.

Just remember to clean the sheet from dust and the box bottom from salt deposits.

📖 You can read more and join the discussion in the Community at the UNCCD CLP platform:
👉 https://lnkd.in/egPbpgBF

2- Extracting water from the air
Dig a hole in the ground and place a metal or plastic pipe inside. Let air flow through it. Temperature differences between the ground and the air will cause water vapor to condense inside the pipe.
If you have a small fan powered by wind, you can attach it to increase airflow.

3-Collecting dew and fog using a mesh
Set up a mesh (plastic) in an open area, especially in mountainous or coastal regions. At night, as temperatures drop, water vapor will condense on the mesh and drip into a container or small pipe below.

4- Air well to condense moisture
If you have stones or bricks, arrange them into a small tower or stone chamber with gaps. At night, the stones cool down, and during the day, moist air passing through will condense on them, dripping water to the base.

If you have an impactful drought resilience project, now is your chance to shine! Winners will receive travel support to present at the UNCCD CRIC 23 in Panama (December 2025), be featured in official UNCCD publications and platforms, and gain global recognition for their solutions.

Submit your case study by September 17, 2025.

The link: https://lnkd.in/g3nX4qBd

Why Rainfall Frequency Matters More Than You Think

A new study published in Nature Communications (2025) shows that less frequent rainfall (not just less total rain) can lead to earlier autumn leaf senescence (leaf aging and fall) across the Northern Hemisphere.

When rain events become less frequent:

Soil moisture drops
Air becomes drier (higher vapor pressure deficit)
Plants shed their leaves earlier due to increased drought stress
They also acclimate faster to drought, which shortens their growing season

Perhaps most importantly, the study found that many global climate models fail to capture this effect, missing a critical piece of how ecosystems respond to climate change. Climate and vegetation models must consider how often it rains, not just how much. This could greatly improve our predictions of future ecosystem health and carbon dynamics.

📖 The link of study:
👉 https://lnkd.in/e-V2MPVw

Asian Disasters Preparedness Center (ADPC) is recruiting a few national consultants to support its work in South Asia (e.g. Pakistan and Nepal).
See the link here: https://www.adpc.net/ver25/vacancies-index.asp?contract=Consultant

ADPC is a collaborator of UNCCD. An output is the development and launch of The Regional Drought Risk Management and Mitigation Strategy for South Asia in UNCCD COP 16 (2024). https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/regional-drought-risk-managem…

The Risk of PFAS in Iraq’s Groundwater Amid Drought: Insights from Asia-Pacific Experiences

Because of the ongoing drought, many people in Iraq have no choice but to consume groundwater without realizing the potential risks of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” are a growing global concern due to their persistence in the environment and potential health risks. While many countries are still catching up in addressing PFAS pollution, several Asian countries are taking concrete steps to monitor, regulate, and reduce PFAS in the environment. Asia-Pacific countries are increasingly addressing PFAS ("forever chemicals") through regulations mainly aligned with the Stockholm Convention, which restricts certain PFAS substances such as PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS. Key points include:

1- China, Japan, and South Korea have adopted restrictions on PFAS listed in the Stockholm Convention. China is enhancing broader chemical regulations, including a 2023 List of New Pollutants for Priority Management [1].

2- Japan has been proactive, since 2009, PFOS is regulated as a Class I Specified Chemical Substance, with export restrictions. In 2020, Japan set a drinking water target of 50 ng/L for PFOS and PFOA and banned their manufacture and use [7].

3- Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines have documented widespread PFAS contamination in water, soil, and biota, with ongoing concerns about human and ecosystem health. However, regulatory frameworks remain weak or poorly enforced in many of these countries [5][6].

In Iraq, PFAS pollution is not yet a visible part of water management strategies, and current efforts are limited to occasional workshops for university staff. However, with ongoing drought and increasing reliance on untreated groundwater in urban peripheries, the risk of PFAS contamination in drinking water will only grow. Early action is essential. Drawing from Asia’s experiences, Iraq can consider:
1- Establishing a national PFAS monitoring program, starting with pilot studies in industrial and military areas.
2- Developing laboratory capacity and training for PFAS testing using GC-MS instruments.
3- Including PFAS in national water quality and environmental protection regulations.
4- Collaborating with regional and international partners to develop cost-effective removal and monitoring methods.

Reference

[1] https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-article/new-regulations-targeting-…
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935121004163
[3] https://ipen.org/documents/pfas-pollution-across-middle-east-and-asia
[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352801X23000474
[5] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/toxicology/articles/10.3389/ftox.2…
[6] https://ipen.org/news/pfas-situation-reports-twelve-middle-eastern-and-…
[7] https://int.anteagroup.com/news-and-media/blog/pfas-regulation-around-t…
[8] https://www.3eco.com/article/2025-asia-pacific-regulatory-landscape-3e/
[9] https://landandgroundwater.com/global-pfas-regulatory-developments/

📢 Unveiling a new bilingual site www.land-irg.org for the UNCCD Interregional Group Central Asia-Russia on drought, land degradation and desertification. Join us for the online launch on Tuesday 8 July @ 10 am CEST.

📢 Представляем новый двуязычный портал www.land-irg.org Межрегиональной группы «Центральная Азия–Россия» КБО ООН по вопросам засухи, деградации земель и опустынивания. Присоединяйтесь к онлайн-запуску во вторник, 8 июля, в 10:00

Hi everyone, my name is Sara Riade, and I’m currently working as a consultant with the UNCCD in the Global Policy Advocacy and Regional Cooperation (GPARC) Unit. I’ll be helping manage the CLP page and supporting community engagement.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any guidance or support navigating the platform — I’m more than happy to help!
Looking forward to connecting with you all.

Why Groundwater Protection Should Be a National Priority in Drought Strategies

A recent study in Nature Sustainability (2025) on the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Delta found that unsustainable groundwater-fed irrigation during dry seasons reduces flood risks but increases surface freshwater scarcity and saltwater intrusion in coastal regions.

While heavy groundwater pumping supports dry-season agriculture and leads to higher aquifer recharge during monsoon seasons, this recharge is insufficient to offset depletion, creating a vicious cycle:

🔹 Groundwater depletion ➡️ reduced surface runoff ➡️ less surface water for farming ➡️ increased groundwater dependence.

💧 This means that although groundwater use may temporarily reduce flood risk, it undermines long-term water security and resilience to drought.

Key takeaways for drought management:
✅ Groundwater protection must be a clear priority in national drought strategies, rather than a resource to exhaust during crises.
✅ Integrated management of surface and groundwater resources is essential for resilience.
✅ Farmers need support to improve water-use efficiency and adopt practices that reduce dependency on excessive groundwater pumping.
✅ Expansion of agriculture in coastal deltas must consider sustainable recharge strategies to prevent seawater intrusion and further freshwater scarcity.

🌍 These findings are globally relevant, as human pressures and climate change increasingly threaten freshwater systems in coastal and deltaic regions.

✍️ How can countries balance food security with groundwater conservation in drought management plans? Let’s exchange experiences and lessons to strengthen our collective drought resilience.

📖 The link of study:
👉 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01566-0

#DroughtManagement #Groundwater #NatureSustainability #WaterSecurity #UNCCD #CLP