“Managing groundwater is important not just because of overuse. Due to climate change, groundwater has become the solid buffer,” said Frank van Steenbergen, water resources specialist with MetaMeta Research. “Water saving is important. This project started with the idea that we would save water, and that is important because we overuse it.”

Amidst cross-cutting water issues, Asia and the Pacific has the most number of child deaths and the biggest proportion of children and youth, particularly the unemployed, who are especially vulnerable. Asia Water Week 2013 empowered the youth as major stakeholders in shaping the water security agenda of the region.

Facing a number of serious environmental and ecological challenges, the Bagmati River Basin is the most water stressed basin in Nepal. This paper addresses issues and interventions, including the institutional strengthening of High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilization, to improve water security in the river basin.

Facing a number of serious environmental and ecological challenges, the Bagmati River Basin is the most water stressed basin in Nepal. This presentation addresses issues and interventions, including the institutional strengthening of High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilization, to improve water security in the river basin.

This paper discusses how sustainable development, with the use of modern technology and without compromising the vital ecosystems, can be achieved through the involvement of community people. It features the experience of a nine-year-long participatory river basin water resources management project in northwest Bangladesh.

Water security has its own share of opportunities and challenges. While the fastest growing economies are found in Asia, doing things differently is crucial since there is only a small window of opportunity. Designing urban water systems will therefore require the application of a holistic systems approach.

The steady rise of population growth in Asia’s megacities including the Philippines' capital city of Manila requires a holistic and integrated approach in sustainable water management. The experience of Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System in the Philippines has shown that improved water governance is the future of urban water management.

Water security increasingly becomes a global concern as it consistently ranks among the top five global risks in terms of impact. As water security carries interconnected risks, there exists the need to create a new enabling environment and instruments to respond to the challenge.