At a United Nations ceremony Wednesday, UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon stressed the importance of research on water.
“Water innovation is critical for peace and prosperity, yet hundreds of millions lack access to safe water. We will not leave them behind,” he said adding that science has a crucial role to play in ensuring water security.
Ban-Ki-moon was addressing the awards ceremony at the 7th Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW).
“We call for an international summit for heads of state, as they do for economic summits because even if we bear with the economic difficulties, we cannot surpass water challenges,” said H.R.H. Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, chairman of PSIPW.
At least 167 countries will experience water depletion in the next 25 years. In the U.S. alone, 40 states, including California, Texas and Florida, will experience water scarcity in the next decade, according to official sources.
Established in 2002 by Saudi Arabia’s late HRH Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, PSIPW focuses on awarding scientists who establish concrete developments that can save millions of lives. This year, the award was given to eight leading researchers who achieved tangible breakthroughs in water innovation.
The following were among this year’s award winning achievements:
- A solution that predicts cholera outbreaks up to six-months in advance;
- An energy-efficient solution to sustainability sanitize larger volumes of water;
- A model that forecasts monsoonal floods one- to two-weeks in advance;
- Research that advances scientific understanding of changes in river flows and, therefore, the functionality of river systems as a water source.
Award Winners:
- The Creativity Prize: (shared)
The team of Dr. Rita Colwell (University of Maryland at College Park) and Dr. Shafiqul Islam (Tufts University)
Peter J. Webster (Georgia Institute of Technology) - Creativity Prize:
Peter J. Webster (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA). - Surface Water Prize:
Gary Parker (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) - Groundwater Prize:
Tissa H. Illangasekare (Colorado School of Mines) - Alternative Water Resources Prize:
The team of Dr. Rong Wang & Dr. Anthony G. Fane (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) - Water Management and Protection Prize:
Daniel P. Loucks (Cornell University)
“Water sanitation requires investment and partnership and international attention and cooperation among different scientific communities and nations,” said Ban-Ki-moon.”
Rajani Baburajan