Sustainability of Effective Use of Water Sources in Turkey

Abstract

Water is the most essential natural resource for sustainable development of human society as well as the most vital source for viability of human and natural systems. However, natural water resources had been threaten by increase of temperature due to global warming and improper usage, causing health problems both for human and aquatic environment. On the other hand, global water consumption has increased because of growth in population and increase of the per capita water use. To make adjustments to the water utilization, the need is allocating limited water resources and increasing local water use efficiency. Sustainability is a relative concept that must be applied in an environment undergoing multiple changes that are occurring over different temporal and spatial scales. Contrary to the popular belief, Turkey is not a water-rich country. Turkey depends on its water resource systems for survival and welfare. Therefore, new studies have been forced in the rehabilitation and sustainable usage of water sources recently in the world. In this paper, information about their current state and future projections is given based on many published data.