Olli Varis
Aalto University, Department of Built Environment, Department Member
- I am Professor of Water Resources Management and Vice Dean of the School of Engineering at Aalto University, Finland,... moreI am Professor of Water Resources Management and Vice Dean of the School of Engineering at Aalto University, Finland, and a Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. I have a broad and interdisciplinary experience on water, environment and development research and consultation. I am internationally acknowledged scientific writer and scholar with the research focus on sustainable development and water resources management in developing and emerging economies, particularly in Asia including China. I have been active in several international organizations including UNESCO, WMO, IWRA (Vice President 2007-2009), IWA, IIASA and UNU/WIDER.edit
Water Resources Development: Vicious and Virtuous Circles. O Varis Ambio 28:77, 599-603, 11/1999. Sustainable development is an intergeneration concept. It cannot be achieved without far-reaching visions, nor without specific knowledge,... more
Water Resources Development: Vicious and Virtuous Circles. O Varis Ambio 28:77, 599-603, 11/1999. Sustainable development is an intergeneration concept. It cannot be achieved without far-reaching visions, nor without specific knowledge, solutions, and actions. ...
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Lac de Guiers (Guiers Lake) is a shallow lake in West Africa. Its waters are used mainly for irrigation and drinking water. Recent engineering in the Senegal River Valley has changed the lakes functioning and led to new water quality... more
Lac de Guiers (Guiers Lake) is a shallow lake in West Africa. Its waters are used mainly for irrigation and drinking water. Recent engineering in the Senegal River Valley has changed the lakes functioning and led to new water quality conditions. This article describes the water quality effects of the management of the lake and use of its waters, with special emphasis on salinity and eutrophication.
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Approximately one-third of mankind lives within the basins of the large Himalayan rivers. These rivers include the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Red River, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers. Whereas the concentration of... more
Approximately one-third of mankind lives within the basins of the large Himalayan rivers. These rivers include the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Red River, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers. Whereas the concentration of people within the basins of these rivers is remarkable, even more striking is the agglomeration of poverty, marginalization, malnutrition, and uncontrolled urbanization. It is estimated that around half of the world's total for these factors is concentrated within these basins.
The water quality of Lake Enajarvi, Southern Finland, has deteriorated strongly due to eutrophication, especially by high summertime biomasses of cyanobacteria (bluegreen algae). Of a number of multivariate techniques used to find... more
The water quality of Lake Enajarvi, Southern Finland, has deteriorated strongly due to eutrophication, especially by high summertime biomasses of cyanobacteria (bluegreen algae). Of a number of multivariate techniques used to find associations between the algal taxa and selected environmental factors, canonical correlation analysis appeared the most applicable. Canonical correlations were used in defining the roles of selected environmental variables in the algal associations
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The world's urban population is soaring, with an increasing number of people exposed to urban natural hazards such as riverine floods and storm surges. The global quantification of their extent is, however, still blurred. The... more
The world's urban population is soaring, with an increasing number of people exposed to urban natural hazards such as riverine floods and storm surges. The global quantification of their extent is, however, still blurred. The ongoing surge in high-resolution data allows novel opportunities for quantification of hazards and exposure. Here, we provide a global spatial synthesis of urban populations' exposure to riverine floods and storm surges in 1990 and 2015. Our results reveal that, owing to rapid economic development globally in a large proportion of exposed areas, most of the exposure has shifted from low-income to middle-income countries. Asia dominates as a continent. The total growth of human exposure continues, suggesting that disaster risk reduction policies and implementation call for enduring effort.
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Besides posing soaring pressure on water and land resources, the ever-intensifying agricultural production redistributes these pressures trough increasingly intensive trade. Environmental consequences are complicated and unprecedented,... more
Besides posing soaring pressure on water and land resources, the ever-intensifying agricultural production redistributes these pressures trough increasingly intensive trade. Environmental consequences are complicated and unprecedented, and postulate thorough scrutiny. Little attention is paid to developing regions which are small nodes in terms of trade volume in global trade however of visible gaps in water and land productivities. Five Central Asian nations (CANs) have close trade activities with their neighbour China, but their agricultural production efficiency is strikingly low and the ecological environment is severely degraded. Here we evaluate, among CANs and China, the water and land footprints, virtual water and land trades, as well as potentials in enhancing water and land efficiency related to sixteen primary crop products, four primary animal products, and twelve derivative products production and trade over the period 2000-2014. We find that the blue water footprint and land footprint per unit product in CANs were up to 61- and 17-times higher than in China. Through enhancing water and land efficiency without further intervention in water and land endowments, the scenario for CANs shows an additional food supply for feeding 387 million people or half the starving population in the world.
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Summary Understanding interlinkages among UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is pivotal for the success of Agenda 2030. Here, we use water, a key sustainability resource, to advance SDG science by (1) assessing the synergies... more
Summary Understanding interlinkages among UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is pivotal for the success of Agenda 2030. Here, we use water, a key sustainability resource, to advance SDG science by (1) assessing the synergies and trade-offs of improved water security on achieving the SDGs, (2) examining all the SDGs simultaneously, and (3) using a statistical analysis approach to synthesize the main interconnections. Our results show that water security positively contributed to all SDGs, especially SDG3 (good health) and SDG2 (zero hunger). Negative linkages (9% of all identified linkages) were potentially underrepresented and hampered critical assessment of water's links to the SDGs. The method may be used for other natural resources and their potential in supporting SDG implementation. Finally, more attention must be paid to the potential mutual benefits, and particularly the trade-offs, associated with SDG linkages.
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Our societies build largely on the concept of security and the ultimate justification for our present-day states is to ensure internal and external security of their citizens. While this task has traditionally focused on local and... more
Our societies build largely on the concept of security and the ultimate justification for our present-day states is to ensure internal and external security of their citizens. While this task has traditionally focused on local and national scales, globalisation and planetary-scale challenges such as climate change mean that security connects also to a variety of sectors and has a stronger global dimension. Security is therefore increasingly connected with sustainability, which seeks to ensure that we as humans are able to live and prosper on this planet now and in the future. The concepts of energy security, food security and water security—as being used separately or together—manifest the burgeoning linkages between security and sustainability. This Special Issue brings together ten scientific articles that look at different aspects of security, sustainability and resilience with an emphasis on energy, food and/or water in the context of Finland and Europe. In this Editorial, we in...
Research Interests: Business, Environmental Engineering, Climate Change, Environmental policy, Energy, and 15 moreEnergy Policy, Energy Security, Drought, EU Law, Environmental Security, Eutrophication, Finland, Animal Agriculture, Critical Infrastructure, Adaptive Governance, Consumptive Water Use, Consumer Behaviour, Co Benefits, Energy Trade, and Assessment Framework
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Research Interests: Business, Environmental Engineering, Cleaner Production, Energy Security, China, and 10 moreUrbanization, Natural Resource Economics, Food Security, Water Footprint, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Blue Water, Interdisciplinary Engineering, Water Energy, and Strategy and Management
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Informal settlements i.e., slums emerge from the interplay of multidimensional factors related to urbanization and sustainability. While the contribution of urban factors is well understood, the role of external drivers, such as... more
Informal settlements i.e., slums emerge from the interplay of multidimensional factors related to urbanization and sustainability. While the contribution of urban factors is well understood, the role of external drivers, such as uncontrolled migration to urban areas, is rarely addressed in research or policy-making. This study develops a novel conceptualization of slums by reviewing the pushing and pulling factors of migration and their contribution to informal settlements through 1) a socio-ecological system approach and 2) the concept of adaptive capacity. Further, it advances the discussion around synergistic and coherent policy-making in the urban context by reviewing three urban agendas and further using water as a case with the concept of cross-cutting domains. We show that the emergence of urban challenges can, and should be, linked to the root causes of flows into urban areas. Understanding these linkages through a socio-ecological system framework opens a window for knowled...
Research Interests: Economics, Resilience, Sustainable Development, Urban Planning, Adaptation, and 14 moreVulnerability, Environmental Planning, Urbanization, Socio-ecological system dynamics, Cities, Sustainable Urban Development, Prospect Theory, Rural Urban Migration, Human Settlement, Conceptualization, Adaptive capacity, Human Dimensions, Sustainability, and Urban Agenda
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Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Geography, Environmental Science, Cleaner Production, Quality, and 15 moreSecurity, Policy, Energy Consumption, China, Urban, Policy making, Manufacturing Engineering, Carbon Emissions, Demand, Interdisciplinary Engineering, Driving Forces, Sustainability, CO Emissions, Decomposition Analysis, and consumption sociology
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Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Geography, Asian Studies, Cleaner Production, Water, and 13 moreFlood Risk Management, Resilience, Environmental Planning, Megacities, Manufacturing Engineering, Floods, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Climate Adaptation, Interdisciplinary Engineering, Sustainability, Coastal Cities, Strategy and Management, and Flood Myth
Water security is a concept with several aspects and dimensions. We identify four such dimensions, each consisting of two complementary aspects: direct-indirect, macro-micro, technical-political, and peace-conflict. We investigate this... more
Water security is a concept with several aspects and dimensions. We identify four such dimensions, each consisting of two complementary aspects: direct-indirect, macro-micro, technical-political, and peace-conflict. We investigate this idea with a case study focusing on one aspect along each dimension. The case analyzes the indirect role of water for food security at global scale, using quantitative spatial approach. We find such a case particularly interesting, as food production is the planet’s biggest anthropogenic water user and food security is thus in many ways interwoven to water security. We analyze where water scarcity hampers food production, and how food trade influences this interplay. We also consider how societal resilience relates to these themes, and identify regions that face particular challenges in this regard. With this we systematize the concept of water security and link it with to issues of vulnerability, resilience, and, ultimately, sustainability.
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Abstract China’s rapid urbanization in areas prone to flood or drought events can be seen as a double-edged sword. Urbanization enlarges the population exposed to these hazards, but the resulting socio-economic development also helps... more
Abstract China’s rapid urbanization in areas prone to flood or drought events can be seen as a double-edged sword. Urbanization enlarges the population exposed to these hazards, but the resulting socio-economic development also helps build resilience. This article quantifies flood occurrence, drought severity, and related resilience in 81 cities in Mainland China. The extent of flood exposure was notable, both in absolute terms as well as in relation to the drought-prone urban population. China needs to integrate urban flood/drought policy making with sustainable urbanization policy making to best contribute to minimizing flood and drought risks in its cities.
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Research Interests: Sociology, Participatory Research, Water, Security, Economic Growth, and 15 moreWater resources, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Global Environmental Change, Environmental Sustainability, Social Studies Of Science, Multidisciplinary, Reductionism, Water Policy, Water Security, Uncertainty, Ecosystems, Social Studies of Science, Elsevier, Science and Technology Studies, and Environmental effects
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Although China has experienced a wide variety of regional conflicts between water scarcity and electricity generation, there are few comprehensive quantifications that explicitly reveal the location and severity of these conflicts.... more
Although China has experienced a wide variety of regional conflicts between water scarcity and electricity generation, there are few comprehensive quantifications that explicitly reveal the location and severity of these conflicts. Triggered by the soaring need for such information, we performed a high-resolution evaluation and projection of the spatial vulnerability of thermoelectric power generation to water scarcity problems. The study provides a comprehensive assessment by incorporating thermoelectric plants’ reliance on water, local water supply stress and future impacts brought about by planning and climate change into the analysis simultaneously. To measure the vulnerability of thermoelectric plants to water scarcity, a vulnerability index was constructed and multi-disciplinary approaches were integrated to quantify this index. Seven hotpots in North China were highlighted as power-vulnerable to water scarcity currently. In order to fulfill the power generation target in the future, less-vulnerable watersheds identified by this study are suggested to become the sites of future power plants. Besides, lowering the water withdrawal intensity of power plants alone is not enough to solve the vulnerability concerns. Instead, it is necessary to implement other water management, including water rights allocation in the trans-boundary river basins. This paper also highlights regions where climate change will threaten power generation by decreasing the water availability. These insights are valuable for adding the alleviation of water and electricity conflicts to climate change adaptation agenda.
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The competitive ability of N-fixing blue-green algae (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) was studied in Lake Kuortaneenjarvi, Finland. A 15-state dynamic lumped parameter model simulating N, P, and algae was used. The observed and modeled behavior... more
The competitive ability of N-fixing blue-green algae (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) was studied in Lake Kuortaneenjarvi, Finland. A 15-state dynamic lumped parameter model simulating N, P, and algae was used. The observed and modeled behavior of the lake was extrapolated using the model within a much wider range of input values for N and P loads, water temperature and irradiance, than was available at the model identification. For each input variable and run, a fixed amount of perturbation was introduced into the whole input array. An increase in the P load improved and an increase in the N load weakened the competitive ability of blue-greens. This was mainly due to the changes in the N:P ratio. Higher water temperatures greatly improved the facilities of cyanobacteria, but the competition was not sensitive to irradiance. The different roles of physiological and ecological factors appear clearly in the outcome. The simulation results coincide well with the existing ecological knowledge. This suggests that the assumptions used in the model identification do not involve major errors.
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It is difficult to conceive of another aspect of water resources development that evokes as much emotion, public concern and challenge for policy makers as dam and reservoir construction. Some want to store water, generate electricity,... more
It is difficult to conceive of another aspect of water resources development that evokes as much emotion, public concern and challenge for policy makers as dam and reservoir construction. Some want to store water, generate electricity, irrigate or ameliorate living in other ways by constructing dams. Others oppose this because dams and reservoirs destruct valuable ecosystems, displace people from river valleys where they have dwelled for millennia and so on.
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Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Spatial Analysis, Water, Water resources, and 15 moreSustainable Water Resources Management, Water Resources Management, Multidisciplinary, Environmental Sciences, Business and Management, Asia, MAUP, Water resource management, Water scarcity, Water Use, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Civil and Construction Engineering, Social and Economic Geography, Water Shortage, and Environmental Assessments
Abstract The Mekong Region in Southeast Asia is undergoing rapid transitions socially, economically, and environmentally. Water is related to these changes in a very profound manner, and the Mekong River and its tributaries are seeing... more
Abstract The Mekong Region in Southeast Asia is undergoing rapid transitions socially, economically, and environmentally. Water is related to these changes in a very profound manner, and the Mekong River and its tributaries are seeing increasing number of plans for water development, most notably in the form of large-scale hydropower. The impacts of this development vary among regional, national, and local levels and across different timescales, influencing societies, politics, and the environment in a variety of ways. While ...
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Research Interests: Environmental Science, Water, Natural Resource Management, Agriculture, Waste Management, and 14 moreMedicine, Multidisciplinary, Food Processing, Food Security, Food Waste, Water Supply, Food supply, Land Use, Fertilizer, Fertilizers, Internationality, Conservation of Natural Resources, Per Capita Income, and Waste products
Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Geography, Human Geography, China, Vulnerability, and 10 moreEnvironmental Sciences, Business and Management, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, River Basin, Applied Geography, Civil and Construction Engineering, Social and Economic Geography, Socio economy, Sustainability, and Environment
Integrated Water Resources Management has been identified as one of the basic water resources related policy approaches in several recent important commitments and recommendations including the Johannesburg Summit and World Water Forums.... more
Integrated Water Resources Management has been identified as one of the basic water resources related policy approaches in several recent important commitments and recommendations including the Johannesburg Summit and World Water Forums. Recognizing that IWRM is largely still a theoretical concept with not much sound scientific research, our objective is to investigate how the IWRM process in the Mekong Basin is institutionalised, and implemented in practice. We focus on the Cambodia's Great Lake, the Tonle Sap. Of particular interest are the bottlenecks of IWRM, both those that are within the water sector and those that relate to various, more general development tendencies.
Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geography, Environmental Science, and 10 moreWater resources, Environmental Planning, Multidisciplinary, Integrated Water Resources Management, Environmental Resource Management, Water Resources Development, Water Science and Technology, Water Sector, Integrated Water Resource Management, and Summit
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IWRA, Water International, Volume 31, Number 1, March 2006 ensuring that there is good governance for both the water and energy sectors, along with functional and uncorrupt institutions which can work efficiently without undue political... more
IWRA, Water International, Volume 31, Number 1, March 2006 ensuring that there is good governance for both the water and energy sectors, along with functional and uncorrupt institutions which can work efficiently without undue political influences, would be essential. Each developing country will have to formulate and implement its long-term water and energy strategies, which should depend upon its own aspirations, and economic, social, and environmental conditions. Ensuring that adequate management and technical capacities exist to formulate and implement such strategies will be an important challenge to overcome. All the speakers and the participants of the Seminar agreed that improvements in the economic and living conditions of developing countries would simply not occur without extensive infrastructural developments. These developments, however, must be sensitively and carefully carried out to ensure that they are economically efficient, socially acceptable, and environmentally sound. In this connection, the overwhelming view of the participants was that much of the recent debate on large dams has been counterproductive. The question no longer is whether large dams should be built, since the world really has no other alternatives, but to ensure how best the positive impacts of such structures could be maximized, negative impacts can be minimized, and those who may have to pay the costs (for example, people who have to be resettled) are explicitly made beneficiaries of such developments. Properly planned and managed large dams are essential for regional development, as well as to mitigate the impacts of floods and droughts. As Minister Karua noted, one single major flood for Kenya in the past represented nearly a loss of 20 percent of the national GDP, which the country simply cannot afford. The Minister further argued that “dams are required to remove the growing mismatch between needs and supplies. In their absence, underdevelopment will perpetuate rather than helping removal of poverty and aiding economic growth.” The overall feeling was that the debate must not be structured in terms of large dams versus small-scale alternatives like rainwater harvesting. Each must be analyzed in the context of specific prevailing local conditions in economic, social, cultural, and environmental terms. Depending upon the context, construction of a large dam may be necessary, or equally the focus could be on rainwater harvesting, or a mixture of both. It was noted that bioenergy production is a rapidlygrowing commercial activity, which should rely on sound water supply and water infrastructure. Bioenergy exploitation still occurs in a somewhat uncontrolled fashion, which could lead to massive environmental problems in terms of deforestation, erosion, desertification, and air quality problems. The links between bioenergy production and efficient water resources management, including related infrastructure, have thus far been largely ignored. As the convener of the Seminar, Asit K. Biswas, concluded at the end of the Panel session: “Small can be beautiful, but it can also be ugly. Similarly, big can be magnificent but it can also be disastrous. Each alternative, whether a large dam and/or rainwater harvesting, must be judged by its own specific context, merits, and constraints in scientific, objective, and holistic terms without any biases and dogmas.” The papers presented at the Seminar and the results of the panel discussion are now being edited for publication. Additional information on the Seminar can be obtained from www.thirdworldcentre.org.
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Abstract Water is fundamental for the development of any society. Several concepts in water management promote integration, cooperation and a basin-wide approach as a means to achieve sustainable development of water resources. Management... more
Abstract Water is fundamental for the development of any society. Several concepts in water management promote integration, cooperation and a basin-wide approach as a means to achieve sustainable development of water resources. Management institutions aiming to put these concepts into practice are developed around the world, with varying success. This paper looks at the institutional setting in the Tonle Sap Lake area in Cambodia, and analyses three initiatives for establishing a coordinating organization for the lake basin. ...