Although Chapter 3 paints a gloomy picture of progress with SDG 6, there is growing optimism among the international community, at least, about achieving the targets and reaching a sustainable, water- secure world, although, realistically, this will likely be some (unspecified) time after 2030. There is no shortage of good ideas: responses in policy, institutions and myriad technological and managerial domains show great promise as the world moves towards sustainability. Some are associated with domestic and industrial water use, but most are likely to come from agriculture, where significant water savings are expected from the largest freshwater consumer in many countries. Governments and local communities will need to prioritize their challenges and risks. This will depend upon how water and water- using sectors respond to the challenges at all levels: local, national and international.

This chapter explores some of the critical responses that fall within the responsibility of those working in water resources planning and management. These include adopting inclusive water governance, implementing water- centric integrated solutions at scale, embracing innovative technologies and management practices and investing in long- term sustainability. Of course, many other factors influence water availability and management and fall beyond the influence of ministries and public agencies in charge of water policy and management. Water resource planning occurs within socioeconomic settings and under governance regimes that may facilitate or limit societal capacity to implement them. Other goals must also be reconciled, such as eliminating hunger and sustaining the natural environment. Since Covid- 19, development priorities have focused on health, and following the war in Ukraine, attention has turned towards food security and migration. Other serious challenges are driven by poverty, biodi-versity loss, large- scale environmental degradation, natural disasters and climate change. We explore these and other interconnections in Chapter 5.

Some challenges require practical actions that provide water's “visible” aspects: the “hardware” of water resources development, such as installing taps and toilets, building reservoirs, installing pipelines, drilling boreholes and treating and reusing/ recycling wastewater. Given adequate resources, much of this material progress is achievable in the short term.