If an apparently water-rich country like Canada is ill-prepared to manage its supply for sustainable economic growth, then one can only imagine the challenges faced by developing countries where resources are on the verge of being exhausted.~

But that doesn’t discourage Biman Paudel. A PhD candidate in civil and environmental engineering working under the supervision of associate professor Rajesh Seth, Paudel was recently awarded a three-year post-graduate doctoral scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council worth $63,000. He will research the use of remote sensing technology to better determine available quantities of ground water in the third world.

“Having that information will help conservation managers better control supply,” said Paudel, a native of Nepal, where he worked as a divisional engineer in that country’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Works. “Demand is much greater in developing countries with rapidly expanding populations. Most of the sources have already been tapped and all they can do is try to manage demand.”

Here in Canada, a think-tank called the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy recently issued a report that concluded governance at a national level cannot properly respond to increasing pressure on water resources. And that’s despite the fact that Canada has only 0.5 percent of the world's population but controls 20 percent of the globe’s fresh water. The report says demands of a growing economy on water resources are likely to heighten significantly in the coming decades.

That concern is even more acute in developing countries which, unlike Canada, don’t have vast supplies of water, Paudel said. But he believes there are solutions to the problem of slaking the thirst of a rapidly expanding planet and that developing new sensing technology to more accurately detect supply is an important part of the bigger picture.

“Those countries need to manage usage more efficiently, and this will help,” he said.

For a list of UWindsor's NSERC graduate awards, click here.

Biman Paudel is researching how remote sensing technology can help manage water supply in developing countries.

News story courtesy of UWin Daily News.