1. Increase water storage capacity: Building more reservoirs and dams can help to store more water for use during periods of drought.

2. Improve irrigation efficiency: Using more efficient irrigation methods such as drip irrigation and precision irrigation can help to reduce water waste and ensure that crops receive the exact amount of water they need.

3. Plant drought-resistant crops: Planting drought-resistant crops such as sorghum and millet can help to reduce the water needed to grow crops in areas prone to drought.

4. Implement water conservation measures: Implementing water conservation measures such as fixing leaks, using low-flow showerheads, and washing cars on grass instead of concrete can help to reduce water waste.

5. Educate the community: Educating the community about the importance of water conservation and efficient water use can help to reduce water waste and ensure that water is used responsibly.

(Retired):

Very applicable answers from Dr. Peter Donker.

Situations differ according to country, population patterns; dispersed, "citified", local, or regional areas to be served: insight into expected temperatures vs. water availability, the range of human uses and the survival of animals, soil and forest organisms, native plants; water conservation impacts on forests and forestation affected wild animals and soil organisms: and historic/future forestry patterns. This suggests careful approach to large projects when water availability is to be conserved - for the "what-ifs" of climate change on loss or gain of human populations. Availability extends beyond human settlement, since it affects other living organisms

The issue of irrigation systems as stated relates to both crops and soil quality before and after. It hints at the potential for impact of wastewater(s) use on soil and crops- which can negatively impact above soil/in-soil organisms, plants, wild animals, and humans. Would this suggest first determining the quality, residuals, and locations for wastewaters disposal, within the runoff and catchment zones? The difficulty, then, is preservation of availability and quality, for the area dependent upon the water conservation project.

These are serious approaches, where the growth and application of 'environmental' sciences could be more useful: water storage for seasonal losses assists highly populated settings, where dam-building is more costly, and where populations are less or rural- require more pumping or inflow technologies; when less costly - though distant, and protections of the conservation and inflow are incorporated within the plan.

Slowly degrading wastewater substances and chemicals would not improve the safety of long-term uses of water runoffs and their collection region. The latter would also apply to more local ponding for farming capacity, at site uses, and the protection of soil and plant quality.

Would it then be using foresight to consider what current and more harmful substances and chemicals can accumulate in surface soils and runoff waters - for much longer than desired, from already-existing and planned wastewater discharges? Perhaps applying standards with lower local costs to areas using and potentially/actually discharging stored waters or wastewaters within water conservation areas (above or underground)?

For large scale conservation there is also the less - visible potential impact from human population impacts on historical forestation vs more recent deforestation, rare plants, crops agriculture levels, and historic life patterns of human and animal populations. Another part of the "natural situation" is that human groups lives can have little interest on the impact of large storage on natural systems other than their access and benefits: that is a further step; where conservation insight may "better more things" if a higher standard of conservation water area and standards could be emblematic i terms of restoration and preserve of the area and region, into the projected future. Humans are shown to adapt to worse or better situations either by attraction or dispersion to elsewhere; this is nothing new since it is a "normal response for animal species which seek better conditions than locally available, and escape from worse conditions: this is where regional and local water conservation becomes more complex than just creating storage for human uses (beyond just water conservation engineering): trying to see the bigger picture can be assumed to improve long-term water conservation projects from availability and use benefits.

It is interesting that the local known crops are suggested, as most towns and areas are familiar with this, because of its immediate benefits and historical adaptations. There may be few places that would not miss their locally available foods - adaptive to historical settings and availability: a necessary factor in species for normality: limited other options can often change human and animal histories, etc. The nearly invisible links between lives and setting has relevance to both climate change and the availability of water and foods. I note that the water conservation project would apply to where such such conservation is possible and available: climate change expectations for human and animal groups could very well impact the movement and historic settling of human groups: water, food, and safe space; presents options now visible in human movement and settling: the other path at least for "animal" migration may be to examine what basic "supply" options may assist protection of humans subject to permanent environmental and historical loss of previous settings. Water, hygiene, food availability may affect some facets of human/animal/plant loss or migration: provided that "basicity" interchanges within regions for more than water conservation: it may benefit a group yet impact "place" and "means" for another group (human or non-human) - followed by movement/loss to greater availability, when food, safety and other (living organisms) needs are not considered as of additional importance.

Item 5 is important: education -toward a "known" degree of safety, for instance protection of health (from disease, exposure); linked to individual and community/city/rural users; so that those dependent on water conservation may quickly adapt to a degree of being protected and rewarded for clean uses and quality of their water(s) sources and settings. The issues of available water, space, protection and access to means: nutrition, health, etc.; may then also provide greater protection, and benefit those with historic adaptation to "place", safety, and preservation of space and means: making adaptation to (potential) climate change impacts easier for long-occupied, but economically and historically unstratified, in means and access.

This is a crucial task for water management in the arid region intimately linked to Water Security Issues.

See references within the following research project:

https://www.researchgate.net/project/National-Water-Security