Adaptation Adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts. It refers to changes in processes, practices, and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit from opportunities associated with climate change. From the perspective of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, climate change adaptation includes building resilience of water infrastructures, improving water management and governance and lastly, building resilience of groups and population in vulnerable situations in order to minimize the risk and harm of climate change impacts. Building resilience of water and sanitation infrastructure Water infrastructure must be adapted in two ways: it must be more robust and capable of withstanding both extreme droughts and flood events, and it must be more flexible, adaptable to changing circumstances, availability of water and local needs. It is often a matter of introducing ‘additional’ technical components or designs to address the specific risks arising from climate change. However, traditional strategies tend to rely on ‘hard’ and large infrastructure (such as dams, dykes, and inter-basins transfers of water) that are increasingly questioned. This type of infrastructure has high operational and maintenance costs, long lifecycles, and low flexibility. Often, these large infrastructures are impacted by the very events that they are built to address – such as droughts, floods, or more gradual impacts of climate change. An important alternative to ‘hard’ infrastructural solutions to the impacts of climate change on water and sanitation systems is recovering the good condition and functionality of aquatic ecosystems. It is especially important to recover the ecosystems that can provide buffers against the impacts of climate change. Implementing nature-based solutions does not imply the need to abandon traditional infrastructure, but rather combining it with integrated nature-based solutions, which are usually more cost effective, less vulnerable to climate change, and provide better service and protection over its lifetime. Ecosystem and protection against impacts of climate change Management strategies Aquifers are ‘water lungs’ of the planet and they will become increasingly important as sources to rely on long-term, as periods of drought become longer and more frequent; Reserving enough water in the aquifers for periods of drought Reducing pumping in non-drought period Developing recharge strategies during wet periods Wetlands are surface stores, flood regulators and natural macro-purifying plants that regenerate water quality; Restoring wetlands and their biodiversity Limiting the degradation of wetlands, which can lead to greenhouse gas emissions Riverside ecosystems soften floods and reduce their destructive energy Expanding zone of river expansion, in particular upstream from settlements 3