Adaptive water governance: case studies Pathway 4 CASE STUDY 14 Partnership for integrated water governance and climate adaptation Organizations: Xylem, South Bend water utility (Indiana) Description: This partnership between Xylem and South Bend, Indiana’s water utility, showcases a collaborative effort between the private and public sectors to integrate water governance in climate adaptation governance. The aim of this collaboration is the mitigation of storm overflows resulting from flooding and the creation of a climate action plan through the deployment of water technologies to manage storm water overflows. Technologies include real-time monitoring and adaptive control systems in the sewer systems, which enable the transformation of the city’s ageing sewer infrastructure into a dynamic, adaptive and responsive network able to tackle flooding. The technologies helped reduce sewer overflows by 80% and improved water quality in St. Joseph River by 50%. Source: See endnote.103CASE STUDY 13 The Freshwater Challenge Organization: The Freshwater Challenge Description: The Freshwater Challenge (FWC) is a voluntary, country-led partnership with the goal to restore 300,000 kilometres of degraded rivers and 350 million hectares of degraded wetlands by 2030, while securing the protection of freshwater ecosystems important for biodiversity and ecosystem services. The challenge was launched at the UN Water Conference in New York in March 2023 by the governments of Colombia, DR Congo, Ecuador, Gabon, Mexico and Zambia. To date, 49 countries and the European Union have joined the Freshwater Challenge. The Freshwater Challenge is rooted in Targets 2 and 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which commits parties to restore 30% of degraded inland waters and conserve 30% of freshwater ecosystems by 2030, creating a critical milestone for global freshwater ecosystems. The FWC’s purpose is to accelerate delivery of national plans and strategies to restore and conserve freshwater ecosystems, by supporting and accelerating targeted interventions for rivers, lakes and other wetlands. The challenge will increase overall investment into the restoration and conservation of freshwater ecosystems and substantially increase the social and economic returns on those investments. In doing so, the challenge will support countries to achieve their international commitments on climate, biodiversity, ecosystem protection and restoration, flood and drought resilience, land degradation, disaster risk reduction and the SDGs. Members of the FWC commit, by the end of 2025, to set and subsequently implement quantifiable targets in their national plans to restore and conserve freshwater ecosystems, thereby supporting national and global commitments by 2030. To ensure transparency, member countries’ national commitments will be documented and publicly accessible on FWC’s website. Source: See endnote.102 Water Futures: Mobilizing Multi-Stakeholder Action for Resilience 38

Water Futures Mobilizing Multi Stakeholder Action for Resilience 2025