Water security

Water security has many different aspects, in clockwise order from top left: a communal tap for water supply in Soweto, South Africa; residents standing in flood water in Kampala, Uganda; the town of Farina in South Australia abandoned due to years of drought and dust storms; water pollution can lead to eutrophication, harmful algal blooms and fish kills

The aim of water security is to make the most of water's benefits for humans and ecosystems. The second aim is to limit the risks of destructive impacts of water to an acceptable level.[1][2] These risks include for example too much water (flood), too little water (drought and water scarcity) or poor quality (polluted) water.[1] People who live with a high level of water security always have access to "an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production".[2] For example, access to water, sanitation and hygiene services is one part of water security.[3] Some organizations use the term water security more narrowly for water supply aspects only.

Decision makers and water managers aim to reach water security goals that address multiple concerns. These outcomes can include increasing economic and social well-being while reducing risks tied to water.[4] There are linkages and trade-offs between the different outcomes.[3]: 13  Planners often consider water security effects for varied groups when they design climate change reduction strategies.[5]: 19–21 

Three main factors determine how difficult or easy it is for a society to sustain its water security. These include the hydrologic environment, the socio-economic environment and changes in the future environment. This last is mainly due to climate change.[1] Decision makers may assess water security risks at varied levels. These range from the household to community, city, basin, country and region.[3]: 11 

The absence of water security is water insecurity.[6]: 5  Water insecurity is a growing threat to societies.[7]: 4  The main factors contributing to water insecurity are water scarcity, water pollution and low water quality due to climate change impacts. Others include poverty, destructive forces of water, and disasters that stem from natural hazards. Climate change affects water security in many ways. Changing rainfall patterns, including droughts, can have a big impact on water availability. Flooding can worsen water quality. Stronger storms can damage infrastructure, especially in the Global South.[8]: 660 

There are different ways to deal with water insecurity. Science and engineering approaches can increase the water supply or make water use more efficient. Financial and economic tools can include a safety net to ensure access for poorer people. Management tools such as demand caps can improve water security.[7]: 16  They work on strengthening institutions and information flows. They may also improve water quality management, reduce inequalities and investment in water infrastructure. Improving the climate resilience of water and hygiene services is important. These efforts help to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development.[2]

There is no single method to measure water security.[8]: 562  Metrics of water security roughly fall into two groups. This includes those that are based on experiences versus metrics that are based on resources. The former mainly focus on measuring the water experiences of households and human well-being. The latter tend to focus on freshwater stores or water resources security.[9]

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report found that increasing weather and climate extreme events have exposed millions of people to acute food insecurity and reduced water security. Scientists have observed the largest impacts in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Small Islands and the Arctic.[10]: 9   The report predicted that global warming of 2 °C would expose roughly 1-4 billion people to water stress. It finds 1.5-2.5 billion people live in areas exposed to water scarcity.[10]: 660 

Definitions

Broad definition

There are various definitions for the term water security.[11][12]: 5  It emerged as a concept in the 21st century. It is broader than the absence of water scarcity.[1] It differs from the concepts of food security and energy security. Whereas those concepts cover reliable access to food or energy, water security covers not only the absence of water but also its presence when there is too much of it.[2]

One definition of water security is "the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks".[2]

A similar definition of water security by UN-Water is: "the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability."[11]: 1 [13]

World Resources Institute also gave a similar definition in 2020. "For purposes of this report, we define water security as the capacity of a population to

  • safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socioeconomic development;
  • protect against water pollution and water-related disasters; and
  • preserve ecosystems, upon which clean water availability and other ecosystem services depend."[7]: 17 

Narrower definition with a focus on water supply

Some organizations use water security in a more specific sense to refer to water supply only. They do not consider the water-related risks of too much water. For example, the definition of WaterAid in 2012 focuses on water supply issues. They defined water security as "reliable access to water of sufficient quantity and quality for basic human needs, small-scale livelihoods and local ecosystem services, coupled with a well managed risk of water-related disasters".[11]: 5  The World Water Council also uses this more specific approach with a focus on water supply. "Water security refers to the availability of water, in adequate quantity and quality, to sustain all these needs together (social and economic sectors, as well as the larger needs of the planet's ecosystems) – without exceeding its ability to renew."[14][15]

Relationship with WASH and IWRM

WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) is an important concept when in discussions of water security. Access to WASH services is one part of achieving water security.[3] The relationship works both ways. To be sustainable, WASH services need to address water security issues.[16]: 4  For example WASH relies on water resources that are part of the water cycle. But climate change has many impacts on the water cycle which can threaten water security.[11]: vII  There is also growing competition for water. This reduces the availability of water resources in many areas in the world.[16]: 4 

Water security incorporates ideas and concepts to do with the sustainability, integration and adaptiveness of water resource management.[17][4] In the past, experts used terms such as integrated water resources management (IWRM) or sustainable water management for this.

Related concepts

Water risk

Water risk refers to the possibility of problems to do with water. Examples are water scarcity, water stress, flooding, infrastructure decay and drought.[18]: 4  There exists an inverse relationship between water risk and water security. This means as water risk increases, water security decreases. Water risk is complex and multilayered. It includes risks flooding and drought. These can lead to infrastructure failure and worsen hunger.[19] When these disasters take place, they result in water scarcity or other problems. The potential economic effects of water risk are important to note. Water risks threaten entire industries. Examples are the food and beverage sector, agriculture, oil and gas and utilities. Agriculture uses 69% of total freshwater in the world. So this industry is very vulnerable to water stress.[20]

Risk is a combination of hazard, exposure and vulnerability.[4] Examples of hazards are droughts, floods and decline in quality. Bad infrastructure and bad governance lead to high exposure to risk.

The financial sector is becoming more aware of the potential impacts of water risk and the need for its proper management. By 2025, water risk will threaten $145 trillion in assets under management.[21]

To control water risk, companies can develop water risk management plans.[19] Stakeholders within financial markets can use these plans to measure company environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. They can then identify leaders in water risk management.[22][20] The World Resources Institute has developed an online water data platform named Aqueduct for risk assessment and water management. China Water Risk is a nonprofit dedicated to understanding and managing water risk in China. The World Wildlife Fund has a Water Risk Filter that helps companies assess and respond to water risk with scenarios for 2030 and 2050.[23]

Understanding risk is part of water security policy. But it is also important to take social equity considerations more into account.[24]

There is no wholly accepted theory or mathematical model for determining or managing water risk.[3]: 13  Instead, managers use a range of theories, models and technologies to understand the trade-offs that exist in responding to risk.

Water conflict

Ethiopia's move to fill the dam's reservoir could reduce Nile flows by as much as 25% and devastate Egyptian farmlands.[25]

Water conflict typically refers to violence or disputes associated with access to, or control of, water resources, or the use of water or water systems as weapons or casualties of conflicts. The term water war is colloquially used in media for some disputes over water, and often is more limited to describing a conflict between countries, states, or groups over the rights to access water resources.[26][27] The United Nations recognizes that water disputes result from opposing interests of water users, public or private.[28] A wide range of water conflicts appear throughout history, though they are rarely traditional wars waged over water alone.[29] Instead, water has long been a source of tension and one of the causes for conflicts. Water conflicts arise for several reasons, including territorial disputes, a fight for resources, and strategic advantage.[30]

Water conflicts can occur on the intrastate and interstate levels. Interstate conflicts occur between two or more countries that share a transboundary water source, such as a river, sea, or groundwater basin. For example, the Middle East has only 1% of the world's fresh water shared among 5% of the world's population and most of the rivers cross international borders.[31] Intrastate conflicts take place between two or more parties in the same country, such as conflicts between farmers and urban water users.

Desired outcomes

There are three groups of water security outcomes. These include economic, environmental and equity (or social) outcomes.[1] Outcomes are things that happen or people would want to see happen as a result of policy and management:

  • Economic outcomes: Sustainable growth which takes changing water needs and threats into account.[3] Sustainable growth includes job creation, increased productivity and standards of living.
  • Environmental outcomes: Quality and availability of water for the ecosystems services that depend on this water resource. Loss of freshwater biodiversity and depletion of groundwater are examples of negative environmental outcomes.[32][33]
  • Equity or social outcomes: Inclusive services so that consumers, industry and agriculture can access safe, reliable, sufficient and affordable water. These also mean they can dispose of wastewater safely. This area includes gender issues, empowerment, participation and accountability.[1]

There are four major focus areas for water security and its outcomes. It is about using water to increase economic and social welfare, move towards long-term sustainability or reduce risks tied to water.[4] Decision makers and water managers must consider the linkages and trade-offs between the varied types of outcomes.[3]: 13 

Improving water security is a key factor to achieve growth, development that is sustainable and reduce poverty.[2] Water security is also about social justice and fair distribution of environmental benefits and harms.[34] Development that is sustainable can help reduce poverty and increase living standards. This is most likely to benefit those affected by the impacts of insecure water resources in the region, especially women and children.

Water security is important for attaining most of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is because access to adequate and safe water is a precondition for meeting many of the individual goals.[8]: 4–8  It is also important for attaining development that is resilient to climate change.[8]: 4–7  Planners take note of water security outcomes for various groups in society when they design strategies for climate change adaptation.[3]: 19–21 

Determining factors

Three main factors determine the ability of a society to sustain water security:[2]

  1. Hydrologic environment
  2. Socio-economic environment
  3. Changes in the future environment (climate change)

Hydrologic environment

The hydrologic environment is important for water security. The term hydrologic environment refers to the "absolute level of water resource availability". But it also refers to how much it varies in time and location. Inter-annual means from one year to the next, Intra-annual means from one season to the next. It is possible to refer to location as spatial distribution.[2] Scholars distinguish between a hydrologic environment that is easy to manage and one that is difficult.[2]

An easy to manage hydrologic environment would be one with low rainfall variability. In this case rain is distributed throughout the year and perennial river flows sustained by groundwater base flows. For example, many of the world's industrialized nations have a hydrologic environment that they can manage quite easily. This has helped them achieve water security early in their development.[2]

A difficult to manage hydrologic environment is one with absolute water scarcity such as deserts or low-lying lands prone to severe flood risk. Regions where rainfall is very variable from one season to the next, or regions where rainfall varies a lot from one year to the next are also likely to face water security challenges. The term for this is high inter-annual climate variability. An example would be East Africa, where there have been prolonged droughts every two to three years since 1999.[35] Most of the world's developing countries have challenges in managing hydrologies and have not achieved water security. This is not a coincidence.[2]

The poverty and hydrology hypothesis states that regions with a difficult hydrology remain poor because the respective governments have not been able to make the large investments necessary to achieve water security. Examples of such regions would be those with rainfall variability within one year and across several years. This leads to water insecurity which constrains economic growth.[2] There is a statistical link between increased changes in rainfall patterns and lower per capita incomes.[36]

Socio-economic environment

Relative levels of economic development and equality or inequality are strong determinants of community and household scale water security. Whilst the poverty and hydrology hypothesis suggests that there is a link between poverty and difficult hydrologies, there are many examples of "difficult hydrologies" that have not (yet) resulted in poverty and water insecurity.[2][37]

Social and economic inequalities are strong drivers of water insecurity, especially at the community and household scales. Gender, race and caste inequalities have all been linked to differential access to water services such as drinking water and sanitation. In particular women and girls frequently have less access to economic and social opportunities as a directly consequence of being primarily responsible for meeting household water needs. The entire journey from water source to point of use is fraught with hazards largely faced by women and girls.[38] There is strong evidence that improving access to water and sanitation is a good way of addressing such inequalities.

Climate change

Impacts of climate change that are tied to water, affect people's water security on a daily basis. They include more frequent and intense heavy precipitation which affects the frequency, size and timing of floods.[39] Also droughts can alter the total amount of freshwater and cause a decline in groundwater storage, and reduction in groundwater recharge.[40] Reduction in water quality due to extreme events can also occur.[8]: 558  Faster melting of glaciers can also occur.[41]

Global climate change will probably make it more complex and expensive to ensure water security.[2] It creates new threats and adaptation challenges.[1] This is because climate change leads to increased hydrological variability and extremes. Climate change has many impacts on the water cycle. These result in higher climatic and hydrological variability, which can threaten water security.[11]: vII  Changes in the water cycle threaten existing and future water infrastructure. It will be harder to plan investments for future water infrastructure as there are so many uncertainties about future variability for the water cycle.[1] This makes societies more exposed to risks of extreme events linked to water and therefore reduces water security.[11]: vII 

It is difficult to predict the effects of climate change on national and local levels. Water security will be affected by sea level rise in low lying coastal areas while populations dependent on snowmelt as their water source will be affected by the recession of glaciers and mountain snow.[12]: 21 

Future climate change must be viewed in context of other existing challenges for water security. Other challenges existing climate variability in areas closer to the equator, population growth and increased demand for water resources. Others include political challenges, increased disaster exposure due to settlement in hazard-prone areas, and environmental degradation.[12]: 22  Water demand for irrigation in agriculture will increase due to climate change. This is because evaporation rates and the rate of water loss from crops will be higher due to rising temperatures.[7]: 4 

Climate factors have a major effect on water security as various levels. Geographic variability in water availability, reliability of rainfall and vulnerability to droughts, floods and cyclones are inherent hazards that affect development opportunities. These play out at international to intra-basin scales. At local scales, social vulnerability is a factor that increases the risks to water security, no matter the cause.[5]: 6  For example, people affected by poverty may have less ability to cope with climate shocks.[5]

Challenges and threats

There are many factors that contribute to low water security. Some examples are:[7]: 4 [6]: 9 

  • Water scarcity: Water demand exceeds supply in many regions of the world. This can be due to population growth, higher living standards, general economic expansion and/or greater quantities of water used in agriculture for irrigation.
  • Increasing water pollution and low levels of wastewater treatment, which is making local water unusable.
  • Poor planning of water use, poor water management and misuse. These can cause groundwater levels to drop, rivers and lakes to dry out, and local ecosystems to collapse.
  • Trans-boundary waters and international rivers which belong to several countries. Country borders often do not align with natural watersheds. One reason is that international borders result from boundaries during colonialism.[2]
  • Climate change. This makes water-related disasters such as droughts and floods more frequent and intense; rising temperatures and sea levels can contaminate freshwater sources.[6]: 9 

Water scarcity

A major threat to water security is water scarcity. About 27% of the world's population lived in areas affected by water scarcity in the mid-2010s. This number will likely increase to 42% by 2050.[42]

Map of global water stress (a symptom of water scarcity) in 2019. Water stress is the ratio of water use relative to water availability and is therefore a demand-driven scarcity.[43]

Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two type of water scarcity namely physical and economic water scarcity.[44]: 560  Physical water scarcity is where there is not enough water to meet all demands, including that needed for ecosystems to function. Arid areas for example Central Asia, West Asia, and North Africa often experience physical water scarcity.[45] Economic water scarcity on the other hand, is the result of lack of investment in infrastructure or technology to draw water from rivers, aquifers, or other water sources. It also results from weak human capacity to meet water demand.[44]: 560  Much of Sub-Saharan Africa experiences economic water scarcity.[46]: 11 

There is enough freshwater available globally and averaged over the year to meet demand. As such, water scarcity is caused by a mismatch between when and where people need water, and when and where it is available.[47] The main drivers of the increase in global water demand are the increasing world population, rise in living conditions, changing diets (to more animal products),[48] and expansion of irrigated agriculture.[49][50] Climate change (including droughts or floods), deforestation, water pollution and wasteful use of water can also cause insufficient water supply.[51] Scarcity varies over time as a result of natural variability in hydrology. These variations in scarcity may also be a function of prevailing economic policy and planning approaches.

Water pollution

Water pollution is a threat to water security. It can affect the supply of drinking water and indirectly contribute to water scarcity.

Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses.[52]: 6  Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants mix with these water bodies. Contaminants can come from one of four main sources: sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff including stormwater.[53] Water pollution is either surface water pollution or groundwater pollution. This form of pollution can lead to many problems, such as the degradation of aquatic ecosystems or spreading water-borne diseases when people use polluted water for drinking or irrigation.[54] Another problem is that water pollution reduces the ecosystem services (such as providing drinking water) that the water resource would otherwise provide.

Reduced water quality due to climate change

Drinking water quality framework: Environment (including weather events), infrastructure and management affect drinking water quality at the point of collection (PoC) and point of use (PoU).[55]

Weather and its related shocks can affect water quality in several ways. These depend on the local climate and context.[55] Shocks that are linked to weather include water shortages, heavy rain and temperature extremes. They can damage water infrastructure through erosion under heavy rainfall and floods, cause loss of water sources in droughts, and make water quality deteriorate.[55]

Climate change can reduce lower water quality in several ways:[8]: 582 

  • Heavy rainfall can rapidly reduce the water quality in rivers and shallow groundwater. It can affect water quality in reservoirs even if these effects can be slow.[56] Heavy rainfall also impacts groundwater in deeper, unfractured aquifers. But these impacts are less pronounced. Rainfall can increase fecal contamination of water sources.[55]
  • Floods after heavy rainfalls can mix floodwater with wastewater. Also pollutants can reach water bodies by increased surface runoff.
  • Groundwater quality may deteriorate due to droughts. The pollution in rivers that feed groundwater becomes less diluted. As groundwater levels drop, rivers may lose direct contact with groundwater.[57]
  • In coastal regions, more saltwater may mix into freshwater aquifers due to sea level rise and more intense storms.[11]: 16 [4] This process is called saltwater intrusion.
  • Warmer water in lakes, oceans, reservoirs and rivers can cause more eutrophication. This results in more frequent harmful algal blooms.[8]: 140  Higher temperatures cause problems for water bodies and aquatic ecosystems because warmer water contains less oxygen.[58]
  • Permafrost thawing leads to an increased flux of contaminants.[59]
  • Increased meltwater from glaciers may release contaminants.[60] As glaciers shrink or disappear, the positive effect of seasonal meltwater on downstream water quality through dilution is disappearing.[61]

Poverty

People in low-income countries are at greater risk of water insecurity and may also have less resources to mitigate it. This can result in human suffering, sustained poverty, constrained growth and social unrest.[2]

Food and water insecurity pose significant challenges for numerous individuals across the United States. Strategies employed by households in response to these pressing issues encompass labor intensive methods, such as melting ice, earning wages, and occasionally incurring debt, all aimed at water conservation. Additionally, families may turn to foraging for water-based plants and animals, seeking alternative sources of sustenance. Adjusting consumption patterns becomes imperative, involving the rationing of servings and prioritizing nutritional value, particularly for vulnerable members like small children. The phenomenon of substituting more expensive, nutritious food with cheaper alternatives is also observed.[62]

Furthermore, individuals may consume from sources considered "stigmatized" by society, such as urine or unfiltered water. Migration emerges as a viable option, with families fostering children to relatives outside famine zones and engaging in seasonal or permanent resettlement. In certain instances, resource preservation involves the challenging decision of abandoning specific family members. This is achieved through withholding resources from non-family members, prioritizing the health of some family members over others, and, in extreme cases, leaving individuals behind. As the climate changes, the impact of food and water insecurity is disproportionately felt, necessitating a re-evaluation of societal misconceptions about those making survival sacrifices. Larger entities, including the government and various organizations, extend assistance based on available resources, highlighting the importance of addressing information gaps in specific data.[62]

Destructive forces of water

Flooded roads in Ponce, Puerto Rico, a week after Hurricane Maria devastated the island (2017).

Water can cause large-scale destruction due to its huge power.[2] This destruction can result from sudden events. Examples are tsunamis, floods or landslides. Events that happen slowly over time such as erosion, desertification or water pollution can also cause destruction.[2]

Other threats

Other threats to water security include:

  • Disasters caused by natural hazards such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires. These can damage man-made structures such as dams and fill waterways with debris;
  • Some climate change mitigation measures which need a lot of water. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, afforestation and reforestation may use relatively large amounts of water if done at inappropriate locations.[8]: 4–8  The term for this is a high water footprint.
  • Terrorism such as water supply terrorism;[63]
  • Radiation due to a nuclear accident;[63]
  • New water uses such as hydraulic fracturing for energy resources;[64]
  • Armed conflict and migration. Migration can be due to water scarcity at the origin or it can lead to more water scarcity at the target destinations.[6]: 9 

Management approaches

There are different ways to tackle water insecurity. Science and engineering approaches can increase the water supply or make water use more efficient. Financial and economic tools can be used as a safety net for poorer people. Higher prices may encourage more investments in water systems. Finally, management tools such as demand caps can improve water security.[7]: 16, 104  Decision makers invest in institutions, information flows and infrastructure to achieve a high level of water security.[1]

Investment decisions

Institutions

The right institutions are important to improve water security.[2] Institutions govern how decisions can promote or constrain water security outcomes for the poor.[3] Strengthening institutions might involve reallocating risks and duties between the state, market and communities in new ways. This can include performance-based models, development impact bonds, or blended finance from government, donors and users. These finance mechanisms are set up to work jointly with state, private sector and communities investors.[3]: 37 

Sustainable Development Goal 16 is about peace, justice and strong institutions. It recognizes that strong institutions are a necessary condition for sustainable development, including water security.[3]: 35 

Drinking water quality and water pollution are linked. But policymakers often do not address them in a comprehensive way. For example, pollution from industries is often not linked to drinking water quality in developing countries.[3]: 32  Keeping track of river, groundwater and wastewater is important. It can identify sources of contamination and guide targeted regulatory responses. The WHO has described water safety plans as the most effective means of maintaining a safe supply of drinking water to the public.[65]

Information flows

It is important for institutions to have access to information about water. This helps them with their planning and decision-making.[1] It also helps with tracking how accountable and effective policies are. Investments into climate information tools that are appropriate for the local context are useful.[5]: 59  They cover a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. They also respond to regional climate risks tied to water.[5]: 58 

Seasonal climate and hydrological forecasts can be useful to prepare for and reduce water security risks. They are especially useful if people can apply them at the local scale.[66][67] Applying knowledge of how climate anomalies relate to each other over long distances can improve seasonal forecasts for specific regions. These teleconnections are correlations between patterns of rainfall, temperature, and wind speed between distant areas. They are caused by large-scale ocean and atmospheric circulation.[68][69]

In regions where rainfall varies with the seasons and from year to year, water managers would like to have more accurate seasonal weather forecasts. In some locations the onset of seasonal rainfall is particularly hard to predict. This is because aspects of the climate system are difficult to describe with mathematical models. For example, the long rains in East Africa which fall March to May have been difficult to simulate with climate models. When climate models work well they can produce useful seasonal forecasts.[70] One reason for these difficulties is the complex topography of the area.[70] Improved understanding of atmospheric processes may allow climate scientists to provide more relevant and localized information to water managers on a seasonal timescale. They could also provide more detailed predictions for the effects of climate change on a longer timeframe.[71]

Rainfall patterns in Ethiopia from Dyer et al., 2019.
Annual rainfall pattern in two regions of Ethiopia. The lines represent observations (red dashed line) and model results (green line) in a climate model study of the region.[72]

One example would be seasonal forecasts of rainfall in Ethiopia's Awash river basin. These may become more accurate by understanding better how sea surface temperatures in different ocean regions relate to rainfall patterns in this river basin.[69] At a larger regional scale, a better understanding of the relationship between pressure systems in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic on the one hand, and wind speeds and rainfall patterns in the Greater Horn of Africa on the other hand would be helpful. This kind of scientific analysis may contribute to improved representation of this region in climate models to assist development planning.[73] It could also guide people when they plan water allocation in the river basin or prepare emergency response plans for future events of water scarcity and flooding.[69]

Infrastructure

Water infrastructure serves to access, store, regulate, move and conserve water. Several assets carry out these functions. Natural assets are lakes, rivers, wetlands, aquifers, springs. Engineered assets are bulk water management infrastructure, such as dams.[2] Examples include:[1]

Public and private spending on water infrastructure and supporting institutions must be well balanced. They are likely to evolve over time.[2] This is important to avoid unplanned social and environmental costs from building new facilities.

For example, in the case of Africa, investments into groundwater use is an option to increase water security and for climate change adaptation.[74] Water security in African countries could benefit from the distribution of groundwater storage and recharge on the continent. Recharge is a process where water moves to groundwater. Many countries that have low recharge have substantial groundwater storage. Countries with low storage typically have high, regular recharge.[75]

Consideration of scales

People manage water security risks at different spatial scales. These range from the household to community, town, city, basin and region.[3]: 11  At the local scale, actors include county governments, schools, water user groups, local water providers and the private sector. At the next larger scale there are basin and national level actors. These actors help to identify any constraints with regards to policy, institutions and investments. Lastly, there are global actors such as the World Bank, UNICEF, FCDO, WHO and USAID. They help to develop suitable service delivery models.[3]: 11 

The physical geography of a country shows the correct scale that planners should use for managing water security risks. Even within a country, the hydrologic environment may vary a lot. See for example the variations in seasonal rainfall across Ethiopia.

Reducing inequalities in water security

Inequalities with regards to water security within a society have structural and historical roots. They can affect people at different scales. These range from the household, to the community, town, river basin or the region.[3]: 20  High risk social groups and regions can be identified during political debates but are often ignored. Water inequality is often tied to gender in low-income countries. At the household level, women are often the "water managers". But they have limited choices over water and related issues.[3]: 21 

Improving climate resilience of water and sanitation services

Many institutions are working to develop WASH services that are resilient to climate.[3]: 27, 37 [76][77]

Climate-resilient water services (or climate-resilient WASH) are services that provide access to high quality drinking water during all seasons and even during extreme weather events.[78] Climate resilience in general is the ability to recover from, or to mitigate vulnerability to, climate-related shocks such as floods and droughts.[79] Climate resilient development has become the new paradigm for sustainable development. This concept thus influences theory and practice across all sectors globally.[79] This is particularly true in the water sector, since water security is closely connected to climate change. On every continent, governments are now adopting policies for climate resilient economies. International frameworks such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals are drivers for such initiatives.[79]

Several activities can improve water security and increase resilience to climate risks: Carrying out a detailed analysis of climate risk to make climate information relevant to specific users; developing metrics for monitoring climate resilience in water systems (this will help to track progress and guide investments for water security); and using new institutional models that improve water security.[80]

Climate resilient policies can be useful for allocating water, keeping in mind that less water may be available in future. This requires a good understanding of the current and future hydroclimatic situation. For example, a better understanding of future changes in climate variability leads to a better response to their possible impacts.[81]

To build climate resilience into water systems, people need to have access to climate information that is appropriate for their local context.[80]: 59  Climate information products are useful if they cover a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, and provide information on regional water-related climate risks.[80]: 58  For example, government staff need easy access to climate information to achieve better water management.[81]

Four important activities to achieve climate resilient WASH services include: First, a risk analysis is performed to look at possible implications of extreme weather events as well as preventive actions.[82]: 4  Such preventive actions can include for example elevating the infrastructure to be above expected flood levels. Secondly, managers assess the scope for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and put in place suitable options, e.g. using more renewable energy sources. Thirdly, the water utilities ensure that water sources and sanitation services are reliable at all times during the year, also during times of droughts and floods. Finally, the management and service delivery models are strengthened so that they can withstand a crisis.[82]: 5 

To put climate resilience into practice and to engage better with politicians, the following guide questions are useful: "resilience of what, to what, for whom, over what time frame, by whom and at what scale?".[79] For example, "resilience of what?" means thinking beyond infrastructure but to also include resilience of water resources, local institutions and water users. Another example is that "resilience for whom?" speaks about reducing vulnerability and preventing negative developments: Some top-down interventions that work around power and politics may undermine indigenous knowledge and compromise community resilience.[79]

Measurement tools

Aggregated global water security index, calculated using the aggregation of water availability, accessibility, safety and quality, and management indices. The value '0–1' (with the continuous color 'red to blue') represents 'low to high' security.[83]

There is no single way to measure water security.[8]: 562  There are no standard indicators to measure water security. That is because it is a concept that focuses on outcomes.[1] The outcomes that are regard as important can change depending on the context and stakeholders.

Instead, it is common to compare relative levels of water security by using metrics for certain aspects of water security.[8]: 562  For example, the Global Water Security Index includes metrics on:

  • availability (water scarcity index, drought index, groundwater depletion);
  • accessibility to water services (access to sanitation and drinking water);
  • safety and quality (water quality index, global flood frequency);
  • management (World Governance Index, transboundary legal framework, transboundary political tension).[83]

Scientists have been working on ways to measure water security at a variety of levels. The metrics roughly fall into two groups. There are those that are based on experiences versus metrics that are based on resources. The former mainly focus on measuring the experiences of households and human well-being. Meanwhile the latter focuses on the amount of available freshwater.[9]

The Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale measures several components of water insecurity at the household level. These include adequacy, reliability, accessibility and safety.[84] This scale can help to identify vulnerable subpopulations and ensure resources are allocated to those in need. It can also measure how effective of water policies and projects are.[84]

Global estimates

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report summarises the current and future water security trends. It says that increasing weather and extreme climate events have led to acute food insecurity and reduced water security for millions of people. The largest impacts are seen in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Small Islands and the Arctic.[10]: 9 

The same report predicted that global warming of 2 °C would expose roughly 1-4 billion people to water stress. This would depend on regional patterns of climate change and the socio-economic scenarios.[8]: 558  On water scarcity which is one factor in water insecurity the report finds 1.5-2.5 billion people live water scarce areas.[10]: 660 

Water scarcity and water security are not always equal. There are regions with high water security even though they also experience water scarcity. Examples are parts of the United States, Australia and Southern Europe. This is due to efficient water services that have a high level of safety, quality, and accessibility.[83][8]: 562  However, even in those regions, groups such as Indigenous peoples tend to have less access to water and face water insecurity at times.[8]: 562 

Country examples

Bangladesh

Too much water can also cause water insecurity. Left: Flooding in Bangladesh; right: People on an island in a flooded river in Bangladesh.

Risks to water security in Bangladesh include:[5]: 45 

The country experiences water security risks in the capital Dhaka as well as in the coastal region.[5] In Dhaka, monsoonal pulses can lead to urban flooding. This can pollute the water supply.[5] A number of processes and events cause water risks for about 20 million people in the coastal regions. These include aquifers that are getting saltier, seasonal water scarcity, fecal contamination, and flooding from the monsoon and from storm surges due to cyclones.[5]: 64 

Different types of floods occur in coastal Bangladesh. They are: river floods, tidal floods and storm surge floods due to tropical cyclones.[85] These floods can damage drinking water infrastructure. They can also lead to reduced water quality as well as losses in agricultural and fishery yields.[5] There is a link between water insecurity and poverty in the low-lying areas in the Ganges-Brahmaputra tidal delta plain.[85] Those low-lying areas are embanked areas in coastal Bangladesh.

The government has various programs to reduce risks for people who live in coastal communities. These programs also lead to increases in economic wellbeing.[85] Examples include the "Coastal Embankment Improvement Project"[86] by World Bank in 2013, the BlueGold project[87] in 2012, UNICEF's "Managed Aquifer Recharge" program in 2014 and the Bangladesh Delta Plan in 2014.[85] Such investments in water security aim to increase the continued use and upkeep of water facilities. They can help coastal communities to escape the poverty trap caused by water insecurity.[85]

A program called the "SafePani framework" focuses on how the state shares risks and responsibilities with service providers and communities.[5] This program aims to help decision makers to address climate risks through a process called climate resilient water safety planning.[5] The program is a cooperation between UNICEF and the Government of Bangladesh.

Ethiopia

Rainfall regimes vary across Ethiopia. Left figure: Annual average rainfall in mm/day with the interquartile range (25th–75th) of monthly rainfall in mm/day indicated by black contours (1981–2020).[88] Right figure: Three rainfall zones in Ethiopia with different seasonal rainfall patterns. The green zone has two separate rainy seasons, and the red zone has a single peak in rainfall in Jun to September.

Ethiopia has two main wet seasons per year. It rains in the spring and summer. These seasonal patterns of rainfall vary a lot across the country.[69][89] Western Ethiopia has a seasonal rainfall pattern that is similar to the Sahel. It has rainfall from February to November (which is decreasing to the north), and has peak rainfall from June to September. Southern Ethiopia has a rainfall pattern similar to the one in East Africa. There are two distinct wet seasons every year, February to May, and October to November.[72][89] Central and eastern Ethiopia has some rainfall between February and November, with a smaller peak in rainfall from March to May and a second higher peak from June to September.[89]

In 2022 Ethiopia had one of the most severe La Niña-induced droughts in the last forty years. It came about due to four consecutive rainy seasons which did not produce enough rain.[90] This drought increased water insecurity for more than 8 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the Somali, Oromia, SNNP and South-West regions. About 7.2 million people needed food aid, and 4.4 million people needed help to access water. Food prices have increased a lot due to the drought conditions. Many people in the affected area have experienced food shortages due to the water insecurity situation.[90]

In the Awash basin in central Ethiopia floods and droughts are common. Agriculture in the basin is mainly rainfed (without irrigation systems). This applies to around 98% of total cropland as of 2012. So changes in rainfall patterns due to climate change will reduce economic activities in the basin.[91] Rainfall shocks have a direct impact on agriculture. A rainfall decrease in the Awash basin could lead to a 5% decline in the basin's overall GDP. The agricultural GDP could even drop by as much as 10%.[91]

Partnerships with the Awash Basin Development Office (AwBDO) and the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity (MoWIE) have led to the development of new models of water allocation in the Awash basin. This can improve water security for the 18.3 million residents in the basin. With this they will have enough water for their domestic, irrigation and industry needs.[5]

Kenya

Kenya ranked 46th out of 54 African countries in an assessment of water security in 2022.[92] Major water security issues in Kenya include drinking water safety, water scarcity, lack of water storage, poor wastewater treatment, and drought and flood.[92] Large-scale climate patterns influence the rainfall patterns in East Africa. Such climate patterns include the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Cooling in the Pacific Ocean during the La Niña phase of ENSO is linked with dryer conditions in Kenya. This can lead to drought as it did in 2016-17. On the other hand a warmer Western Indian Ocean due to a strong positive Indian Ocean Dipole caused extreme flooding in Kenya in 2020.[93]

Around 38% of Kenya's population and 70% of its livestock live in arid and semi-arid lands.[94] These areas have low rainfall which varies a lot from one season to the next. This means that surface water and groundwater resources vary a lot by location and time of year. Residents in Northern Kenya are seeing increased changes in rainfall patterns and more frequent droughts.[95] These changes affect livelihoods in this region where people have been living as migratory herders. They are used to herding livestock with a seasonal migration pattern.[95] More people are now settling in small urban centers, and there is increasing conflict over water and other resources.[96] Water insecurity is a feature of life for both settled and nomadic pastoralists. Women and children bear the burden for fetching water.[97]

Groundwater sources have great potential to improve water supply in Kenya. However, the use of groundwater is limited by low quality and knowledge, pumping too much groundwater, known as overdrafting, and salt water intrusion along coastal areas.[98][99] Another challenge is the upkeep of groundwater infrastructure, mainly in rural areas.[100]

Ukraine

Russian forces have destroyed one-third of Ukraine’s freshwater storage since February 2022 to 2024.[101] Potable, industrial and irrigation water supplies have been cut across the south and east of the country. Occupation of the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine and destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir have all but terminated irrigation. Irrigated cereals and technical crops are now unprofitable, even where practicable – not least because of the difficulty of selling and exporting the produce. The strategic development of irrigation should be based on optimal technology to minimize water costs and redesign cultivation systems, for example, by drip irrigation, diverse crop rotations and focus on vegetable farming, orchards, and viticulture.[101][102]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sadoff, Claudia; Grey, David; Borgomeo, Edoardo (2020). "Water Security". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.609. ISBN 978-0-19-938941-4.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Grey, David; Sadoff, Claudia W. (2007-12-01). "Sink or Swim? Water security for growth and development". Water Policy. 9 (6): 545–571. doi:10.2166/wp.2007.021. hdl:11059/14247. ISSN 1366-7017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q REACH (2020) REACH Global Strategy 2020-2024, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK (REACH program).
  4. ^ a b c d e Hoekstra, Arjen Y; Buurman, Joost; van Ginkel, Kees C H (2018). "Urban water security: A review". Environmental Research Letters. 13 (5): 053002. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aaba52. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Murgatroyd, A., Charles, K.J., Chautard, A., Dyer, E., Grasham, C., Hope, R., Hoque, S.F., Korzenevica, M., Munday, C., Alvarez-Sala, J., Dadson, S., Hall, J.W., Kebede, S., Nileshwar, A., Olago, D., Salehin, M., Ward, F., Washington, R., Yeo, D. and Zeleke, G. (2021). Water Security for Climate Resilience Report: A synthesis of research from the Oxford University REACH programme. University of Oxford, UK: REACH. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  6. ^ a b c d UNICEF (2021) Reimagining WASH - Water Security for All
  7. ^ a b c d e f Peter Gleick, Charles Iceland, and Ayushi Trivedi (2020) Ending Conflicts over Water: Solutions to Water and Security Challenges, World Resources Institute
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Caretta, M.A., A. Mukherji, M. Arfanuzzaman, R.A. Betts, A. Gelfan, Y. Hirabayashi, T.K. Lissner, J. Liu, E. Lopez Gunn, R. Morgan, S. Mwanga, and S. Supratid, 2022: Chapter 4: Water. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 551–712, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.006.
  9. ^ a b Octavianti, Thanti; Staddon, Chad (May 2021). "A review of 80 assessment tools measuring water security". WIREs Water. 8 (3). doi:10.1002/wat2.1516. S2CID 233930546. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  10. ^ a b c d IPCC, 2022: Summary for Policymakers [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, M. Tignor, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem (eds.)]. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3–33, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.001.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g UN-Water (2013) Water Security & the Global Water Agenda - A UN-Water Analytical Brief, ISBN 978-92-808-6038-2, United Nations University
  12. ^ a b c WaterAid (2012) Water security framework. WaterAid, London
  13. ^ "What is Water Security? Infographic". UN-Water. n.d. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  14. ^ Global water security : lessons learnt and long-term implications. Singapore: World Water Council. 2018. ISBN 978-981-10-7913-9. OCLC 1021856401.[page needed]
  15. ^ World Water Council (2018) Water security for all - Policy Recommendations
  16. ^ a b Wetlands International (2017). WASH and Water Security. Integration and the role of civil society. Wetlands International, The Netherlands.
  17. ^ Varady, Robert G.; Albrecht, Tamee R.; Staddon, Chad; Gerlak, Andrea K.; Zuniga-Teran, Adriana A. (2021). "The Water Security Discourse and Its Main Actors". Handbook of Water Resources Management: Discourses, Concepts and Examples. pp. 215–252. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-60147-8_8. ISBN 978-3-030-60145-4. S2CID 236726731.
  18. ^ The CEO Water Mandate (2014) Driving Harmonization of Water-Related Terminology, Discussion Paper September 2014. Alliance for Water Stewardship, Ceres, CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), The Nature Conservancy, Pacific Institute, Water Footprint Network, World Resources Institute, and WWF
  19. ^ a b Bonnafous, Luc; Lall, Upmanu; Siegel, Jason (2017-04-19). "A water risk index for portfolio exposure to climatic extremes: conceptualization and an application to the mining industry". Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 21 (4): 2075–2106. Bibcode:2017HESS...21.2075B. doi:10.5194/hess-21-2075-2017.
  20. ^ a b "The Water Crisis and Industries at Risk". Morgan Stanley. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  21. ^ Carr, Acacia (3 December 2018). "Water Risk: Single Largest Risk Threatening People, Planet and Profit | GreenMoney Journal". Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  22. ^ "Climate change is devastating the world's water supplies. Why aren't we talking about it?". Climate & Capital Media. 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  23. ^ "New Water Risk Filter Scenarios will help companies and investors turn risk into resilience".
  24. ^ Grasham, Catherine Fallon; Charles, Katrina Jane; Abdi, Tilahun Geneti (2022). "(Re-)orienting the Concept of Water Risk to Better Understand Inequities in Water Security". Frontiers in Water. 3: 799515. doi:10.3389/frwa.2021.799515. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  25. ^ "In Africa, War Over Water Looms As Ethiopia Nears Completion Of Nile River Dam". NPR. 27 February 2018.
  26. ^ Tulloch, James (August 26, 2009). "Water Conflicts: Fight or Flight?". Allianz. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  27. ^ Kameri-Mbote, Patricia (January 2007). "Water, Conflict, and Cooperation: Lessons from the nile river Basin" (PDF). Navigating Peace (4). Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-06.
  28. ^ United Nations Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential, accessed November 21, 2008
  29. ^ Peter Gleick, 1993. "Water and conflict." International Security Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 79-112 (Summer 1993).
  30. ^ Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research (Department of Political Science, University of Heidelberg); Conflict Barometer 2007:Crises – Wars – Coups d'État – Nagotiations – Mediations – Peace Settlements, 16th annual conflict analysis, 2007
  31. ^ Sutherland, Ben (March 18, 2003). "Water shortages 'foster terrorism'". BBC News. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  32. ^ Vörösmarty, C. J.; McIntyre, P. B.; Gessner, M. O.; Dudgeon, D.; Prusevich, A.; Green, P.; Glidden, S.; Bunn, S. E.; Sullivan, C. A.; Liermann, C. Reidy; Davies, P. M. (September 2010). "Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity". Nature. 467 (7315): 555–561. Bibcode:2010Natur.467..555V. doi:10.1038/nature09440. hdl:10983/13924. PMID 20882010. S2CID 4422681.
  33. ^ Foster, S.; Villholth, Karen; Scanlon, B.; Xu, Y. (2021-07-01). "Water security and groundwater". International Association of Hydrogeologists. hdl:10568/116815. Archived from the original on Feb 16, 2024 – via CGSpace.
  34. ^ Staddon, Chad; Scott, Christopher (2021). Putting Water Security to Work: Addressing Global Sustainable Development Challenges (1st ed.). London: Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 9780367650193.
  35. ^ Funk, Chris (4 October 2021). "Scientists sound the alarm over drought in East Africa: what must happen next". The Conversation. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  36. ^ Brown, Casey; Lall, Upmanu (2006). "Water and economic development: The role of variability and a framework for resilience". Natural Resources Forum. 30 (4): 306–317. doi:10.1111/j.1477-8947.2006.00118.x.
  37. ^ Brown, Casey; Lall, Upmanu (2006). "Water and economic development: The role of variability and a framework for resilience". Natural Resources Forum. 30 (4): 306–317. doi:10.1111/j.1477-8947.2006.00118.x.
  38. ^ Staddon, Chad; Brewis, Alexandra (2024-04-01). "Household Water Containers: Mitigating risks for improved Modular, Adaptive, and Decentralized (MAD) water systems". Water Security. 21: 100163. doi:10.1016/j.wasec.2023.100163. ISSN 2468-3124.
  39. ^ "Flooding and Climate Change: Everything You Need to Know". www.nrdc.org. 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  40. ^ Petersen-Perlman, Jacob D.; Aguilar-Barajas, Ismael; Megdal, Sharon B. (2022-08-01). "Drought and groundwater management: Interconnections, challenges, and policyresponses". Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health. 28: 100364. Bibcode:2022COESH..2800364P. doi:10.1016/j.coesh.2022.100364. ISSN 2468-5844.
  41. ^ Harvey, Chelsea. "Glaciers May Melt Even Faster Than Expected, Study Finds". Scientific American. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  42. ^ Boretti, Alberto; Rosa, Lorenzo (2019). "Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report". npj Clean Water. 2 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1038/s41545-019-0039-9. hdl:11380/1198301. ISSN 2059-7037.
  43. ^ Kummu, M.; Guillaume, J. H. A.; de Moel, H.; Eisner, S.; Flörke, M.; Porkka, M.; Siebert, S.; Veldkamp, T. I. E.; Ward, P. J. (2016). "The world's road to water scarcity: shortage and stress in the 20th century and pathways towards sustainability". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 38495. Bibcode:2016NatSR...638495K. doi:10.1038/srep38495. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5146931. PMID 27934888.
  44. ^ a b Caretta, M.A., A. Mukherji, M. Arfanuzzaman, R.A. Betts, A. Gelfan, Y. Hirabayashi, T.K. Lissner, J. Liu, E. Lopez Gunn, R. Morgan, S. Mwanga, and S. Supratid, 2022: Chapter 4: Water. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 551–712, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.006.
  45. ^ Rijsberman, Frank R. (2006). "Water scarcity: Fact or fiction?". Agricultural Water Management. 80 (1–3): 5–22. Bibcode:2006AgWM...80....5R. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2005.07.001.
  46. ^ IWMI (2007) Water for Food, Water for Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. London: Earthscan, and Colombo: International Water Management Institute.
  47. ^ Mekonnen, Mesfin M.; Hoekstra, Arjen Y. (2016). "Four billion people facing severe water scarcity". Science Water Stress Advances. 2 (2): e1500323. Bibcode:2016SciA....2E0323M. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500323. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 4758739. PMID 26933676.
  48. ^ Liu, Junguo; Yang, Hong; Gosling, Simon N.; Kummu, Matti; Flörke, Martina; Pfister, Stephan; Hanasaki, Naota; Wada, Yoshihide; Zhang, Xinxin; Zheng, Chunmiao; Alcamo, Joseph (2017). "Water scarcity assessments in the past, present, and future: Review on Water Scarcity Assessment". Earth's Future. 5 (6): 545–559. doi:10.1002/2016EF000518. PMC 6204262. PMID 30377623.
  49. ^ Vorosmarty, C. J. (2000-07-14). "Global Water Resources: Vulnerability from Climate Change and Population Growth". Science. 289 (5477): 284–288. Bibcode:2000Sci...289..284V. doi:10.1126/science.289.5477.284. PMID 10894773. S2CID 37062764.
  50. ^ Ercin, A. Ertug; Hoekstra, Arjen Y. (2014). "Water footprint scenarios for 2050: A global analysis". Environment International. 64: 71–82. Bibcode:2014EnInt..64...71E. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2013.11.019. PMID 24374780.
  51. ^ "Water Scarcity. Threats". WWF. 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  52. ^ Von Sperling, Marcos (2007). "Wastewater Characteristics, Treatment and Disposal". IWA Publishing. 6. doi:10.2166/9781780402086. ISBN 978-1-78040-208-6. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  53. ^ Eckenfelder Jr WW (2000). Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. John Wiley & Sons. doi:10.1002/0471238961.1615121205031105.a01. ISBN 978-0-471-48494-3.
  54. ^ "Water Pollution". Environmental Health Education Program. Cambridge, MA: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. July 23, 2013. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  55. ^ a b c d Charles, Katrina J.; Howard, Guy; Villalobos Prats, Elena; Gruber, Joshua; Alam, Sadekul; Alamgir, A.S.M.; Baidya, Manish; Flora, Meerjady Sabrina; Haque, Farhana; Hassan, S.M. Quamrul; Islam, Saiful (2022). "Infrastructure alone cannot ensure resilience to weather events in drinking water supplies". Science of the Total Environment. 813: 151876. Bibcode:2022ScTEn.813o1876C. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151876. hdl:1983/92cc5791-168b-457a-93c7-458890f1bf26. PMID 34826465.
  56. ^ Brookes, Justin D.; Antenucci, Jason; Hipsey, Matthew; Burch, Michael D.; Ashbolt, Nicholas J.; Ferguson, Christobel (2004-07-01). "Fate and transport of pathogens in lakes and reservoirs". Environment International. 30 (5): 741–759. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2003.11.006. PMID 15051248.
  57. ^ Kløve, Bjørn; Ala-Aho, Pertti; Bertrand, Guillaume; Gurdak, Jason J.; Kupfersberger, Hans; Kværner, Jens; Muotka, Timo; Mykrä, Heikki; Preda, Elena; Rossi, Pekka; Uvo, Cintia Bertacchi; Velasco, Elzie; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel (2014). "Climate change impacts on groundwater and dependent ecosystems". Journal of Hydrology. Climatic change impact on water: Overcoming data and science gaps. 518: 250–266. Bibcode:2014JHyd..518..250K. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.06.037. hdl:10251/45180. ISSN 0022-1694.
  58. ^ Chapra, Steven C.; Camacho, Luis A.; McBride, Graham B. (January 2021). "Impact of Global Warming on Dissolved Oxygen and BOD Assimilative Capacity of the World's Rivers: Modeling Analysis". Water. 13 (17): 2408. doi:10.3390/w13172408. ISSN 2073-4441.
  59. ^ Miner, Kimberley R.; D'Andrilli, Juliana; Mackelprang, Rachel; Edwards, Arwyn; Malaska, Michael J.; Waldrop, Mark P.; Miller, Charles E. (2021). "Emergent biogeochemical risks from Arctic permafrost degradation". Nature Climate Change. 11 (10): 809–819. Bibcode:2021NatCC..11..809M. doi:10.1038/s41558-021-01162-y. ISSN 1758-678X. S2CID 238234156.
  60. ^ Milner, Alexander M.; Khamis, Kieran; Battin, Tom J.; Brittain, John E.; Barrand, Nicholas E.; Füreder, Leopold; Cauvy-Fraunié, Sophie; Gíslason, Gísli Már; Jacobsen, Dean; Hannah, David M.; Hodson, Andrew J.; Hood, Eran; Lencioni, Valeria; Ólafsson, Jón S.; Robinson, Christopher T. (2017). "Glacier shrinkage driving global changes in downstream systems". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (37): 9770–9778. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.9770M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1619807114. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 5603989. PMID 28874558.
  61. ^ Yapiyev, Vadim; Wade, Andrew J.; Shahgedanova, Maria; Saidaliyeva, Zarina; Madibekov, Azamat; Severskiy, Igor (2021-12-01). "The hydrochemistry and water quality of glacierized catchments in Central Asia: A review of the current status". Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. 38: 100960. doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100960. S2CID 243980977.
  62. ^ a b Wutich, Amber; Brewis, Alexandra (August 2014). "Food, Water, and Scarcity: Toward a Broader Anthropology of Resource Insecurity". Current Anthropology. 55 (4): 444–468. doi:10.1086/677311. hdl:2286/R.I.25665. ISSN 0011-3204. S2CID 59446967.
  63. ^ a b "Water and Wastewater Systems Sector | Homeland Security". www.dhs.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  64. ^ Buono, Regina M.; López Gunn, Elena; McKay, Jennifer; Staddon, Chad (2020). Regulating Water Security in Unconventional Oil and Gas (1st ed. 2020 ed.). Cham. ISBN 978-3-030-18342-4. OCLC 1129296222.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[page needed]
  65. ^ Guidelines for drinking-water quality (4 ed.). World Health Organization. 2022. p. 45. ISBN 978-92-4-004506-4. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  66. ^ Andersson, Lotta; Wilk, Julie; Graham, L. Phil; Wikner, Jacob; Mokwatlo, Suzan; Petja, Brilliant (2020-06-01). "Local early warning systems for drought – Could they add value to nationally disseminated seasonal climate forecasts?". Weather and Climate Extremes. 28: 100241. Bibcode:2020WCE....2800241A. doi:10.1016/j.wace.2019.100241. S2CID 212854220.
  67. ^ Portele, Tanja C.; Lorenz, Christof; Dibrani, Berhon; Laux, Patrick; Bliefernicht, Jan; Kunstmann, Harald (2021-05-19). "Seasonal forecasts offer economic benefit for hydrological decision making in semi-arid regions". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 10581. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1110581P. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-89564-y. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8134578. PMID 34011949.
  68. ^ Lledó, Llorenç; Cionni, Irene; Torralba, Verónica; Bretonnière, Pierre-Antoine; Samsó, Margarida (2020-06-22). "Seasonal prediction of Euro-Atlantic teleconnections from multiple". Environmental Research Letters. 15 (7): 074009. Bibcode:2020ERL....15g4009L. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab87d2. S2CID 216346466.
  69. ^ a b c d Taye, Meron Teferi; Dyer, Ellen; Charles, Katrina J.; Hirons, Linda C. (2021). "Potential predictability of the Ethiopian summer rains: Understanding local variations and their implications for water management decisions". Science of the Total Environment. 755 (Pt 1): 142604. Bibcode:2021ScTEn.755n2604T. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142604. PMID 33092844. S2CID 225052023.
  70. ^ a b Dyer, Ellen; Washington, Richard (2021). "Kenyan Long Rains: A Subseasonal Approach to Process-Based Diagnostics". Journal of Climate. 34 (9): 3311–3326. Bibcode:2021JCli...34.3311D. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0914.1. S2CID 230528271.
  71. ^ Pearson, Charles (July 2008). "Short- and medium-term climate information for water management". WMO Bulletin. 57 (3): 173. Archived from the original on December 17, 2023 – via WMO.
  72. ^ a b Dyer, Ellen; Washington, Richard; Teferi Taye, Meron (May 2020). "Evaluating the CMIP5 ensemble in Ethiopia: Creating a reduced ensemble for rainfall and temperature in Northwest Ethiopia and the Awash basin". International Journal of Climatology. 40 (6): 2964–2985. Bibcode:2020IJCli..40.2964D. doi:10.1002/joc.6377. S2CID 210622749.
  73. ^ Dyer, Ellen; Hirons, Linda; Taye, Meron Teferi (2022). "July–September rainfall in the Greater Horn of Africa: the combined influence of the Mascarene and South Atlantic highs". Climate Dynamics. 59 (11–12): 3621–3641. Bibcode:2022ClDy...59.3621D. doi:10.1007/s00382-022-06287-0. S2CID 248408369. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  74. ^ WaterAid and BGS (2022) Groundwater: The world's neglected defence against climate change
  75. ^ MacDonald, Alan M; Lark, R Murray; Taylor, Richard G; Abiye, Tamiru; Fallas, Helen C; Favreau, Guillaume; Goni, Ibrahim B; Kebede, Seifu; Scanlon, Bridget; Sorensen, James P R; Tijani, Moshood; Upton, Kirsty A; West, Charles (2021). "Mapping groundwater recharge in Africa from ground observations and implications for water security". Environmental Research Letters. 16 (3): 034012. Bibcode:2021ERL....16c4012M. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abd661. ISSN 1748-9326. S2CID 233941479. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  76. ^ Strategic Framework for WASH Climate Resilient Development (Revised 2017 ed.). GWP and UNICEF. 2014. ISBN 978-91-87823-08-4.
  77. ^ UNICEF Guidance Note: How UNICEF regional and country offices can shift to climate resilient WASH programming (PDF). UNICEF. 2020.
  78. ^ Charles, Katrina J.; Howard, Guy; Villalobos Prats, Elena; Gruber, Joshua; Alam, Sadekul; Alamgir, A.S.M.; Baidya, Manish; Flora, Meerjady Sabrina; Haque, Farhana; Hassan, S.M. Quamrul; Islam, Saiful (2022). "Infrastructure alone cannot ensure resilience to weather events in drinking water supplies". Science of the Total Environment. 813: 151876. Bibcode:2022ScTEn.813o1876C. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151876. hdl:1983/92cc5791-168b-457a-93c7-458890f1bf26. PMID 34826465.
  79. ^ a b c d e Grasham, Catherine Fallon; Calow, Roger; Casey, Vincent; Charles, Katrina J.; de Wit, Sara; Dyer, Ellen; Fullwood-Thomas, Jess; Hirons, Mark; Hope, Robert; Hoque, Sonia Ferdous; Jepson, Wendy; Korzenevica, Marina; Murphy, Rebecca; Plastow, John; Ross, Ian (2021). "Engaging with the politics of climate resilience towards clean water and sanitation for all". npj Clean Water. 4 (1): 42. Bibcode:2021npjCW...4...42G. doi:10.1038/s41545-021-00133-2. ISSN 2059-7037. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  80. ^ a b c Murgatroyd A, Charles KJ, Chautard A, Dyer E, Grasham C, Hope R, et al. (2021). Water Security for Climate Resilience Report: A synthesis of research from the Oxford University REACH programme (Report). University of Oxford, UK. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  81. ^ a b Taye, Meron Teferi; Dyer, Ellen (22 August 2019). "Ethiopia's future is tied to water -- a vital yet threatened resource in a changing climate". The Conversation. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  82. ^ a b UNICEF and GWP (2022) Strategic Framework for WASH Climate Resilient Development - 2022 Edition, Prepared in cooperation with HR Wallingford in 2014, 2017 and 2022, and with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in 2014, ISBN 978-91-87823-69-5
  83. ^ a b c Gain, Animesh K; Giupponi, Carlo; Wada, Yoshihide (2016). "Measuring global water security towards sustainable development goals". Environmental Research Letters. 11 (12): 124015. Bibcode:2016ERL....11l4015G. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/124015. ISSN 1748-9326. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  84. ^ a b Young, Sera L.; Boateng, Godfred O.; Jamaluddine, Zeina; Miller, Joshua D.; Frongillo, Edward A.; Neilands, Torsten B.; Collins, Shalean M.; Wutich, Amber; Jepson, Wendy E.; Stoler, Justin (2019-09-01). "The Household Water InSecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale: development and validation of a household water insecurity measure for low-income and middle-income countries". BMJ Global Health. 4 (5): e001750. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001750. PMC 6768340. PMID 31637027.
  85. ^ a b c d e Borgomeo, Edoardo; Hall, Jim W.; Salehin, Mashfiqus (2018). "Avoiding the water-poverty trap: insights from a conceptual human-water dynamical model for coastal Bangladesh". International Journal of Water Resources Development. 34 (6): 900–922. doi:10.1080/07900627.2017.1331842. S2CID 28011229.
  86. ^ "Development Projects : Coastal Embankment Improvement Project - Phase I (CEIP-I) - P128276". World Bank. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  87. ^ "Blue Gold Program, Bangladesh - Mott MacDonald". www.mottmac.com. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  88. ^ "CHIRPS: Rainfall Estimates from Rain Gauge and Satellite Observations | Climate Hazards Center - UC Santa Barbara". www.chc.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  89. ^ a b c Abebe, Dawit (2010). "Future climate of Ethiopia from PRECIS Regional Climate Model Experimental Design" (PDF). Met Office UK. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  90. ^ a b "Ethiopia: Drought Update No. 4, June 2022 - Ethiopia | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  91. ^ a b Borgomeo, Edoardo; Vadheim, Bryan; Woldeyes, Firew B.; Alamirew, Tena; Tamru, Seneshaw; Charles, Katrina J.; Kebede, Seifu; Walker, Oliver (2018). "The Distributional and Multi-Sectoral Impacts of Rainfall Shocks: Evidence From Computable General Equilibrium Modelling for the Awash Basin, Ethiopia". Ecological Economics. 146: 621–632. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.11.038. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  92. ^ a b Oluwasanya, G., Perera, D., Qadir, M., Smakhtin, V., 2022. Water Security in Africa: A Preliminary Assessment, Issue 13. United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada.
  93. ^ Ferrer, Núria; Folch, Albert; Lane, Mike; Olago, Daniel; Odida, Julius; Custodio, Emilio (2019-04-15). "Groundwater hydrodynamics of an Eastern Africa coastal aquifer, including La Niña 2016–17 drought". Science of the Total Environment. 661: 575–597. Bibcode:2019ScTEn.661..575F. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.198. hdl:2117/134140. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 30682610. S2CID 59274112.
  94. ^ "State Department for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, Kenya". State Department for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, Kenya. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  95. ^ a b Njoka, J.T., Yanda, P., Maganga, F., Liwenga, E., Kateka, A., Henku, A., Mabhuye, E., Malik, N. and Bavo, C. (2016) 'Kenya: country situation assessment', PRISE working paper. Center for Sustainable Dryland Ecosystems and Societies, University of Nairobi. https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/58566/IDL-58566.pdf
  96. ^ Reid, Robin S.; Fernández-Giménez, María E.; Galvin, Kathleen A. (2014-10-17). "Dynamics and Resilience of Rangelands and Pastoral Peoples Around the Globe". Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 39 (1): 217–242. doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-020713-163329. ISSN 1543-5938. S2CID 154486594.
  97. ^ Balfour, Nancy; Obando, Joy; Gohil, Deepali (2020-01-01). "Dimensions of water insecurity in pastoralist households in Kenya". Waterlines. 39 (1): 24–43. doi:10.3362/1756-3488.19-00016. ISSN 0262-8104. S2CID 216343833.
  98. ^ Barasa M, Crane E, Upton K, Ó Dochartaigh BÉ and Bellwood-Howard I. 2018. Africa Groundwater Atlas: Hydrogeology of Kenya. British Geological Survey. Accessed [27 January 2023]. https://earthwise.bgs.ac.uk/index.php/Hydrogeology_of_Kenya#Groundwater_use
  99. ^ Mumma, Albert; Lane, Michael; Kairu, Edward; Tuinhof, Albert; Hirji, Rafik. 2011. Kenya Groundwater Governance Case Study. Water papers. Washington, DC. World Bank. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/17227
  100. ^ Foster, Tim; Hope, Rob (2016-10-01). "A multi-decadal and social-ecological systems analysis of community waterpoint payment behaviours in rural Kenya". Journal of Rural Studies. 47: 85–96. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.07.026. ISSN 0743-0167. S2CID 156255059.
  101. ^ a b Hapich, Hennadii; Novitskyi, Roman; Onopriienko, Dmytro; Dent, David; Roubik, Hynek (2024-04-01). "Water security consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war and the post-war outlook". Water Security. 21: 100167. doi:10.1016/j.wasec.2024.100167. ISSN 2468-3124.
  102. ^ Gleick, Peter; Vyshnevskyi, Viktor; Shevchuk, Serhii (October 2023). "Rivers and Water Systems as Weapons and Casualties of the Russia‐Ukraine War". Earth's Future. 11 (10). doi:10.1029/2023EF003910. ISSN 2328-4277.

External links

  • International Water Security Network
  • Water Security (an open source journal that started in 2017)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Water_security&oldid=1215658433"