Water security

Water security is a policy goal that describes the fundamental societal goal of water policy and water management, whereby the productive potential of water is harnessed and its destructive impact is limited.[1] Water has productive contributions to human and ecosystems’ well-being, livelihoods and development. It can also have destructive impacts on societies and ecosystems when there is too much water (flood), too little water (drought and water scarcity) or poor quality (polluted) water.[1] Water security has been defined as "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]

Water security consists of many different aspects, for example: Safe drinking water supply - a communal tap (standpost) for drinking water supply in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa; prevention of water pollution - a Constructed wetlands STP near Gdansk, Poland; protection from flooding - a flooded street in Vicenza, Italy in 2010; coping with water scarcity - boats on Lake Oroville during the 2021 drought in California, United States.

Improving water security, by managing water resources, is a key factor to achieve growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction.[2] The main three factors that determine a society's ability to sustain water security include: hydrologic environment, socio-economic environment and changes in the future environment (climate change).[1] Water security is critical for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because most SDGs cannot be met without access to adequate and safe water.[3]: 4–8 

The term water security encompasses ideas and concepts regarding sustainability, integration and adaptiveness of water resource management and has a complex history.[4] The absence of water security is termed "water insecurity".[5]: 5  Water insecurity is regarded as a growing threat to humanity.[6]: 4  Some organizations use "water security" in a more narrow sense, focused mainly on water supply issues.

There are a diverse range of mechanisms by which weather and weather-related shocks impact on water quality, and the potential ways in which climate change will affect water quality. Weather-related shocks include water shortages, heavy rain and temperature extremes.[7] Water resources can be affected by climate change in various ways. The total amount of freshwater available can change, for instance due to dry spells or droughts. Heavy rainfall and flooding can have an impact on water quality: pollutants can be transported into water bodies by the increased surface runoff. In coastal regions, more salt may find its way into water resources due to higher sea levels and more intense storms. Higher temperatures also directly degrade water quality: warm water contains less oxygen and may have a higher occurrence of eutrophication and harmful algal blooms.[3]: 140 

Definitions

Broad definition

The term “water security” is often used with varying definitions by different people.[2][8][9]: 5  It emerged as a concept in the 21st century and is a broader concept than just the absence of water scarcity, for example.[1] When compared to the terms “food security” and “energy security”(which refer to reliable access to food or energy), an important difference with "water security" is that not only is the absence of water a problem but also its presence when there is too much.[2]

Water security has been defined in 2007 as "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 working definition of water security by UN-Water was provided in 2013 as follows:[10]

Water security is defined here as 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. [...] The term “water security” offers a common framework and a platform for communication.

— UN-Water, [8]: 1 

World Resources Institute also proposed 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."[6]: 17 

Specific focus on water supply

Some organizations use "water security" in a more specific sense to refer to water supply only, not the water-related risks of "too much water". For example, the definition of WaterAid in 2012 is mainly focused on water supply issues: "WaterAid defines 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.[8]: 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 of these needs together (social and economic sectors, as well as the larger needs of the planet’s ecosystems) – without exceeding its ability to renew."[11][12]

Outcomes

The outcomes of water security have been categorized following the sustainable development framework into economic, environmental and equity (or social) outcomes.[1] In terms of economic outcomes, de-linking hydrologic variability from economic growth and development is a key consideration. Environmental outcomes of water security relate to freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem services, groundwater depletion and land degradation. Lastly, equity type outcomes of water security relate to gender issues, empowerment, participation and accountability.[1]

There are several outcomes of water security which have interactions and trade-offs: sustainable growth (considering changing water needs and threats, linked to job creation, productivity and standards of living); sustainability of the water resource (in terms of quality and availability), inclusive services so that different users (people, industry, agriculture) are able to access safe, reliable, sufficient and affordable water, and to dispose of wastewater safely.[13]: 13 

Freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem services, groundwater depletion and land degradation are examples of key environmental outcomes of concern for water security

Water security is critical for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because most SDGs cannot be met without access to adequate and safe water.[3]: 4–8  It is also important for climate-resilient development.[3]: 4–7 

Scales

Water security risks need to be managed at different spatial scales: from within the household to community, town, city, basin and region.[13]: 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 which contribute to informing overarching policy, institutional and investments constraints. Lastly, there are global actors which shape international agendas around water security. Relevant global development actors include Worldbank, UNICEF, FCDO, WHO and USAID, which can design service delivery models promoting more affordable, safe and sustainable services.[13]: 11 

Integrated water management and others

Scholars have pointed out that the term water security is "generally taken so broad that it captures all that also goes under headings like integrated, sustainable and adaptive".[14] Terms such as "integrated water resources management (IWRM)" or "sustainable water management" might be seen as predecessors. Related terms that are gaining in popularity include water risk, water resilience, water proof, and the water-food-energy nexus.[14]

Some see IWRM as complementary to water security because water security is a goal or destination, whilst IWRM is the process necessary to achieve that goal.[1]

Water risk

"Water risk" refers to the "possibility of an entity experiencing a water-related challenge (e.g., water scarcity, water stress, flooding, infrastructure decay, drought)".[15]: 4  Water risk is inversely related to water security, meaning that as water risk increases, water security decreases. Water risk is complex and multidimensional. It includes risks from natural disasters such as flooding and drought, which can lead to infrastructure failure and worsen hunger.[16] When these risks are realized, they result in water scarcity or other problems. The potential economic effects of water risk are significant. Entire industries, such as the food and beverage, agriculture, oil and gas, utilities, semiconductor and industries, are threatened by water risk. Agriculture uses 69% of global freshwater, making the industry extremely vulnerable to water stress.[17]

Risk is a combination of hazard (droughts, floods and quality deterioration), exposure and vulnerability.[14] High vulnerability can be caused by bad infrastructure and bad governance.

The financial sector is becoming more aware of the potential impacts of water risk and the need for its proper management. By 2025, $145 trillion in assets under management are expected to be exposed to water risk.[18]

To help mitigate water risk, companies can develop water risk management plans.[16] These can then be used by financial markets to measure company environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and identify leaders in water risk management.[19][17] The World Resources Institute has also 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.[20] The World Wildlife Fund has also partnered with DWS, which provides additional business solutions to water risk including water-centric investment funds.[21]

The concept of risk is increasingly used in water security policy and practise but has been weakly integrated with social equity considerations.[22]

There is no unifying theory or model for determining or managing water risk.[13]: 13  Instead, a range of theories, models, and technologies are used to understand the trade-offs that exist in responding to risk.

Water conflict
This section is an excerpt from Water conflict.[edit]
Ethiopia's move to fill the dam's reservoir could reduce Nile flows by as much as 25% and devastate Egyptian farmlands.[23]
Water conflict is a term describing a conflict between countries, states, or groups over the rights to access water resources.[24][25] The United Nations recognizes that water disputes result from opposing interests of water users, public or private.[26] A wide range of water conflicts appear throughout history, though rarely are traditional wars waged over water alone.[27] Instead, water has historically been a source of tension and a factor in conflicts that start for other reasons. However, water conflicts arise for several reasons, including territorial disputes, a fight for resources, and strategic advantage.[28] Water conflicts can occur on the intrastate and interstate levels. Interstate conflicts occur between two or more neighboring 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 freshwater shared among 5% of the world's population.[29] Intrastate conflicts take place between two or more parties in the same country. An example would be the conflicts between farmers and industry (agricultural vs industrial use of water).

Determining factors for water security

The main three factors that determine a society's ability to sustain water security include:[2]

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

Hydrologic environment

The hydrologic environment is a determinant of water security due to water resource availability, its inter- and intra-annual variability and its spatial distribution. An "easy to manage" hydrologic environment would be one with relatively low rainfall variability, with rain distributed throughout the year and perennial river flows sustained by groundwater base flows. A “difficult” hydrology is one with absolute water scarcity (i.e. deserts) or low-lying lands where there is severe flood risk; regions where rainfall is markedly seasonal, or a high inter-annual climate variability.[2]

Socio-economic environment

The socio-economic environment is a determinant for water security and refers the structure of the economy, behavior of its actors, natural and cultural legacies as well as policy choices. This factor also includes water infrastructure and institutions, macroeconomic structure and resilience, risk and the behavior of economic actors.[2]

Climate change

Water-related impacts from climate change impact people's water security on a day to day basis. They include: increased frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation, accelerated melting of glaciers, changes in frequency, magnitude and timing of floods; more frequent and severe droughts in some places; decline in groundwater storage and reduction in recharge and water quality deterioration due to extreme events.[3]: 4–8 

Global climate change is "likely to increase the complexity and costs of ensuring water security".[2] It creates new threats and adaptation challenges.[1] This is because climate change is expected to lead to increased hydrological variability and extremes. Climate change has many impacts on the water cycle, resulting in higher climatic and hydrological variability, which means that water security will be compromised.[8]: vII  Changes in the water cycle threaten existing water infrastructure and make it harder to plan future investments that can cope with uncertain changes in hydrologic variability.[1] This makes societies more vulnerable to extreme water-related events and therefore increases water insecurity.[8]: vII 

Climate change is about uncertainty and is an important long-term risk to water security.[9]: 21  However, climate change must be seen in the context of other existing challenges for water security which include: existing high levels of climate variability at low latitudes, population growth, increased demand for water resources, political obstacles, increased disaster exposure due to settlement of hazard-prone areas, and environmental degradation.[9]: 22  Water demand for irrigation in agriculture is predicted to increase due to climate change. This is because evaporation rates and crop transpiration rate will be higher due to rising temperatures.[6]: 4 

Climate change threatens the Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 of achieving universal access to safe drinking water.[7]

Factors contributing to water insecurity

There are many risk drivers for water insecurity, for example:[6]: 4 [5]: 9 

  • Increasing water demand in many regions of the world due to population growth, higher living standard and general economic expansion.
  • Increasing water pollution and low levels of wastewater treatment, which is making local water unusable.
  • Highly inefficient irrigation schemes in agriculture, instead of more efficient sprinkler or drip irrigation technologies.
  • Poor planning of water use, poor water management and misuse (causing groundwater levels to drop, rivers and lakes to dry out, and local ecosystems to collapse).
  • Climate change (increasing frequency and intensity of water-related natural disasters, mainly droughts and floods; rising temperatures and sea levels can lead to contamination of freshwater sources).[5]: 9 
  • Conflict and migration (this can be due to water scarcity or can lead to increased water scarcity).[5]: 9 

Water as a destructive force
Standing water in Ponce, Puerto Rico, poses health risks for its residents more than a week after Hurricane Maria devastated the island (2017)

is a force for destruction:[2]

  • Catastrophically through drought, flood, landslides and epidemic
  • Progressively through erosion, inundation, desertification, contamination and disease.

This destructive aspects water are related to its "extraordinary power, mobility, indispensability and unpredictability".

Poverty

Low-income countries are at greater risk of water insecurity. This can result in human suffering, sustained poverty, constrained growth and social unrest.[2] It has been found that: "Not coincidentally, most of the world’s poor face difficult hydrologies" (combined inter-annual and intra-annual variability). It has been found that greater rainfall variability is statistically associated with lower per capita incomes.[2]

Improving water security, by managing water resources, is a key factor to achieve growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction.[2] Water security is therefore also linked to social justice and equitable distribution of environmental benefits and harms.[30] Sustainable development would result in lowered poverty and increased living standards for those most susceptible to the impacts of insecure water resources in the region, especially women and children.

Water scarcity

An important threat to water security is water scarcity. There can be several causes to water scarcity including low rainfall, climate change,[31] high population density, and overallocation of a water source. About 27% of the world’s population lived in areas affected by water scarcity in the mid 2010’s. Even by more conservative estimates, this is expected to increase to 42% by 2050.[32] Over-urbanization relative to water resources can create conditions of rapidly deteriorating household water security, particularly where pre-existing water and sanitation infrastructure is only poorly developed. Examples of periodic deep water scarcity that is inducing water insecurity include the ongoing California drought that started in early 2000s and the Cape Town Water Crisis (mid-2017 to mid-2018). In both cases pre-existing vulnerabilities were exacerbated by persistent climatic drought.

This section is an excerpt from Water scarcity.[edit]
Water stress per country in 2019. Water stress is the ratio of water use relative to water availability ("demand-driven scarcity").[33]

Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. Two types of water scarcity have been defined: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is where there is not enough water to meet all demands, including that needed for ecosystems to function effectively. Arid areas (for example Central and West Asia, and North Africa) often suffer from physical water scarcity.[34] On the other hand, economic water scarcity is caused by a lack of investment in infrastructure or technology to draw water from rivers, aquifers, or other water sources, or insufficient human capacity to satisfy the demand for water.[35] Much of Sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by economic water scarcity.[36]: 11 

The essence of global water scarcity is the geographic and temporal mismatch between fresh water demand and availability.[37][38] At the global level and on an annual basis, enough freshwater is available to meet such demand, but spatial and temporal variations of water demand and availability are large, leading to physical water scarcity in several parts of the world during specific times of the year.[39] The main driving forces for the rising global demand for water are the increasing world population, improving living standards, changing consumption patterns (for example a dietary shift toward more animal products),[40] and expansion of irrigated agriculture.[41][42] Climate change (including droughts or floods), deforestation, increased water pollution and wasteful use of water can also cause insufficient water supply.[43] Scarcity varies over time as a result of natural hydrological variability, but varies even more so as a function of prevailing economic policy, planning and management approaches. Scarcity can be expected to intensify with most forms of economic development, but, if correctly identified, many of its causes can be predicted, avoided or mitigated.[44]

Water pollution

A broad category of threats to water security is environmental threats (water pollution). These include contaminants such as nutrients, pesticides and herbicides (usually from agriculture), heavy metals (usually from industry), and Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or "forever chemicals", climate change and natural disasters. Contaminants can enter a water source naturally through flooding.

Contaminants can also be a problem if a population switches their water supply from surface water to groundwater or even from one surface source to another. An example of this was the "Flint Water Crisis" in Flint, Michigan during 2014-2019 (Flint had changed its water source from treated water that was sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River).

This section is an excerpt from Water pollution.[edit]


Raw sewage and industrial waste in the New River as it passes from Mexicali (Mexico) to Calexico, California

Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, in such a manner that negatively affects its legitimate uses.[45]: 6  Water pollution reduces the ability of the body of water to provide the ecosystem services that it would otherwise provide. Water bodies include for example lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants are introduced into these water bodies. Water pollution can usually be attributed to one of four sources: sewage, industry, agriculture, and urban runoff including stormwater.[46] For example, releasing inadequately treated wastewater into natural waters can lead to degradation of these aquatic ecosystems. Water pollution can also lead to water-borne diseases for people using polluted water for drinking, bathing, washing or irrigation.[47] Supplying clean drinking water is an important ecosystem service provided by some freshwater systems, but approximately 785 million people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water because of pollution.[48]

Water pollution can be classified as surface water pollution (for example lakes, streams, estuaries, and parts of the ocean in marine pollution) or groundwater pollution. Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources. Point sources have one identifiable cause, such as a storm drain, a wastewater treatment plant or an oil spill. Non-point sources are more diffuse, such as agricultural runoff.[49] Pollution is the result of the cumulative effect over time.

Reduced water quality due to climate change impacts

The impacts of climate change can result in lower water quality through several mechanisms:[3]: 4–39 

  • Increased eutrophication at higher temperatures: Warmer water in lakes, reservoirs and rivers can lead to more frequent harmful algal blooms in those surface water bodies.
  • Permafrost degradation leads to an increased flux of contaminants.
  • Increased meltwater from glaciers releases deposited contaminants and reduces water quality downstream.
  • Floods intensify the mixing of floodwater with wastewater and the redistribution of pollutants.
  • Droughts reduce river dilution capacities and groundwater levels, increasing the risk of groundwater contamination.
  • Saltwater intrusion from rising sea levels.[8]: 16 [14]

Natural disasters and accidents

Natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires can damage man-made structures such as dams and fill waterways with debris. Another thread to water security includes radiation due to a nuclear accident.[50]

Other

Other threats to water security include:

Approaches

Core elements

There are four key areas of focus: increasing economic welfare, enhancing social equity, moving towards long-term sustainability and reducing water related risks.[14] Approaches to improve water security include natural resources, science, and engineering approaches, political and legal tools, economic and financial tools, policy and governance strategies.[6]: 102 

A sequence of investments in information, institutions and infrastructure is needed to achieve a high level of water security.[1]

Strengthening institutions and information flows

Suitable institutions and infrastructure are needed to improve water security.[2] Institutions comprise law, policies, regulations and organizations as well as informal networks.[1] Information provides the fundamental underpinning for water security institutions and infrastructure.[1] This enables evidence-based planning and decision-making, monitoring policy effectiveness and accountability of all actors involved in water resources policy and management.

Sustainable Development Goal 16 is about "peace, justice and strong institutions" and recognizes that strong institutions are a necessary condition to support sustainable development, also with regards to water security.[13]: 35  Institutions govern how decisions can promote or constrain water security outcomes for the poor.[13] In some cases, the approaches to strengthen institutions might involve re-allocating risks responsibilities between the state, market and communities in novel ways. This can include performance-based models, development impact bonds, or blended finance from government, donors and users. These finance mechanisms challenge the traditional separation between the state, private sector and communities.[13]: 37 

Governance mechanisms can reduce water insecurity in transboundary groundwater contexts.[52] They require processes that "(1) enhance context-specific and flexible international mechanisms; (2) address the perpetual need for groundwater data and information; (3) prioritize the precautionary principle and pollution prevention, in particular; (4) where appropriate, integrate governance of surface and subsurface water and land; and (5) expand institutional capacity, especially of binational or multinational actors."

Improving water quality management

Drinking water quality and water pollution are interlinked but often not addressed in a comprehensive way. For example, industrial pollution is rarely linked to drinking water quality in developing countries.[13]: 32  River, groundwater and wastewater monitoring is important to identify sources of contamination and to guide targeted regulatory responses at different scales. Water safety plans are considered by the WHO as the most effective means of maintaining a safe supply of drinking water to the public.[53]

Reducing inequalities in water security

Inequalities in water security have structural and historical roots. They can affect people at different scales, from the household, to the community, town, river basin or the region.[13]: 20  Vulnerable social groups and geographies can be selectively identified or ignored during political debates. For example, water inequality is often related to gender in low-income countries, e.g. at the household level, where women are often the water managers but with constrained choices over water and related expenditures.[13]: 21 

Investments in infrastructure

Water infrastructure is needed to access, store, regulate, move and conserve the resource. These functions can be performed by a combination of natural assets (lakes, rivers, wetlands, aquifers, springs) and man-made assets (bulk water management infrastructure, such as multipurpose dams for river regulation and storage and inter-basin transfer schemes).[2] Examples for investments in infrastructure include:[1]

  • protection, restoration and rehabilitation of natural water storage facilities, such as aquifers and wetlands
  • adaptation of existing landscapes to store water (for instance, soil conservation, managed aquifer recharge)
  • built infrastructure (such as distribution networks, latrines, treatment plants, storage tanks and dams).
  • augmenting water supplies through non-conventional sources, including water recycling or desalination.
  • flood protection embankments to manage water’s destructive force.

Water security can be improved at a national scale through investment in an "evolving balance of complementary institutions and infrastructure for water management".[2] This is important to avoid unforeseen and even unacceptable social and environmental costs from infrastructure measures that were designed to improve water security.

Improving climate-resilience of water supplies

The impacts of weather on water quality vary by local climate and context, highlighting the complexity of understanding the impact of climate change on water quality and health.[7] There are a diverse range of mechanisms by which weather and weather-related shocks impact on water quality, and the potential ways in which climate change will affect water quality. Weather-related shocks include water shortages, heavy rain and temperature extremes. They can cause damage to water infrastructure from erosion under heavy rainfall and floods, loss of water sources in droughts, and deterioration of water quality.[7] Therefore, climate change threatens the Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 of achieving universal access to safe drinking water.[7]

For example, increases in fecal contamination of water sources is often linked to rainfall.[7] Heavy rainfall can have a rapid impact on water quality in rivers, that is delayed but still significant in reservoirs. It may also be rapid for shallow groundwater, although more limited in deeper, unfractured aquifers. The impact of antecedent dry periods on the microbial contamination of drinking water through piped water supplies has also been demonstrated.

The influence of weather on microbial water quality is mediated by management: decisions to protect and treat the water.[7] Where access to the water on-premises is not available, drinking water quality at the point of use (PoU) can deteriorate significantly from the point of collection (PoC), highlighting the importance of household practices around hygiene, storage and treatment. There are interactions between weather, water source and management, and these in turn impact on drinking water safety.

Climate resilient water supplies provide access to drinking water, that is sustained through seasons and through extreme events, and where the safety of water quality is also sustained. To ensure climate resilience for water supplies, consideration of infrastructure and management decisions, at both community and household level, are essential.[7]

Recommendations to improve water security and increase resilience to climate risks have been formulated as follows:[54]

  • More accurate and granular analysis of climate risk - this will help to make climate information relevant to specific users
  • Metrics for monitoring climate resilience in water systems - this will help to track progress and inform investments for water security
  • New institutional models that improve water security

Building capacity for climate resilience

Adaptive capacity in water management systems can help to absorb some of the impacts of climate-related events and increase climate resilience.[13]: 25  Stakeholders at various scales, i.e. from small urban utilities to national governments, need to have access to reliable information which details regional climate and climate change.

For example targeted climate tools can help national policy makers and sub-national practitioners to make informed decisions to improve climate resilience.[13] These are being developed and applied in Kenya, Ethiopia and Bangladesh by REACH, a nine-year (2015-2024) global research program led by the University of Oxford and funded by the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.[13]

Measurement tools

Water security cannot be quantified in absolute terms.[3]: 4–12  Instead, "relative levels of water security in different places can be compared using metrics representing critical aspects of security".[3]: 4–12 

Others have pointed out that water security is very difficult to measure as it is a tool that focuses on outcomes, and the relevant outcomes can change depending on the context and stakeholders involved.[1]

The Global Water Security Index includes metrics on availability (water scarcity index, drought index, groundwater depletion); accessibility to water services (access to sanitation, access to drinking water); safety and quality (water quality index, global flood frequency); management (World Governance Index, transboundary legal framework, transboundary political tension).[55]

Empirical research has challenged the many ways in which water security is quantified, noting the multiplicity of measures[56] and the various scales at which they apply.[57] Subsequently there has been considerable progress in developing and rolling out meaningful ways of assessing water insecurity, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Improved metrics, and especially metrics linked directly to the experience of water insecurity are also allowing development specialists to more appropriately assess the efficacy of development programs.[56]

Global estimates

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report found in 2022 that: "Increasing weather and climate extreme events have exposed millions of people to acute food insecurity and reduced water security, with the largest impacts observed in many locations and/or communities in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Small Islands and the Arctic".[58]: SPM-10 

It has been predicted that "at approximately 2°C global warming level, between 0.9 and 3.9 billion people are projected to be at increased exposure to water stress, depending on regional patterns of climate change and the socio-economic scenarios considered."[58]: 4–8 

An assessment in 2016 found that countries of Africa, South Asia and Middle East experience very low water security. Regions with higher water security, despite high water scarcity, include some parts of United States, Australia and Southern Europe, due to good performance of management, safety and quality, and accessibility.[55]

With regards to water scarcity (which is one parameter that can contribute to water insecurity), studies estimate that "currently, between 1.5 and 2.5 billion people live within areas exposed to water scarcity globally".[58]: 140 

Country examples

Australia
This section is an excerpt from Water security in Australia.[edit]
Water security in Australia became a major concern in Australia in the late 20th and early 21st century as a result of population growth, recurring severe droughts, effects of climate change on Australia, environmental degradation from reduced environmental flows, competition between competing interests such as grazing, irrigation and urban water supplies, and competition between upstream and downstream users. For example, there is competition for the resources of the Darling River system between Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.[59] Water reform was first placed on the national agenda at the 1994 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting when a strategic framework was devised.[60] As the knowledge of surface and groundwater systems grew and the awareness of the significance of sustainable water markets increased, further water reform was agreed to at the 2004 COAG meeting, under a national blueprint known as the National Water Initiative (NWI).

United States
This section is an excerpt from Water supply and sanitation in the United States § Water security.[edit]
Water security is projected to be a problem in the future since future population growth will most likely occur in areas that are currently water stressed.[61] Ensuring that the United States remains water secure will require policies that will ensure fair distribution of existing water sources, protecting water sources from becoming depleted, maintaining good wastewater disposal, and maintaining existing water infrastructure.[62][63] Currently there are no national limits for US groundwater or surface water withdrawal. If limits are imposed, the people most impacted will be the largest water withdrawers from a water source.

See also

References
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