Systems-thinking innovations for water security

Water security is a key governance challenge especially in relation to transboundary rivers. While the literature elaborates on the water security concept, there is very little on how to operationalize it in the transboundary context. Hence, this paper addresses the question: How can the governance of transboundary rivers be operationalized to deal with national water security concerns? It uses a literature review and a case study focusing on dams in the Mekong tributaries, namely the Sesan, part of the 3S Basin, in Vietnam and Cambodia. The paper describes the damming process in the 3S Basin and how it threatens water security for downstream states in terms of securing the flow, volume, quality, space, and the temporal variations of the rivers and the livelihoods of river dependent communities. It examines how the Mekong River Commission (MRC) members address these issues, balance their interests and secure the free flow of the Mekong River and its tributaries. It concludes that the MRC Agreement of 1995 is an inadequate mechanism to regulate the developments of hydrological infrastructure on the shared international tributaries, and that further operationalization of the concept of water security is necessary to enable the improvement of existing cooperative regulations and mechanisms.

Some of the most significant impacts of climate change are likely to be felt in water resources management, but climate change is not the only uncertainty facing water managers and policymakers. The concept of water security has emerged to address social, economic, political, and environmental factors, as well as the physical determinants of water availability. There are significant challenges for communicating about water security under a changing climate. Water security shares many of the characteristics of climate change with regards to communication. It is a complex concept involving interactions between dynamic human and natural systems, requiring public deliberation and engagement to inform political debate and to facilitate behavioral and cultural change. Knowledge and values about water and climate change are communicated through material experiences as well as through language. Communication about water security and climate change takes many forms, which can be characterized as five key modes—policy, communication campaigns, media, cultures, and environments. More effective communication about climate change and water is needed across these different modes to support meaningful participation and deliberation in policy decisions by a wide range of stakeholders. Integrating climate change into communication campaigns about water security provides opportunities to challenge and reframe traditional formulations of the role of water in society and culture and how to manage water in human settlements, the economy, and the environment. The central challenge for communicating the impacts of climate change on water scarcity lies in the complex interactions between society, policy, technology, infrastructure, the economy, and the environment in modern water systems. Different modes of communication are useful to enable public and stakeholder engagement in understanding the issues and making decisions about how to ensure water security in a changing society and environment.

This article explores the reasons efforts to attain water security by states and the international water policy community often fall short of their goals, and suggests a conceptual tool as partial remedy. The main shortcomings of prevailing water security policy and thinking are found to stem from narrow and determinist analysis that is based on a separation of biophysical and social processes of water resources and their use. Undue confidence is placed in physical scarcity thresholds, for example, while distributive issues are ignored. Water resources are also found to be treated in isolation, as if independent of the food, climate or energy security of individuals, communities and states. The ‘web’ of water security introduced here emphasises combined readings of the social and biophysical processes that enable or prevent national water security. These processes are mediated by a socioeconomic and political context replete with power asymmetries, such that water security for some rests on the water insecurity of others. Sustainable national water security in the long term, it is suggested, will be guided by principles of balance between related security areas, and equitability of distribution of resources between the actors involved. Policy Implications • Water security policy recommendations based on environmentally determinist analysis are often narrow, and should be evaluated as both potentially interested and liable to lead only to short-term, selective water security. • Long-term national water security policy should seek a balance between natural ‘security resources’ (food, water, energy, climate) and equitability between the individuals, communities and nations involved. • The development of water security policy should expand beyond biophysical considerations to incorporate options stemming from related social processes, such as human agency, livelihoods and capacity for adaptation. • Long-term national water security will be served through harmonisation of policy across sectors, for example between ministries of water resources, trade and foreign affairs.

Facing Global Environmental Change

Even though benefitting from over 12% of the world’s surface freshwater, Brazil nevertheless has undergone increasingly frequent water scarcity crises in both rural and urban areas. This paper presents the results of an exploratory research on water security issues in Brazil, developed according to a three-step methodology. The concept of water security is discussed based on a review of the literature, taking into account the sustainability criterion. An institutional analysis of water governance in Brazil, summarized from the perspective of water security, based on Brazilian constitutional mentions related to water, followed by the identification of policy initiatives at national and subnational level.

Water safety involves the sustainable use and protection of water sources, so that water is available in adequate quantity and quality to health, livelihoods, ecosystems and production, in addition to protecting it from the negative effects of extreme weather events. Internationally, the concept of water security began being discussed in the 1990s, and more so since 2009, when the issue became the subject of a greater number of publications. In Brazil Federal Law 9433/97, which establishes the National Water Resources Policy, and corresponding state laws implicitly provide the concept of water security. However, the National Water Safety Plan was only launched in 2019, and has became the fundamental instrument for decision-making on this issue. The objective of the research was to pre-select indicators to analyze the water safety of the municipalities contemplated in the Capibaribe river watershed, within the framework of sustainable water management. To achieve the objective, the following methodology was adopted: pre-selection of indicators; application of a questionnaire to a panel of experts; structure a database. Thus, this work aims to bring subsidies that contribute to water security actions and public policies through the development of an indicator database. Additionally, this research is a proposal for future work, helping to define an equation of the water security index for the municipalities in the watershed.

Food and water security: Analysis of integrated modeling platforms

Today, the concept of security manifests itself in a number of forms in most scientific, social, environmental, and political issues. One of the most essential and prominent types of security issue faced today is water security, which has introduced a complex and new concept to the literature of today's world. Not only has the current water crisis in most parts of the world increased the risk of military conflicts between countries, but the value of safe water will become even more apparent in the coming decades, which is why water security will have a special importance in the modern world. Water security is a concept that has attracted particular attention in recent decades from various dimensions. Estimates show that by 2100, the planet's population will increase from the current 7.7 billion (7.7 × 109) to 11.2 billion, and that providing adequate safe water for such a population is one of the significant challenges facing humans – because the world's freshwater resources are not just for individual consumption and for the environment, but they are also vital for the agricultural, energy, industrial, and transportation sectors. Therefore, it should be noted that the existing world water resources, both in terms of quantity and quality, are at a critical stage. However, the severity of this problem varies from region to region, with regions such as the Middle East and South Africa at greater risk of water scarcity. Water security is therefore a vital issue for all of us. This chapter first outlines the concept of water security from different perspectives, emphasizing that water security is a multifaceted issue, before finally examining solutions and policies to address to the challenges.

In this paper we consider both hydrology and governance as critical dimensions for irrigation water security. We scale down the overall water security concept to the agricultural sector, suggest an index of irrigation water security faced by farmers, and provide an empirical illustration in the case of Tajikistan. Irrigation water security is investigated by three different dimensions: (a) a hydrology dimension, expressing a lack of water availability; (b) a governance dimension, the perceived difficulty in accessing water; and (c) a hybrid dimension of governance and hydrology. We developed an irrigation water security index, which we empirically tested using farm household survey data (N = 399). This index provides evidence that different farm types, e.g., small versus large, perceive different water security threats. Further, we found that if one dimension is less distinctive, the complementary dimension occurs as a coping mechanism. Thus, we conclude that diversified support mechanisms for infrastructure and management are needed to reach a higher level of water security.

Virtual water ‘flows’ of the Nile Basin, 1998–2004: A first approximation and implications for water security

Sometimes viewed as controversial, rankings – and the composite indices that underlie them – can encourage better performance among countries when they are well-crafted, clear and transparent about their methodological choices. The most widely used ranking tool to measure performance on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the SDG Index. It is published as part of the Sustainable Development Report, an annual unofficial monitoring report released by independent experts at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The SDG Index and rankings help render the SDGs actionable by translating the goals into concrete and easy-to-understand metrics. They also raise awareness among policymakers and contribute to holding countries accountable on SDG implementation. Yet, there are also critiques that rankings encourage ‘cheating’, and that the rankings of the SDG Index correlate too highly with countries’ per capita gross domestic product (GDP).

This paper presents one part of a larger, multidimensional study on the vulnerability of Zanzibar coastal communities to climate change and other stressors, focusing on water insecurity in two sites on the Zanzibar coast. Water security is composed of three components, namely water availability, water accessibility and the quality of available water. Findings from the study showed that water from wells is the major source of household water since tap water supply is often erratic. Farming systems are completely rain-fed, while some livestock owners use coral caves as the main source of water for their animals. Water quality is a major challenge along the coast as the majority of wells and coral caves in the study sites contain hard water with varying levels of salinity. A diversity of physical and social factors such as variability in water supply infrastructure, settlement structure, poverty, geology and geohydrology, variability in supply and poor water resource management adversely interact with local climate phenomena such as sea level rise, salt water incursion and drought to intensify water insecurity along the Zanzibar coast. Among the policy options to address these challenges would be to promote rainwater harvesting and increased utilisation of underground water for irrigation in the dry areas in order to increase agricultural production and reduce poverty.

Swathes of global water challenges, such as water shortages, water pollution, water-related disasters, and degradation of water environments, have seriously threatened human development. The discussion of water security or insecurity has been instrumental in drawing the attention of political leaders thanks to its political nature and strategic and urgent messages for society to take action. This study introduces a modified concept and definition of water security and a water security assessment framework based on a review of previous works on water security; the water security framework intends to shed light on five core areas: (1) social equity; (2) economic efficiency; (3) environmental sustainability; (4) resilience to water-related disasters; and (5) government competency. A total of 28 countries in Asia and the Pacific have been chosen and appraised for their level of water security. The assessment result unveils that Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea show high levels of water security. In contrast, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines are regarded as the countries with water insecurity. The magnitude of the study lies in critically assessing good or challenging aspects of water security so that the countries can start to consider possible policy options for achieving sustainable water resource management.

Abstract. This paper provides an introduction to the concepts of water security including not only the risks to human wellbeing posed by floods and droughts, but also the threats of inadequate supply of water in both quantity and quality for food production, human health, energy and industrial production, and for the natural ecosystems on which life depends. The overall setting is one of constant change in all aspects of Earth systems. Hydrological systems (processes and regimes) are changing, resulting from varying and changing precipitation and energy inputs, changes in surface covers, mining of groundwater resources, and storage and diversions by dams and infrastructures. Changes in social, political and economic conditions include population and demographic shifts, political realignments, changes in financial systems and in trade patterns. There is an urgent need to address hydrological and social changes simultaneously and in combination rather than as separate entities, and thus the need to develop the approach of ‘socio-hydrology’. All aspects of water security, including the responses of both UNESCO and the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) to the concepts of socio-hydrology, are examined in detailed papers within the volume titled Hydrological Sciences and Water Security: Past, Present and Future.

Four dimensions of water security with a case of the indirect role of water in global food security