The Perceived State of Water Security in the Sekhukhune District Municipality and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality

Water security demands guaranteeing economic, social and environmental sustainability and simultaneously addressing the diversity of risks and threats related to water. Various frameworks have been suggested to support water security assessment. They are typically based on indexes enabling national comparisons; these may, however, oversimplify complex and often contested water issues. We developed a structured and systemic way to assess water security and its future trends via a participatory process. The framework establishes a criteria hierarchy for water security, consisting of four main themes: the state of the water environment; human health and well-being; the sustainability of livelihoods; and the stability, functions and responsibility of society. The framework further enables the analysis of relationships between the water security criteria as well as between water, energy and food security. The framework was applied to a national water security assessment of Finland in 2018 and 2030. Our experience indicates that using the framework collaboratively with stakeholders provides a meaningful way to improve understanding and to facilitate discussion about the state of water security and the actions needed for its improvement.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of water security: an integrated approach applied in Wuhan urban agglomeration, China

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2012.147 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 66 (1) ◽

pp. 79-87 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Dongguo Shao ◽

Fengshun Yang ◽

Chun Xiao ◽

Xuezhi Tan

Keyword(s):

Flood Control ◽

Evaluation Model ◽

Water Environment ◽

Rank Correlation ◽

Water Security ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Urban Agglomeration ◽

State Of Water ◽

Wuhan Urban Agglomeration ◽

Good Agreement

To evaluate water security, the Water Resources Sustainability Evaluation Model has been developed. The model employs four criteria (economic development, flood control security, water supply security, and water environment security) and has 22 indicators, integrating them using their relative weights. The model is applied to evaluate the water security of Wuhan urban agglomeration, China. The values of the indicators are normalized using the exponential efficacy functions based on the law of diminishing marginal utility. The evaluation results show that, overall, the state of water security in Wuhan urban agglomeration is good, which is in good agreement with the true situation. The comparison between the results of the model and other three evaluation methods by the Spearman coefficient of rank correlation verifies the science and reliability of the developed model. Consequently, it is concluded that the model can be an effective tool for evaluating the states of water security and provide a basis on which to create policies for improving inadequacies in water security.

Download Full-text

South African local government perceptions of the state of water security

Environmental Science & Policy ◽

10.1016/j.envsci.2018.05.020 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 87 ◽

pp. 112-127 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Richard Meissner ◽

Maronel Steyn ◽

Elliot Moyo ◽

Justinus Shadung ◽

Winile Masangane ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

South African ◽

Water Security ◽

The State ◽

State Of Water

Download Full-text

Water security evaluation based on comprehensive index in Jing-Jin-Ji district, China

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2020.164 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (7) ◽

pp. 2698-2714

Author(s):

Ze Huang ◽

Jiahong Liu ◽

Chao Mei ◽

Hao Wang ◽

Weiwei Shao

Keyword(s):

Water Resources ◽

Comprehensive Evaluation ◽

Water Security ◽

Scientific Basis ◽

The State ◽

Evaluation Index System ◽

Security Evaluation ◽

State Of Water ◽

North Water ◽

The Impact

Abstract China has long faced the problem of uneven distribution of water resources in time and space. The state of water security is therefore a key factor in regional development. The Jing-Jin-Ji district in China, which includes Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province, faced severe water security problems. Therefore, to improve the management of water resources, water security should be properly evaluated. This study established a comprehensive evaluation index system for evaluation. Furthermore, it analyzed the impacts of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP), which fully reflects the impact of human activities on the spatial distribution of water resources and is an innovation. The results showed that the state of water security in the Jing-Jin-Ji district generally had an increasing trend, and the score of the overall evaluation was increased by 65.8%. The Middle Route of the SNWTP had played a major role in water security in resources criterion, which increased by 28.53% in 2015 and 13.64% in 2016. With social development, the general state of water security in the district was improving. These findings could provide a scientific basis for regional water resources management.

Download Full-text

Pre-Warning Measurement of Water Resources Security in the Yangtze River Basin from the Perspective of Water-Energy-Food Symbiosis

Water ◽

10.3390/w13040475 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 475

Author(s):

Weizhong Chen ◽

Yan Chen

Keyword(s):

Water Resources ◽

River Basin ◽

Yangtze River ◽

Yangtze River Basin ◽

Water Security ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Water Safety ◽

Core Element ◽

State Of Water ◽

The Yangtze River Basin

The Yangtze River Basin is a resource axis represented by hydropower resources, bulk agricultural products, and mining resources. However, with rapid socio-economy development, the balance between water, energy, and food elements in the region has become more fragile. As the core element of the water-energy-food nexus, it is necessary to study water resources security and give effective pre-warning of possible water safety problems from the perspective of water-energy-food symbiosis. In this paper, we introduce the “symbiosis theory” to build a regional water-energy-food nexus symbiosis framework. Then, we establish a Lotka–Volterra symbiotic evolution model to calculate the symbiotic security index. Finally, we judge the water security state and pre-warning level and analyze the causes of water security problems by the inverse decoupling of the indicator-index. The results show that the spatial differentiation of water security in the Yangtze River Basin is obvious from the perspective of water-energy-food symbiosis. The state of water security in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River Basin is better than that in the lower reaches. Specifically, the water resources security levels in the upstream hydropower energy enrichment regions are generally low. By contrast, the water systems of some downstream socio-economically developed provinces have certain risks. Therefore, each province needs to find out the key factors that hinder the healthy development of the water resources system based on combining the evolution mechanism and symbiotic state of water-energy-food so that water security can be managed in a targeted manner.

Download Full-text