A Global Agenda for Household Water Security: Measurement, Monitoring, and Management

TY - JOUR

T1 - A Global Agenda for Household Water Security

T2 - Measurement, Monitoring, and Management

AU - Wutich, Amber

AU - Jepson, Wendy E.

AU - Stoler, Justin

AU - Thomson, Patrick

AU - Kooy, Michelle

AU - Brewis, Alexandra

AU - Staddon, Chad

AU - Meehan, Katie

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Dr. Zhuping Sheng for the invitation to participate in this special issue. We acknowledge the U.S. National Science Foundation grants that supported our work: Household Water Insecurity Experiences Research Coordination Network (HWISE RCN) (Award BCS-1759972), Coevolution of social and physical infrastructure and improved access to clean water in informal water sharing system (Award GCR-2021147), Nanosystems Engineering Research Center on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (EEC-1449500), and the Lloyd?s Register Foundation (Grant #00068). Funding Information: We thank Dr. Zhuping Sheng for the invitation to participate in this special issue. We acknowledge the U.S. National Science Foundation grants that supported our work: Household Water Insecurity Experiences Research Coordination Network (HWISE RCN) (Award BCS‐1759972), Coevolution of social and physical infrastructure and improved access to clean water in informal water sharing system (Award GCR‐2021147), Nanosystems Engineering Research Center on Nanotechnology‐Enabled Water Treatment (EEC‐1449500), and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation (Grant #00068). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 American Water Resources Association Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/8

Y1 - 2021/8

N2 - Water scholarship has advanced considerably in recent decades. Despite this remarkable progress, water challenges may be growing more quickly than our capacity to solve them. While much progress has been made toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 — water and sanitation for all — new stressors have emerged to threaten this progress. Far from being a problem of the Global South, recent research shows that water insecurity is very much a global phenomenon — and one that has been, until recently, seriously neglected in the Global North. This indicates a strong need for innovative measurement of who experiences water insecurity, new approaches for monitoring the efficacy of water interventions, and more effective management of complex, mobile, and multiple water infrastructures to achieve water security. In this paper, we introduce the Household Water Insecurity approach to addressing these concerns. First, we suggest ways to improve the measurement of water insecurity — pinpointing problems at the household and individual levels — in ways that can inform policymaking with improved precision. Second, we discuss ways that new information and communication technology can improve monitoring and indicate where water infrastructure repairs and investments are most needed. Third, we highlight the need for new approaches to managing complex water infrastructures in more inclusive and democratic ways.

AB - Water scholarship has advanced considerably in recent decades. Despite this remarkable progress, water challenges may be growing more quickly than our capacity to solve them. While much progress has been made toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 — water and sanitation for all — new stressors have emerged to threaten this progress. Far from being a problem of the Global South, recent research shows that water insecurity is very much a global phenomenon — and one that has been, until recently, seriously neglected in the Global North. This indicates a strong need for innovative measurement of who experiences water insecurity, new approaches for monitoring the efficacy of water interventions, and more effective management of complex, mobile, and multiple water infrastructures to achieve water security. In this paper, we introduce the Household Water Insecurity approach to addressing these concerns. First, we suggest ways to improve the measurement of water insecurity — pinpointing problems at the household and individual levels — in ways that can inform policymaking with improved precision. Second, we discuss ways that new information and communication technology can improve monitoring and indicate where water infrastructure repairs and investments are most needed. Third, we highlight the need for new approaches to managing complex water infrastructures in more inclusive and democratic ways.

KW - governance

KW - interventions

KW - measurement

KW - monitoring and evaluation

KW - water security

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106568760&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/1752-1688.12926

DO - 10.1111/1752-1688.12926

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85106568760

SN - 1093-474X

VL - 57

SP - 530

EP - 538

JO - Journal of the American Water Resources Association

JF - Journal of the American Water Resources Association

IS - 4

ER -