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Global Water Supply Vulnerability

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Project Leads

  • Julie Padowski
  • Steven Gorelick, Barton Thompson, Scott Rozelle, and Scott Fendorf
Global Vulnerability Pie Chart
Characteristics of freshwater vulnerability.  Four major characteristic categories (demand, endowment, infrastructure and institutions) are identified.  Characteristics can be endogenous or exogenous.  We evaluate 19 characteristic values (displayed radially) to determine a region’s vulnerability.  Greater vulnerability pushes a characteristic value towards the circle’s outer boundary, whereas a value with low vulnerability falls near the center.

"Global freshwater vulnerability is a product of environmental and human dimensions, however, it is rarely assessed as such. Our approach identifies freshwater vulnerability using four broad categories: endowment, demand, infrastructure, and institutions, to capture impacts on natural and managed water systems within the coupled human–hydrologic environment. These categories are represented by 19 different endogenous and exogenous characteristics affecting water supply vulnerability. By evaluating 119 lower per capita income countries(<$10 725), we find that every nation experiences some form of vulnerability. Institutional vulnerability is experienced most commonly, occurring in 44 nations, and 23 countries suffer deficiencies in all four categories. Of these highly vulnerable countries, Jordan is the most vulnerable, reporting the greatest number of characteristics(5 of 19) at critical vulnerability levels, with Yemen and Djibouti nearly as vulnerable. Surprising similarities in vulnerability were also found among geographically disparate nations such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Guatemala. Determining shared patterns of freshwater vulnerability provides insights into why water supply vulnerabilities are manifested in human–water systems at the national scale."

Figure, caption, and abstract from: Padowski, J.C., Gorelick, S.M., Thompson, B.H., Rozelle, S. and Fendorf, S., 2015. Assessment of human–natural system characteristics influencing global freshwater supply vulnerability. Environmental Research Letters,10(10), p.104014.

Caption:  "Characteristics of freshwater vulnerability.  Four major characteristic categories (demand, endowment, infrastructure and institutions) are identified.  Characteristics can be endogenous or exogenous.  We evaluate 19 characteristic values (displayed radially) to determine a region’s vulnerability.  Greater vulnerability pushes a characteristic value towards the circle’s outer boundary, whereas a value with low vulnerability falls near the center."

Publications

Padowski, J.C., Gorelick, S.M., Thompson, B.H., Rozelle, S. and Fendorf, S., 2015. Assessment of human–natural system characteristics influencing global freshwater supply vulnerability. Environmental Research Letters,10(10), p.104014.

Also see:  Identifying causes of global freshwater vulnerability