Water Poverty

The article details the development and uses of the water poverty index (WPI). The index was developed as a holistic tool to measure water stress at the household and community levels, designed to aid national decision makers, at community and central government level, as ...

social and economic capacity and water-related environmental quality to be used by local people and water development agencies to monitor progress in the provision of water at the community level. Such community indices could then be aggregated to provide countries and international agencies with a much more accurate performance indicator to guide policy.

The urban population of Punjab is growing rapidly. It is projected that there will be a 25 to 30
percent increase in urban population by 2020. This rapid population increase is causing major
problems in the efficient provision of urban services in these cities. To evaluate the effect of this
population increase, this paper tries to produce an integrated assessment of water stress and
scarcity, linking physical estimates of water availability with socioeconomic variables that reflect
poverty, i.e., a Water Poverty Index. It is understood that poor households face the problem
of the accessibility of potable water, and this results in a significant loss of time and effort,
especially for women. On the basis of multiple data sources, this paper evaluates water poverty
in three panels of large, intermediate, and small cities of Punjab. The results show the same
water poverty level within the panels but a higher poverty level in large cities than small and
intermediate cities.

This paper systematically reviews existing United States-based water insecurity literature with the goal of understanding the evidence base for developing public health water insecurity intervention strategies in Oregon. The authors conducted the systematic literature review using an adjusted PRISMA reporting checklist to document the review process. Results find 11 public health-related water insecurity interventions including surveillance practices and indicator and policy development. Research on water insecurity health impacts and solutions is still an emerging field. Nevertheless, state agencies perceive a risk to communities from inadequate safe water and are taking steps to assess and reduce these risks. From the review, strategies include improving water affordability, carrying out community education events, documenting drought risk and water loss, and tracking improvements in safe drinking water compliance. The review finds opportunities to take varied approaches that are ...

The article details the development and uses of the water poverty index (WPI). The index was developed as a holistic tool to measure water stress at the household and community levels, designed to aid national decision makers, at community and central government level, as ...

Small village farmers on Mauritius and Rodrigues Islands have been forced by water scarcity to reduce the amount of land they can cultivate by 2/3 In some instances they have been forced to purchase expensive water from retailers bringing it around on carts. This has reduced their farm income and pushes them closer to poverty. This is on an island that receives over 373 mm of rain even during drought. This problem can be solved quickly and inexpensively using properly located check dams. While we use Rodrigues island as a example the solution can be applied in a much broader context across water scarcity regions in Africia, Asia and the middle East.