A pragmatic analysis of water supply and demand, and adaptive capacity in rural areas: development of Rural Water Insecurity Index

Aggregating measures that capture multiple aspects of water security in a single or small number of indices can act as a powerful tool to identify areas susceptible to water insecurity. Proposed Rural Water Insecurity Index is based on water supply and demand dimensions, and adaptive capacity to assess the ability of communities to cope with prevailing water insecurity. Spatial distribution of water insecurity presents wide variability across the district and demonstrates how factors like surface water supply distribution, groundwater withdrawal, sanitation, irrigation coverage, asset ownership influence water security of a particular rural area at a specific time. The insecurity matrix reveals that the scale of adaptive capacity plays a vital role in shifting the scale of water insecurity by negating the impacts of supply- and demand-driven insecurity. The impacts are found to be severe for the poor who live in vulnerable areas including mountains and forests, are dependent on natural resource-based livelihood and groundwater to meet basic needs, own little land or other physical assets and have low education and skills. The present study offers valuable guidance to the policymakers, providing insights as to where more targeted research or policy interventions can address current water insecurity challenges and reduce future risks.