Water scarcity assessments in the past, present, and future

TLDR

Water scarcity is a growing constraint on socio‑economic development and livelihoods, attracting political attention since the 1980s, and is defined by population, availability, and use, yet challenges remain in incorporating green water, quality, environmental flows, globalization, virtual trade, and temporal variability. The study reviews a range of indicators that capture different aspects of water scarcity and calls for integrated efforts among hydrologists, economists, social scientists, and environmental scientists. The authors review various indicators designed to reflect distinct characteristics of water scarcity. Progress over recent decades has focused on quantifying water availability and use through spatially explicit models.

Abstract

Abstract Water scarcity has become a major constraint to socio‐economic development and a threat to livelihood in increasing parts of the world. Since the late 1980s, water scarcity research has attracted much political and public attention. We here review a variety of indicators that have been developed to capture different characteristics of water scarcity. Population, water availability, and water use are the key elements of these indicators. Most of the progress made in the last few decades has been on the quantification of water availability and use by applying spatially explicit models. However, challenges remain on appropriate incorporation of green water (soil moisture), water quality, environmental flow requirements, globalization, and virtual water trade in water scarcity assessment. Meanwhile, inter‐ and intra‐annual variability of water availability and use also calls for assessing the temporal dimension of water scarcity. It requires concerted efforts of hydrologists, economists, social scientists, and environmental scientists to develop integrated approaches to capture the multi‐faceted nature of water scarcity.