Water sustainability indicators for measuring state and temporal evolution
INTRODUCTION
The advantages of using environmental indicators in water management include:
Water sustainability indicators can be used to assess the availability and use of water resources in a specific area, which can help identify areas where water resources are scarce or overused.
Measuring the health of aquatic ecosystems: Indicators can be used to measure the health of aquatic ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, and wetlands, which can help identify areas where these ecosystems are at risk.
Evaluating the impacts of human activities: Indicators can also be used to evaluate the impacts of human activities, such as agricultural and industrial water use, on water resources, which can help identify areas where water resources are being impacted by human activities.
Prioritizing conservation efforts: By using indicators to identify areas of concern, conservation efforts can be prioritized in those areas where water resources are most at risk.
Monitoring progress over time: Indicators can be used to monitor the sustainability of water resources over time, which can help identify areas where additional conservation efforts are needed.
Support ddecision-making the data collected by these indicators can help in the formulation of policies and plans for sustainable management of water resources. It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of existing water management policies.
Communication &awareness raising: Water Sustainability indicators can also be used as a tool for community engagement and awareness-raising about the importance of water rresources conservation and sustainable management.
GENERAL METHODOLOGY
The process of building a set of groundwater sustainability indicators may follow a five-step approach (Rio and Nunes, 2012; Mascarenhas et al., 2014).
The introduction to this topic was made in:
1. The building of an initial set of indicators (SET 0)
Experts propose a large set of indicators according to:
Data availability
Sensitivity to change in time
Sensitivity to change across space or within groups (equity)
Predictive or anticipatory
Reference or threshold values available
Unbiased
Appropriate data transformation
Integrative (may apply better to indexes)
Quantifiable measures (continuous (continuous, discrete, or ordinal)
That allows the understanding of relationships between neighboring systems:
Surface water (e.g., rivers, lakes, lagoons, sea)
Hydraulically connected aquifers
Water flows from/to other watersheds (e.g., water transfers, public water supply, embedded water)
Groundwater-dependent ecosystems.
2. Qualitative expert selection of indicators from a large set, based on criteria of
Experts are asked to classify each indicator from an initial set of indicators (SET 0) according to the following criteria:
Level I
Link to planning goals - Existence of a clear link with planning options, goals and targets.
Relevance - Relevance for policies, plan contents and indicator function. Existence of a relationship between the indicator and “what to monitor”.
Level II
Conceptual robustness - Technical and scientific grounding.
Availability and quality of data - Existence of data sufficiently reliable to build the indicator.
Demonstration of trends - Ability to demonstrate temporal trends and their direction.
Spatial variability - Relevance at regional scale and ability to demonstrate inter- and intra-regional differences.
Interpretative capacity - The indicator allows drawing qualitative analysis, which complements its quantitative results.
Clarity - Suitability for communicating with decision-makers, specific user groups and the general public. The indicator is simple and uses clear language.
Range of covered domains - Coverage of a range of factors and domains that can be influenced by the plan.
Flexibility - Indicator's ability to remain relevant despite changes in policies and in the environmental, social, economic and institutional/governance systems.
Compatibility with other indicator systems - Indicators are the same or compatible with other indicator systems (e.g. sustainability indicator sets,
sectoral performance indicator sets).
Costs - Facility to retrieve, process and update indicators, in monetary, logistical and human-resources terms.
Rating is give in an ordinal scale from "Not appropriate" to "Very appropriate". The best classified indicators will build a subset (SET 1). The size of this subset must be sufficient to include indicators for all "Sustainability Principles" referred below.
2. Qualitative selection of indicators from SET1 by stakeholders
Stakeholders are asked to classify each indicator from SET 1 according to the following criteria:
Interpretability - Clear relationship between indicator designation and its meaning
Relevance - Capacity to show changes in the status of groundwater management.
Each criterion is rated in an ordinal scale from "Not appropriate" to "Very appropriate".
The worst classified indicators are eliminated from Set 1, building SET 2.
3. Quantitative assessment of status of groundwater management
This analysis demands the establishment of quantitative targets per indicator, which may need the establishment of "limits of growth" (e.g., those imposed by the water budget in the region, or by geometric constraints, such as arable soil area).
The indicators of SET 2 are quantified for a series of years with the available data.
4. Reanalysis by experts and stakeholders
Based on the results for SET 2, both stakeholders and experts are asked to assess each indicator for its evolution from "Very negative" to "Very positive".
5. Interpretation
This method provides two types of results
A. Quantitative measure of convergence to sustainable objectives (given by the ratio of the indicator value to its goal);
B. Qualitative measure of convergence to sustainable objectives (given by the classifications provided by experts and stakeholders).
Comparative meta-analysis of the two results can provide very relevant information about perceived impacts and the true consequences of human actions.
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PROPOSAL FOR THE INITAL SET OF WATER SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS (WSI) - SET 0
The list of indicators shown below was compiled from literature, mainly from Quay et al. (2018). Only those at regional or watershed levels were considered here, excluding indicators for cities, national and global scales.
Each indicator is identified by (transcribed from Quay et al. (2018)):
Indicator name
Definition
Metric (how the indicator is computed)
Indicator system where it is used
Category
Water Supply - Related to various aspects of water supplied to meet human needs.
Water Demand - Related to the human use of water.
Economic and Financial - Related to how water supports local and regional economies.
Environmental - Related to the water needs of natural systems.
Disaster Management - Related to the management of stormwater and droughts.
Climate Change - Related to the impact that climate change may have on water supply and demand.
Social Well-Being - Related to how water supports social and community systems.
Infrastructure/Water MGMT - Related to the infrastructure management systems needed to collect, store, and deliver water.
Energy - Related to the role water plays in energy production and the role energy plays in water treatment and delivery.
Legal - Governance - Related to the legal aspects of water use and management.
Geographic Scale
Regional
Watershed
Data Type
Qualitative
Quantitative
Mixed
Sustainability Principles (only the key principle is shown in the table below)
Social Ecological System Integrity
Water quality - Maintain or enhance water resources quality, avoiding pollution.
Pollution prevention - Prevent social and ecological pollution related to wastewater.
Surface water flows - Maintain surface water flows to support social and ecological systems.
Aquifer protection Ensure aquifers are not taxed beyond instability.
Water quantity - Coordinate water use and impacts within stipulated physical units.
Resource Efficiency, Maintenance, Management
Water use, reduction/efficiency - Reduce water use/enhancing water use efficiency.
Water use, recycling - Effluent water reuse.
Water loss, elimination - Eliminate water loss.
Institutional management - Institution based water resource management related activity/information.
Livelihood sufficiency and opportunity
Basic needs - Meet basic needs related to water.
Recreation and enjoyment - Meet water related needs associated to recreation and enjoyment .
Agriculture - Meet irrigation needs.
Hydropower - Meet needs associated with hydropower.
Secondary economic activities - Meet economic needs related to secondary use of water.
Social ecological civility and democratic governance
Procedural justice normative frameworks - Make decisions governed by the rule of law.
Procedural justice / transparency - Disclose relevant information to all parties who affect and are affected by water governance.
Participation in decision making - Involve all groups who affect and are affected by water governance.
Inter-generational and intra-generational equity
Distributive justice – risk, cost and benefits - Equitable distribution of risks, costs and benefits equitably distributed across all present and future stakeholders.
Equitable representation - Equitable representation based on geography, demography, and interest.
Cross generational representation - Representation of future generations through their guardians.
Contextual justice/Adequate comparable capacities - Ensure water user groups have comparable capabilities to access and benefit from the water.
Interconnectivity from local, regional, to global scale
Interconnectivity ordinances and institutional requirements - Presence of ordinances/institutional requirements to guide actions at different points that influence other water related points on local, national, and global scale.
Multiple scale resource impacts - Reduce or eliminate negative impacts between scales.
Multiple scale stakeholder impacts - Recognize and coordinate among local and state stakeholders.
Precaution and adaptability
Anticipate water shortages - Anticipate future water shortages.
Mitigate water shortages - Mitigate future water shortages.
Adapt to water shortages - Adapt water shortages and water quality problems.
Capital - Material and financial capital, which allows for exploitation and diversion when needed.
Collaboration capacity - Ability to respond to water problems through formal and informal justification.
Institutions and entitlements - Property rights, concessions, formal, and informal rules of water governance to respond to water shortage crises.
Flood related disaster management - Resilience in flood related disasters.
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REFERENCES
Mascarenhas, A., Nunes, L. M., and Ramos, T. (2014). Exploring the self-assessment of sustainability indicators by different stakeholders. Ecological Indicators, 39, 75–83
Quay, R., Godwyll, J., and White, D. D. (2018). An Assessment of Water Sustainability Indicators for the Colorado River Basin. The Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Massachusetts, USA.
Rio, D. and Nunes, L. M. (2012). Monitoring and evaluation tool for tourism destinations. Tourism Management Perspectives, 4, 64–66