WS2: Water Security Index

21.11.2023 14:15 – 15:45
Auditory C102

Water is at the heart of basic human security—food, energy, culture, aesthetics. How water is managed will have repercussions on almost every aspect of human security, which is why achieving adequate water security is among the top priorities of government policies across the globe.
While formulating policies to enhance water security are important, even more crucial is monitoring the changes brought about by implementing these policies. This comes from the notion that the need of the hour in today’s time is to operationalize water security. However, as the adage goes, “we cannot manage what we cannot measure”.
This workshop will introduce the participants to a tool called WATSAT (Water Security Assessment Tool) that is meant to address this very need—How to measure water security? WATSAT has been developed by the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand), the National Institute of Urban Affairs (India), Thuyloi University (Vietnam), Tribhuvan University (Nepal), and Central University of Rajasthan (India).
WATSAT is a web-based tool written in the C#.net programming language with the welcome page interface written in JavaScript and HTML. WATSAT comprises a three-layered structure—dimensions, indicators and variables—that ultimately results in the Water Security Index (WSI). It comprises five dimensions and twelve indicators and provides users with a long list of potential variables to choose from to reflect the indicators. The tool has been developed to make it as user-friendly as possible, keeping in mind that its actual design purpose is to facilitate city authorities and decision-makers to make an objective evaluation of the water security situation and foster practical solutions to improve water security in the city.  

Guidance Notes for Participants:

Please bring a laptop with you for the hands-on exercise.

Supporting journal articles for the scientific background on the water security assessment framework:

1. How to measure urban water security? An introduction to the Water Security Assessment Tool (WATSAT). doi: https://doi.org/10.30852/sb.2023.2166 – —
2. Measuring water security: A vital step for climate change adaptation. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109400
3. Urban water security: A comparative assessment and policy analysis of five cities in diverse developing countries of Asia. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2022.100713
4. A disaggregated assessment of national water security: An application to the river basins in Thailand. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115974

Please feel free to explore the web-based version of the WATSAT tool at http://www.watsat.org/ prior to the training workshop.
Exercise data for the hands-on session are provided here for your reference:

Session Host

Kaushal Chapagain, Victor Shinde