Identifying and characterizing different notions of water scarcity

Abstract

Scarcity of water has become a significant barrier to socio-economic progress and a risk to way of life in many regions of the world.  Hydrologists, social scientists, environmental scientists and economists are collaborating to develop various integrated approaches that fully reflect the multifaceted nature of scarcity of water. Research studies on water scarcity has attracted a lot of public and political interest since the 1980s.  The current study seeks to re-conceptualize the term, water scarcity and to offer a summary of the water scarcity researches done in the world to capture various aspects of water scarcity during 1990-2010.The technique used consists of obtaining the studies from the Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases that are pertinent to the topic of interest.  Then reviewing the articles that were recovered after separating the studies that primarily focus on water scarcity. The study showed that throughout the years, there have been an increasing number of studies in this field. The majority of early research were on identifying and characterizing different notions of water scarcity, but as the field has gained popularity, water scientists has started exploring its different domains along with various methodologies to assess water scarcity. Reports that "the next conflict may be over water" or that "approximately forty countries may not have enough water resources in the near future" reflects the seriousness of the water issue that exists or may emerge in the near future, particularly in developing nations.