ScienceDirect
Water Security
(ISSN 2468-3124)
Aims & Scope
Water Security aims to publish papers that contribute to a better understanding of the economic, social, biophysical, technological, ecological and institutional influencers of current and future global water security. This includes cross cutting themes that highlight the intersection between climate and water, energy, and food security, as well as biodiversity and ecosystem functions. At the same time the journal intends to stimulate debate, backed by science, with strong interdisciplinary connections. The goal is to publish concise and timely reviews, synthesis articles, and on occasion original research articles about research covering the following elements of water security:
Shortage
Flooding
Drought
Governance
Health and Sanitation
Ecosystems and Ecology
Shortage
Reviews should reflect on the ever changing mosaic of water shortage, that is, variations in availability and the mismatch between availability, on the one hand, and access and demand for ever more water, on the other. Reviews may scrutinize concepts, models, sets of data, etc. that have been used, what results have been achieved, what kind of understanding is missing and reliability and validity of results. Reviews are welcome of the links between academic and other kinds of knowledge systems, e.g. research from the corporate sector (that has considerable research capacity) and how the (joint) understanding evolves about significant challenges and how to deal with them, like competition, conflict, collaboration and how to best use the varying water resources.
Flooding
This includes all types of flooding, such as coastal floods, river floods, flash floods or glacier outburst floods, and encompasses the causes, development and impacts of flood events. Contributions scrutinize the understanding and quantification of flood hazard, exposure and vulnerability, the interactions and feedbacks between different components, and the dynamic nature of flood risk systems. Emerging issues, such as large-scale and long-term consequences of flooding, e.g. via supply chain interruptions, are covered. The variety of risk reduction measures from precautionary measures, forecasting and early warning to emergency measures and reconstruction, and how these measures are embedded in the political, cultural and economic context are reflected. Reviews on the uncertainty and validation of risk assessments given the scarcity of observations about extreme events are of particular interest.
Drought
From a water security perspective, drought is considered as a persistent shortage of water relative to the usual water demand in a region. This is not the same definition that is often used by meteorological or hydrological drought indices that measure strictly a decline in the potential water supply. The consequences of drought are important from a water security perspective and hence we welcome papers that look at the challenges posed by drought to municipal, agricultural, industrial or ecological function, and how these are resolved to achieve water security.
Governance
Water security is conditioned by institutions, policy, and management. This theme primarily addresses human dimensions of water security in relation to surface water, groundwater, wastewater, and desalination. It considers politics, economics and finance, access, social equity, ethics, risk, adaptation, ecosystem services, and related topics. Because water, energy, food, ecosystems, and climate security are inextricably linked, this theme also addresses nexus challenges.
Health and Sanitation
Reviews within this theme explore linkages between public health and the quality, quantity, and reliability of water supplies, as well as the public-health impacts of excreta and wastewater management and re-use. It also intersects with the themes of shortage and flooding by focusing on the public-health impacts of both extreme events and gradual shifts in climate. Reviews within this theme may also explore more indirect water security-health connections, such as the public health impacts of productive water use, conflict over water resources, and water source development.
Ecosystems and Ecology
The ecological dimensions of water security include the role of natural and managed ecosystems in the water cycle and water resources as well as the impact of water resource management (quantity and quality) on downstream ecosystem services from headwaters to deltas and estuaries. The biophysical, biodiversity, socio-economic, health and livelihood dimensions of sharing water between humans and nature is an overarching framework. Reviews and evidence and case-study supported synthesis are invited.