Application of Water Poverty Index (WPI) in Spatial Analysis of Water Stress in Koshi River Basin, Nepal

Abstract

Water and poverty interface is strongly interconnected and a robust assessment of water stress is crucial to identify needy areas and develop appropriate intervention for poverty reduction. Water Poverty Index (WPI) provides an interdisciplinary tool to assess water stress by linking physical estimates of water availability with socio-economic drivers of poverty. This study presents an application of Water Poverty Index (WPI) to estimate and compare the level of water stress in 27 districts of Koshi River Basin in Nepal. Based on data availability, relevance to the study area and review of literatures, 12 indicators were selected under five key components outlined by WPI. The study result shows medium-low degree (WPI = 54.4) of water poverty in the Koshi River Basin in Nepal. The WPI score varies widely (from 49.75 to 69.29) along the districts and it was found that districts in Tarai regions and urban areas were more water stressed compared to the districts in mid-hill and high-hill regions. Priorities for intervention must be given to the districts in Tarai regions and urban areas with a low WPI score, explicitly on the sector regarding access to water and sanitation to address water poverty in the basin.

Mapping the Geographic Distribution of Tungiasis in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Additionally, tens of millions of people in SSA suffer from a lack of access to adequate water resources or what is termed as "water poverty" [ 111 ]. The interface between water access and poverty is strongly interlinked [ 112 , 113 ]. Globally, it is estimated that hygiene and sanitation-related diseases account for 7% of the total disease burden and 19% of child mortality [ 114 ].…”

Spatial analysis of water stress and application of water poverty index in the Mahakali River Basin, Sudurpaschim Province, Nepal

“…The water poverty at different watershed using diverse indicators suitable for respective studies (Panthi et al 2018, Manandhar et al 2011, Thakur et al 2017 for different components of WPI concluded that the upstream having the higher water poverty, similar to our study. But Koirala et al (2020) discovered higher water stress in the Tarai region, compared to the high-hill and mid-hill region due to poor access to sanitation, high illiteracy rate, and low per capita income in Tarai districts in the Koshi River Basin. The lack of proper management of existing resources due to limited infrastructure and capacity (institutional and public) was one of the major problems in all of the river basins in Nepal Himalaya.…”

“…It is found that though a massive patch of an area in the Kaligandaki River basin lies under the rain shadow area (7th and 10th highest mountains i.e., 137 and 8,168 masl), snow melting from the mountains continuously supply and maintain water resources in the basin (Manandhar et al 2011). Additionally, the physical inconvenience of water resources availability caused the least water resources (40.05) in the Koshi River basin (Koirala et al 2020), which was a similar type of observation to the present study.…”

Evaluación del índice de pobreza hídrica (WPI) en la cuenca de Borujerd-Dorood (Irán) para reforzar los planes de gestión del territorio

“…Nowadays, proper and efficient management of water resources has become a sophisticated issue and it is impossible to acquire the fundamental aims of development, such as the elimination of poverty, fair development, and environmental protection without an accurate estimate and have a multidimensional view on water resources management (Koirala et al, 2020). Likewise, droughts, like a natural calamity, are threats to human communities and environment, which will be influenced by a growing water demand (Sullivan et al, 2006;Brown & Matlock, 2011).…”

“…Among these mentioned indices introduced in this regard, the Water Poverty Index (WPI) is attracting considerable interest due to its comprehension (Sullivan et al, 2002). WPI evaluates the status of regional water resources based on specific criteria and determines the position of each region in comparison to other ones (Sullivan & Jemmali, 2014;Jemmali, 2017;El-Gafy, 2018;Koirala et al, 2020). This index consists of five main components, which each of them has different sub-criteria.…”