Is "Perceived Water Insecurity" Associated with Disaster Risk Perception, Preparedness Attitudes, and Coping Ability in Rural China? (A Health-EDRM Pilot Study).

Janice Ying-En Ho,Emily Ying Yang Chan,May Pui Shan Yeung,Holly Ching Yu Lam,Tony Ka Chun Yung,Carol Ka Po Wong

doi:10.3390/ijerph16071254

Abstract

Water security is essential for maintaining health and well-being, and for reducing a population’s vulnerability in a disaster. Among resource-poor villagers in China, water-related disasters and climate change may increasingly affect people’s water security. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perceived water security and disaster risk perception in a rural ethnic minority community. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in 2015 in Xingguang village, Chongqing, China, examining the association between villagers’ perceptions of household water security, disaster risk, and sociodemographic variables. Among 52 household representatives, 84.6% relied on rainwater as their main water source and 63.5% reported having insufficient water on a regular basis. Only 32.7% perceived themselves to be living in a high-risk area, of which climate-related disasters such as storms (44.4%) and droughts (38.9%) were the most frequently reported disasters in their area. Insufficient water quantity, previous disaster experience, and household members on chronic disease medication were found to be associated with higher disaster risk perception. Perceived water security indicators were not found to be predictors of preparedness attitudes and coping ability. Addressing water sufficiency in both disaster risk reduction strategies and long-term water management will be necessary to improve the health and livelihood of rural villagers in the coming decades.

Highlights

Water is a basic necessity of life and health, with communities requiring the provision of accessible safe drinking water at an affordable cost to meet their basic needs [1]
Our study found that Xingguang village in Chongqing, China, faced vulnerabilities in their perceived water security
Only one-third of respondents perceived themselves to be in a high-risk disaster area, our findings showed that perceived insufficient water quantity was positively associated with higher disaster risk perception

Summary

Introduction

Water is a basic necessity of life and health, with communities requiring the provision of accessible safe drinking water at an affordable cost to meet their basic needs [1]. Lack of access to clean adequate water supplies is an indirect contributing risk factor of disaster through poorer hygiene and water-related diseases that diminish health and increase a population’s vulnerability. Adequate water supplies enable households to have enough for personal consumption and hygiene and to build livelihoods, invest in opportune projects, and facilitate community development and poverty eradication [2] Public Health 2019, 16, 1254; doi:10.3390/ijerph16071254 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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