Abstract
One key challenge of water resources management is the identification and processing of the information necessary for decision-making. This article aims to provide avenues for translating a ‘water scarcity–water reuse’ (WS–WR) situation into an information system. It is dedicated to supporting an integrated assessment in decision-making with the final goal of optimising water scarcity risk reduction and water reuse sustainability. The approach combines the following two strands: (1) specific interpretation of systems thinking and (2) systemic characterisation and interlinkage of indicators. The result is an analytical concept that translates the WS–WR situation into an information system consisting of two structured components, a multi-layer (ML) and a lane-based (LB) approach. While the multi-layer approach supports the description of the elements of the biophysical and information systems such as endpoints and descriptors, respectively, the lane-based approach aids in understanding the importance of indicators within the entire system and their distribution across risk and sustainability realms. The findings from a generic exemplification of the analytical concept depict the feasibility of identifying system-based endpoints representing the WS–WR situation and their translation via descriptors to an interlinked indicator set to jointly assess water scarcity risk and sustainability of the water reuse measures. Therefore, this analytical concept supports addressing the water resources management information challenge via a structured representation of the system’s complexity and the quantification and visualisation of interlinkages between the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of water scarcity risk and water reuse sustainability.
Highlights
A challenging situation that decision-makers around the world face is to provide sufficient water in water-scarce areas
An integrated risk and sustainability assessment (RSA) framework has been proposed to analyse and evaluate data and information relevant from both spheres of knowledge resulting in one consolidated decision
The analytical concept derived in this study provides a structured and systematic manner for a transparent transition from the conceptualisation of a WS–WR situation as a system to its assessment based on indicators, bridging the real-world subject of the assessment with the information needs
Summary
A challenging situation that decision-makers around the world face is to provide sufficient water in water-scarce areas. One solution is water reuse, i.e., the use of treated wastewater to supply water demands (FAO 2017; Voulvoulis 2018). Decision-makers here are tackling the issue of reducing the risk from decreasing or chronically lacking water quantities to meet human demand while providing sustainable solutions. An integrated risk and sustainability assessment (RSA) framework has been proposed to analyse and evaluate data and information relevant from both spheres of knowledge resulting in one consolidated decision (ibid.).
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