30 August 2016: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched its annual report on water security in Asia, noting some improvements in water security in the region and highlighting ongoing challenges in managing groundwater, population pressure and climate variability.

The report, titled ‘Asian Water Development Outlook 2016: Strengthening Water Security in Asia and the Pacific,’ was launched during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden. It assesses national performance in the five dimensions of household access, economic viability, urban services, river and ecosystem restoration and resilience to water-related disasters.

The authors report that 29 out of 48 countries in the region were assessed as water-insecure, an improvement over the ADB’s 2013 assessment, which found that 38 countries were water-insecure. Nevertheless, they estimate that up to 3.4 billion people could be living in water stressed areas of Asia by the year 2050, with Afghanistan, China, India, Pakistan and Singapore having the lowest per capita water availability.

In terms of access to piped water supply and sanitation services, the authors observe that major disparities still remain between rural and urban populations, and between income groups. At the report launch, Bambang Susantono, ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, said that meeting the region’s socioeconomic challenges and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) on clean water and sanitation will require bridging these gaps in the provision of water services.

The report provides water security scores on a 20-point scale for each country, with Australia, Japan and New Zealand scoring high on the spectrum, and South Asian countries scoring more on the low end. Many countries showed mixed results, for example, the Pacific Island Countries reported good river health, but scored low on their productive use of water to sustain economic growth in sectors such as food and energy production.

The report also provides a set of “indicative priorities” for increasing water security, grouped by stages of water sector development. On investment priorities, for example, countries with a “completely informal” water sector, such as Afghanistan and Bhutan, are advised to invest in infrastructure for consumers and producers, particularly women and the poor, while countries with a highly formal water industry, such as Australia and Japan, are advised to invest in technologies for improving water and energy efficiency in the water economy.

The ADB produced the Asian Water Development Outlook 2016 report in partnership with the Asia-Pacific Water Forum, the Asia Pacific Center for Water Security at Tsinghua University, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the International Water Centre, with contributions from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). [Asian Water Development Outlook 2016: Strengthening Water Security in Asia and the Pacific] [ADB Press Release]