16 April 2013: The Global Water Forum (GWF) released a discussion paper, titled “Water availability and the vulnerability of large United States’ cities.” The authors, Julie Padowski and James Jawitz, argue that including hydraulic infrastructure in water scarcity assessments yields better assessments of urban water vulnerability than conventional assessments.

The authors analyze water availability and vulnerability in 225 large US cities, using conventional and hydraulic-based approaches that account for groundwater storage systems and imported water. By measuring water availability based on renewable water supplies, they find that 47% of the urban population face moderate (27%) or severe (20%) water scarcity. Their research also indicates that 14 urban areas face a systematic lack of water, with water availability levels below the national threshold of 600 liters per capita per day.

In contrast, when the authors include hydraulic infrastructure in their analysis, only 17% of the population face moderate (13%) or severe (4%) water scarcity and no area falls below the national threshold. The authors highlight how the different approaches result in varying water scarcity and vulnerability results for specific cities, with different cities classified as vulnerable depending on the method used. They state that the results underscore the importance of considering groundwater and regional water management in assessments of water availability and vulnerability, particularly in dry areas like the western US.

The GWF was established in 2010 as an initiative of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). [Publication: Water Availability and the Vulnerability of Large United States’ Cities]