Indicator-based water sustainability assessment - a review.

In the past few decades, there have been extensive efforts on measuring sustainability. One example is the development of assessment tools based on sustainability indicators. Several individuals and organisations have suggested various indices for assessing sustainability. This paper focuses on the review of water sustainability assessment using the indicator-based approach. It discusses major definitions of sustainable development that have been proposed and more specific concepts of sustainability based on sustainability principles and criteria. It then proceeds with the review of existing definitions, principles and guidelines on sustainable water resource management. The paper then explores elements of indicator-based water sustainability assessment. These elements include the selection of components and indicators, obtaining sub-index values, weighting schemes for components and indicators, aggregation of components and indicators, robustness analysis of the index, and interpretation of the final index value. These six elements are explored considering four existing water sustainability indices and two other sustainability indices that are thought to be useful for the development and use of water sustainability indices. The review presented in this paper on indicator-based water sustainability assessment can provide significant inputs to water stakeholders worldwide for using existing indices, for customising existing indices for their applications, and for developing new water sustainability indices. These indices can provide information on current conditions of water resources, including identifying all factors contributing to the improvement of water resources. This information can be used to communicate the current status of existing water resources to the wider community. Also, the water sustainability indices can be used to assist decision makers to prioritise issues, challenges and programmes related to water resource management.

A water sustainability index for West Java. Part 1: developing the conceptual framework.

Sustainable water resources management is essential since it ensures the integration of social, economical and environmental issues into all stages of water resources management. The development and application of water sustainability indices to achieve sustainable water management has been successfully done in the last few years. Although existing water sustainability indices have successfully provided information on current conditions of water resources and prioritised water related issues, they have been developed for specific case study areas. This study therefore aims at developing a water sustainability index for West Java, Indonesia. The overall steps for developing the index include developing a conceptual framework, application of Delphi technique to finalise the components/indicators of the index, applying the index to case studies and robustness analysis of the index. This paper, which is the first in a two-part series, discusses the first step, namely developing the conceptual framework of the West Java Water Sustainability Index (WJWSI). It outlines the criteria for identifying the initial set of components/indicators and based on those criteria, a detailed justification for selecting each component and indicator is also presented. The second paper of the series presents the application of Delphi technique to finalise the framework of WJWSI based on feedback from selected stakeholders. The remaining steps of developing WJWSI will be undertaken in the future.

A water sustainability index for West Java - Part 2: refining the conceptual framework using Delphi technique.

In the first paper of this two-part series on the development of a water sustainability index for West Java, a conceptual framework of West Java Water Sustainability Index (WJWSI) was developed. It consists of three main parts: components, indicators/sub-indicators and threshold values. This second paper of the series presents the application of the Delphi technique, followed by in-depth interviews with selected key experts, to refine the conceptual WJWSI framework. The Delphi application includes the design of the questionnaires, the selection of respondents, the distribution and collection of the completed questionnaires and the analysis of data. After Round One of the Delphi application, the respondents reached consensus for all proposed components in the conceptual framework. However, some modifications to the components were also suggested by few respondents. Regarding the indicators/sub-indicators, consensus for 9 of the proposed 12 indicators was reached, and 5 new indicators were suggested. For the threshold values, consensus was reached for threshold values of 5 indicators. In Round Two of the Delphi application, respondents were asked questions related to results from Round One, which include the modification on the components, indicators/sub-indicators which have not been agreed, and newly suggested indicators/sub-indicators and threshold values. Results of Round Two show that modifications on the components were agreed, and consensus was reached for 8 out of the proposed 9 indicators/sub-indicators. In terms of its components and indicators, the framework was then finalised in the in-depth interview with four key experts, selected from different respondent categories. For the threshold values not yet finalised, further study will be carried out, as there was not much input from the respondents in the Delphi application and the in-depth interview.