Water security in an Andean basin: an integrated socio-hydrological, multi-scenario and allocation assessment

ABSTRACT

The concept of water security encompasses dynamic objectives in various socio-hydrologic contexts. This study examines the pressures on several dimensions of water security and water usage in an Andean basin utilizing an integrated water security index (IWS), the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) model, and 10 composite scenarios for the period 2021–2099. The results show 60% of the scenarios result in a “fair” IWS score, with 40% classified as “good” trending towards “fair” coverage. Competition in terms of demand coverage for equal and different water usage priorities indicates that mining, thermoelectric, and service-related uses cover their needs, whereas other human uses are unable to cope with the demand, domestic use being the most affected. The findings highlight the difficulty of ensuring water security for all users and reveal that population dynamics and controlled human interventions and trade-offs will have a substantial impact on the provision of water services.

KEYWORDS:

• Water security
• climate change
• climate models
• WEAP model
• water allocation

Editor R. Singh; Associate Editor S. Lyon

Editor R. Singh; Associate Editor S. Lyon

Acknowledgements

The first author received financial support from the Administrative Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation (COLCIENCIAS), under the Programa de Formación de Alto Nivel para las Regiones – Departamento de Boyacá – 779/2017. We sincerely appreciate the support received from the Universidad de Antioquia, the Grupo de Investigación y Modelación Ambiental (GAIA), and the Corporación Autónoma Regional de Boyacá (Corpoboyacá). Additionally, we would like to kindly express our gratitude for the support provided by the Center for Education and Research of Disasters (CEPED), Water-Adaptive Design & Innovation (WADILAB), and the UNESCO Chair on Water, Department of Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering (SHS), School of Engineering of São Carlos (EESC), University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2024.2325653

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (COLCIENCIAS) [779/2017].