ANNOUNCEMENTS
Globally fresh water resources such as inland surface water bodies and their interconnected ecosystems face significant threats which is considered one of the top global risks (Plessis, 2022). This negative impact on water resources particularly in urban areas is exacerbated by rapid population growth, increased anthropogenic activities, and climate change compromising their ability to provide essential services (Moggridge, Hill, and Wood, 2014) adversely affecting the species that inhabit these waters and posing health risks to humans due to the presence of toxins and pathogens (Teurlincx et al., 2019).
In a scenario where water is becoming increasingly degraded and scarce, the urban areas are facing a growing pressure to develop sustainable water services (Popawala and Shah, 2011). The sustainability of water cannot be merely seen as quantitative adequacy but has other environmental dimensions such as depleting groundwater table, drainage problem, pollution of surface water bodies and ground water, etc. (Maurya et al., 2020). To achieve water sustainability, urban areas need to protect vulnerable water systems, mitigate the impacts of water-related hazards such as floods and droughts, safeguard access to water functions and services, and manage water resources in an integrated and equitable manner (De Carvalho, Carden and Armitage, 2009). It requires the application of sustainable development principles in water management.
Growing awareness and emphasis on sustainable development have led to extensive efforts to assess sustainability in the water sector (Juwana et al., 2012). Initially, however, such studies were mainly of interest to academics and researchers. However, the escalating impact of climate change and the growing disparities in water availability and access prompted a broader range of stakeholders, particularly urban planners and state governments, to become actively involved in water sustainability assessment (United Nations, 2015). This spurred greater development and operationalization of such frameworks as the Canadian Water Sustainability Index (CWSI), the Watershed Sustainability Index (WSI), the Time-series Integrated Groundwater Sustainability Assessment (TIGSA), and the Mashhad Basin Sustainability Assessment (MBSA) (PRI, 2007; Chaves and Alipaz, 2007; Samani et al., 2021; Shafiei et al., 2022). A review of these frameworks and tools reveals that sustainability assessment in the water sector is influenced by dimensions, settings incorporating the spatial and temporal scale, and perspectives. These assessment frameworks have also been developed for various purposes, adopting a variety of approaches and methods. While these frameworks contribute to the ongoing development and refinement of assessment practices, they also highlight gaps that point to potential areas within assessment frameworks that require more research and development in the future. For instance, they have largely overlooked the ecological well-being of water bodies, biodiversity preservation, concepts like minimum environmental flows that are essential for the welfare of both humans and ecosystems, etc. Additionally, only some frameworks have incorporated stakeholders' perspectives (Richter et al., 2018; Juwana et al., 2010). The difficulty in arriving at shared decisions and the process itself being time consuming could be plausible reasons for this.
Water bodies in cities are an integral part of city’s stock of water. The looming impacts of climate change pose a significant threat, particularly to cities already contending with numerous challenges. In this context, the importance of a city's water stock (Ghosh et al., 2019), especially its surface water bodies, becomes increasingly apparent as a means to build resilience to climate change-induced disasters. Additionally, waterbodies in urban areas are increasingly fragmented across administrative boundaries, necessitating collaboration among stakeholders (Gawler, 2002). Research across diverse fields consistently highlights the pivotal role of stakeholders in shaping policy discussions.
Efforts to revitalize urban water bodies have predominantly been reactive, addressing immediate problems as they arise. Any problem requires a proper diagnosis which is an essential step toward developing an effective treatment strategy. Hence development of a meaningful diagnostic framework cum tool for assessing sustainability of water bodies in urban areas is a first step towards achieving tangible outcomes with respect to their conservation, rejuvenation and management. While sustainability assessment tools can be both qualitative and quantitative, a quantitative tool can more accurately measure the impacts of decisions and actions based on the sustainability score achieved by a water body.
The Water Body Sustainability Index (WBSI) developed to measure sustainability of inland surface bodies especially in urban areas is a comprehensive tool that can act as a decision support system for sustainable management of water bodies assisting policymakers and stakeholders in identifying vulnerable areas that need to be strengthened, suggesting potential leverage points for intervention, and monitoring the effectiveness and efficiency of certain interventions (Mason and Calow, 2012). The tool is developed by first gauging the perceptions of relevant stakeholders affecting or being affecting by Najafgarh Lake in Northern India, regarding the factors impacting its sustainability through a participatory tool- Problem And Solution Tree (PAST), the findings of which are presented along the four subsystems of Ostrom’s (2007) general framework for analyzing the sustainability of social-ecological systems (SES). Subsequently, relevant indicators are identified using both top-down and bottom-up approaches, with relative importance (weights) assigned to each, and then aggregated into a composite index. Indicator selection involved a three-step process of populating, screening and finalizing. Stakeholders for the water body who assigned weights to the indicators were categorized as either those with greater influence and a lower stake (SH1) or those with less influence and a higher stake (SH2). The methodology for developing the WBSI index is based on the approach suggested by Nanda et al. (2019), incorporating sustainability ranges defined by experts. Data for each prioritized indicator for Najafgarh Lake was gathered from government reports, departmental records, previous research, and stakeholder consultations and organized into a matrix. Finally, the tool is applied to Najafgarh Lake to calculate its WBSI score, and various intervention options are explored that could positively impact the indicators and improve the WBSI.
An analysis of stakeholders’ perceptions reveals the factors along various dimensions that impact Najafgarh Lake’s sustainability including reduction of water in lake, waste water inflow, ecological degradation of lake, undesirable land use changes, real estate threat, government-real estate nexus, reduced reliance of community on the lake, development oriented and non-implementation of policies, lack of awareness and participation of stakeholders in decision making and multiple government bodies in charge of the lake making delayed decision and promoting unaccountability. These factors highlight two competing and conflicting interests: reducing water inflow into the lake and constructing an embankment, versus designating the lake as a wetland. Balancing the two competing issues namely immediate gains from draining the lake and the long-term benefits arising from its preservation is crucial. A total of 864 indicators were initially listed from water sustainability studies in the first step of population. In the second step, the screening process shortlisted 53 indicators for expert and stakeholder evaluation. From these in the third step, experts and stakeholders finalized 15 indicators along six dimensions relevant to the water body under study, which were then used for the calculation of the WBSI. The WBSI was applied to Najafgarh Lake, resulting in a score of 40.42, indicating very low sustainability. Even modest enhancements in the sustainability status of these 15 indicators could significantly improve the overall WBSI of the lake. Government policies, regulations and interventions were examined to understand their impact on the WBSI. Recalculation of the WBSI, incorporating various scenarios that reflect the positive impacts of court orders and regulations on five indicators, increased the score to 52.08, placing it in the low sustainability range. Further improvements in the WBSI are expected as more data becomes available to quantify the positive impact on the remaining indicators post implementation of interventions. These findings allow for policy-level recommendations that can be applied broadly to all inland surface water bodies. These include notification of lake as wetland, waste water management; restoration of catchment area and lake; sustainable master planning and development; effective policy implementation and accountability enforcement; increased awareness and bottom-up democratic decision making and enhanced research, systematic data collection and monitoring. The development of the WBSI can empower policymakers to assess water bodies' sustainability, and prioritize interventions for improvement. By consistently monitoring the impact of their actions using the WBSI, policymakers can track water bodies' resilience over time and adjust strategies accordingly to achieve sustainable management of water bodies. However, the WBSI's effectiveness relies on high-quality data, highlighting the need for thorough research and robust data collection at regular intervals. With increased attention to water bodies over time, more rigorous research and reliable data acquisition are anticipated. This will facilitate the inclusion of additional indicators into the WBSI, which were previously omitted due to data limitations. Although the WBSI is applied to a subtropical transboundary water body in India, its methodology can be adapted for inland surface water bodies in other regions and countries.
