IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rwinxx/v39y2014i2p159-171.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What is water equity? The unfortunate consequences of a global focus on 'drinking water'

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew Goff
  • Ben Crow

Abstract

In recent years, 'equity' has become a goal of water governance. Yet, the indices and policy guidelines for household water, published by the WHO and UNICEF and adopted globally, focus on either 'drinking water' or a limited interpretation of the 'human right to water'. We examine ideas of equity in household water and argue that the dominant focus on improving the potability of water has muted attention to the wider consideration of domestic water and its impact on livelihoods and poverty. A focus on the many capabilities enabled by domestic water illuminates some of these issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Goff & Ben Crow, 2014. "What is water equity? The unfortunate consequences of a global focus on 'drinking water'," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 159-171, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rwinxx:v:39:y:2014:i:2:p:159-171
    DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2014.886355
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02508060.2014.886355
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/02508060.2014.886355?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mehta, Lyla, 2001. "The Manufacture of Popular Perceptions of Scarcity: Dams and Water-Related Narratives in Gujarat, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2025-2041, December.
    2. Bakker, M. & Barker, R. & Meinzen-Dick, R. & Konradsen, F., 1999. "Multiple uses of water in irrigated areas: a case study from Sri Lanka," IWMI Books, Reports H024568, International Water Management Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Boakye-Ansah, Akosua Sarpong & Schwartz, Klaas & Zwarteveen, Margreet, 2020. "Aligning stakeholder interests: How ‘appropriate’ technologies have become the accepted water infrastructure solutions for low-income areas," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Subham Mukherjee & Wiebke Bebermeier & Brigitta Schütt, 2018. "An Overview of the Impacts of Land Use Land Cover Changes (1980–2014) on Urban Water Security of Kolkata," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-25, July.
    3. Zachary P. Sugg, 2018. "An Equity Autopsy: Exploring the Role of Water Rights in Water Allocations and Impacts for the Central Valley Project during the 2012–2016 California Drought," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, February.
    4. Raphaëlle Ducrot & Magalie Bourblanc, 2017. "Promoting equity in water access: the limits of fairness of a rural water programme in semi‐arid Mozambique," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(3), pages 131-144, August.
    5. Gimelli, Francesco M. & Bos, Joannette J. & Rogers, Briony C., 2018. "Fostering equity and wellbeing through water: A reinterpretation of the goal of securing access," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 1-9.
    6. Susana Torres López & Maria de los Angeles Barrionuevo & Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos, 2023. "A new operational approach for understanding water-related interactions to achieve water sustainability in growing cities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 122-137, January.
    7. Lucero Radonic & Adriana Zuniga-Teran, 2023. "When Governing Urban Waters Differently: Five Tenets for Socio-Environmental Justice in Urban Climate Adaptation Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    8. Priscila Neves-Silva & Juliana Aurora de Oliveira Lopes & Léo Heller, 2020. "The right to water: Impact on the quality of life of rural workers in a settlement of the Landless Workers Movement, Brazil," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-13, July.
    9. Gazzeh, Karim & Abubakar, Ismaila Rimi, 2018. "Regional disparity in access to basic public services in Saudi Arabia: A sustainability challenge," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 70-80.
    10. Karina Vink, 2014. "Transboundary water law and vulnerable people: legal interpretations of the 'equitable use' principle," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 743-754, September.
    11. Anastasia N. Danoucaras & Alidu Babatu Adam & Kathryn Sturman & Nina K. Collins & Alan Woodley, 2016. "A pilot study of the Social Water Assessment Protocol in a mining region of Ghana," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 392-408, May.
    12. Souleymane DIALLO, 2023. "Access to modern energy and poverty in regions of Burkina Faso: Evidence from a panel data analysis," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 58, pages 51-63.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sonika Redhu & Pragati Jain, 2024. "Unveiling the nexus between water scarcity and socioeconomic development in the water-scarce countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 19557-19577, August.
    2. Leakey, Roger & Kranjac-Berisavljevic, Gordana & Caron, Patrick & Craufurd, Peter & Martin, Adrienne M. & McDonald, Andy & Abedini, Walter & Afiff, Suraya & Bakurin, Ndey & Bass, Steve & Hilbeck, Ange, 2009. "Impacts of AKST on development and sustainability goals," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    3. Itay Fischhendler & David Katz, 2013. "The use of “security” jargon in sustainable development discourse: evidence from UN Commission on Sustainable Development," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 321-342, September.
    4. repec:kqi:journl:2017-2-1-2 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Molden, David & Oweis, T. Y. & Pasquale, S. & Kijne, Jacob W. & Hanjra, M. A. & Bindraban, P. S. & Bouman, Bas A. M. & Cook, S. & Erenstein, O. & Farahani, H. & Hachum, A. & Hoogeveen, J. & Mahoo, Hen, 2007. "Pathways for increasing agricultural water productivity," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    6. van Koppen, Barbara & Smits, S. & Moriarty, P. & Penning de Vries, F. & Mikhail, M. & Boelee, Eline, 2009. "Climbing the water ladder: multiple-use water services for poverty reduction," IWMI Books, Reports H042336, International Water Management Institute.
    7. van Koppen, Barbara & Smits, Stef & Moriarty, Patrick & Penning de Vries, Frits W.T. & Mikhail, Monique & Boelee, Eline, 2009. "Climbing the water ladder: multiple-use water services for poverty reduction," IWMI Books, International Water Management Institute, number 137955.
    8. Tala Qtaishat, 2013. "Impact of Water Reallocation on the Economy in the Fertile Crescent," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(10), pages 3765-3774, August.
    9. Speelman, Stijn & D'Haese, Luc & Ochieng, Cosmas M.O. & Vandermeulen, Valerie, 2006. "Productive Water Uses at Household Level in Rural Kenya: Case Study of the Ukambani District," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25325, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. World Bank, 2010. "Sri Lanka - Valuation of Environmental Services in Sri Lanka : A Case Study of Soil and Watershed Benefits in the Southern Province," World Bank Publications - Reports 12488, The World Bank Group.
    11. van Koppen, Barbara & Giordano, Mark & Butterworth, J. & Mapedza, Everisto, 2007. "Community-based water law and water resource management reform in developing countries: rationale, contents and key messages," IWMI Books, Reports H040684, International Water Management Institute.
    12. Chattopadhyay, Sutapa, 2011. "Socio-economic transformations of Sardar Sarovar project-affected indigenous populations and post-colonial development state," MERIT Working Papers 2011-072, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    13. van Koppen, Barbara & Giordano, Mark & Butterworth, John & Mapedza, Everisto, 2007. "Community-based water law and water resource management reform in developing countries: rationale, contents and key messages," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    14. Margreet Zwarteveen & Ruth Meinzen-Dick, 2001. "Gender and property rights in the commons: Examples of water rights in South Asia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 18(1), pages 11-25, March.
    15. U. Behera & P. Panigrahi & A. Sarangi, 2012. "Multiple Water Use Protocols in Integrated Farming System for Enhancing Productivity," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(9), pages 2605-2623, July.
    16. Renault, D. & Hemakumara, M. & Molden, D., 2001. "Importance of water consumption by perennial vegetation in irrigated areas of the humid tropics: evidence from Sri Lanka," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 215-230, January.
    17. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Behrman, Julia & Biermayr-Jenzano, Patricia & Wilde, Vicki & Noordeloos, Marco & Ragasa, Catherine & Beintema, Nienke, 2010. "Engendering agricultural research," IFPRI discussion papers 973, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    18. Molden, D. & Murray-Rust, H. & Sakthivadivel, R. & Makin, I., 2003. "A water-productivity framework for understanding and action," IWMI Books, Reports H032632, International Water Management Institute.
    19. Leaky, R. & Caron. P. & Craufurd, P. & Martin, A. & McDonald, A. & Abedini, W. & Afiff, S. & Bakurin, N. & Bass, S. & Hilbeck, A. & Jansen, T. & Lhaloui, S. & Lock, K. & Newman, J. & Primavesi, O. & S, 2009. "Impacts of AKST on development and sustainability goals," IWMI Books, Reports H042791, International Water Management Institute.
    20. Lauri Ahopelto & Noora Veijalainen & Joseph H. A. Guillaume & Marko Keskinen & Mika Marttunen & Olli Varis, 2019. "Can There be Water Scarcity with Abundance of Water? Analyzing Water Stress during a Severe Drought in Finland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-18, March.
    21. Crow, Ben & Swallow, Brent & Asamba, Isabella, 2012. "Community Organized Household Water Increases Not Only Rural incomes, but Also Men’s Work," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 528-541.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rwinxx:v:39:y:2014:i:2:p:159-171. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rwin20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.