Abstract
While climate change presents formidable challenges to global water systems, water problems are primarily the result of the failure of societal institutions to manage the resource and meet the needs of current residents, the economy and environment, and future generations. Single-minded focus on climate change and hydrological response dominates water science at the expense of research that investigates how to safeguard water systems in the face of inevitable environmental and societal change. The latter emphasizes the role of markets, urban planning, insurance, policy, technology, governance, cultural attitudes and values, institutions, legal frameworks, and decision-making strategies in mitigating water stress. This chapter focuses on the issue of vulnerability in the water sector: what it means, why it exists, and how to remedy it.
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Gober, P. (2018). Human Dimensions of Water Security. In: Building Resilience for Uncertain Water Futures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71234-5_2
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