Before jumping into the literature it's important to discuss water scarcity and water access. This topic is foundational to the posts I will write in the coming weeks and deserves clarification. What is scarcity? What is access? Who defines it? How do we measure it? Are those metrics right?
Water scarcity is measured by the Water Stress Index. According to the index, water scarcity occurs when there is less than 1,000 cubic meters of water per person per year (Falkenmark, 1989). It measures how much water a person has access to, but it does not account for the quality of the water or barriers to access.
Water access is measured by the Ministry of Health. In order to determine access they subcontract the work, by sending local people into the field to conduct surveys. They define access as living within 200 meters of an improved water source. Unlike the metric for water scarcity, water access accounts for the quality of water and the distance to obtain it. However, similarly to the water stress index, it is not a perfect metric. The water access metric does not account for barriers other than distance. Hydro-political barriers also prevent people from accessing water (Rijsberman 2006). For example, if the water source were inside a gated area you might not have access to it. Or if it were 5pm and a line of 300 people are already waiting for the water you might not have access to it.
Despite the efforts of both groups, the metrics are not perfect. It is important to recognize the Water Stress Index and Water Access are not related and are imperfect. Therefore I want to stress that access to water has little to do with if the country physically has safe water, and much more to do with economic water scarcity.
