Debating the Concept of Water Security

The concept of water security has received increased attention over the past decade. A range of international organizations—notably the Global Water Partnership and the World Economic Forum—has promoted multiple definitions of the concept. ¹ Other groups identifying the importance of water security include UNESCO's Institute for Water Education, which has made water security one of its research themes (UNESCO-IHE, 2009) and the Asia-Pacific Water Forum, which in 2007 held its first summit entitled ‘Water Security: Leadership and Commitment’ (Asia Pacific Water Forum, 2007). Water security has also come to the fore of some domestic water management agendas in the past decade, particularly associated with (bio)terrorism concerns, leading some to characterize it as ‘a key objective of a range of governmental and nongovernmental agencies across the spectrum of governance levels’ (Jansky et al., 2008, p289). However, while a growing number of scholars, policymakers, and international organizations have employed the concept of water security, the divergence between different framings of water security has become apparent, sparking debate over analytical approaches to, and definitions of, water security (Bakker, 2012).