Economist Impact launched the inaugural City Water Optimisation Index, sponsored by DuPont, which will measure how well cities around the world are safeguarding the reliability, accessibility, and sustainability of water resources. The Index can serve as a measurement tool for city leaders, policymakers, and regulators to make resource, investment and policy decisions toward increased access to safe, affordable, and reliable water.
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Unlike other indices, which focus on water scarcity or water quality, the City Water Optimisation Index creates a common framework to benchmark numerous factors that contribute to an optimized and ample water supply. Its findings incorporate 47 quantitative and qualitative indicators that assess how well each city’s policies and infrastructure safeguard water supply, treatment, and distribution networks.
With climate change increasingly challenging our water supplies and the projected urban population growth, the Index is a powerful tool for decision-makers around the world to measure how well their cities are prepared to deliver safe, reliable, sustainable access to water. The Index can also be used by cities to develop and refine their water strategies, learn from other cities’ successes and setbacks, and prioritize projects and policies that will have the greatest impact on water optimization, and thus water security.
The results of the Index are encouraging, with cities with diverse geography, climate, and socioeconomic factors achieving commendable results in two of the three categories—Reliability and Accessibility. The results were mixed, however, in the Sustainability category, measuring how waste is minimized and efficiency is maximized, a key factor in ensuring water accessibility for future generations. Highlights of the findings of the City Water Optimisation Index include
Los Angeles earned the highest overall score in the Index, followed closely by Melbourne. Both cities are focused on sustainability and creative approaches to mitigate pending water scarcity challenges.