Description:
The overall objective of the project is to address the threats to human security and well-being currently posed by water scarcity and water quality degradation in developing countries and the role of groundwater management and protection in alleviating such threats. The main objective of the research project is to adapt and apply vulnerability assessment methods to determine the vulnerability of communities who face freshwater supply problems, with an emphasis on groundwater. Groundwater can play a major positive role for the livelihoods of communities facing water supply shortages but can also be a threat when the resource becomes degraded. Within the project, social-ecological indicators of vulnerability with respect to groundwater are developed. To characterize the vulnerability of selected communities facing various types of groundwater degradation processes or for which groundwater increases freshwater supply, four case study areas were selected for the project research: one in Egypte, one in Iran and two in Vietnam.