A perspective for identifying intersections among the social, engineering, and geosciences to address water crises

Abstract

Reliable access to safe water is essential for health, wellbeing, and the livelihoods of people. However, water security innovations benefit when engineering and geoscience decisions consider systemic human, social, and organizational realities, needs, and goals. Indeed, true innovation that leads to water security requires intensively inclusive and iterative processes to occur at multiple scales of analysis across diverse sciences—for this, expertise and knowledge across the varied sciences is essential to facilitate such convergent, transdisciplinary research. Here, we articulate our perspective for identifying points of intersection and working across disciplinary boundaries to address water crises. Our perspective takes a multidimensional view of community, organization, family, and individual resilience in the face of natural and human hazards. It builds upon previous models of cumulative water related risk by nuancing the relationships amongst levels of analysis, and expanding the idea of cumulative impacts to include interactive impacts (e.g., buffering, enhancing, effects and other moderators), mediated effects (i.e., mechanisms of impact), as well as additive and suppressive linkages amongst risk and protective factors.

Navigating end-user perceptions: development and initial psychometric properties of a water quality perception scale

“…The analysis of water quality perceptions occupies a crucial intersection across multiple disciplines, including engineering, geosciences, and social sciences (Weems et al, 2023). This intersectionality highlights the necessity of examining both physical factors, such as the accessibility and sources of drinking water, and intangible factors, notably human water quality experiences and perceptions (Auslander and Langlois, 1993;Heekeren et al, 2008;Hu et al, 2011;Alhassan and Kwakwa, 2013).…”

“…By complementing other similar measures, such as the HWISE scale, it may augment assessment of the myriad factors related to water security. Comprehensive, consistent and accurate measurement of water quality are at an important intersection between the engineering, social, policy, and human aspects of water security and sustainability (Weems et al, 2023) and helps answer the call for more comprehensive assessment (Stoler et al, 2023). Public perception is often an enigma for utility providers.…”

“…Consistent and accurate measurement of water quality perceptions is needed. Such assessments are at an important intersection between the engineering, social, policy, and human aspects of water security and sustainability (Weems et al, 2023). While qualitative approaches such as interviews and focus groups offer depth, they are often constrained in scope and scalability (Goss and Leinbach, 1996;Agunbiade and Ogunleye, 2012;Davis et al, 2019).…”