Don’t Tread Water

Water resilience emphasizes integrated human and natural systems to adapt and respond to realized and potential shifts in eco-hydrological systems, including the ability to reorganize and shift goals, indicators, and strategies in response to and in advance of systemic changes that support the integrity, health, and prosperity of those systems for future generations. Yet, no existing effort to review and revise indicators for water and climate resilience to support this transformational change has been undertaken. Against this backdrop, the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) commissioned by FCDO analysed the current state surrounding water security and resilience indicators with a proposal on how to monitor and track impacts around water and/or climate security in a period of rapid global change. The following report represents the outcomes of this research, beginning with establishing shared definitions of adaptation and resilience, proposing four categories of climate resilience, surveying some prominent indicator frameworks, and closing with a summary of “good” water and climate resilience indicators.