What's The World's Most Water-Vulnerable Nation?

Jordan, Yemen, and Djibouti lead the world in water vulnerability, according to a recent study.

Researchers say the vulnerability of water resources poses a significant threat to the stability of nations. This argument, and an assessment of which nations are most water-vulnerable, comes from a study published in Environmental Research Letters.

The study examined freshwater vulnerability based on categories including endowment, demand, infrastructure, and institutions.

“By evaluating 119 lower per capita income countries, we find that every nation experiences some form of vulnerability,” the study said. “Determining shared patterns of freshwater vulnerability provides insights into why water supply vulnerabilities are manifested in human–water systems at the national scale.”

The study included researchers from Stanford University’s Global Freshwater Initiative. Some study highlights, per Stanford University:

• Institutional issues are the most common factors generating water supply vulnerability, affecting nearly 40 percent of the 119 low-income nations studied. The most prevalent issue was corruption, which can paralyze water development projects and regulation.
• Patterns of vulnerability are often similar in countries that would otherwise seem to have little in common.
• A lack of precipitation does not necessarily equate with water supply vulnerability.

Study co-author Barton Thompson said one of the key takeaways from the report is that there is overlap in the factors that create water vulnerability in disparate nations.

"We have often incorrectly assumed that the lessons of water challenges in one country are not transferable to others," he said.

Vietnam, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka, for instance, face vulnerability factors such as high population densities, high numbers of species needing protection, low governmental transparency and a lack of water regulation enforcement mechanisms.

North Africa and South Asia face poor sanitation, low volumes of renewable freshwater and high dependency on neighboring countries for freshwater.