Technical Consulting Publications

Phase 1 Results of the Water Index for Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience (WISER) Framework

WISER (Water Index for Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience) is a science-based framework to track and improve water security across India. It leverages data, remote sensing, and stakeholder inputs to enable evidence-based, equitable, and sustainable water management. This study showcases the results of the initiative's first phase.

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Jun 2, 2025

Water flowing through the D10 main canal in Raichur district, Karnataka. Photo credit: Nabina Chakraborty

 

India’s water crisis is worsening as over-extraction, pollution, and climate change deplete resources. Droughts, floods, and contamination affect both urban and rural areas. Despite substantial investments in water management programmes, there is little clarity on their long-term impact, highlighting the need for systematic outcome-based tracking.

The Water Index for Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience (WISER) initiative aims to address this gap by developing a comprehensive framework to measure water security across resilience, sustainability, equity, and productivity. WISER will provide actionable insights for policymakers and practitioners by leveraging remote sensing, stakeholder engagement, and large-scale data collection. The initiative will build a set of simple, scalable scientific indicators that are relevant to diverse aquifer types. The framework considers water security through six dimensions: balance, access, productivity, resilience, governance, and ecosystem health. A related goal is to build a multi-stakeholder consortium to ensure long-term adoption. Ultimately, WISER aims to drive evidence-based decision-making, improve resource allocation, and foster sustainable water security solutions in India.

We conducted a pilot data collection exercise to test the indicator framework properly, before presenting it to the wider sector for consensus building. Between November 2024 and January 2025, we worked with four HUF partner organisations and one WELL Labs partner across five different aquifer typologies to conduct primary surveys in two villages in each typology. In the following study, we summarise information about each indicator: what it tells us, how it was calculated, use cases, and limitations.

In Part 1 of the report, we look at the need for a framework like WISER.

 

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Hindustan Unilever Foundation.

Authors Sudeep Banad, Sanjay Mallya, Sukirti, Aishwarya Joshi, Vivek Singh Grewal

Editorial Review Ananya Revanna

Design Aparna Nambiar and Srilakshmi V

Suggested Citation Banad, S.V., Mallya, S., Sukirti, Joshi, A., & Grewal, V.S. (2025). Phase 1 Results of the Water Index for Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience (WISER) Framework. Water, Environment, Land and Livelihoods (WELL) Labs, Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Society. https://bit.ly/3RWDyZ9

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