Water Security and Policy

We guide water security planning in arid regions.

We conduct research on growth-driven water scarcity, degradation of water quality, and hydro-climatic changes andhow these drivers impact water security. We facilitate science-policy dialogues across international political boundaries to devise equitable transboundary policies that enable global water security. We study water conservation and re-use systems and applications, such as using wastewater in agriculture.

Featured Examples

Image	Project Founding university partner of AQUASEC, the water security center of excellence of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2012- ).
Image	Project Lead university for the Americas for the International Water Security Network, a seven-year program funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation in the U.K. (2013-20).
Image	Publication Comprehensive thematic review: “The water security discourse and its main actors,” by Udall Center authors R. G. Varady, T. Albrecht, A. K. Gerlak, and A. A. Zuniga. Chapter 10 (pp. 215-52) in Handbook of Water Resources Management: Discourses, Concepts, and Examples, ed. by J. J. Bogardi, et al. Springer (2021).
Image	Publication Frequently cited journal article: “Water security and adaptive management in the arid Americas,” by Udall Center authors C. A. Scott and R. G. Varady. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 103, 2: 280-289 (2013).
Image	Presentation Presentation at the Puentes Consortium Mexico-U.S. Higher Education Leadership Forum, by R. G. Varady. Environment and security in the U.S.-Mexico border region: Water and air issues. Rice University, Houston, TX. (2010).