ABSTRACT This study evaluates the groundwater quality of Tarakeshwar Municipality, Kathmandu, Nepal. Groundwater acts as a primary source of water for various domestic uses for a significant portion of the population. This assessment was based on the field study method, where 49 groundwater samples were collected from densely populated areas of Tarakeshwar Municipality during the dry season (December–January). Physicochemical parameters such as pH, turbidity, EC, total hardness, Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Cl − , NO 3 − , NH 3 , SO 4 2− , and alkalinity were determined in those samples. These parameters were evaluated with reference to World Health Organization (WHO) and NDWQS guidelines for drinking water quality standards. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, minimum range, and maximum range were computed to determine the variations of each parameter in the study area. Pearson correlation analysis was used to identify the inter‐parameter relationships, which revealed statistically significant relationships among key physicochemical parameters, indicating both geogenic and anthropogenic sources of contamination. Simple linear regression further demonstrated that electrical conductivity (EC) is a strong predictor of change in total hardness, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulfate, and alkalinity. GIS‐based spatial interpolation techniques were used to generate distribution maps and visually identify contamination hotspots across the municipality's wards. Based on the findings obtained from the research, it can be stated that the quality of groundwater found in some wards within Tarakeshwar Municipality is above the permissible values. Among the major findings, it was found that carbonic dissolution is the primary cause behind mineralization of the groundwater, whereas parameters such as iron, turbidity, total hardness, and ammonia are some of the parameters that require proper monitoring. Analysis of spatial data reveals that the southern and southeastern sections of the region are highly polluted with groundwater contaminants.
ABSTRACT Water is a vital resource and an essential input for the manufacturing industry, a key sector for biodiversity financing. Environmental fees are policy economic instruments designed to finance natural resource management while changing society's unsustainable habits. An econometric model was used to analyze the relation between WUF and WP in the Colombian manufacturing industry from 2010 to 2022. An average WUF of US $50.87 million was obtained, representing an increase of +1060% since 2017. The mean WP was 1.68 US $/m 3 , with decreases recorded from 2015 to 2018 and from 2019 to 2021. While WUF did not affect WP, it showed moderate to high correlations with other environmental variables in the model, including investments, operating costs, and staff for environmental protection expenses. The potential of WUF to internalize the value of water in the economy has been recognized, and the commitment of the Colombian manufacturing industry to scale up to sustainable water use practices is remarkable. However, the present study evidences its irrelevance in econometric terms. Although changes to the WUF regulatory framework have been introduced to strengthen its environmental purpose, low water pricing remains the main barrier to policy effectiveness, not only in Colombia, but globally.
ABSTRACT Access to clean drinking water is a critical component of public health and a major target of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6). This study investigates the spatial variability of drinking water quality across the Angul‐Talcher industrial belt of Odisha, India, a region known for intensive mining and industrial activity. A total of 101 water samples from both treated and untreated sources were analyzed for 11 physicochemical parameters—pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), chloride, total alkalinity, hardness, fluoride, iron, nitrate, sulfate, and arsenic. Spatial distribution patterns were generated using inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation within a GIS environment and evaluated against Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) drinking‐water criteria. The weighted arithmetic water quality index (WQI) was employed to synthesize data pertaining to all 11 parameters and classify water quality of all samples into five categories: excellent (8.9%), good (26.7%), poor (17.8%), very poor (10.9%) and unfit for consumption (35.6%). In aggregate, 64.4% of samples were ranked from poor to unfit, indicating substantial water‐quality deterioration in the study area. Spatially, 38.47%, 14.97% and 19.01% of the total area are estimated to have water quality classified as poor, very poor, and unfit for consumption, respectively, together accounting for 484 km 2 (72.45%) of the study area. Elevated levels of hardness, total alkalinity, turbidity, iron and fluoride observed in 60.4%, 63.4%, 52.5%, 30.7%, 15.8% samples respectively, contributing to water degradation. Pearson's correlation analysis revealed significant associations among multiple parameters, implying a role of both geogenic sources and anthropogenic impact in shaping contamination patterns. Spatial variability in water quality was further related to local land‐use pattern. This comprehensive study contributes to evidence‐based policymaking by providing a critical scientific foundation for targeted efforts to curtail groundwater degradation as well as to make provision of drinking water in industrialized areas.
ABSTRACT Setting urban water connection fees is a complex policy problem: Fees must balance affordability, equity, and adequate cost recovery. This study develops a two‐stage framework for setting urban water connection charges in Iran. A bottom‐up engineering model first establishes the full long‐run economic cost of a new connection; a distributive stage then allocates a target provincial average across six city population classes. The distributive stage is stated as a constrained social welfare program and solved exactly; under logarithmic utility, it yields corner solutions rather than a smooth gradient because the fee is a small share of household resources. The recommended schedule is therefore described as what it is: a proportional ability‐to‐pay allocation indexed to city size, whose formal relation to the welfare program is stated explicitly. Revenue neutrality is imposed on a connection‐weighted basis so that the utility collects the intended total rather than an unweighted average of six class fees. Using Household Expenditure and Income Survey data for all 31 provincial capitals, we test rather than assume the population proxy and find an income elasticity of about 0.13 with respect to city size: statistically significant, but explaining a minority of cross‐city variation. Equity claims are correspondingly framed at the intercity level. Applied to a representative province, the schedule is progressive with respect to ability to pay, holds first‐year revenue exactly at the target, and can be adjusted over time using the Consumer Price Index. The approach transfers to other water‐scarce settings under cost‐recovery pressure.
ABSTRACT Indus Waters Treaty (IWT, 1960) survived four major wars, decades of cross‐border militancy, and 56 years of parliamentary skepticism in India. However, it could not survive the performative securitization sequence initiated by three terror attacks, that is, Uri (2016), Pulwama (2019), and Pahalgam (2025), leading to IWT's abeyance in 2025. Conventional securitization frameworks become incompatible here as dam construction and treaty management operate as two analytically distinct phenomena within the same securitization process. Two analytically distinct processes are identified: (a) performative sovereignty for India, where authority over treaty suspension was not preexisting but actively produced, and (b) performative nationalism for Pakistan, whereby existential water framing externalizes domestic distributive grievances onto an external adversary. The paper employs discourse analysis of 82 documents related to IWT (1960–2025) in India, official speech acts, and Geographic Information System (GIS) vulnerability mapping of dam concentration and proximate population centres. The analysis demonstrates that (a) the performative sovereignty/nationalism distinction explains the asymmetry in securitizing agency that conventional securitization theory cannot account for with its uniform speech act model; (b) GIS spatial analysis reveals dam induced vulnerabilities to be spatially concentrated over 300 million people in specific dam‐proximate clusters; and (c) Pakistan's Punjab–Sindh water disparities function as the domestic structural condition that makes performative nationalism both politically necessary and strategically available. A hydraulic security framework is proposed through the integration of interstate deterrence, climate, and militant vulnerability, with performative politics. Analysis derives two crucial imperatives: a threshold principle on aggregate dam capacity to prevent hydrological saturation and non‐extractive protective infrastructure to address climate‐induced vulnerabilities without intensifying securitization.
