Spatial assessment of water scarcity in the cold desert of Leh district, India using water poverty index

This study applies the Water Poverty Index (WPI) framework to evaluate seasonal variations in water poverty across eight tehsils of Leh district, using five components: resources, access, capacity, use, and environment, using primary and secondary data. To calculate WPI, scores were assigned to each component and then aggregated. Initially, equal weights were assigned to each component, followed by an alternative weighting. The findings indicate distinct seasonal variations in water poverty across the study area. The overall WPI score increases from 52.90 in winter to 70.85 in summer. Component-wise analysis shows that resource access, capacity, and use components decline sharply during winter, while the environment component remains stable across seasons. In summer, Sumoor and Leh experienced medium water poverty, while other tehsils showed low levels of water scarcity. However, in the winter, Leh experienced severe water poverty, and the other tehsils exhibit high levels of water scarcity, with Saspol consistently maintaining low water poverty in both seasons. Further, the study shows that the resource component is the dominant determinant of water poverty during summer, whereas the resource, capacity, and environment components significantly control winter water scarcity. The present study provides useful insights for effective water management in high-priority areas.