From Global Water Bankruptcy Toward a Paradigm Shift in Water Security

The concept of water security emerged in the academic literature at the end of last century. While it became an increasingly popular term in water policy circles, it was also considered a contested concept. This manuscript aims to analyze the evolution of the water security concept by designing a timeline of this conceptual evolution, and discussing the implication of this evolution and the adoption of water security in water policies. The analysis of the conceptual evolution includes the decomposition of the water security concept in its main components or focuses, addressing the emphasis placed on human well-being and health and the necessary interventions on ecosystem and its functioning, the consequences for its long-term stability, the capability to preserve ecosystem services, and its close affiliation with an anthropocentric or an ecocentric view. The analysis shows that there is a hegemonic view of water security and this leads to an overvaluation of infrastructure as the way to guarantee water security, highlighting an anthropocentric view. This review presents the consequences of the choice for an anthropocentric view, and how this choice can favor fragmented views and facilitate distortion or emphasis in small parts of the water security concept that reinforces unsustainable water management, such as water withdrawals for economic purposes or investments in water infrastructure. Global Water Bankruptcy, declared by United Nations University in 2026, is the utmost consequence of having chosen an anthropocentric view, and they claim the need for a fresh start. It is concluded that it is time to advocate for a redefinition of the water security concept, amid calls for a paradigm shift.