Measuring equity in the agricultural water sector

A dynamic negotiated concept

Bibliographic Data

ID21697016
AuthorsBrian Davidson (0000-0002-1720-2157, The University of Melbourne), Petra Hellegers (0000-0002-4134-0568, b Water Resources Management, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume28
Issue2
Pages231-247
Publication date2026-02-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWater Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1366-7017 • E-ISSN: 1996-9759
PublisherIWA Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2166/wp.2026.330
OpenAlexW7132817129
LanguageEN
References cited52

Although the terms efficiency, equity, and environmental sustainability are often mentioned in the same breath in agricultural water management, less attention has been paid to equity than to efficiency and environmental sustainability. This occurs because equity involves making decisions about people and trade-offs in distribution and outcomes of which decision-makers have little quantitative knowledge. This paper aims to clarify the conceptual issues that arise in assessing and quantifying equity issues in the water sector. The implications of ignoring equity in favour of efficiency in the water sector are great. Understanding the equitable status of a distribution relies on four basic principles involving how the distribution of the resources is defined, determining what constitutes a fair distribution, how the resources are valued, and how redistribution problems are handled. Equity is a negotiated concept where shares of a resource or good are, in some cases, determined through a political process of debate, one that could be argued results in less equitable outcomes than desired

Agriculture · Equity theory · Intergenerational equity · Politics · Sustainability · Irrigation Practices and Water Management · Wastewater Treatment and Reuse · Water resources management and optimization

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access